Hebrews

Lectionary for this week, per the church newsletter: Micah 5:2-5a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-55

I don't get much from the Micah (Bethlehem being one of the "little clans" of Judah, from which nonetheless will come forth a ruler of Israel-- I get it; Christ was predicted, so his coming is a fulfillment of prophecies)... and you'd think that Luke is where I would want to hang my hat this week; ever since I sang a setting of the piece by the 20th century composer Halsey Stevens (how I wish I could link to an online version here! But as far as I know, there are no official recordings of the piece), I have loved so many of its lines-- especially "He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts": it's not just the medieval upside-down world of carnaval where "he hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away"-- although that's good too.

But this week it's not the Luke but the Hebrews that is speaking to me, because I'm newly and inexplicably obsessed with this idea of salvation. It's like it's all new to me, all of a sudden, and yet surely I have heard the message a hundred times over. It's just that all of a sudden and, it feels like, for the first time, I get the idea of the revolutionary concept that "in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven".

It seems attached to the Buddhist idea of releasing the attempt to control the cycle of suffering and pleasure; as in the four noble truths:

1. Life as we know it ultimately is or leads to suffering/uneasiness (dukkha) in one way or another.
2. Suffering is caused by craving or attachments to worldly pleasures of all kinds. This is often expressed as a deluded clinging to a certain sense of existence, to selfhood, or to the things or phenomena that we consider the cause of happiness or unhappiness.
3. Suffering ends when craving ends, when one is freed from desire. This is achieved by eliminating all delusion, thereby reaching a liberated state of Enlightenment (bodhi);
4. Reaching this liberated state is achieved by following the path laid out by the Buddha.

For the Buddhist, suffering ends when craving ends. For the Christian, does suffering end when one "accepts Christ as one's Lord and Savior"? I hate that concept, or at least that wording; it's so tied up with the tracts you pick up at bus stations that urge you to "pray this simple prayer" and then sit back and wait for transformation. And that bumpersticker, "Christians aren't perfect-- just forgiven-- always seemed to me to be the kind of pride God would want to scatter...

Does suffering translate to sin? Sin is an inevitable part of life, caused by desire, attachment, our attempts to control our position in the world and in our relationships, how other people perceive us-- sin ends when we align ourselves with a different set of values, embodied in Christ?

This connection doesn't seem so organic when I try to explain it. My mind's eye grasps something that my fingers can't type.

But the God who used to love a good burnt offering sent Jesus instead to be the final sacrifice? And "the blight on man is all undone"? And "there shall be no death"? Once for all?

Hebrews 10:5-10

⁵Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; ⁶in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. ⁷Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).” ⁸When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), ⁹then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Luke 1:39-56

³⁹In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, ⁴⁰where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit ⁴²and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. ⁴³And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? ⁴⁴For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” ⁴⁶And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; ⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. ⁵⁰His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. ⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵²He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; ⁵³he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, ⁵⁵according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” ⁵⁶And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.