{"id":3263,"date":"2012-11-30T13:55:21","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T18:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/?p=3263"},"modified":"2012-11-30T13:55:21","modified_gmt":"2012-11-30T18:55:21","slug":"advent-message-from-the-bishop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/2012\/11\/advent-message-from-the-bishop\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent message from the Bishop"},"content":{"rendered":"
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:<\/div>\n
Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.<\/div>\n
During my spiritual pilgrimages to Taiz\u00e9, <\/em>one of the many songs we sang which continues to give me inspiration and offers me hope is Magnificat<\/em> anima mea Dominum<\/em><\/a> (My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord).<\/div>\n
Concerning this song, William Barclay wrote, “There\u2019s a loveliness in the Magnificat but in that loveliness, there\u2019s dynamite.” \u00a0Barclay is indeed right when he says, “in that loveliness there’s dynamite!\u201d<\/div>\n
When the Magnificat is being sung by thousands of people from a global community – all the children of God from all backgrounds and cultures – and when the words of the Magnificat are placed into action by these children of God, it creates a spiritual dynamite no nation or power has ever produced in human history.\u00a0As paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message<\/em>:<\/div>\n
And Mary said,<\/div>\n
I\u2019m bursting with God-news;
\nI\u2019m dancing the song of my Savior God.
\nGod took one good look at me, and look what happened\u2014
\nI\u2019m the most fortunate woman on earth!
\nWhat God has done for me will never be forgotten,
\nthe God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
\nHis mercy flows in wave after wave
\non those who are in awe before him.
\nHe bared his arm and showed his strength,
\nscattered the bluffing braggarts.
\nHe knocked tyrants off their high horses,
\npulled victims out of the mud.
\nThe starving poor sat down to a banquet;
\nthe callous rich were left out in the cold.
\nHe embraced his chosen child, Israel;
\nhe remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
\nIt\u2019s exactly what he promised,
\nbeginning with Abraham and right up to now.<\/div>\n
Luke 1:46-55<\/div>\n
Magnificat makes it very clear that the values and the powers of the world are turned in opposite directions, and the values of the Reign of God can be established everywhere. A skeptic may ask, “Is it possible or is it fantasy?” \u00a0Of course the world would keep asking those questions, but it should not stop the disciples of Jesus Christ from singing the Magnificat and making an earnest attempt to not only sing it, but live it through our lives and actions.<\/div>\n
Just this week I was at a meeting when a pastor in one of the United Methodist Churches in another Annual Conference shared this powerful email from a leading attorney. Though the names have been changed to protect confidentiality, these are the exact words from the email:<\/div>\n
“I just wanted to express my thanks for whoever wrote the little newsletter note in the article shown in the attached photo. I assume Rose and Sally made this kind gesture, and I wanted to let their \u2018boss\u2019 know what an incredible blessing they are to me and my family.<\/div>\n
It was just three years ago that I was sitting in your office as a committed agnostic and challenging you to explain how a rational mind can have faith. \u00a0A stack of Lee Strobel and C.S. Lewis books later, along with three years of God using a program of the church to change me, that same guy is now playing some small part in helping Rose and Sally build up God’s armor around the little hearts of the children in our congregation. It started with your patient counsel and grew over the course of three years of your inspired Sunday messages.<\/div>\n
It may sound silly but the idea that someone saw fit to thank me has moved me deeply and made me reflect on how much God has done in my life since that day I met with you. So I just wanted to shoot you a note to say thank you. I know you will just give the credit to God so I will just do the same. \u00a0Have a great week and I will see you Sunday.”<\/div>\n
This powerful story shared by an attorney with his pastor is not an isolated story. \u00a0There are stories like this happening all around the world. Our God is a God of impossible possibilities if we allow God to take control of our minds and hearts, and use it appropriately as we listen to the Holy Spirit speak to us as we articulate our thoughts and actions.<\/div>\n
As we continue to light the Advent candles in our churches and homes, may we continue to sing, Magnificat anima mea Dominum<\/em>, not only in this Advent season but all through the year.<\/div>\n
May we also take time to internalize the words of the Magnificat and make our best efforts to practice it through our deeds and actions, trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us, lead us, and nudge us.<\/div>\n
May we also reflect upon all our frustrations and disappointments as human beings, as Christians, and as United Methodists, and think how the Magnificat can give us a new hope and a new vision. As the angel shuttled between Mary and Joseph to convince them individually to accept God’s plan for humanity through their participation in it, God can help us, too, through the power of the Holy Spirit and through angels who may appear to us and speak to us if we allow that to happen.<\/div>\n
May God shower blessings and gifts upon us as we prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas in this Advent season.<\/div>\n
In Christ\u2019s Love,<\/div>\n
Bishop Suda Devadhar<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. During my spiritual pilgrimages to Taiz\u00e9, one of the many songs we sang which continues to give me inspiration and offers me hope is Magnificat anima mea Dominum (My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-and-teaching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3264,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3263\/revisions\/3264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chilmarkchurch.org\/service\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}