Sermon 159 Zec 7:4-11; Heb 3:1-6; Lk 11:27-32. Mystery of life

As Preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Chapel
September 09, 2018



Ah! sweet mystery of life, at last I’ve found thee

Ah! I know at last the secret of it all

All the longing, seeking, striving, waiting, yearning

The burning hopes, the joy and idle tears that fall



For ‘tis love and love alone, the world is seeking

And ‘tis love, and love alone, that can repay

‘Tis the answer, ‘tis the end and all of living

For it is love alone, that rules for aye



For ‘tis love and love alone, the world is seeking

For ‘tis love and love alone that can repay

‘Tis the answer, ‘tis the end and all of living

For it is love alone that rules for aye



When I was a kid Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy were still popular and their rendition of that song from Victor Herbert’s Operetta [musical] Naughty Marietta was still around. As I was thinking about this feast that song came to mind, and the first phrase is what stuck. For the mystery of life is the focus of our faith. It is a faith that merges the human with the divine. To connect us with that mystery is the role of the church. We do that with every celebration of the eucharist. But it is even more than that.

The language of that song is romantic love. But that language can also be used to express our love of God and the energy we invest in seeking that love. Although we may not think of popular love songs in that light, however, some medieval Sufi poets, such as Rumi and Hafiz, are very popular today. They both used that same type of language to express their love of God and God’s love of creation. Yet we need go no further than the biblical Song of Songs to find similar language. Even the saints used this language to describe their quest for God. And this sentiment could also have been in Joachim and Anna’s hearts as they prayed for a child. Something not all that different than this song. The first stanza lyrics continue:



All the longing, seeking, striving, waiting, yearning

The burning hopes, the joy and idle tears that fall



When we come to church and enter this temple we are here to worship the source of that mystery, which is God. And indeed, this temple, part of which is called the Nave, is the symbolic vessel of the church which is carrying us to our destiny. The unfolding of that mystery in time is the story of salvation that the church reveals to us through the celebration of the feasts, solemnities, and seasonal cycles of the church year. That cycle begins with the feast we celebrate today, The Birth of the Theotokos. And this birth is what brings into play the other essential vessel in this mystery, the human body.

To connect the human with the divine needs a human agent and that is the Theotokos. And the human body used by God to bring this mystery, which is Jesus Christ, into the world was Mary. And yet before that can happen Mary herself must come into existence. Hence, today’s celebration. But her story is also our story. Her birth is the opening chapter of that story. And her birth is important to us not only because of the unique nature of her journey, but because of the model she gives us. She carried and nursed Christ, the son of God. She listen and responded affirmatively to the word of God. But as we heard today in the gospel, there is something even greater. And that is the one who hears the word of God and takes it to heart and lives it. Christ says this to deflect the notion that only the one who physically gave birth to God in the flesh is “blessed.”

We all are born of the flesh, as was Mary, and we all are called to bring Christ into this world by how we hear and carry out the word of God. All births include the link to the divine [and the opportunity to manifest that reality in our lives]. This is our blessing. So, this celebration of the Birth of the Theotokos is the embarkation point for our salvation, but it is also the entry way for us into the divine mystery.

This is what our faith intends our core desire of life to be. It is what “All the longing, seeking, striving, waiting, yearning... and... tears that fall,” is all about. It is the prerequisite to the song’s opening line: “Ah! sweet mystery of life at last I’ve found thee.”

Mary’s life is the example, our vocation is to take up the challenge to follow her example and to hear the word of God and give it life in our times.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us!