Preaching at Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University 2008

Advent 12/18/11 There's Something About Mary

There's Something About Mary                                                                             December 18, 2011

Luke 1:26-38 
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.
39-45
In 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 leapt 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 leapt for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’

Luke 1:46-55 
And Mary said, 
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
   and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 
   for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
   for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
     and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever."

My son is getting engaged this month…I talked to him last night and they have almost settled on the diamond
it is not official yet, I’m not sure what that means… but I am waiting to post the news on Facebook

"If Mary and Joseph were on Facebook" is on YouTube- please go and watch it… the story unfolds the way stories can unfold today… via posts by Mary and Joseph, Elizabeth and Zechariah… about engagements, impending marriage, pregnancies and births
Brought tears to my eyes as I watched it for the 3rd time sitting at the Monro muffler and service center.
I love to hear and tell the Christmas story with fresh perspective, from a different angle.
So from 2011 I turn to the 11th century and St. Anselm who said…

“All nature is created by God and God is born of Mary
God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God
So God is the Father of all created things
Mary is the mother of all re-created things”

There’s something about Mary
You know Mary was not a Catholic… or even a Christian
As many might believe
She and her special child were Jewish
And her story is a very Jewish story
It follows the storyline of other miraculous births in the Old Testament
Women like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Hannah, among others
Theologian Elizabeth Johnson has called her the “friend of God and prophet”
There’s something about Mary

Mary bears the Hebrew name Miriam, as did the sister of Aaron & Moses
There are parallels/similarities between the song of Mary… which was just read… and the victory hymn of Miriam in Exodus15: 1-18
Both women utter prophetic words celebrating God’s triumph over the godless
Both begin their songs by celebrating what God has done for them personally
Mary’s words reflect those of other sisters before her in the Old Testament… the Hebrew Scriptures, including Hannah and Judith
Mary was a part of the Jewish tradition
And yet Miriam of Nazareth is the most celebrated woman in the Christian tradition

There’s something about Mary

Mary has not gotten much attention from us Protestants
Some of us might still be uncomfortable with too much emphasis on her
It may seem too Catholic to us
We have historically seen her as unnecessary as an intermediary… we don’t need to pray to Mary… we pray directly to Jesus…to God
Even Catholic pre Vatican II taught that she was simply a vessel, nothing more… the body that made the real miracle of Jesus possible
But more recent feminist scholarship and recent scientific advances have led some to question some of the tradition that surrounds her
Among them the unlikely combination of virginity and motherhood
Immaculate conception and assumption
Biblical scholarship has asserted that ‘virgin’ may not have meant the same thing in the 1st century
It may have referred to simply a young woman or one who was not under the control of a man, say a father or husband
And then new advances in reproductive technology have made conception both immaculate and miraculous…
Some could imagine that Mary was a forerunner to envitro or cloning?
New advances and theories in physics make the notion of assumption even possible regardless of what we believe about Mary
There continues to be a growing ecumenical consensus among Christians that there is something about Mary
Feminist theologians have helped us to re-imagine Mary
Jesus was Miriam’s child… rather than only as the mother of Jesus
They have helped us begin to see her as one of us
More than a statue
She is the mother of Jesus but she is/was also a poor, young frightened girl… probably as young as 13 or 14
Did she have a choice? I mean when the angel Gabriel shows up
He always says “Don’t be afraid…” must be some scary looking thing
Could she have said…”Tell God, no thank you!”?
Her story is a familiar one…to many women
She is pregnant outside of marriage, although there is less stigma today in many circles… but this was not a planned pregnancy
It is a pregnancy that hints at disgrace, to say the least
She is without support from her mother or father…
We hear nothing of any brothers or sisters either
Had her family shunned her or are they dead? We don’t really know
The only relative mentioned is her elder cousin Elizabeth

There is something about Mary
In many countries Mary is a symbol of courage and hope
If Mary could cope, then so can we
She is proof that feminine images and symbols are as powerful as masculine ones when it comes to the divine

In the song of Mary that was read today…
Mary celebrates the saving acts of God as she identifies the “lowly” the humiliated, the marginalized, outcasts whom God lifts up
The song is call the Magnifcat… which is the 1st word of the Latin translation
It is part of a rare biblical conversation between 2 women
Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John, and Mary who will give birth to Jesus
Each woman experiencing an out of the ordinary pregnancy
One in older years and one in her youth
Imagine the scene
The newly pregnant Mary has walked about 100 miles, a 3 day journey from Galilee to the Judean hills near Jerusalem to the home of Elizabeth & Zechariah
We are not given any reason for the trip
Was it joyful exuberance? Wanting to share the news?
Or was it the need to talk and think over her situation with an older and wiser confidant?

31 years ago, while I was still in college and not married I found out I was pregnant about this time…
Things were stressful and uncertain
I fled from college in Washington State to friends who cared for me in Wisconsin, in February
Their arms and hearts welcomed me warmly
Gave me space to ponder my life and that of my child…
But it was the coldest place I had ever been (I’m from California)

Whatever the reason Mary arrives and sees her cousin’s body swollen with life in her old age
And while the baby growing within Elizabeth leaps, Mary finally gets it
Aha!
There is Elizabeth with swollen belly, feet, ankles and breasts
While she is in the midst of the normal challenges of pregnancy… excess fluids, misfired hormones, back pain, restricted bladder…
Mary gets it
Now it is real for her
Now she understands what the angel meant… (and she may be wondering “is it too late to reconsider?”)
Now she sees the miracle of incarnation
My soul is magnified by the Lord so I can perceive this light I bear

They are 2 women… Mary and Elizabeth
One carrying a child touched by the Holy Spirit who will baptize with water
Another carrying the unborn Holy Spirit who will baptize with fire
2 women carrying light inside themselves in a time of darkness
the real miracle is not the working of the Holy Spirit of God
the miracle is the ordinary body… not much different than yours or mine, carrying this marvelous incarnate light
There is something about Mary
About a poor, young, uneducated, Jewish peasant girl bearing a child against all odds
Pondering much of what happens in her heart
And still today we sing and talk and celebrate about it
There is something about Mary.    Amen

Link to Sermons Preached at First Congregational Church, UCC in Ithaca

Here is a link to sermons I preached in at First Congregational Church, UCC in Ithaca, New York on January 27 prior to their annual meeting and February 3 in 2013. I apologize that during the sermons my mic was not turned on, but you can still hear me. You will need to scroll down to the correct date to hear the service for 1/27/13 and 2/3/13.

http://www.fccithaca.org/media.php?pageID=27

Sermon: November 2, 2014

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.  2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
     3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
     4"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
     5"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
     6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
     7"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
     8"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
     9"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
     10"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
     11"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account  12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.



Let me give credit to Dr Richard Carlson of Gettysburg Seminary for much of the inspiration for what I'm sharing with you this morning.

I want to begin with Some background on the Gospel according to Matthew
A key theme of Matthew's gospel is re-visioning righteousness- a redefinition of righteousness
And for Matthew there is the Jesus Filter:  prior to Jesus there is a clear understanding of what holiness and righteousness are, there are firm boundaries;
outside the boundaries are gentiles, sinners;
Matthew asserts Don’t forget it all – but filter it through Jesus; 
    Righteousness has got to be re-visioned
The Church is called to greater righteousness; 
by filtering everything through Jesus we can understand what it means to live in the greater righteousness (“unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees…”);
it’s not an internally focused community – it is an outwardly focused community (make disciples all nations) (‘you have heard it said … but I say to you…”) (“do not think I have come to abolish the law and prophets, but to fulfill them”) 
Continually Matthew has the Jesus filter that calls us to think anew about what it means to be God’s people

Most of the time we take the “what” Jesus said as the most important;
Matthew invites us to consider that the “who” Jesus is-makes what he says important;
The words- the stories- the parables are being spoken by the Son of God, the Messiah, the agent of heaven’s reign the “who” gives full shape to the “what” is being said

and on to the sermon on the mount
5:1-2  There are three Groups that Hear the Sermon on the Mount 1) disciples – Jesus addresses them,  2) the crowds – who overhear it, 3) US – they are intended to address us
“.. then he opened his mouth … and began teaching them.” – (refer back to Chap 4 … a person will not live by bread alone,, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”); the son of God opens his mouth; fulfills Duet 8:3

These are among the most familiar passages in the bible- so today I want to challenge us-with some new ideas

The Beatitudes:  Intentionally crafted in Matthew’s story; 
The greek word translated Blessed is “Makario” = Dr Carlson suggests that blessed falls short and perhaps it can be better translated-congratulations! 
Dr Carlson asserts that These are not morale maxims;  They are congratulations –
but congratulated folks had privilege – people who lived above the daily grind.  People on the upper echelon of society.  Congratulate the few who have won.  These congratulations are only understandable within the reign of heaven. 
They Sound sarcastic within the dominant culture.
They are congratulations to those standing in heaven’s reign;
first they are divine congrats and then with the “for” (Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.) they are divine promise;
Makario embodies a sense of empowerment- whether translated blessed or congratulations

The beatitudes are “Performative Speech”= speech which brings into being that which it pronounces;
they are not something for the ‘by and by”;
not of what should be, but of what IS;
the future has invaded the present -- so the vision of life is a vision of how God’s future has been dawning into our own reality;

Congrats to the Poor in spirit – no illusions of grandeur here– their only resource is God because they got nothing on their own;
on their own, they even lack God
( these are the people who come to Jesus in Matthew – the ruler whose daughter has already died, etc);
They are the antithesis of the religious leaders; they are the desperate and despondent- their promise is the Kingdom of heaven

Congrats toThose in mourning– those who have lost hope, who lack joy – they will be comforted;
listen up- on this All Saints Day- when we recall those who have died in the past year-and beyond- those we love who we miss
comfort doesn’t come through time, inner resources, or anything we can do – comfort is divine activity;
I'm comforted by this- that it is not up to me- that's its not my strength-comfort is divine activity.

Congrats toThe meek – some say humble but Carlson suggests it is much closer to “humiliated” – “congratulations to the humiliated”–powerless, no patron to take care of them;
those who are denied access to the powers that be;
God will be their divine patron;
their promise-they will inherit the earth

Congrats to Those who thirst for righteousness – the stress of seeking right relationships within the daily grind of life;
    the sustenance is to live in right relationship with God.
God will ultimately accomplish God’s will;
This basically sums up first 4 beatitudes;
those who have nothing else going for them but trust in God’s triumph; God’s power is for the powerless
their promise-they will be filled

Congrats to The merciful – Hosea 6:6 “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”;
mercy, love, forgiveness, compassion should be seen as the heart of the law and the prophets;
23:23 Woe to you Pharisees and Scribes – you neglect the weightier items of the law (mercy, love, compassion);
You will be shown mercy – this is an eschatological promise
God will show mercy to the merciful

Congrats to the Clean in Heart – pure = this is cultic imagery;
absence of that which pollutes or makes impure;
Matthew is concerned about “heart conditions”;
the heart is seat of “wanting/desires”;
this stands in contrast to today when there are many who feel that right belief- right thought is what is important
Jesus condemns religious leaders because of their heart condition;
congruency is important – one should be clean on the inside and the outside;
their promise – they will see God;
usually when you see God --you die;
but those who are inwardly clean, will be able to see God and live

Congrats to the peacemakers- the Peace-doers – those who actively strive for reconciliation and the end of strife;
“if your brother or sister has something against you … make peace”;
their promise – they will be a child of God

And for all this-- you will be Persecuted – commitment to God will make one a target;
what is one’s focus in the midst of one’s persecution?;
they/we shouldn’t expect everyone to love them
or congratulate them;
5:3-6 God is working reversal;
In Wisdom Theology = if you do the right things, everything will go right;
In Matthew's theology = if you do the right thing, you will be persecuted.
It is a tipped upside down wisdom theology.
That's the good news- Congratulations! Rejoice and be glad, your reward is great in heaven
now promising a reward in heaven-this has been used to oppress others-
it is not something we impose on others- or an excuse for persecuting
It is something that we experience divinely  and others experience divinely
a sense of comfort in the face of horrendous mourning
a sense of peace that surpasses understanding
congratulations! Rejoice and be glad
Amen 

Resume

Tomi Jacobs-Ziobro

tomi.jacobs.ziobro@gmail.com

14 North Main Street
Homer, New York 13077      

QUALIFICATIONS

Able to inspire, motivate and empower others

Conflict resolution
Experienced leader and supervisor
Ability to analyze and creatively problem solve
Competent with social media networking
Event planning
Grant Writing
Comfort with diversity on many levels
Excellent written/oral communication
Attention to detail
Team player who is able to work independently

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

EMPOWERING

Advocating for and working with minority groups including HIV+, GLBTQ, immigrant workers, homeless, survivors of domestic violence and more
Affirming and encouraging others to pursue their goals

LEADERSHIP and ADMINISTRATION

Leading planning groups in various settings with all ages
As media spokesperson on challenging issues
Creating and keeping to budgets
Supervision with students, volunteers and staff
Encouraging the creativity of others
Promoting and/or inspiring others to support a project using interpersonal skills and communication technology
Grant writing with successful outcome
Dealing with confidential and sensitive issues and material

INCLUSIVITY and DIVERSITY

Bringing together diverse community and religious organizations to accomplish common goals
Group process
Studying, visiting and living in cultures other than my own at home and abroad
Observing and communicating differing points of view or perspectives
Conflict resolution
Leading intergenerational work groups to help victims of Hurricane Katrina
Working with multi-cultural couples in marriage preparation and beyond
Extensive interfaith collaboration and dialogue
Excellent listener
Lived and studied in Korea where I experienced minority status

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Substitute Teacher  Cortland and Homer School Districts (K-12)-New York  2011-present
Business Owner   The Owl & the Pussycat- Artisan/Organic Granola and Preserves  2011-present
Supply Preacher  ELCA, PCUSA, RCA and UCC churches in Central New York- in transition                                      2010-present
Trainer Prepare-Enrich Facilitator/Seminar Director- marriage preparation and enrichment program                2010-present
Chaplain  Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York  2008- 2010
Assistant Chaplain    State University of New York in Albany, Albany, New York  2006-2008
Transition Pastor    Christ/Emmanuel Lutheran Churches, Chatham/Ghent, New York 2006-2008
Minister   First Congregational United Church of Christ, Gloversville, New York  2001-2006
Chaplain Intern  Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, New Jersey  2000-2001

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts   Whitworth University, Spokane, Washington
                              Major: Cross Cultural Studies, minors: Religion and Nutrition
                              Study abroad- Kim Yeong University, Taegu, South Korea
Masters of Divinity   Union Theological Seminary, New York, New York
                                   Thesis: Beyond the 23rd Psalm- Rituals for the Dying and Bereaved
Certificate in Transitional and Interim Ministry  Interim Ministry Network
Extensive Continuing Education  List upon request

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

YWCA- Board of Directors/Treasurer
Editorial Consultant- Homiletics homileticsonline.com
Access to Independence of Cortland- Board Member
Advocacy for HIV/AIDS, Women, GLBTQ, Reproductive Rights and Marriage Equality
Family Planning Advocates
Clergy for Choice
Empire Pride Agenda
Planned Parenthood-Central and Western New York
Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding-Colleagues in Dialogue
United Church of Christ

References provided upon request.

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