Bishop Marianne Budde of Washington (DC) preached the sermon on Christmas Eve at the National Cathedral. She centered her message around times when people were called to service that they saw as "impossible". Abraham and Sarah, Moses, and finally Mary and Joseph. In the Christmas Gospel, the angel replies to Mary's "But how can this be?" with "All things are possible with God."
Bishop Marianne was very clear and forceful about one thing: God is not a magician. God does not swoop in to rescue us from whatever troubles we have. Rather, God provides us with the Grace to do those works that we and the world need, but we have to provide the courage and will to do God's work.
Just yesterday, I read an old account of a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania in 1939-1940 who issued thousands of visas to Jewish families as they escaped the Nazi Holocaust. This was an example of the "Righteous of the Nations", an honor higher than any Medal of Honor. Over 27,000 people have been recognized by Yad Vashem. As we look through history old and new, it is easy to recognize that this self-sacrifice demonstrated by the "Righteous" can be seen in many of humanity's most disgraceful moments. These are people who are ready to lay down their reputations, fortunes, freedoms or even their lives for others. The key point is that they are risking it all for complete strangers. There is something very pure and Godly in this, regardless of whatever motives these "Righteous" may have had.
And this is what ties into Bishop Marianne's sermon. The actions of these "Righteous of the Nations" were an example of God breaking into their lives, and of their responding with courage (and fear) to the call. The atrocities of the powerful in this world certainly seem impossible to resist, but with God, all things are possible. Still possible.
