Sermon for December 21, 2014

The Readings

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent."  Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you."  But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:  Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?  I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle.  Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"  Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel;  and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.  And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.  Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.                        

Luke 1

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 forever, 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. 

The Message

We are now just a few short days away from Christmas, from this day we have been counting down to with our advent wreath, from this time when we celebrate the entry of God into our world for our salvation. We have heard the last readings of Advent, a time set aside to prepare us for God’s entrance into the world.  Today’s Gospel reading from Luke really should sound familiar to most of you. For the past few weeks, we have included a sung, musical version of this reading in our worship service.  This text is really just a conversation between Mary and the angel Gabriel that we somehow are able to overhear.  This conversation is often called “the annunciation”, which comes from the Latin word for announcement.  In the Roman Catholic and many orthodox churches this event is celebrated as a feast usually on March 25. (The logic being Jesus conception was 9 months before his birth).   While it is celebrated by some protestant churches and pastors, it is not a formal part of our church year.  At the same time, there is a lot we can learn from this conversation, inspirations we can draw from Mary’s faith, Joseph’s trust, the angels word’s “do not be afraid” and the reminder that God keeps promises.   Although I am no going to focus on this part of the story, We should keep in mind that our first reading about God dwelling among the people instead of in a glorious house of cedar and the fact that God comes to our world like everyone does, points us to the fact that God is truly and really present with us. 

At its heart, the annunciation is a simple story.  A young ordinary girl is engaged and preparing to marry her partner, Joseph.  He happens to be a very distant relative of King David, the great leader of ancient Israel, whose family line was promised to give birth to the messiah, but one that no one has heard from in centuries.  Mary’s quiet life is suddenly, unexpectedly and seriously interrupted as the angel Gabriel shows up and says “greetings favored one, the lord is with you” . The angel goes on to explain why Mary is highly favored, reporting to her that she will give birth to Jesus, the long expected Messiah.   Mary knows something is off here. They might not have had the internet or known too much about science or anatomy back then, but they knew where babies came from. Mary also knew that to have a child while you’re not married could be seen as adultery and most likely punished by death (or the best case scenario would be a great deal of embarrassment and serious consequences that would follow her forever).  The angel uses the miraculous pregnancy of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth as an example to encourage her. Mary is given a little evidence that with God, all things are possible.   

Nothing in this story is casual, there is no “oh look it’s an angel, large, glowing, and real, how cute”.  Nothing  in this story is expected,  Mary did not expect to be the favored one of God, Mary or Joseph did not expect to be part of God’s entry into the world for our salvation,  Nothing in this story was easy,  Nothing in this story was part of ordinary life for a young girl (or anyone honestly).  That is what makes Mary’s response so incredible. Mary’s words of faith, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word” were spoken in the midst of fear, surprise, shock and unbelievable things.  Every word Mary says is a deep and profound statement of trust in God.  For Mary, they were not just words either.  If we look forward, 30 years or so from this announcement, we see Mary, with her friends and relatives, at the cross of Jesus and then hearing news of the empty tomb. We see that she kept her promise, that she took this commitment she made to the angel very seriously.

Today, Mary’s life and faith continues to inspire and show us what it means to take our work, life, faith, church and promises seriously.  In many ways the world around us has not changed too much in the 2000 or so years since Mary talks with the angel. Obviously things like technology, global connection, access to knowledge and population numbers have changed but the world is still a place of great violence, tremendous inequality, growing suspicion, lives of anxiety, times of fear, moments of doubt, lost faith in God and others, divisions between those who have and those do not have, and separations based on things like strength, wealth, family, ethnicity and culture all seem to remain.

The world also remains a place to which God sends messengers, people to announce to each one of us the words of the angel “do not be afraid” and  “for nothing will be impossible with God”.  In a few days, it will be Christmas, all of the preparing will be complete, ready or not, sick or healthy, tired or excited, gifts will be exchanged, dinner will be served, carols will be sung, trees will be decorated, guests will be welcomed.  Of course, a few days after that, everyone will be home, those leftovers will be gone, trees will litter the streets waiting for garbage pickup, wrapping paper will be in recycling bags, unwanted gifts will be exchanged, and decorations will be packed away until next year.  The words of the angel will remain. The promises “do not be afraid, for nothing will be impossible with God” will continue to guide our lives,  Mary’s statement of faith, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word” will continue to be an example of what is at the heart of a faithful life.