This sermon is much better heard, as it is meant to be a performance, not a script. You can view it here. It starts around 33 min (just before).
Advent 4B
December 20, 2020
Luke 1:26-38
INTRODUCTION:
First we had despair, then hope, then joy… now today, on this 4th Sunday of Advent, we get to hear something that sounds like a Christmas story! We’re almost there, folks!
But first, a quick recollection about one reason why Jesus coming was a big deal, which we’ll hear in Samuel. Way back during King David’s rule, David had this idea to build a house for God, a Temple. But God had other plans. “No, I’m going to build you a house,” God says, by which he means, a dynasty. God promised that from David’s line would come the One who would rule forever and ever, and be a blessing for the whole world.
For centuries, God’s people have waited and wondered when this Messiah would come. And the first one to hear that the time is upon them is not the king of Israel, but a peasant girl in Galilee named Mary, who is betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David. (!) That’s the story we will hear today – in my humble opinion, one of the most remarkable texts in all of scripture. Just as remarkable is the song that Mary will subsequently sing, having heard that she will carry the Son of God in her womb. When the angel leaves, she runs to her cousin Elizabeth’s house, having just learned that Elizabeth, who was said to be barren, is now 6 months pregnant. Upon hearing Mary coming, Elizabeth feels her own child (who is John the Baptist) leap in her womb. In joy, Mary sings the song known as the Magnificat, so-called because that is its first word in Latin: “Magnificat anima mea dominum” – My soul magnifies the Lord. The words have been set to music countless times, including seven different settings in our hymnal alone. We will hear one of those as our Psalm today, and sing another as our sending hymn.
There is so much I want you to notice about this wonderful story: Mary’s gusty response to the angel, the table-turning nature of her song, the way women play a central role in this story, the way God’s promises come to pass in sometimes crazy, unexpected ways… But I’ll just say this: listen to these texts as if you’re hearing them for the first time. Take them in as if you were the one waiting all these years for a savior. What are you noticing for the first time? Let’s listen.
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| An Egyptian portrayal of Mary, from the Basilica of the Annunciation in the Holy Land. |
This morning, we have a visit from Mary, mother of Jesus…
I felt the angel’s presence, before I saw it. It was an ordinary day, I was doing my work like I always do, humming to myself, when the air suddenly felt sort of… electric. Like all the hair on my arms and back was sticking up straight. I turned slowly around, and it was all bright, warm light, yet I didn’t need to squint. Instead, my eyes were wide open – open to see and take in this mysterious stranger whom I suddenly knew to be a messenger from God.
I always heard about angels being terrifying. All of the scripture talks about it. Yet I must say… I was not afraid. Perplexed and confused? Sure. Amazed, to be certain! But not afraid. How could I be afraid of what felt so strongly of love?
And then from the light came a voice that sounded like bells ringing: “Greetings, favored one,” it said. “The Lord is with you.” Now this was strange. Favored one? I almost laughed, as I felt the callouses on my hands and viewed my humble home. Favored was not a word I would usually use in reference to myself! Faithful, maybe, but also poor, young, and a woman – not favored statuses. As I wondered what sort of greeting this might be, the angel went on, “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.”
Now this was unnerving. Like every woman, I envisioned myself having children one day. And for me, I figured it would be pretty soon, seeing as how I was engaged to that nice man, Joseph, a longtime friend of the family. But we weren’t married yet, and we certainly had not had relations, so what was this angel talking about that I would have a child now?
But even more than confused, I admit that I was, at this point, afraid – not of the angel, but of the news. The stories about me don’t talk about this. They always paint me as meek and obedient, like some kind of ever-willing pawn in the story of God, as if I never had a thought or feeling about this situation. Believe me – I had feelings about it! I knew what happened to girls who got pregnant before they were married. I saw how they were mocked, or even stoned for this indiscretion. Though I was known for being somewhat more plucky than many of my friends, willing to face any challenge head on, that did not mean I wanted to voluntarily put myself in such a dangerous position! I trusted God, but… this was terrifying.
As I processed all of this, the angel went on, describing this child I would apparently conceive, not by Joseph but “by the Holy Spirit.” He said the child was the Son of the Most High, and was the long-awaited descendant of King David who would rule forever over Israel. As I heard these words, my fears began to turn into excitement. I suddenly saw myself as a part of a much larger story, the story of my people, like Sarah and Tamar, Rahab and Ruth had been. Mine would not be the story of one terrified maiden worried about what people would say about her unplanned pregnancy out of wedlock. This was big. Since I was a little girl, I had been told of the promises God had made to the people of Israel, about God’s rescue plan. To our ancestor Abraham, God had made three important promises: first, that Abraham and Sarah’s descendants would become a whole nation. This had happened – here we were, the people of Israel. Second, that we would have our own land. While this had been rocky throughout our history, with various exiles and occupations over time (and we were currently occupied by Rome), we were, in fact, living in the Promised Land.
But that third promise was the one we still hadn’t seen: the promise that from our people would come a ruler who would be a blessing for the whole world. We had been hopeful many times… but for 400 years, we had heard nothing. Many had begun to lose hope that God’s promise would ever come to pass.
And now here, this angel stood before me, telling me that the promise my people had hoped for and anticipated for thousands of years… would begin to grow in my own womb, hearing the beat of my own heart, filling my own being.
Could it be true? Could such hope really enter our lives once again through my own flawed vessel of a body? I believe I muttered then something about my disbelief, rooting it in some silly thing like not being married – as if such a thing could stop God from bringing about His promises!
The angel paused then – I remember this – giving me a moment to collect my thoughts, all the while bringing to the space a depth of love that I had never before experienced. I tingled all over – was it the angel’s warmth, or could this be what it feels like to be, as the angel described, “overshadowed” by the Holy Spirit?
Discerning then that I was ready to hear more, the angel continued: “Even now your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son; and this is the 6th month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Elizabeth! My favorite relative! Tears sprang to my eyes as I recalled sitting with Elizabeth, talking about scripture in the ways that women do. How many hours had we laughed and cried together, as we recalled God’s mysterious ways, both those described in scripture and those we had seen. Elizabeth was the most faithful person I knew. She loved God so deeply and never doubted his providence or faithfulness. Though she never talked about it, I had seen the look on her face when she saw the children others bore, as she longed for her own child. But she and Uncle Zechariah had never been able to have a child. And now she would have a child!
And then I knew. I knew with every bone in my body. I knew that everything would be fine. My dear Elizabeth would bear a child. And I would bear the Son of God, the descendant of David for whom we had waited so long, the blessing for the whole world. For nine months, I would hold Eternity in my own being. I would feed him with my own milk, my own body. I would give myself for him. I would sing him the songs of our people – songs of justice for the poor and hungry, songs of praise for the ways God lifts up the lowly and scatters the proud. I would teach him how God has kept His promises from generation to generation, even as he has uniquely blessed me to be the one who would help to bring about these promises. I would bear the Son of God.
Tears streaming down my cheeks, I lifted my face to the warm, glowing light still filling my house. I straightened my shoulders, and raised my chin.
“Yes,” I said, unwavering. “Here I am, the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me, according to your will."
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