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The Gift of Time and Hope Sermon by Diane Fitch November 29, 2009, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill Luke 1:56 Advent has arrived. Today we begin a new church year as we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ into the world. And what an amazing gift - God coming to us in as a tiny baby - God with us, the meaning of the title, Emmanuel. So I ask, what are you hoping for this Christmas? As the mother of two children, it's really hard for me to avoid this question. There are stacks of catalogs arriving in the mail each day. There are Christmas lists. There are friends at school sharing the latest and greatest toy or gadget. My son Joshua even created a count-down calendar for the days left until Christmas. So our challenge as parents - and likely the challenge for every one of us - is to keep the focus of our Christmas preparations on God's gift in the form of the birth of a baby, and not on Santa and his sleigh piled high with gifts. We all know this, but the pull to buy into this Christmas frenzy is go great. And so we catch ourselves and change direction away from the material things, and focus on hoping for broader and more global goals . things like peace between countries and people, or love between neighbors , or joy for all people, or maybe a better job or healthier relationship or, you fill in the blank. All amazingly wonderful things. Each would make our own world or The world a better place. But I'm convinced we are to be hoping for something more this Christmas . something more than gifts and goodwill . something surprising and personal and life-changing. The passage I read to you this morning from Luke is one of those passages you hear every year at Christmastime. It's a story we have heard so many times, we really don't even hear what it's saying to us. But I believe that Mary's story has much to teach us about what it is we can and should be hoping for this Christmas. So let's take a closer look at this story. The angel said to Mary, "Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you." And Mary was confused and surprised. What could this mean? Why was she, a young peasant girl from a small town being visited by an angel and being told she was favored? Was there some mistake, some mix up? But the angel explained to her that there was no mistake. Mary had been chosen by God to bear the Messiah. The angel said to her, "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." I imagine Mary was pinching herself, thinking, is this really happening to me? Can I be hearing right? Is it really to be me? For Mary knew, just as all Jewish women did, that what gave the deepest meaning to motherhood was the possibility that one's son might be the Deliverer. It had all been foretold in the Hebrew scriptures, how the Messiah would arise from the descendants of King David. He would be the new king - a great man - who would bring light to the world. She was to be the mother of this child. Could it really be? But then, just as quickly as Mary had gotten excited, a worried look crossed her face. Mary asked the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel goes on to explain that the Holy Spirit will come upon Mary, that the child will be holy, and that Mary's relative Elizabeth has also conceived, and that this is to be a sign of the truth of this message and the ultimate power of God. But I imagine Mary still had that worried look on her face. Because just as Mary knew of the blessing of being chosen to give birth to the Messiah, she also knew that becoming pregnant was going to create a lot of complications in her life. Mary was young, religious scholars say probably about 14, and she was not married. She was engaged to Joseph, which meant that if Joseph publicly accused her of infidelity, she would be put to death! The Hebrew Law was very clear on that - a woman would be stoned without pardon. What would Joseph say when he found out? How would she explain all that the angel had told her. Mary was frightened and excited all at the same time. What should she do? Mary knew her life would be in danger. She knew this pregnancy would create problems. She knew that it would change her whole life. Mary also knew she wasn't worthy of such a blessing; to be chosen to serve God in this special way, just like the great men she knew of from the scriptures. She thought of Moses, and how he had claimed to be unworthy to be God's servant. And just like Moses did, Mary replies to the angel, saying, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." And now comes the hard part. The nine months of waiting for the child. The fear of the reactions of Joseph and the townspeople. The uncertainties which surround any pregnancy. Mary was frightened. What she needed was someone to share all of her doubts and joys, someone to answer her questions and listen to her worries. God provided that person in Elizabeth. Here is a woman whom Mary knows -a relative - a woman who was barren but now is also pregnant with a son miraculously conceived by the grace of God, a woman who has been chosen and blessed by God. Elizabeth will understand what Mary is going through. Together the two of them can share this strange and wondrous experience. So Mary went to be with Elizabeth and Elizabeth's greeting lets Mary know that Elizabeth will be the friend and confidant that Mary needs. Mary is reassured. She knows that all the angel has told her will happen, and somehow it will all be ok. I can imagine Mary giving a large sigh of relief - thinking, I'm not alone in all of this. There's someone I can look to for help and guidance. I really am going to bear a son, the Messiah of my people. And so Mary responds with Thanksgiving. She thanks God for the savior to be born, the fulfillment of God's promise to Israel. She thanks God for Elizabeth, for the support of an older and wiser woman. And she thanks God for the continued care shown to her people through the ages. In the words of Mary, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." But the story doesn't end there. The last verse tells us that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. For three months these two women were able to share in their expectation about their sons to be born. They were able to help one another. Together, they were able to hope and prepare for the future. This story about Mary shows the wide array of emotions from joy, hope and expectation to struggle and worry. But the overwhelming feeling of this story, the feeling that one is left with, is that of excitement and anticipation. It is in the hope of the savior yet to be born. And so I come back to my question . what are you hoping for this Christmas? Let me share some possibilities gleaned from Mary's encounter with bringing Christ into the world. First, may you hope to be surprised. If you believe you have this whole Christmas thing figured out . know just what to expect at each and every turn, what the menu will be, how you'll celebrate, how you'll feel, what you'll wear . and the list goes on and on . if it's already all planned out and going to be just like last year, and you'll be no different, then what's the point! Are we simply re-celebrating the same "old thing". Could it be that it's not just the "same old thing"? Could it be that right now, in the midst of this Season of Advent, when we prepare ourselves for the coming of the Christ Child, we are to be looking ahead to something new and different? We are not gathered here "getting ready for something that once happened, but getting ready for something that has not yet happened." That is what we're to be about! Peter Gomes, writes about this idea so well: "The Lord is coming, not in retrospect, not in a rehearsal of things that happened once long ago. The Lord is coming in a way and in a form that we have not yet experienced. We wait for that which we have not seen. We work for that which has not yet been accomplished. This is the Advent agenda, and it is so often thrown off course by Christmas as simply a recollection of something that happened long ago and far away." Mary certainly was surprised by her encounter with God. And nothing would ever be the same for her. She was touched by God and changed forever. Might it be the same for us? When we speak of God coming into our midst and Emmanuel - God with us - so often we think of the "us" as plural. God is coming to be with us as a community, as a church, or to the whole world. Could it be that one surprise for each of us is that God comes to us in the singular. Not in isolation, but personally. God comes into your life and my life. God visits you and me. God challenges each one of us. God changes each one of us - with the gift of the Christ Child. Through the example of Mary, we also realize such surprises and life-changes call for both time and company. Mary had the benefit of time with Elizabeth. Three months. Time to prepare . adjust . and reflect, with an older, wiser woman also preparing for the birth of a child. Such a gift of time would be such a luxury today. For we fill our time and our calendars with events. Might we hope for the gift of time this season? Not time to bake cookies or shop or wrap gifts, but time to connect in meaningful ways to those in our midst who can support us and challenge us as we prepare to receive the gift of Christ. Why not expect to be surprised this Christmas, to plan on being touched in a new and amazing way, by the coming of the Christ Child into our midst? What are you hoping for this Christmas? |