Birthing a Promise -- A Message for Sunday, December 20, 2020

 

Scripture Reading Psalm 89:1-4

I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
    with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known
    through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
    that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
    I have sworn to David my servant,
‘I will establish your line forever
    and make your throne firm through all generations.’”

Scripture Reading           Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 

to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 

and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 

Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 

For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer before Preaching from “worship@north.com”

Faithful God, you chose Mary, full of grace, to be the mother of our Sovereign and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now fill us with your grace, that with her, we may understand your ways, rejoice in your salvation, and embrace your will; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Message      “Birthing a Promise”
We are reading the stories of our faith a little out of order this year.  Last week, we recalled the song Mary sang after she knew she was pregnant with Jesus.  This week, we recall the story of how Mary learned she was pregnant with Jesus.

Mary was a regular girl.  A plain Jane.  When I was in middle school, I visited Ecuador as a foreign exchange student.  I thought it was rather odd that all the girls I met there had Mary as party of their name.  Maria de los Angeles stayed at my house.  I stayed at Jennifer Maria’s home. The other girls were named Rosa Maria, Ana Maria, Carmen Maria, Blanca Maria, and Gabriela Maria.  Maria, Maria, Maria.

Even in the New Testament, it seems like a lot of the women were named Mary.  Mary the mother of Jesus.  Mary Magdalene.  The Other Mary. Mary of Bethany (Lazarus’ sister). Mary the mother of James. Mary the mother of John.  Mary of Rome.

Mary the mother of Jesus was just a regular Mary.  An ordinary woman.  An ordinary girl. 

            Mary also was a small town girl.  She lived in a little, tight-knit community.  In the first century, women were expected to participate in the work of the family – they hauled water from the well, they planted, they watered plants, they tilled the earth, they pruned and plucked, they wove cloth, they tended fires, they cooked.  Women watched after little children until the children were old enough to participate in the work of the family.  Most people led difficult lives.  Women married young, raised large families, and lived short lives. 

            Mary was still young, and was betrothed but did not live with her husband yet.  In 1^st century Israel, fathers arranged the marriages of their children.  The grooms’ family had to pay a dowry or “mohar” for the bride at the time of the betrothal.  The woman continued to live with her family until the wedding ceremony.  After the wedding, the couple lived with the husband’s family in their home. 

            Mary was a regular girl.  She was betrothed, but not married. So, she was 11 or 12 or 13.  Although some adolescent girls are rebellious, Mary was obedient to her family and to her God.  If we focus on Mary’s obedience, we may imagine her as meek and mild.  Mary was not meek or mild.  She was tough.   She was troubled by what the angel told her, that she was favored by God.  She was shocked by the angel’s words when he told her she was going to have a child.  But, instead of being passive and quiet, Mary stood up to the angel.  She questioned him.  She asked how it would be possible for her to have a baby since she was a virgin.  She accepted the word of the angel that the Holy Spirit would be upon her.  Mary didn’t tell the angel to go away.  She didn’t tell the angel she was too busy to have a baby.  She did not tell the angel that she was not strong enough to handle the ridicule of being pregnant outside of marriage, or too young to be a mom, or too weak to withstand being bullied by judgmental neighbors.  Instead, Mary agreed to accept the pregnancy and all that would come afterwards as she mothered the son of God….as she became the mother of the messiah.

            Mary rose to the occasion and fulfilled God’s wishes for her.  She became a fiercely protective mother and parent to Jesus.  She became a diligent partner to Joseph.  Together, the young family endured the gossip of their neighbors.  When Jesus was threatened, they moved to a foreign country and lived as outsiders there. After many years, they returned to their hometown when the coast was clear.  But, life was never easy for Mary.  It is hard enough being the parent of a “typical” child; I can’t imagine how difficult it is to be the parent of a supernaturally talented and all-knowing child.

            In the midst of these Covid days, we need to anoint ourselves to be protective warrior women (and men) like Mary.  There are hurting children all around us.  Some of them are in our families, but others are part of our communities—our neighbors, our church’s children, our friend’s children. Children are vulnerable to the pressures of excelling at school and at extracurricular activities.  And, in this long pandemic-season, children are vulnerable to fall victim to depression, and hopelessness, and bullying.  They are not fully-formed emotionally or intellectually, and therefore may having particular difficulty withstanding the pressure we are all under as we live through this pandemic.

            So, we need to remember that as the community of Christ, and the people of God, we have a special role to play in the lives of children.  We can make phone calls and send cards.  We can pray for children.  We can support the work of the Daily Bread Community Food Pantry to minister to children.  We can reach out to local schools and find out if there are kids there who need school supplies or warm coats or winter boots.  We can talk to our neighbor children (from a distance) when we see them playing outside. We can demonstrate by listening to children that we see them and we care about them. 

            Jesus was a special child and he needed special parents to protect him and watch over him as he grew up.  As the community of Christ, we in turn must work to extend that protection and concern to the children in our lives.  May we do so in love, and also with the fierce protective nature of Mary.  Amen.