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.
Message “Love in Every Part of Christmas”
Many centuries ago, when Mary found herself in the presence of the angel, she had several choices to make. The angel told Mary she had an important job to do for God, and Mary had to choose to do the job or not.
Mary could have pulled a Jonah – when God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell the people to repent, Jonah ran in the opposite direction. He only did what God wanted after he was thrown off a ship, swallowed by a fish, and spit out onto dry land. Mary could have run away and tried to hide from God.
Mary could have told the angel she was too busy to do what God wanted….she could have protested that she was busy planning a wedding and didn’t have time to add pregnancy and motherhood into the mix.
Mary could have told the angel she was too young to take on the responsibility of doing what God wanted. The prophet Jeremiah tried to tell God he was too young to be a prophet. But, the Lord said to Jeremiah: “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’, for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.” So, that excuse had not worked for Jeremiah, but Mary could have tried anyway.
Mary could have said that she was only a girl, and girls aren’t supposed to do important things for God. Even in 2021, we hear about churches who prohibit women from preaching because of that one line penned by Paul that said he wouldn’t permit a woman to teach or assume authority over a man….notice, Paul took credit for the rule, not God. But, the centuries that preceded Mary’s life had Sarah, and Rebecca, and Ruth, and Naomi, and Rahab, and Rachael, and Hannah, and Miriam, and Deborah, and Huldah, and Esther doing important things for God…they preached, and judged, and gave birth to nations, and protected their people, and prophesied on God’s behalf, so the “only a girl” excuse wouldn’t have cut it with God.
Fortunately for humanity, Mary didn’t make up excuses. She asked a question….a clarifying question: how is this possible since I am a virgin? And, then, after the Angel told Mary God’s Holy Spirit would come upon her and a blessed pregnancy would result, Mary gave a faithful and love-filled response to the Angel. Mary said: “I am the Lord’s servant….May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Mary, who was young, said yes to God. Mary, who was female, said yes to God. Mary, who was scared, said yes to God. Mary, who was busy, said yes to God. And, as a result, she helped bring forth the Messiah into the world. Mary was willing to take on the responsibility of becoming the mother of Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ. A young, brave girl was willing to respond to God with a “loving yes.”
I suspect many of the people sitting in this room or watching today over facebook are going to be asked to do important things for God. I suspect people listening to this sermon have already had to make ethical choices in their lives and will continue to have to make ethical choices about whether to choose to act in a Christian way verses the easier way or the more selfish way. Sometimes, our faith compels us to stand up for what is right, even when by doing so we may be bullied or punished or become unpopular or become unemployed. Sometimes our faith calls us to be brave, or uncomfortable, or get ourselves in situations we would not choose to be in.
But, like Mary, we need to forgo the excuses. Like Mary, we must respond to God with a “Loving yes!”
May be listen to God’s call and commands, and say yes to God.
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