12.11.22 "Advent 3: Joy!"

 Isaiah 35.1-2; Luke 1.39-56

It all began with simple “Yes!” … 

The angel of the LORD came to Mary, with a suggestion, and Mary said, “Yes!”

And so it came to pass - that Mary, a young lady, perhaps no more than 14 or so, became the mother of Jesus … 

She said “Yes!” …

A friend of mine recently wrote - “Say yes until you have to say No!”

I celebrate with you today all those who have said Yes to life … who said, “Yes” to you … to me … 

In my senior year in Grand Rapids Christian High School, as graduation neared, my Bible teacher, the Rev. Morris Faber, invited the seniors to come to the front of his classroom and share some plans.

One after the other, this and that, and college and career, and all the dreams that a high school senior enjoys … and, then, it was my turn.

I told the class, I was going to Calvin College, and enrolling in the pre-seminary course … and with that, the class broke out into laughter … I mean, serious, raucous, uncontrolled, laughter, and I was laughing right along with them … I’m sure some thought it was a joke, but it was no joke. I had decided that I would be a minister.

Now, just some backstory - I was not what would have been recognized as “clergy” material … I’ll not bore you with the details, but it can be said, that if there were a picture of what a high school senior headed into the ministry should look like, it wasn’t me. 

So the class laughed, and so did I.

When the laughter died down, the Rev. Faber turned to me … all 5 feet, 5 inches of him - and said, “Tom, I believe you will do it.”

I’ve never forgotten that moment, as you can tell … that was in the spring of 1962 - that word of encouragement, the power of Yes, has stayed with me all these years.

Twenty years later, I was in Grand Rapids for some study, eating at a Russ’s Restaurant, a local chain famous for its hamburgers … and there, a few booths away, was the Rev. Faber and his wife. 

He was recognizable - small in stature with a gnome-like face … there he was, having lunch.

I left my table and walked over to them, introduced myself … the Rev. Faber looked at me with that thousand-yard stare common to dementia.

His wife explained to me, and I told her my story … then I thanked the Rev. Faber for his confidence in me. His wife thanked me for coming over, and I thanked the LORD that I had the chance to see him again, to thank him personally for his goodness … did he understand what I said?

Probably not … as I left, he picked up his hamburger and continued eating … his wife, with tears in her eyes.

A simple yes … 

Mary said it to the angel … the Rev. Faber said it to me … 

 

Say Yes until you have to say No.

I’ve been thinking about this for the last several weeks.

Yes is a dangerous word … it gets us into things we didn’t plan on, and sometimes into things where we don’t belong.

I’ve learned over the years to be a bit more cautious with my “Yes” … but on the other hand, caution needs to be thrown to the wind, and maybe more often than not.

One of the components of Yes is a simple trust in life … that life will provide the ways and means of getting something done … that God is involved in all of this … and, yes, we can do it … 

It may be difficult … ask Mary how easy it was to bear the child of our salvation … recalling what the Angel said to her, what the shepherds and wise men said … wondering what her son would become, and when he began his ministry, Mary’s concern:  his wandering, his preaching, threats against him … until finally, his arrest, a quick trial, and a public execution …

Yes opens the door to all kinds of things … and some of them will be downright difficult.

I think of Bonhoeffer and Barth in Nazi Germany … they said Yes to Christ, and No to Hitler … it cost Barth his job … he was deported to Switzerland, where he spent the remainder of the war years … it cost Bonhoeffer his life … he was hanged in the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, as the war neared its end.

The power of Yes …

Yes is the heart and soul of joy … 

It is Mary’s Sunday, we light her candle, and it’s pink … my thanks to Marjean Thomas and to Arlene Bennett for the light of the day … 

Mary’s Candle, Hail Mary, full of grace, the LORD is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.

Joy is saying Yes to God!

But let me quickly make something clear … joy and happiness are not the same thing … they can run together, and often do, but there’s a difference … a difference between joy and happiness.

Happiness is circumstantial … I’m happy if the Dodgers win … I’m happy when my children are happy … I’m happy in the company of good friends … I’m happy on a vacation in Napa Valley.

Things can go terribly wrong, and they can, and they will … happiness will disappear like a splash of water on hot summer sidewalk … happiness is a variable … joy is a constant … 

Joy is deeper … less of the moment … more of a shaping, a long-term shaping of the soul … joy is quiet, calm, strong …  

Joy grows slowly … it requires a lot of Yes … 

Adults who come from difficult circumstances often look back to one or two people who loved them … someone saying Yes to them … so they made it … scars on the soul, scars on the body, but the power of Yes, the power of someone’s Yes in the midst of craziness and sadness … 

“You can do it!”

“I believe in you!”

Isaiah 35.1-2; Luke 1.39-56

God is saying Yes to us all the time.

I have found it to be true: joyful people are joyful because they tend to say Yes to life’s requirements … they learn the important lessons of trying something new … they learn the important lessons of failure … they can say Yes to the incomplete, the unexpected, the less-than-perfect realities of life.

Something worth doing is something worth doing badly … playing the piano, running cross-country, writing an essay, or learning how to dance.

The first piano recital may go well, but afterward, the budding pianist will rehearse it all over again … the weak spots, the missed notes, and so on.

Running cross-country, you may come in last.

A baseball star hits 330 … which means only one hit per three at-bats … two-thirds of the time, there’s no hit. 

Learning to dance is no easy task.

The piano player goes back to work … the baseball player talks to the coaches … and Mary is the Mother of Jesus.

It’s all begins with a simple Yes …

Hallelujah and Amen!

May 13, 2012 - Mother's Day - "A Cry for Peace"

1 Samuel 1.21-28 & Luke 1.26-33

This past week, on my Facebook page, I posted the following quote:

 A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.

A FB friend replied:

This describes my mother perfectly. She raised 9 children and while my father recuperated from a helicopter crash (burned on 80% of his body but lived another 50 years) money was EXTREMELY tight. As the 7th child, I remember one day she started making lunch for her and I when she discovered we were out of bologna. She'd already put mustard on two slices so she scraped the last of the peanut butter out onto the non-mustered bread for me and put the two mustard slathered slices together and proclaimed that "mustard sandwiches were her favorite" (but that remains the only time I ever saw her eat one.). Thanks for that memory Tom. I have to call Mom now.

I celebrate with you, Mother’s Day!

Yes, I know.

Not every mother is able to love as she should.

Who knows what kind of pain she’s passing on?

My mother was a tough customer.

A woman of intelligence and a lively sense of humor.

But abusive of her two sons and her husband.

A lasting sorrow in my life.

Why she was the way she was neither my brother nor I have been able to figure out.

Donna and I have talked about it so many times - without answers for any of it.

I learned just how good a mother could be when I met Donna’s Mom … a kind and thoughtful woman … hard-working all of her life to raise to her family … and worked outside the home, as well.

She was a woman of great love, good humor and deep faith - she left behind a ton of good memories.

I further learned about mothers watching Donna … there are not enough words in my vocabulary to tell her story … but I’m ever-grateful, and her children are crazy about her … and that’s about as good as it gets.

Celebrations of mothers and motherhood are found all around the world and throughout history.

In America, Mother’s Day originated with the Jarvis family in Grafton, West Virginia.

Ann Jarvis, a Methodist Sunday School Teacher, conceived of the idea as a Mother’s Friendship Day, and established a committee in 1868 "to reunite families that had been divided during the Civil  War" … she wanted to expand it into an annual memorial for mothers, but she died in 1905 before the celebration became popular.

It was her daughter, Anna Jarvis, who carried the banner after her mother’s death … ultimately leading to the establishment of a formal national day of recognition - in 1914..

In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, wrote “The Mother’s Day Proclamation (see the bulletin),  a protest against war - the carnage of America’s Civil War just ended and the Franco-Prussian War underway. 

Ms. Howe, a social activist, an abolitionist, authored one of the great American Hymns - anyone know?

That’s right … “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” … written after she and her husband visited Washington D.C. and met Abraham Lincoln at the White House, November, 1861.

Though the hymn is sometimes sung as a hymn of war, it’s a hymn of freedom for American slaves - God’s righteous purpose marching on, to liberate the oppressed, break the chains of slavery, set people free.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

Mother’s Day originates in the heart of a woman - her prayers for justice and peace … prayers for healing and social righteousness … prayers for her children.

Mother’s Day is a powerful reminder to all us - as Jesus said so pointedly, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Mother’s Day is a reminder of things that count … the choices we make - the story we live.

Several weeks ago, I shared with you the familiar story of the challenged children running a footrace in a Special Olympics event … you all know the story … 

The starter’s gun goes off and ten children begin to sprint toward the finish line, when suddenly, one of the runners stumbles and falls.

The other runners, turn and laugh at the fallen child, blame the child for her clumsiness, laugh at her sprawled on the ground, scold her for being stupid and lazy, telling her that she deserves to lose the race.

So the rest of runners continue the race, pushing and shoving one another, until only one crosses the finish line, to the wild cheers of the crowd.

The winner dances exultantly, pointing a finger at all the rest, calling them “losers” - because we all know there can only be one winner, and only those who push and shove to the finish line will win the day.

Is that how the story goes?

Is that the story we want to hear?

Of course not!

In the original story, the runners all stop, turn around, and pick up the fallen child, and together, arm-in-arm, they help each other reach the finish line, and all of them cross the finish line together.

As I told the first version, how the runners laugh at the fallen child, how did you feel?

Dear friends, what story are we living?

What race are we running?

What story did Jesus live?

What race did he run?

On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus stops to help the troubled woman at the well in Samaria. 

On his way to Jerusalem, he stops beneath the Jericho tree in which Zacchaeus had climbed.

He stops along the road to Jerusalem to heal blind Bartimaeus.

Yes, he has a place to go.

A race to win.

But he always stops along the way to help.

Again and again, Jesus stops - to help, heal, bless, make life better - for King Herod? For Pilot? For the people of wealth and power? For the privileged and the comfortable?

To whom does Jesus pay special attention?

In the days of Jesus:

The deaf and blind were scolded, as if it were there own fault - when Jesus healed the blind man in the temple - folks argued whether the man or his parents were to blame for the blindness.

The poor were blamed for their poverty, too … they must have done something wrong to merit God’s displeasure. After all, if they were good, if they did it right, then God would bless them, too.

Which is why the disciples were surprised when Jesus said:

It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded. [Matthew 19.23-25]

The disciples thought wealth was a sign of God’s favor.

Yet Jesus is clear in the parable of the Rich Fool - wealth is often the result of graft and greed … the lust for power, the willingness to run the race, and never turn to help anyone who has fallen.

Which story shall we live today?

Our nation is at a crossroads … like we were in the 1850s … trying to figure out what story to live.

Shall we be a nation of slave-holders or a nation wherein all free?

Are we nation bound together by a great vision of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Or shall we cease being a nation, with the States pitted against one another, everyone going their separate ways?

We salute Abraham Lincoln because he refused to let America tell a cheap story about itself … and there were some who wanted the cheap story so badly they were willing to fight a war over it.

Jesus tells us: You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Jesus is LORD and Savior because he refuses to let God’s People tell a cheap story about themselves … and there were some who wanted the cheap story so badly, they were willing to tell lies about Jesus and crucify him.

We have a story to tell.

A story told by Jesus every time he stopped to help someone.

A story told by Ann and Anna Jarvis.

A story told by Julia Ward Howe.

A story told by Abraham Lincoln - we are a nation, bound together by a common vision of liberty and justice for all.

I pray that America will take a deep breath … to celebrate Mother’s Day by celebrating every day our core values, our family families - with a simple recognition - that we all owe to one another a debt of love, because we are all brothers and sisters in God’s great family - what we need to do for one another can only be done collectively - like the children in the race, arm-in-arm, we cross the finish line.

What story shall we live?

For us as Christians, no task more important but to remind our nation, our politicians, remind the wealthy and the powerful to whom much has been given, and to remind ourselves everyday - of our high callings.

The high callings of love and kindness.

The highest of all callings … to provide for the welfare of our children.

Black and Yellow, Red and White … every color of the rainbow, they are precious in his sight … Jesus loves the little children of the world.

And that’s why we celebrate Mother’s Day!

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

That’s the news from Calvary on the Boulevard.

Where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

Happy Mother’s Day Calvary!

Happy Mother’s Day America.

Amen and Amen!

July 18 2010 - "An Uppity Woman"

Luke 10:38-41

Did ya’ hear about the economy?

The economy is so bad, I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

The economy is so bad, Motel Six won’t leave the light on anymore.

The economy is so bad, Exxon-Mobile laid off 25 Senators and House members.

The economy is so bad, CEOs are playing miniature golf.

Nothing like a good chuckle now and then to lift the spirit and put a smile on our face.

When folks heard about Mary and Martha, there were a lot of chuckles, and some frowns as well …

Some folks would’ve said, “Well done Mary.”

Others would have observed, “An uppity woman.”

Whatever it was that day, Mary stepped out of her box … or out of the kitchen, so to speak.

Mary violated a boundary … a boundary of place and  behavior.

Cooking belonged to women …

Women belonged in the kitchen …

Archeology tells us a lot … ancient homes had food prep areas removed from living areas – food was a woman’s thing, done outta sight.

Sound familiar?

American homes after WW2 - kitchens walled off from the eating areas … think of Thanksgiving … turkey and mashed potatoes prepared by (?) … women … served by (?) women, and after dinner, the woman cleaned up … and the men? … the men kicked back in their recliners and feel asleep … oh well.

But have ya’ noticed how homes are designed these days?

Kitchen and eating melded together … people gather in the kitchen, pitch in with dicing and chopping as they socialize … no walls between kitchen and dining, and what with the Food Channel, men are cooking as much as women are!

Not so in Mary’s time.

Boundaries were set … when Mary stepped out of the kitchen to “sit at the feet of Jesus,” she violated the boundaries …

The picture on the front of our bulletin says it well.

Sitting at the feet of Jesus is code language for being a disciple.

It’s not a physical location … it’s a commitment to learn from someone.

If we’re in school, we might say, “I’m sitting under Professor’s so-and-so’s teaching.”

Mary sat at the feet of Jesus.

Why?

To become a rabbi herself!

This is what disciples did?

They sat at the feet of a rabbi, to become rabbis.

And if they did well, one day, the rabbi would say to them, Go now. Go into all the world and make disciples. Spread the word. Teach what I’ve taught. And I’m with you always.

Mary said: I want to be a rabbi, too.

Is there room for me?

Can I do it?

Mary, get back into the kitchen where you belong!

That’s what Martha said!

Get back where you belong!

Let’s be honest.

This is not a pretty picture.

Mary sits at the feet of Jesus to learn.

Martha fumes.

Don’t you care LORD?

Care about what?

Boundaries?

Social world?

Matha’s agenda?

No Martha, I don’t care about those things.

And you shouldn’t either.

Martha, Martha (the double use of her name – pay attention Martha; listen up), you are worried and distracted about many things, but Mary has chosen the better part!

End of discussion!

So, where do we go from here?

Several things.

Boundaries are helpful.

Physical boundaries, that is.

When the light turns red, stop!

When it’s green, go!

Stay in your lane; don’t cross the yellow line.

Stay behind the fence.

Don’t walk on the grass.

Wash your vegetables.

Cook chicken thoroughly.

Bag your doggy’s stuff.

Boundaries all over the place, and mostly helpful.

But not all boundaries are helpful.

Like social boundaries.

Social boundaries can be downright nasty!

I remember family travels to Florida in the 50s …

Signage on buildings, “Colored entrance only” …

Remember when country clubs wouldn’t allow Jews?

Civic clubs wouldn’t allow women?

Social boundaries.

You can’t live here … you can’t come in … you don’t belong here … go to the back of the bus!

One day in December,1955, a tired lady by the name of Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white passenger … she was too tired to get up and move to the back of the bus – tired of being a second class citizen in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Her courage created the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

And the walls came tumbling down.

Joshua fit the battle of Jericho.

And the walls came tumbling down.

Joshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus.

Jesus is named after the man who brought the walls down.

Jesus fit the battle his Jericho …

Jesus crossed boundaries, to come our way, and be our savior.

Tore down walls …

The dividing walls of hostility, Paul the Apostle would write years later …

Our nation right now is debating all kind of walls and boundaries:

Marital boundaries.

Who’s married and who isn’t?

Is marriage ONLY between a man and a woman, or can marriage include any two adults who love one another, and want to care for one another, and create a home together?

Who’s an American?

Does that mean one has to speak English ONLY?

And how well should one speak?

What about our governor’s accent?

Children born of undocumented families – are those children automatically citizens?

Who’s in and who’s out?

Christians have spend enormous amount of time on who’s a Christian and who isn’t.

In the 5th Century – the Donatist controversy.

Bishop Donatus said: If ya’ caved in under Roman persecution, you’re not fit for the kingdom of God. Go away. We don’t want you.

The good bishop believed the church should be full of saints, and not sinners …

The good bishop spent a lot of time figuring out who was in and who was out.

The good bishop would be right at home in many a fundamentalist church today, right here in America …

The good bishop would have his own TV program, spreading his message of judgment and exclusion.

He’d be the head of a publishing empire and live in Colorado Springs, or Orange County.

His wife would wear fluffy little dresses with her hair perfectly teased.

All around the world, Christians still fuss and frett like Martha about things that don’t count right now … fuss and frett about boundaries, and who’s in and who’s out … who’s a member and who isn’t …

Our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers really struggle with boundaries, don’t they?

Who can receive communion?

Is the priesthood only for men?

And what about a priest who abuses children? Is that man still a priest?

Protestants, too, have their boundaries.

Go to a conservative church, and you’re likely to be questioned on all sorts of things.

Go to a liberal church, and you’ll be questioned about the same things …

Some of that is important, but not now.

Not in the world in which we live.

Not with so much sorrow and so much grief.

We don’t need to be spending time in the kitchen … but a lot more time at the feet of Jesus.

In our story today, a principle:

Boundaries that keep people out are never helpful.

Jesus breaks those kinds of boundaries boundaries.

He touches the dead.

He welcomes women.

He hangs around with sinners.

He doesn’t bow and scrap before the powerful.

He disregards dietary rules and violates Sabbath regulations.

He goes where he shouldn’t.

He does what is forbidden.

Now, something interesting happens.

Folks either get really angry at Jesus …

Or … folks get brave around him.

Fishermen leave their nets and families.

Matthew steps outta the tax booth.

Peter gets outta the boat.

Mary steps outta the kitchen.

In the presence of Jesus, they got brave!

On a more personal basis, what about our own boundaries.

Have we ever said to ourselves, “I can’t do it?”

That’s a boundary, isn’t it?

Self-imposed.

No one said it to us.

No one told us we couldn’t do it.

Or maybe they did.

Sometimes we inherit hideous boundaries from our families:

You’ll never amount to anything.

Why can’t you do what your older brother does?

Keep quiet.

Put away those brushes and get back to your homework.

Real men don’t cry, they play football.

Real women are always pretty, and never good at math.

A young mother bought a ham for dinner, and cut off the ends before baking.

Her daughter asked her, Why do you cut the ends off?”

The mother replied, I don’t know. That’s the way my mother did it?

I think I’ll ask her.

So she asked her mom, Why do you cut off the ends of the ham?

Her mother replied, Well, that’s the way MY mother did it, and she was a good cook.

Now great grandmother was still living, so they decided to ask her.

And great gramma said, I never had a pan big enough for a whole ham, so I cut off the ends so it would fit.

Today is a good day to look at our boundaries … social boundaries, emotional boundaries - boundaries that keep us down and keep us out.

It’s never too late to get outta the kitchen.

Never too late to cross a boundary.

Never too late to sit at the feet of the rabbi.

Mary chose the better part.

Mary, an uppity woman!

And to God be the glory!

Amen and Amen!

Mary - November 30, 2008

Audio Version HERE.

Luke 1:26-37

Goooooood morning, Covenant on the Corner … and welcome to the season called Advent … a series of four Sundays, laying a foundation, preparing the way … getting us ready, to celebrate the birth of the Messiah …

Year after year …
Why do we do this?

Well … why Thanksgiving every year … why not every five years, or ten years …
How about birthdays … well, maybe every five or ten years would be a good thing …
But lunch with a friend …
Listening to Handel’s Messiah …
Telling our best jokes … all over again …
Going to the beach on a Sunday afternoon …
Our favorite restaurant …
Good things bear repeating …

And some things, big things, important things, deserve a special place in our lives … because we never totally understand … never totally discover all the meaning … there’s always something new, something fresh and surprising about great things …

Like Psalm 23 … or the LORD's Prayer …
Or Mary’s Magnificat … and the announcement of good news to the shepherds in the hills …

So … welcome to Advent … again … and like never before …

This year, four questions …

Mary asks, How can this be? When the angel tells her she’s going to conceive …
For Joseph learning of Mary’s pregnancy, What now?
From the Inn Keeper: Is there room?
From the Shepherds: Are we included?

Advent is an epic tale … a big story … big ideas … a big-screen story …

Like “Gone with the Wind,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “LORD of the Rings,” “Australia” …
Colorful characters …
Great dialogue …
Drama and romance …
A journey for the soul …

Welcome to Advent … 2008 … a journey for the soul!

Today, Mary … and her question, How can this be?

If you grew up a Roman Catholic, Mary was very much the center … you grew up with the Rosary:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the LORD is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

For our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers, images of Mary are found everywhere, Mary Queen of heaven, wearing a crown and holding a scepter … Mary and her child … and one of the most famous of all images, the Pieta – Mary holding the crucified body of her son …

The 10th Century formalized the idea of Mary’s immaculate conception – that’s conception … not reception, as in football … Mary’s immaculate conception.

Early church dogma taught that sin was physically transmitted in the act of conception … this idea of sin physically transmitted goes back to St. Augustine in the 4th Century: sin - physically transmitted in the act of conception … which is why the Roman Church requires celibacy for priests and nuns – people in the religious profession should not pass sin on …

So Mary had to be sinless … so some theologians crafted the idea of her immaculate conception …
No sin in her flesh …
So that her son Jesus, could be born without sin, as well.

But it was only in 1854 that the idea was officially recognized as dogma, official teaching … required now of every Catholic …

But there’s even more …

In 1950, Pope Pius the XII formalized the dogma of Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven … before death could undo her, Mary was taken up into heaven, body and soul intact …

For many Roman Catholics, Mary is the center of their faith.

In Central and South America and Eastern Europe …
Mary is venerated …
Festivals and feasts …
Trinkets and treasures …
Plastic beads to diamonds and gold …
Prayers are said to her …
Pleas are made in her name …
Her solace is sought …

Visions of her are common in these parts of the world …
Her face strangely appears on walls and in clouds …
Her statues weep …
Her eyes move …

Mary, the Mother of God …

Now, if you grew up a Protestant, as I did,
You knew very little about Mary …
And for many a Protestant, we didn’t even celebrate Advent … we jumped right into Christmas, and that was that … and all we knew was that Christmas came after Thanksgiving … and Easter was way back there somewhere.

Ever since Vatican 2 in 1962 – convened by Pope John XXIII Protestants and Catholics have been talking and sharing …

Protestants began to adopt the liturgical year … seasons and festivals … including Lent and Advent, and lectionary preaching …

Protestants began to think and talk about Mary …

This morning, we’ll spend some time with Mary … and her question to Gabriel, How can this be?

Let’s open our Bibles and read some of her story … …

In order to understand this epic tale, we have to step back to Genesis 2, when God paid Adam and Eve a visit …
Expecting to find Adam and Eve enjoying the Garden, God finds them hiding in the bushes, afraid to come out … afraid of God.
They heard the sound of God walking in the Garden, they said, and they were afraid.

At every turn, when God shows, folks are disconcerted … even the most faithful don’t know what to do …

I think we’re all afraid of God … yes, really … it’s now in our genes, our spiritual makeup …
That’s why human beings invent religion … a way of taming the divine … putting in a firewall between us and God … something manageable, something we can tinker with – we can call it god, but it isn’t God … not even close!

We’re still in the bushes …

But God happens to love this world, and God loves you and me.

So what’s God to do?

I’m a dog-lover …
I get along with dogs and dogs get along with me …
But a friend’s dog was a different story …
My friend got Freddie from a pound …
And though Freddie loved my friend, he was afraid of me … one sniff, and that was that … a growl and a retreat to another room …
No matter what I did, it never worked … Freddie was always afraid of me …

Now, what might have happened if I could have become a dog … and with a little doggy language, say to Freddie, There’s no need to be afraid … remember that guy who used to frightened you? Well, that’s me, but I’m now just like you … I’m a dog, too … and you see, there’s no need to be afraid of me.

As goofy as this sounds, that’s the story of the incarnation … God becomes one of us … says to us in human tongue: remember that God you were always frightened of? Well, that’s me. Here I am. My name is Jesus. I eat and sleep; I laugh and weep. I live and I die. You see, there’s no need to be afraid of me.

God becomes one of us!

And how did this happen?

The angel Gabriel pays Mary a visit …

You’re going to be the mother of Israel’s Messiah …
You’re going to conceive a son, and he shall save the people.

Mary asks her question: How can this be?
How can this be, since I’ve not yet known Joseph?
I’ve not been with a man …
How can this be?

Mary’s young, but she knows how things happen …

Gabriel has no answer …
But Gabriel offers assures …
Whatever is going to happen is God’s work …
The Holy Spirit will come upon you Mary …

Something profound … something wonderful … a mystery, a joy, a delight … not of human doing, but of God’s mighty work.

At the heart of the story: Mary’s response
Here I am,
The servant of the LORD;
Let it be with me according to your word.

The cry of surrender …
I give myself to you in faith and obedience …
Thy will be done!

What do we know about Mary?

She’s smart …
When she visits her cousin Elizabeth, Mary sings a song of praise … we call it the Magnificat – from the LORD for magnify … my soul magnifies the LORD, sings Mary.

Mary’s Magnificat is an eloquent recital of God’s promises …
God is no pansy …
But incredibly patient …
And there is coming a time when wrongs will be righted, the oppressed set free … the proud brought down, and the lowly lifted up …

Mary knew her Bible.
What we call the Old Testament …

Jewish children at her age had memorized huge portions of the Bible … and Mary would have been around the age of 13 …
Children were well-taught by the rabbis and scribes …
They knew how to read Torah …
They heard it every Sabbath in the synagogue …
It was rehearsed in their prayer life …
And every Passover feast …
And other festivals throughout the year …
It was on their parents’ lips all the time …

First Century Palestine was Scripture-soaked …
Everyone knew their Bible …
Mary knew her Bible …
She knew it well enough to sing a song filled with it …

What do we know about Mary?

She wasn’t afraid … she was daring and willing …
She asked her questions …
Time and again, we’re told: she tucked things away, she pondered them in her heart …
Mary was a thinker …

And when others might have been afraid, she was just perplexed … and wondered, What’s up with this?

She was comfortable with God.
The angel assures her all the more: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God
Greetings favored one! The LORD is with you.

What do we know about Mary?
She’s savvy … she’s spiritual … she’s a thinker …

At the heart of her heart …
Trust and surrender …

Frightened people will not surrender to God …
Only confident people can take their life into their own hands and deliver it unto God … freely and confidently:
Here I am,
The servant of the LORD;
Let it be with me according to your word.
That’s why God works so hard to remove fear from our lives …

Can we learn from Mary?

She’s a clear and abiding example for all of us …
To walk humbly with God, writes Micah …

A child holding hands with a parent …
Two friends out for a hike in the mountains …
Lovers on the Santa Monica Pier …

Over the years of ministry, I’ve pondered the nature of surrender …
A friend said to me one day, and he was a Christian, The word surrender bothers me …
It became clear in further conversation: My friend was afraid of losing control … it was important for him to maintain boundaries, remain in charge …

My friend grew up in the church …
Knew the stories … lived a virtuous life …
But didn’t feel safe with God.

It’s the Adam-and-Eve-in-the-bushes syndrome …

But here’s where Mary is instructive for all of us …
She’s young as age goes …
But wise in the ways of God …
What was her strength?

We have a clue in her Magnificat, her song of praise …
She knew her Bible …
She knew it in the depths of her heart …
Not just a verse here and there, not just slogans and sayings, but the story, the whole story, and nothing but the story: the great themes and exulted ideals … the power and the glory … the goodness of God.

Mary was no stranger to the things of God.

When she asks, How can this be?
Gabriel says, This is all I know Mary; it’ll be God!

Gabriel’s simple answer is right …
We don’t have the details …
It’s always a mystery …
Paul the Apostle says it well: we see through a glass darkly.

The simple answer from Gabriel: It’ll be God’s work Mary – that’s how it’s going to happen.

That simple answer was good enough for Mary.
Because she was already comfortable with God.

If Mary were here today, she’d say to us: If you want to get anywhere with God, if you want to get beyond square one, surrender you life!

You see, all of us are a Mary in waiting …
We have a heart …
Call it a womb …
A place where God wants to take up residence …
A place where the Messiah is conceived …

You see, Gabriel still comes to us …
To tell us that God wants to get inside of us …
God wants more than religion …
God wants a relationship …
Up close and personal …

To be conceived within us …
So that God can be born into the world through us.

For this Season of Advent: Mary’s surrender:
Here I am,
The servant of the LORD;
Let it be with me according to your word.

Amen and Amen!