12.17.23 "Advent 3 - Joy!" Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Isaiah 61.1-4, 8-11; Luke 1.26-38

It all began with a simple “Yes!” … 

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

And so it came to pass - Mary became the mother of Jesus … the Holy Mother of God … Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

Mary said “Yes!” …

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

Another friend said to me years ago, “I’m tired of saying “Yes!”, but I’ll keep on saying “Yes!” because I’m even more tired of what happens when I say “No!”

I celebrate with you today those who say Yes to life … yes, to you and to me …

In my senior year in Grand Rapids Christian High School, the spring of 1962 … as graduation neared, my Bible teacher, the Rev. Morris Faber, invited the seniors to come to the front of his classroom and share their plans.

One after the other, this and that, 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 enroll in the pre-seminary course … and with that, laughter erupted … I mean, serious, raucous, uncontrolled, laughter, and I was laughing right along with all 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, 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 ministry should look like, it certainly wasn’t me. 

The class laughed, and so did I.

When the laughter died down, 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 of affirmation … as you can tell … Rev. Faber’s 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. Morris Faber and his wife. 

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

I left my table and walked over to them, introduced myself … 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 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 … when I left, he picked up his hamburger and continued eating … his wife, with tears in her eyes.

A simple yes … 

Adults who come from difficult circumstances often look back to one or two people who loved them … someone who said “Yes!” to them, again and again … 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!”

The Power of Yes!

When others say “Yes!” to us, something happens deep inside of our soul - we begin to say “Yes!” to ourselves … 

I suspect Mary had said “Yes!” to herself long before the angel showed up … I suspect God waited until there was enough “Yes!” in Mary’s life for her to say “Yes!” to the angel.

However Mary was reared, whatever experiences she had, it’s evident from the Magnificat, Mary’s song of joy and justice, that Mary had a lot of “Yes!” in her life … and God be praised for that, and for every “Yes!” ever spoken in this world into the face of pain and sorrow, evil and injustice, lies and distortions … God says “Yes!” to a million, billion, gazillion, things: love, life, hope, peace, goodness and justice, fair play, decency, honesty, humility and kindness, mercy and truth.

Paul the Apostle says it well: For the Son of God, Jesus Christ … was not “Yes and No”; but in him it is always “Yes!” For in him, everyone of God’s promises is a “Yes!”

Which is why one of our alternate banners outside says, “God loves every body” - 

Every kind and type of body - flesh, blood, and bone … every shape, color, proportion, ability, and life … we are our bodies.

It’s “Yes!” that saves the day, and makes a way … it’s “Yes!” that calls for engagement, partnership, compromise, patience, working-arrangement, getting along, and making do.

Mary said “Yes!” to the angel … Rev. Faber said “Yes!” to me … and throughout the years of my work, countless people have said “Yes!” to the LORD, “Yes!” to the calling of God, to the work ahead … to the work of the church … “Yes!” to the cross, because “Yes!” is likely to ask everything of us … to give deeply, profoundly, as near-total as we can, again and again.

“Yes!” is a dangerous word … it gets us into things we didn’t plan on, and sometimes into things we don’t want.

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 sometimes, and maybe more often than not.

One thing for sure: “Yes!” may get us into trouble, but “No!” will get us nowhere. 

One of the components of “Yes!” is trust … trust in life, trust in God, trust in others … life will provide the ways and means of getting something done … because God is involved in all of this … and, yes, we can do it … because that’s how God made us.

It may be difficult … ask Mary how easy it was to bear the child of our salvation and become the Mother of God.

I think of Sharleen Piereson, and George Coulter, 

who said “Yes!” a thousand times over … 

and when the Everlasting Arms carried them away, they heard heaven declare, “Yes! … and welcome home!”

 

“Yes!” opens the door to all kinds of things … some of them will be downright difficult … and some of them good beyond all measure … 

The power of “Yes!” … “Yes!” to each of you, and “Yes!” to life.

It is, after all, Mary’s Sunday.

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.

Amen!