12.15.24 Advent 3: Joy, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pasadena, CA

 Isaiah 61.8-11; Luke 1.26-38

It all begins with a simple “Yes!” … 

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

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

Mary says, “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 …  

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 to 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 am 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 - he 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.

“I believe in you!”

“You can do it!”

The Power of “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!”

Let’s pause here for a moment, let’s be silent … recall some of the folks who said “Yes!” to you, and offer a special prayer of thanks for them … … …

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

I wonder who said “Yes!” to Mary … was it her relative, Elizabeth?

As soon as Mary is with child, she goes with haste to a small town in the hills, to visit Zachariah and Elizabeth … it’s Elizabeth who says to her, Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb … Mary stays with Elizabeth for three months.

I suspect God waited until there was enough “Yes!” in Mary’s life for her to say “Yes!” to the angel … and it’s a strong “Yes!”

Evident in the Magnificat … Mary’s song of joy and justice …

My soul magnifies the LORD, sings our Mary, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

The power of “Yes!”

Discipleship begins with a “Yes!”  but we’re not the first to say it … God says it first … “Yes!” to you, to me, to the world … 

God says “Yes!” to a million, billion, gazillion, things: love, life, hope, peace, goodness, justice, fair play, decency, honesty, humility, kindness, mercy, truth, forgiveness.

The cornerstone of our faith: Jesus says “Yes!” …“Yes!” to the cross, to the sorrow and pain of it all, the fear and the trembling … Jesus rightly asks of his Father for an alternative, but there is no alternative, to the hard work of faith … so Jesus “Yes!” … “Yes!” to death and the tomb … “Yes!” to all of it … because there is no other way.

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!”

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

Mary says “Yes!” to the angel … Rev. Faber says “Yes!” to me … throughout the years of my work, countless people have said “Yes!” to the LORD, “Yes!” to the calling of God … “Yes!” to the work ahead … to the work of the church … “Yes!” to the cross, because “Yes!” is likely to ask everything of us …  

“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 is better thrown to the wind, 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 provides 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.

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

Joy to the world the Lord is come

Let earth receive her king

Let every heart prepare Him room

And heaven and nature sing

The power of “Yes!” … 

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.

Hallelujah and Amen!

The Inn Keeper: Is There Room? - December 14, 2008

Audio Version HERE.

Good morning, Covenant on the Corner … I’m glad to be here … thanks for inviting me.

Let me introduce myself … my name is … uh, well … that’s irrelevant, I guess …
I don’t have a name … as far as the story is concerned …
I’m just the Inn Keeper … in a little tiny town called Bethlehem … and not really an inn at all … just a spare room for folks … not much at all … but it brings in a few extra shekels now and then …

I remember the night … our “good friend” Quirinius was doing a census, so the Romans could tax us all the more – those dirty dogs … we didn’t like it one bit … but, we had to do what they said … “Everyone to their hometown … to register …”

So things got a little crowded … we were full – mostly family … my brother and his wife and three kids … two cousins and an uncle, and an old friend from childhood … plus my wife and my four boys, and two daughters …

We finished eating that night … sitting around the courtyard fire … a fine evening it was … cool and clear … bright stars … we were complaining about the Romans … they leave us alone most of the time, but, you know, they call the shots … they tell us when to jump, and we have to ask, “How high?”

But we try not to complain too much - life is mostly good for us … and it was good to see some of the family and my old friend … the dinner was good, and we were enjoying a last cup of wine …

And then a knock at the gate … “Now what?” I groaned … I got up and went to see who it was …

I opened the peephole … a young couple standing there … in the moonlight, I could see her leaning on him … she didn’t look so good …

“Do you have some room?” he wearily asked … “we’re here for the census … we don’t know where to stay … and my wife … she’s due any time.”

“Oh my,” I said … “there’s no room for you in the inn.”

Well, THAT was a fateful remark …

Down through the centuries, I’ve been the bad guy of Bethlehem … I’ve been scolded and scorned … thousands of sermons preached about me - what a crummy guy I was … “no room in the inn” – shame on me, shame on any of us who have no room for Christ … well, you know the story … you’ve probably heard a few of those sermons a time or two … even musicals and stories about me, what a louse I am.

But let me tell you the rest of the story.

“Come on in,” I said to that weary young couple.
I opened the gate and they made their way into the courtyard …

“We have a few more guests,” I said to everyone gathered around the fire …

And then turning to the young couple, “What are your names?”
“Joseph and Mary, from Nazareth … we’re here for the census.”

“Sit down,” I said, “you must be hungry.”

My wife came over with a couple bowls of stew and some wine … yes, they were hungry, and tired, too.

And from the looks of it, the young lady was close to her time … she looked a tad bit miserable … and what a shame to have to be on the road at a time like this …

“We have no room in our living quarters … but we can put you in the stable area … it’s not much, and the animals are in for the night … but I just put in clean bedding, and it’ll be safe and private for the two of you … we’re glad you’re here, and we’ll make room for you … it’s gonna be just fine.”

“And Joseph, was your daddy Heli? I knew him some years ago; fact is, we were shirttail relatives … they moved away and I never saw them again.”

Joseph nodded and said, “We moved to Nazareth – my dad thought they’re be a little more work up north. And there was, and I’m a carpenter, too, just my Daddy.”
Looking around the courtyard, he said, “Thanks for letting us in; it’s been a long time since I’ve been back in Bethlehem.”
Mary smiled and leaned her head on Joseph’s shoulder … she was tired.

We put up their donkey … and their few belongings … and took them to the stable … a quiet corner; safe and private … and the rest of us headed up to the living quarters … we were all tired and ready for sleep.

Well, wouldn’t ya’ know it …
My wife awakened me in the middle of the night … “It’s time,” she said.
“Time for what?” I asked, sleep clouding my mind.
The young lady is going to have her baby.”

My wife and my sister-in-law stepped down to the stable area … the rest of us, now wide awake … listening, waiting … goodness, this on top of everything else …

Our women helped the young lady … Joseph came up to sit with us … he was worried, I could tell … he sat on the floor, arms wrapped tightly around his knees … a quiet man, he was.

Well, it wasn’t long before we heard the first cry … my wife poked her head up to the living area and said, “It’s a boy!”
Thank God for the women … they had things well in hand … and when the child was cleaned and wrapped, they put him in one of the mangers … clean straw, comfortable … it’s the best we could do, and not too bad at that.

So ended the hope of any sleep for us … but who cared … new life was here … and that’s always a miracle … and who knows, he might be the Messiah.”

Every household wondered when a boy was born – Is he the One?

Will he set the people free?
Put the world right?
Get rid of the hated Romans?
Rebuild Israel?

So there we sat … too excited to sleep … too tired to do anything else …

Toward morning, there was some rapping at the gate … “Now what?” I fumed to myself …

I walked to the gate, and opened the peephole – a bunch of shepherds … what in the world are they doing here?

“Can I help you?” I asked warily …

“You won’t believe why we’re here. Sorry to disturb you so early, but we saw angels in the sky – no, we’re not drunk – we really did; we really saw angles … they sang to us, and told us that a Savior had been born in Bethlehem … that we would find him wrapped in simple blankets lying in a manger …”

“You’re the first house on the road … do you know of a newborn in town?”

Do I know of a newborn?

Yup, you came to the right place, all right. A boy, just born a few hours ago, right here … a young couple from Nazareth, here for the census.”

When I said “census,” the shepherds spit on the ground … how we despised our overlords …

I opened the gate, and in they came – “Good grief, what a smell.”

I took them to the stable, and what a chatter … they poured out their story … there they were, in the hills, watching the sheep late at night … nodding off … when suddenly, angels … a whole bunch of ‘em … singing … loud … and one angel in particular … a big thing, said … “Don’t be afraid … we’ve got good news for you …”

“And then, poof, they were gone … just like that … so, now what? We were pretty shook up, but we figured we’d better see what’s up, so here we are.”
“And it’s true what those angels said … a child wrapped in simple blankets, lying in a manger. This must be the One.”

We were all amazed by their story … you know - sometimes you hope for something, you hope for a long, long, time … and then it happens, and you don’t know what to do with it.

Those smelly shepherds took leave and headed back to the hills, and there we stood … mouths hangin’ down to the floor …

“What in the world was that all about?”

And that’s what I remember about the first night …

There was no room in the guest room, and our quarters were full, but we made room for them in the stable, and that’s all they needed. They were decent folk, and we did the best we could.

They stayed with us for a couple of weeks … on the 8th day, our rabbi came by and the boy was circumcised, and they named him Jesus – “God saves” – what a great name, in this crummy time of ours … faith, hope and love … it’s gonna work out for us … we people of the covenant don’t ever give up … we believe that God will save us when the time is right.
A few days later, off they went to Jerusalem for their purification and to present their firstborn to the LORD.

That was the last we saw of them.

After their visit to Jerusalem, they returned home to Nazareth.

And that’s the end of the story … at least for thirty years … until we began to hear strange reports … “a prophet has arisen in the land … a man of authority … who speaks clearly and forcefully about the kingdom of God … who heals the sick and casts out demons … his name is Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth …”

Was this the little boy born in our home that night so long ago?

Well, there’s always more to a story then meets the eye, but let me pause here for a few moments …

I want you be clear about one thing – I’m not a bad guy. What the centuries did to me wasn’t right. But everyone loves to have a bad guy, I guess, and it was easy for folks to single me out.

Glad to know that you’re finally getting the story straight … it took a long time, but that’s okay. I’m a patient man.

Your archeologists have been really helpful, digging around like they do … well, they’ve actually uncovered some ancient homes in Bethlehem … they have a better idea … we were a small town …

We didn’t have inns, so to speak … Holiday Inns or Ramada Inns with dozens of rooms … we were a small town, and my wife and I were blessed to have a little extra space – you see, our homes were built with a stable attached … we slept on the upper level, and the heat of the animals warmed us during the night … and attached to our quarters, a guest area … folks thought we were pretty well off …
We cooked our meals and ate in the courtyard most of the time … we have a wonderful climate, you see, sort of like you folks here in LA – we’re outside most of the time.

When Luke says, “There was no room in the inn,” the word for inn really means living quarters, and he’s right, there was no room – we full up with family and friends for that dadgum census.”

But we MADE room that night.
I guess there’s always room, and a little more food for weary travelers.

And if I may, let me remind you that our God is content with whatever space we have to give.

Sometimes you Christians forget just how humble God is … what with your big buildings and fancy schmancy programs … we Jews had our problems, too, with that big temple of ours, and the Pharisees and the Sadducees all decked out in their extravagant robes and prayer shawls with the long fringes … would you believe, they competed with one another for just how fancy it was, and how long the fringe?

So, we’ve had our problems, too.

But that night in Bethlehem, we learned again what we always knew … our God is a humble God … loving and kind, and doesn’t ask much of us … and doesn’t need much of us … just a little room will do, whatever we have to offer.

Sometimes you Christians put too much pressure on yourselves … as if God were so fancy, and you had to have your soul just right, your life in order … but God doesn’t work that way … God doesn’t need the best, whatever that means … God just needs a simple place in your heart, and maybe, just maybe, THAT is the best!

No one ever gets their life all straightened out … things are too hard for that.
So, don’t wait until you’ve got everything put together … that’ll never happen in this life … but that’s okay … it’s amazing what God can do with us when we’re willing to let God in …

Everyone has a little place somewhere, just right for God …

That night, I knew I had room, and so do you, dear friend.

Just open the door and let God in … Jesus will be born in your heart … I don’t know how it works, but it does.

Thanks for having me here this morning … God bless each of you … and the next time you’re in Bethlehem, stop on by … we’ll find room for ya’, even if it’s only in the stable.

Amen!