The Community of Believers: Mary & Elizabeth's Story

Micah 5: 2-5a
Luke 1: 39-55

Let’s tell a story about two women both pregnant, both scared and unsure of their future. They are separated by a long distance, it’s a hard journey. It’s a hard journey whether you are man or a woman, but for a pregnant woman the journey becomes that much harder.

Both have been put into a situation beyond their control and both have been given orders by a higher power. Unsure of what’s going to happen in their futures, they feel that baby inside of them and know that their destiny will always be linked to that little tiny person.

The thoughts that must have ran through their heads; Elizabeth with her husband Zechariah who couldn't speak because he refused to heed the power of the Lord. She would go about her busy days, washing and cleaning, sweeping the floor while her husband sat in silence. Did she talk? Just to hear her own voice, to hear a human voice, since her husband could not participate in the conversation. Or did she sit there quietly while she did her chores, to allow the silence to invade every nook and cranny of that space?  Was it a heavy silence or was it calm and peaceful, almost holy and sacred?

How did Zechariah feel - this old man, this stubborn old man watching the baby continue to grow inside of Elizabeth?  Knowing no matter what he did or thought he was not going to be able to speak to her because of his lack of faith and trust.

Months pass, the baby continues to grow. And all of a sudden, one day, in comes Mary. Now Mary’s story is about a young girl, we know she is probably a teenager; a young teenager. We’re not sure about Joseph. He could have been a young man or he could have been older too. Both have been suggested. But Mary, pregnant and having never had sex – that would baffle people today, let alone people back then.

Did she wonder if it was really God? Was an angel really speaking to HER? Little old Mary from a tiny village. She was no one. She was just a young girl, getting ready for her wedding day when the angel came to her. The confusion and the bafflement she had to have felt. But she managed to answer the angel and say, “yes I will do this”.

Although even as she says yes, at the same time how her head must have swirled with thoughts. How her heart must have raced with fear and pure adrenaline that something so magnificent, so monumental and scary had been thrust upon her without her consent. No one asked Mary if this is what she wanted to do. They told her after the fact.

Pregnancy back then was never as joyful as it is today, because the chance of you surviving birth wasn't always that good, and the chance of your baby surviving was even less so. If you managed to give birth to that baby, more often than not they died in their first year, and if not the first year then the first five when the children are the most vulnerable.

And here is the angel of the Lord, coming to Mary and saying, “You have been blessed.” Maybe I’m a cynic but I think in my head, I would have been thinking, “That’s not a blessing. That’s a burden. You have just given me the task of giving birth to the world’s savior. You have just told me that the world’s fate rests on whether I can give birth to a healthy baby and keep him alive.” But she managed to answer the angel and said she would do it.

However, when the angel disappeared and she had to go tell Joseph that she was pregnant, yet never had sex, and that somehow it was magically the savior, the Messiah they had all been waiting for – I’m sure she was terrified. I’m sure she had doubts about her own sanity. So what did she do? What did Mary decide to do?

She got ready, she hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea and entered Zechariah and Elizabeth’s home. Why did she do that? What was the purpose of going to Elizabeth? Elizabeth even asks that, “Why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” it was simple really. Mary was scared and she was pregnant and probably felt very alone.

Elizabeth was pregnant and might as well have been alone because Zechariah could not speak and their family was not supporting them. So Mary sought out the one person who might know exactly how she felt. Mary needed someone who knew what she was going though. She needed community. It is one of the reasons that we come to church.

We need community. We need people to share our common lot with. We need people who will understand when we say, “I believe in Jesus Christ as my lord and savior. I believe in the Holy Spirit who resides in my heart. I believe in God the Father who sent his only Son so that I could be saved”. We need a place, a holy space where we can go and talk and commiserate with each other. Listen to each other’s burdens and woes, embrace each other and share in the joys that we have in our lives. The blessings we have received. So we might have a moment of hope, to know that as bad as things sometimes get, as scary as they were for both Mary and Elizabeth, there is joy and peace to be found.

When Mary sought out Elizabeth, the two together found faith and joy, they provided comfort for each other. Elizabeth as she turns to Mary’s greeting, suddenly the baby leaps in her womb. I've never been pregnant, but I've watched very pregnant ladies, and when the baby suddenly kicks, you can see it happen. With my sister Allicia, she had twins, and you could see a hand pushing on one side and a foot on the other and you knew it was both of them moving around; perhaps having a little baby fight or something in there.

Those of you that have been pregnant or witnessed such things can imagine the baby leaping in Elizabeth’s womb as she was filled with the Holy Spirit. What is that Scripture we say so often, “Where two or three gather in God’s name, His Spirit resides”. And Elizabeth in a loud voice exclaims, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you bear”, which is an instant source of comfort for Mary who sought out Elizabeth because she was terrified. She needed the reassurance that this was not all in her mind, that this was not a burden, this was a blessing. She needed to know the little baby inside of her would survive and would save the world, and she was going to have a beautiful part in that.

Never in the story does it say it will be easy, but now because she has sought out Elizabeth, she knows she can do it. There are people there rooting for her, the Holy Spirit will be with her, and she is blessed.

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her”. That is what Elizabeth tells Mary. “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfilled his promise to her”. And just with those few words Mary’s terror and fear changed to joy and she began her song.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my soul rejoices in God my savior. Where he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant”.  Now, now Mary understands all will be well. Because she has sought out one that understands her pain, understands her terror of this not being a blessing, but a burden. Instead, she realizes with Elizabeth’s words of reassurance and comfort that she can do this. That God has made her a blessed person and generations of people will hail her name because she was willing to set aside the shame, the fear, the pain of years of uncertainty as she raises this child. She was willing to put all of this aside to rejoice in the Lord and to accept what had been thrust upon her.

This is what God offers to us as we come to church, and as we prepare ourselves for the coming of our lord and savior. We can put the fears away. We can put the pain away for a moment. The burdens, the responsibilities, the hurts inflicted by people knowingly and unknowingly will all be set aside for a moment. We can put it all away so we may embrace our future, together in community, sharing God’s love, sharing God’s commitment to us. Rejoicing in the promises made that will NOT be broken. But we need that reassurance. We need that time to reflect which is what Advent gives to us.

Tomorrow as we come together and read the story of our Savior’s birth, and sing the songs that magnify our souls and help us to rejoice, we will do so knowing that in the last four weeks we have taken a moment to commiserate with those that came before us. We have taken a moment to understand what it means to be faithful followers, and to know that God will never leave us alone. He will never leave us nor forsake us for he has sent his son to be with us, and we shall call him Emmanuel – God with us.

Amen. 

The Pinch of Salt

Isaiah 12: 2-6
Luke 3:7-18

Did you know to make a dessert sweeter, a pinch of salt is often added? If you want to bring out the full flavor of fruit, a squeeze of lemon works wonders. Did you know the quilts the Amish painstakingly make always have a flaw in them? Today we read the rest of Luke 3 and John the Baptist’s revelations about the Messiah. In it, we receive the pinch of salt, the squeeze of lemon, the flaw in the quilt that reminds us that good news often needs a dose of reality to make it truly good.

John the Baptist is one of my favorite people in the bible because he does not mess around. He cuts straight to the point, gets to the reality of the situation quicker than any prophet does previously. Even Jesus will often skate around the point he’s trying to lead the people to by offering them questions and parables. Jesus does this because it is more beneficial for a person to discover the truth with their own minds than to be told the truth. But John, well he is all about cutting to the heart of the matter and telling everyone exactly the way it will be. I can appreciate that because I have a similar philosophy.

John the Baptist is out in the wilderness preaching the coming of the Messiah. He is preaching the good news! He is giving every Jew the news that for thousands of years they have been anticipating. The news spread like wildfire. Everyone was coming out to see the crazy Baptist man in the wilderness who was yelling about the coming Messiah. People were shouting for joy, preparing their children, praying to God, offering sacrifices in the temple.

Have any of you watched or been to Times Square on New Year’s Eve? I have a cousin who went and when she came back she told me the energy in the air is electric. She said the anticipation and party atmosphere soaks into your bones and you find yourself unable to feel the cold because you’re warm from the inside out. You smile because others are smiling, you laugh at jokes that aren’t normally that funny. She said if she could go every year she would because the feel good camaraderie makes the rest of the year seem more hopeful and happy.

This is how I imagine the crowds felt as they listened to John speak. People were smiling, clapping, laughing. They were bringing their friends and neighbors and children out into the wilderness to hear this news that made them warm from the inside out. But all of a sudden, John shouts, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

It had to have felt like a bucket of cold water dropped on all of their heads. The instant silence, the awkward glances exchanged among the crowd of people as they listen to him go from glowing terms of the Messiah’s coming to their own wickedness. The shifting of feet, the almost silent muttering as people listened to him and realized their own sinfulness. The joy became shame as they realized they are not ready for the Messiah to come. John the Baptist was serious when he said the people needed to prepare the way for the Lord.

They needed to prepare the way for the Lord to enter their hearts by accepting their utter unworthiness to receive him. This is the dose of reality that keeps the Gospel from being a fairytale. Yes, Jesus is coming to save the world. Yes, Jesus will love all people. Yes, Jesus will forgive you for the wrongs you have committed. Yes, you will be given eternal salvation and go to heaven. BUT. First, before any of that can happen, we must clear our hearts and minds of wickedness. We must ask God to forgive us for the pain we have caused in the world. We must ask God to help us become better people. We must ask God to send his Spirit deep into our hearts and reveal to us our own sinfulness so we can let go of that darkness to embrace the light of Jesus Christ.

If we do not, John the Baptist tells us what will happen. “and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” You’d think some people would be turned off by this harsh speaking, this utter honesty coming from John’s lips. However, the people’s response, from young to old, from innocent babe to hardened soldier was, “What can we do then?”

We need both the Good News and the consequences of what happens when we ignore the Good News. We need that little dose of bitterness to make the rest of it sweeter. In the movie, “A Walk to Remember” Mandy Moore says to her bitter boyfriend, “Suffering makes the world a more compassionate place.” At the time he responds, “tell that to those who suffer” and he doesn’t find out until the end of the movie that Mandy is one of the people that is suffering. However, she knew that the truth depth of meaning and feeling is found when we experience both sides of the coin. We need both pain and happiness to be able to truly understand both emotions.

We need to know that we are sinful, and we need to know how deeply our sins have invaded into our core selves so that we can truly appreciate the joy of being forgiven. John the Baptist understood humanity better than many of us do. He understood that humanity needs the pain of rejection we could experience to understand the happiness in complete acceptance that Jesus offers us. We need to know the pain we have caused so we can make amends equal to the hurt we inflicted.

Think about it this way. When do we appreciate life the most? Isn’t it right after experiencing loss or the fear of losing a loved one or our own life? Advent is the time we take to sweep away the darkness in our souls so that when that little baby Jesus, our Lord and Savior, comes into our lives, we can appreciate and understand the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus makes us good. Jesus makes us better. Jesus makes us whole.

And the only way to truly grasp what it means to be made whole is when we look at the fragmented mess our souls are in without Jesus to hold us together.

Amen.

True Meaning of CHRISTmas

Malachi 3: 1-4
Luke 3:1-6

Resistance. This time of year invokes resistance in many of us because our expectations of Christmas and the New Year have become separated from the expectation God has for us during this time. The demands we have placed on ourselves have created a tension within us because we want things to go smoothly during our parties and we want our decorations to be perfect and we hope to find just the right gifts to give our loved ones. However, God has already picked out the perfect decorations and has sent us all the most perfect of gifts. The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are not supposed to be spent frantically. God asks us to take this time to prepare for the gift he has given us.

Advent is a special time and it is not because of the trees or the wreaths or the candles. Advent is where we take four weeks to prepare the way for the Lord. John the Baptist spoke about making the way straight for the Lord so all people will see God’s salvation. This was a striking image in a country full of sand dunes, mountains, and rocky paths that made traveling difficult. How do we prepare for the coming of our Lord? How can we make the path straight for others as well as ourselves?

John the Baptist gives us the first clue. After he receives his message in the wilderness, every person he finds he tells them about the one who is coming, the Messiah. Then when they believe his message, he baptizes them so they may repent of their sins. Does this mean that we should run around for the next several weeks shouting about our coming Messiah and everyone that shows interest we should baptize?

No, your job for the next several weeks is to take stock of your life. Each day, take a moment to quietly assess where you are in your spiritual journey. What have you left undone? Each day, pray for forgiveness for whatever wrongs you have committed. Take time to be with your family, or if they live far away, speak with them on the phone or write them a card. Each day, say a prayer and find a place to quietly think about the gift God is sending to you. As much as many of us enjoy the parties and the gifts and the rich food, Advent and Christmas have nothing to do with any of those things. Perhaps that is why the holidays are not always a happy time for people. The pressure to succeed and to do things right is enormous. The financial toll this season takes because of the social expectations is substantial. The strain it puts on personal and professional relationships is not insignificant either.

A couple weeks ago a channel was airing a Charlie Brown Christmas and Charlie has been tasked to find the perfect tree for their Christmas play. Well, Charlie finds a real tree, which is tiny and who’s needles fall everywhere, it’s a rather pathetic little tree. All the children make fun of him because Charlie didn’t pick out one of the bright, shiny metal trees that had become so popular.

Suddenly fed up Charlie Brown yells out, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?!” Linus replies, “Of course Charlie Brown. The true meaning of Christmas is, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field and keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shown around about them. They were so afraid and the angel of the Lord said, Fear not for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy and it shall be to all people. For unto you this day born in the city of David is a Savior which is Christ the Lord.”

Many people have become upset with the word Christmas not being used to describe the trees or the wreaths or the lights that we have at this time of year. Many emails and buttons and signs go up that say, “Keep CHRIST in Christmas”. I love that idea. Keep Christ in Christmas. It is what we are celebrating for and it is what we are supposed to be preparing for right now. But I challenge the idea that the trees, or the lights, or the wreaths are Christmas-y. Where are they in the story? When did Christmas become the things we hang on our walls or the music we sing as we decorate? When did Christmas become the many gifts under the tree or the eggnog we drink at the parties? When did Christmas become the wrapping paper and the tinsel?

Jesus is Christmas. Jesus is the gift. Jesus is the light that shines brighter than any we could decorate with. Jesus is the one who died on a tree for us. Jesus is the one who wore the crown of thorns on his head in a mockery of his birth status. We get all caught up in the word, and not caught up enough in the meaning behind the word.

It’s okay if others call it a holiday and we call it Christmas. Christ doesn’t disappear just because the word isn’t used. Jesus will still be a gift for all who are willing to accept him as Lord and Savior. Our job, during this Advent season, is to be willing to share that good news to anyone who wants to listen and then invite them to become your brother or sister in Christ. This holiday versus Christmas debate was won 2000 years ago and no matter what we call it, the meaning stays the same. Fear not, they cannot take Jesus from us.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field.. and an angel of the Lord appeared before them and said, “Fear not, for I bring you tidings of great joy for unto you this day born in the city of David is a Savior which is Christ the Lord.”

Amen.