The Holy Gospel According to St. Luke, the 1st Chapter
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he
Can you stand it any more? Only three days left! And FINALLY we have some Christmasy sounding Bible lesson! I know, we talk about Jesus coming all Advent, but it’s mostly about the adult, resurrected Jesus returning to finish making everything into the way God wants it and not the baby Jesus in the manger. It’s either that, or we talk about John the Baptist, the weird, smelly, bug eating guy announcing Jesus coming. But today we get some real BABY Jesus news!
Last week was John the Baptist again. He didn’t meet the religious authority’s expectations and he told the world that God was going to do something very, very different. In the past, you see, God had forgiven people for the stuff they messed up only AFTER they said they were sorry. That was what John the Baptist was doing with his Baptisms in the wilderness. But NOW God was planning this new policy for creation, God was going to do something so that we would be forgiven for everything even BEFORE we had done anything wrong! A pretty radical change from the heavenly head office! We found out too last week, that even if the change comes from God himself there were still a whole bunch of people who thought of themselves as very faithful people who didn’t like that change.
Now, this week, we’ve come around the corner from John the Baptist to find Mary. Now, in Mary, God continues to use the most unexpected people to announce this radical new policy. God is looking to use a woman in a society that didn’t value women... a poor woman in a society that valued wealth and a young, poor, woman, in a society that valued maturity and experience. Poor, young, woman. That’s three strikes. On top of that, the only way a poor young woman could have any standing in that society was to be married or have a male child, and Mary didn’t have either.
So, to review... God first picks a guy who eats bugs to announce this change and then the bottom of society's ladder bring this new policy to life. WOW! God can sure pick ‘em don’t you think? But the really funny thing is… God is still picking some of the most unlikely characters to announce and bring that new, radical policy of unlimited grace, love, forgiveness and compassion into the world even today! And at the top of God’s “unlikely character” list... IS US! God is calling Union Church to proclaim God’s radical new plan for the world. God is calling THIS CHURCH to bring Christ into this world! Greetings favored church! The Lord is with YOU!
When MARY heard that particularly unexpected news she felt a bit perplexed, confused and even scared. I suspect when you hear that you and this church are being called by God to bring Christ into the world that might give you some of those same feelings. BUT, God says to YOU the same thing God said to Mary... “Do not be afraid, Union Church, for you have found favor with God. And now you will bear the Son of God to the world and his name is Jesus.” How can this be you might be asking yourselves? How can we, here on an island in Maine, a bunch of stoic, shy, keep-to-ourselves, island folks with our little brown church bring Jesus to the whole world? We’ve never done that before! We can’t do that! Now, you may THINK you can't do that, but the angel of the Lord says to you, the same thing he said to Mary, “the Holy Spirit has come upon each one of you in your Baptisms, and the power of the Most High has overshadowed you, Union Church; therefore the child that you are to bring to the world is a Holy Child, the child that you are bringing to the world is the Son of God.”
You may not think you can bring the Son of God to the world, but take a minute and remember all the things that God has already accomplished through this congregation over the years. You built a church and when that one burned down you built a second church... this church to serve not just a few, but to serve the whole island community. You have cared for each other in good times and in bad, creating a safety net for people when tragedy enters their lives. You opened up the parsonage to be a day care to fill a deep need within our community and invited everyone to attend. You created Lunchbox to provide a regular meal to those who need a meal or simply need a time to share a meal with others. When you heard that kids might be hungry in the summer you extended Lunchbox into the summer and even brought lunch to the quarry to try to make a difference. You’re welcoming the idea of a combined Christmas worship with Pleasant River Chapel. You raise money all the time for folks in need and do Jingle Bells every year, you put on Bean Suppers, support community concerts, open the building to The Wind, and AA and the food pantry and meals on wheels and countless others and the list goes on and on. You really should remember, Union Church of Vinalhaven, Maine, to be strong, be brave, keep on standing up for what is right and good, keep stretching and opening yourselves to the possibilities that the future is bringing to you and always remember that NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.
When Mary heard all that, she said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” That’s what Mary said, “let it be with me according to your word.” The question for us is what will WE say? We have been asked by God to do EXACTLY what God asked Mary to do... to bring Christ to the World. That calling from God is not for ourselves. That call from God is not for our own comfort. It really is exactly like Mary’s call and her’s didn’t bring her comfort. This call from God isn’t about our own status or power or place in the community. It really is like Mary’s call, it’s a call to self sacrifice and a call to challenge our own fears, expectations, need for control and the temptation to put our comfort, wants and desires first instead of the needs of others first. This call that we have received from God is much more a blessing for everyone else... out there... than it is a blessing for us. Again, it’s just like Mary’s call... A call to bring Christ to the world to bring healing and give hope and build connections in places and to people who need healing, hope and connections, even when that means, like it meant for Mary, that there might be real sacrifice and even some really painful times along the way.
This really and truly is a blessed congregation! This is a blessed congregation for one reason, and one reason alone... because God has said that we are! Mary took HER blessing with all the joy and with all the sacrifice that was wrapped up in that blessing and opened herself up to God and said “let it be with me according to your word.” The question for Union Church going into the future is how will we respond to God’s call for us next... how will we let our future BE according to God’s Word? Amen.
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