You Shoulda Tooke That Left!

 Luke 1:26-38

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 came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

WOW!  God can sure pick ‘em don’t you think?  Last week we had the gross bug eating, stinky camel hair wearing, nowheresville wilderness living John the Baptist.  This week we get the poor, young, unwed Mary!  God sure picks the one’s no one would ever expect!  But the REALLY funny thing is… God’s still picking highly unlikely characters to announce and bring God’s unlimited grace, love, forgiveness and compassion into the world even today! 

And right at the very top of God’s most “unlikely characters to call” list... IS US!  God is calling US!  You and me together as Christ Trinity Church!  We are being called to proclaim God’s radical new Way for the world.  God is calling THIS CHURCH to bring Christ into this world!  Greetings favored church!  The Lord is with YOU!

I suspect hearing that unexpected bit of news might have left you feeling just a bit like Mary… perplexed maybe?  Confused perhaps? Maybe even scared?  BUT no matter how you feel about it, God still says to US the same thing God said to Mary...  “Do not be afraid, Christ Trinity, for you have found favor with God!  And now you will bear the Son of God out into the world and his name is Jesus!”  

Like Mary you too might want to ask whatever off-course angel is floating this crazy idea, “How can this be?”  After all, most people in Massachusetts think the state ends at Springfield!  Most of the people in our county think the county stops South of Great Barrington!  So how are WE going to bring Jesus to the whole world?  We do good stuff sure … but the whole world!? Really?

And yet, that angel of the Lord still insists on saying to US the same thing they 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 this WHOLE Congregation!  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.”  

To any angel in their right mind, they should have made that left turn in Albuquerque or at least not stopped off at Theory Wellness before getting to US!  But before you dismiss that angel in a cloud of smoke, take a minute to remember what God has ALREADY done through this congregation over all these years.  We built a church on the heels of the Civil War and made a point to welcome EVERYONE to worship.  The welcoming continued for differently abled people and then extended to all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.  And over all that time, cookies were baked, meals have been made, funds have been raised and a real difference has been made in the world, both near and far.  In recent years we've added Solar Panels and an Appalachian Trail Ministry and Rainbow Chairs to all of what we've done before… and even through this awful, terrible, no good, very bad pandemic… God has done marvelous things… through US!  Thousands have been fed, a string quartet played, and tens of thousands have been raised, smack dab in the middle of it all!  We really ought to ALWAYS remember that NOTHING will be impossible with God! 

 

When the angel gave God's call to Mary, she said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  Folks, angels still visit us just as surely as Gabriel visited Mary.  We are constantly being asked by God to do EXACTLY what Mary was asked to do... to bring Christ to the World.  Our call really is like Mary’s call.  Like Mary’s, it’s not about our own success, status, power, or image.  It’s like Mary’s call.  A call to give of ourselves for the benefit of our neighbors and the world.  This call of ours is just like Mary’s... A call to bring Christ to the world… a call to bring Christ's unconditional welcome and miracle filled healing to a broken world… a call to bring light and hope and build connections across every divide. 

 

It is an incredible thing that God is asking of us, but just like Mary, this congregation is blessed… simply and only because God has said that we are!  May we, like Mary, always remember the blessings we have been so generously given.  May we hear the call of the angels and may we always be open to what God is asking of us next, and always have as our response…“let it be with us according to Your Word.”  Amen