Sermon for Advent 4B
Judy
Dear Friends,
This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Mary- Speak First, Think Later?” or “Surprise for the Tooth Fairy!” and deals with the Gospel (Luke 1: 26-38). Here it is:
I’ve got an old story that matches this sermon. An Ecunet friend was working for Meals on Wheels. Occasionally, she would take her four-year-old daughter on her afternoon rounds. The little girl was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day my friend noticed that her daughter was staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As she braced herself for the inevitable barrage of questions, the child merely turned and whispered, “The tooth fairy will never believe this!” You heard the gospel today, when the angel Gabriel asked Mary if she was willing to be the mother of Jesus; and you heard her response. In today’s language, her answer would have been “Absolutely!” You know the old saying, speak first; think later. After the angel left her and reality set in, she must have suddenly realized the situation she was in. You know how- in the story about the four-year-old- “the tooth fairy will never believe this!” Well that was Mary’s situation as well- not the tooth fairy; not her family; not her friends; not the townspeople; and probably not her beloved Joseph. In our culture, being an unwed mother is no big thing anymore; but in those days, having a baby out of wedlock often got you stoned to death. What was she to tell all these people when the baby began to show and they asked who the father was—“I didn’t do anything; it’s God’s baby!” And their probably answer: “Oh, really!” When you think about it, at first being the mother of the Messiah must have sounded really wonderful, almost like being the queen mother; but for most of her life, it would be as Simeon predicted in Luke 2: 35: “You, Mary, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger.”
The dagger started piercing her soul when she had to tell Joseph, and he almost put her away privately to spare her death. She had a brief relief when she went to see her cousin Elizabeth (mother of John the Baptist), but as we must also do- she couldn’t run away forever; she had to go home and face everybody. Then there was the trip to Bethlehem (the city of Bread- where Jesus, the Bread of Life was born); the trip bouncing give-or-take 50 miles on the back of a donkey; the trip on which her water probably broke; the trip that resulted in no place to give birth but a barn and no one to help her but an inexperienced husband (men weren’t allowed in birthing areas in those days). Next, finding a house and building a life with her child and husband, only to be visited by the wise men and sent by God as a homeless refugee to Egypt, to escape Herod’s murder of all the Jewish boys two years and younger. Watch the dagger pierce and twist even more. She endured a return to Nazareth, and then the strangeness of her son. When he was twelve, he wasn’t even sorry when he made the family come all the way back to Jerusalem for him. He only said, “Didn’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?!” – strange way to talk to parents, especially in those days. Then, when he was a young adult and she asked him to do something about the lack of wine at a wedding, again- strange words to a mother: “Mother, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come.” She watched his popularity grow and then wane, with people talking about him and wondering if he was crazy. When she and his brothers finally went to get him and take him home, he refused to go with them and said, “These who listen to God’s will are my mother and my brothers and my sisters.” Ignoring her motherhood must have twisted that dagger predicted by Simeon a little more. Finally, she watched as her beloved firstborn son was beaten and tortured and crucified naked, between two thieves on a compost heap. She must have wondered if the angel Gabriel’s visit had just been a dream or even a devil-trick. She had to suffer through the hard times, through Good Friday, to get to Easter. But she, like Job, hung in. Remember Job’s statement about God: “Even though He slay me; yet shall I trust Him!” But after Good Friday comes Easter; after crucifixion comes resurrection! She was there in the upper room when he appeared! She was mentioned as one of the faithful of the early church. Because of her endurance, we have power for living; grace for dying, and eternal life as our sure promise.
Where are your struggles? What ideas, dreams, plans are you struggling to give birth? What is causing the dagger to pierce you own soul and then twist and turn and torture? Did you notice Luke 1: 37: “Nothing is impossible for God!” Say it with me. (Nothing is impossible for God!) Say it again. Do you believe it? Whatever God has in His plans for you- you can do if you believe it. Nothing is impossible for God. When Mary conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, she had no idea what was ahead. When God plants a seed in you, you also have no idea what is ahead. All you can be sure of is that (if it’s worth anything) it will involve pain and struggle and discouragement; but if you don’t give up it will also involve glorious delight and fulfillment. Did you notice the thought for the week? Let’s read it together: “Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.” (Anonymous) Do you remember the wonderful song- “I just can’t give up now”? Let’s sing it together.
For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .
Blessed preaching,
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan