December 10, 2023
St. Andrew Church
Rev. Anne McAnelly
First Lesson: Isaiah 61:1-3, 11
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
Second Lesson: 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.
Advent is about preparing the way for our Lord. Preparing our hearts and minds, our homes, our lives for God’s love to be born anew. Most Advent seasons two Sundays focus on John the Baptist, the preparer of the way. Last week we did that with a slightly different take on the forerunner, the herald and witness to Christ. But this year I want to focus on Mary, so we will devote two Sundays to the mother of Jesus. Today we will hear the annunciation, when the angel Gabriel announces to Mary she will bear God’s son. Yet to understand that we need to see that this account is set within another annunciation story, when Gabriel tells the priest Zechariah that his barren wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son. You recall Zechariah is struck mute until his son John is named. Yet everything we know about Mary, before she and Josheph arrive in Bethlehem, is sandwiched within the annunciation of John. Luke tells two annunciation stories within each other, pairing parallel stories is a favorite of Luke. I encourage you to read the first chapter of Luke to understand this. The sixth month mentioned in our text is the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John. One week a Sunday school teacher had just finished telling her class the Christmas story, how Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem and how Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a manger. After telling the story the teacher asked, “Who do you think the most important woman in the Bible is?” Of course, the teacher was expecting one of the kids to say, “Mary.” But instead, a little boy raised his hand and said, “Eve.” So the teacher asked him why he thought Eve was the most important woman in the Bible. And the little boy replied, “Well, they named two days of the year after Eve. You know, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve” (Sermons.com).
As we ponder Mary, let’s consider we have a choice to believe, nothing is impossible with God, and Mary is the favored one.
Both Zechariah and Mary were visited by the angel Gabriel and told they were to have a son. Now Zechariah and Elizabeth were both old and had given up hope in receiving that blessing. Zechariah was a mature, well-respected priest. He could have believed the angel when he appeared and said, “Your wife will have a son … who will be great in the sight of the Lord.” But he doubted; he did not believe. For that he was struck mute. Then Gabriel visits Mary and announces her holy child. She was a poor, naive, virgin, betrothed to Joseph. Probably feeling scared and alone. She was perplexed by Gabriel’s greeting. Debating, considering, reasoning what an appearance of an angel might mean. How would you feel if you were approached by God’s messenger? Her mind was racing even before Gabriel shared the news. She wonders, ponders, and states her virginal identity. Yet she chose to believe. She said yes to God’s messenger, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord.” We all have a choice to believe or not. Zechariah chose not to believe. Mary believed Gabriel and history changed. So now 2,000 years later, we can believe or not. Believe in God becoming human and living among us. Believe God’s love broke into the world as a tiny baby. Believe Mary is the mother of God.
Christmas is a time we share our belief in God’s amazing love through the Word becoming flesh and living among us. Last week we talked about John pointing to the Light of Christ. The Light of the World. At Christmas we display lights, as the light shining in the darkness. But maybe we believe in lights more than we believe in God. This week I wandered through Willow Glen, a nice San Jose neighborhood, that really gets into lights. We saw amazing lights on most of the homes. Some streets got together had giant shooting stars lights on every lawn on both sides of the street.
Then another street had matching lit snowmen. We saw nutcrackers, snoopy, the grinch, and Mickey Mouse. But what I never saw was a Nativity scene, I never saw the Christ child. We celebrate the light. But when we deny the source of that light, we do not believe.
Maybe that is why Gabriel told Mary, “Nothing will be impossible with God.” When your doubts pop up, when you wonder how Jesus could be born of the Spirit. When you think how Mary had such courage, remember nothing will be impossible with God.
A barren woman can bear a child.
A virgin can conceive.
The Lord can enter human history as a baby boy. Nothing is impossible with God.
On Long Island I stopped by a certain restaurant that has a first-class aquarium. It contains a glorious assortment of tropical fish so colorful that only God could have decorated them. It takes a lot of work to run an aquarium. The owner monitors the oxygen and nitrate levels and the ammonia content. The water is filtered. Vitamins, antibiotics, and sulfa drugs must be pumped in. The fish have to be fed regularly.
Now with all that care and attention, you would think that the fish would adore the owner. But they don’t. Anytime he comes around, they dart away in fear. The owner is like a god to those fish, too big to comprehend, too frightening to love.
The only way to change that would be for the owner to somehow become a fish and communicate the truth to the other fish. Similarly, God had to become a person to communicate with us. Because God wanted to send his very best to us, he made a visit himself, in the form of Jesus” (Sermons.com, Bill Bouknight). Nothing is impossible with God.
Like Zechariah and Mary, we have a choice to believe. Even when things feel unbelievable, nothing is impossible with God. Now let us tum to Mary being the favored one.
Twice the angel refers to Mary as the favored one. The word “favor” means to show kindness or to be gracious toward someone. God decided to give Mary something she didn’t ask for, the incredible privilege of being the mother of Jesus! She is blessed among women. “Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are you among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” As Protestants we seem to downplay Mary, partly because of how Catholics virtually worship her. But that misses the point. I don’t need to worship Mary to honor and be in awe of what she did and was willing to do. Mary went from fear to belief, “from peasant girl to prophet, from Mary to mother of God, from denial to discipleship. Mary’s story moves us all from who we think we are to what God has called us to be, from observant believer to confessing apostle” (Working Preacher, Karoline Lewis).
Ultimately Mary said, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
Mary, the favored one, said yes to God.
It is no small thing to be regarded, to be favored, especially when you are exceedingly aware that you should not be. Yet God favored Mary. God also granted us favor through our adoption in Christ (Eph. 1 :5-6). God shows us kindness and graciousness as God’s beloved children. “So as you race around this holiday season, making lists, decorating and planning, know that God favors you. God notices and regards you. What it would be like to experience, to know, that God favors you? So much of the season is focused outside of oneself, the shopping, the gatherings, the giving. But in the middle of all of what the Christmas season is, knowing that God favors you, well, that kind of claim really brings the incarnation home” (Working Preacher, Karoline Lewis). AMEN
