Sermon: Love In the Air

            Whenever I hear this story I have two immediate reactions.  My first reaction is WOW!  Wow to Mary!  Wow to God!  WOW!  When I try to put myself in Mary’s shoes, or if you even try to imagine yourself if Joseph’s shoes hearing this story from his fiancé for the first time, all you can say is “Wow!”  My other reaction is how?  I am with Mary as she asks the angel how all this could be happening and happening to her.  And I am constantly amazed at how Mary can shift from a young girl who was questioning to a young woman who hands herself over to be used in whatever way the Lord needs her.

             The true fact of the matter is that we have no idea how long Gabriel sat with Mary trying to convince her that he was really bringing a message from God, that she was not crazy, and that there was nothing to be afraid of.  Once again, when I hear this story I think, how?  How could she not be afraid?  First, there is a messenger of the Lord sitting in front of her.  Second, Gabriel is sharing some pretty jarring news.  And, if Mary was anything like me, she spent her entire pregnancy – from the moment the angel came until the moment Jesus was born – a bit afraid about how everything would go down.  But, no matter how long Gabriel sat with Mary – sharing the message and assuring her that there was nothing to fear – Mary decides to go with it. 

             Those last words that Gabriel shares after alerting Mary to Elizabeth’s pregnancy are more of the “wow” factor words…the sentence that might have put me over the edge in one direction or another had I been in Mary’s shoes.  “For nothing will be impossible with God,” says Gabriel.  For nothing will be impossible with God.  And then Mary does it, that thing that has me amazed.  I picture her gathering up all the moxy and courage she has, looking Gabriel straight in the eye, and with a strong voice proclaiming, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  Wow!  I can imagine that I would have had the fear that the Angel had to assuage, but would I have had the guts to say those words.  “Let it be with me according to your word.”  All that I am – all that I have – now is God’s.  Take my body, my life, and let it be… 

             Now this is one of those stories that we hear nearly every year during Advent, but this year I heard it a little bit differently.  This year I saw, perhaps for the first time, the real underlying message.  It is a message of Love and of Trust.  The truth is that there had to have been a reason that God chose Mary.  Of all the women in the ancient world he chose a young woman, just of marriageable age as a young teenager, to be the mother of God’s only son – of God himself.  After all, we all know what a process it is to find the person with whom each of us would like to have children – the amount of time it takes to get to know someone well enough, the sense of compatibility, or the special qualities that make them the One.  So more than anyone else in the world – this is the woman whom God has chosen to bear God’s son.  So what was it about Mary?  Now this part requires a little bit of conjecture perhaps.  But the angel proclaims that there is that certain something about Mary that drew God to choose her…  “Greetings, Favored One!” Gabriel says, “you have found favor with God.”  Mary had found favor with God.  We can only imagine the qualities that God really appreciated in Mary.  We get the sense that she was perhaps a deeply faithful, deeply trusting, deeply loving young woman who was faithful in her relationships and had a true strength of character. 

             Henri Nouwen, a priest and writer once said, “Just imagine what Mary was actually saying in the words, ‘I am the servant of the Lord.  Let it be with me according to your word,’  She was saying, ‘I don’t know what all of this means, but I trust that good things will happen.’  She trusted so deeply that her waiting [for the fulfillment of God’s promise] was open to all possibilities.  And she did not want to control them.  She believed that when she listened carefully, she could trust what was going to happen.”  And the amazing thing is that the trust had to go both ways – Mary had to trust God, and God had to and apparently did trust Mary.

             According to the gospel of Luke, Mary was a model believer – someone who was willing to love and trust God completely, no matter what came her way – even needing to watch her firstborn son pull away from her at the temple as a teenager, to see his ministry going so right and so wrong all at the same time, and to watch him die a painful death on the cross.  Luke shares more stories of Mary than any other of the gospels – beginning with the angel’s visit, her perspective on Jesus’ birth and how she reacts to the shepherds and is present when the magi arrive, her prominent place in the narrative about Simeon & Anna in the temple when the day of purification came, her interaction with Jesus in the temple as a teenager, praying in the Upper Room with the twelve, her presence at the cross, and finally among those in the crowd on the day of the Pentecost.  But the truth is that Mary was just a faithful and willing young woman.  God came to a young woman in an obscure town of about 150 people to choose the mother of his child.  Mary’s story is the story of God breaking in to human history – coming not to a powerful person or a celebrity – but to a normal and willing young woman.  Mary’s story is the story of God’s amazing grace active in the world, of God being faithful to promises, of God creating something amazing out of what was an otherwise ordinary life.  Mary’s story is one in which God changed the world through a regular everyday person like you and I.

             So, here we are 2000 plus years later, and what does this story say to we who are waiting today, in the midst of the pain and blessing, amidst the difficulties and joys of life, in a world that is broken and hurting for something that will change it – we wait for a miracle in many cases.  Henri Nouwen continued in his reflection on “Waiting” to say, “To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life.  So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings.  So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God molds us according to God’s love and not according to our fear.” What Mary’s story holds for us is the promise that God’s grace is for everyone – not just the important or powerful people in our world.  What Mary’s story holds for us is the promise that anyone and everyone can be a part of God’s plan for redemption and peace if they and we are but open and willing.  What Mary’s story holds for us is that we cannot even begin to imagine God’s love for us and trust in us, if we are but willing to accept it and to see where it can take us. 

             Because it was true back then, and it is true even in our lives this day, that on this fourth Sunday of Advent there is love in the air.  We need only recognize it and allow it to empower us to give over a bit of what we are holding so tightly to – to turn a bit of our life over to God, so that God can work amazing things through us.  It is during this season above all others that we feel love in the air – when the mood changes out in the world in a way that seems a little jarring and a little wonderful all at the same time.  So it is our challenge as God’s faithful people to allow God into our lives to do God’s work, and to keep the feelings of trust, of openness, of hope and love at the forefront all the time so that this season’s joy and kindness, despite all of the craziness in our world, might become more the norm.  I don’t know about you, but right now I think that change might be miracle enough.  Can you imagine it?  So let us be servants of the Lord this day and everyday – turning our lives over to God and allowing God to change the world through us too.  Amen.