Sermon - A Circle of Trust - Advent 4

Luke 1: 26-56                                                                      December 21, 2014                  

In the early 1980’s an article was published in The Christian Century which claimed Mary as a significant role model for women.  One pastor wrote back, saying “that would be tragic.  Half of humanity would miss Luke’s point.”  Luke perceived Mary as a significant role model for all of us, women and men alike.  Every day we find that the world cannot possibly live up to its promises or our expectations.  People we trust let us down, situations are not what they seem, and we find ourselves desperately in need of direction and hope. 

But Luke points out to us someone who is very much like us.  He gives us Mary, as mother of our
Lord, and as example of the faithful trust.  Mary heard the angel’s word, she believed, and she acted out that trust in discipleship.  She responded to God’s word, both in song and in deed, as she brought into the world a Savior, who we call Christ the Lord.

Everybody who has ever given birth to a child has a birth story. Whether it’s going into labor, getting to the hospital (or sometimes not getting there), the circumstances surrounding the delivery, or something memorable that happened in the aftermath, some of the most often-told stories are those about being born. And none of us has a birth story any more remarkable than the story about Jesus’ birth.

I imagine it was a pretty stressful day or week or month for Mary.  An angel visitation, a disturbing message, an unusual burden to bear.  And while she was convinced by the angel’s explanation, I’m sure that she needed confirmation to make sure that it was not all a dream.  So in the verses after today’s reading, she took off to see Elizabeth.  Maybe she needed to confirm what the angel had told her about Elizabeth’s pregnancy.  Maybe she needed to say, “You’re not going to believe this, but…”  What a wonderful trusting relationship to share -- being able to have Elizabeth know without even being told all that Mary was going through.  What a safe place to stay -- a place to process all that had happened so far and all that would happen in the future.

Our children’s Christmas pageant today reminds of the characters in the story and how Jesus came to the young and old, rich and poor alike. But in all likelihood, it was not quite the silent night we sing about each year. Afraid and alone except for her husband, Mary gave birth to a son in uncertain circumstance, and that was only the beginning of the story.

The Blue Madonna
Chartres Cathedral, France

Who of us would really want to be in Mary’s shoes?  Pregnant out of wedlock in a society that didn’t tolerate that kind of behavior.  About to marry a man she hardly knew, bringing a ready-made family into the world, and all at the will of God.  How Mary must have trusted the Lord!  Trusted God to know that in the end it would be OK... that in the end the Lord’s word and work would be fulfilled. 

Would any of us want to be in Mary’s shoes, knowing that her son would be born in less than honorable circumstances far away from home? Knowing that her husband would die before her son reached the age of adulthood, and that Jesus would leave the family business to become an itinerant preacher? Who of us would be happy to see him followed around by a band of disciples who never seemed to get the point of his teachings?

Would any of us want to be Mary, seeing her son convicted and sentenced to die, then sitting at the foot of the cross, watching and waiting for the angel’s word to be fulfilled?

The circle of trust that existed between Mary and God was not just born as she carried her son and gave birth in that stable in Bethlehem.  It was not just lived out as she dressed him and fed him and played with him and educated him in her home.  It was a circle that extended out as she and Joseph dedicated him at the Temple, and looked for him when he had gone back to talk to the rabbis.  And it went out further as she became a part of his ministry, traveling with him throughout the Gallilean and Judean countrysides.  And it was fulfilled as she saw that same son, our Savior, die. 

And because his life did not end in that moment, in his resurrection, she must have felt and believed more fully those words which rang out even before his birth, “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."

The song of Mary rings forth in the world.  It is a song of hope, of faith, and of trust that God will not abandon God’s people.  Let it also be the song sung out in our hearts.  Let us a people a people who can sing “My soul magnifies the Lord,  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;  for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”  And let us believe it and mean it, and live it out every day.  

Let the circle of trust be unbroken from day and forever more.  Amen.

Let us pray:

God of hope, who brought love into this world,
be the love that dwells between us.
God of hope, who brought peace into this world,
be the peace that dwells between us.
God of hope, who brought joy into this world,
be the joy that dwells between us.
God of hope, the rock we stand upon,
be the centre, the focus of our lives
always, and particularly this Advent time. In your name we pray, Amen.

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