I again sat on a stool to tell the story part (in italics in the sermon below) of the sermon. It seems to work, particularly since we are emphasizing remembering our stories that shape us and our experience of Advent/Christmas. I again faced the dilemma of what to after being on the stool - go back to pulpit? preach from some other place? This time, I told the story, then went straight to the pulpit. After the second part of the story, I stood up and stayed in the center of the chancel. the only problem was I had left my sermon at the pulpit, so the second point below was done without notes, which means who knows what was said relative to what was written below!
when i reached the end of the second point, I should have ended the sermon. I felt it as I was preaching, but I did not trust my instincts, so I went back to the pulpit and finished up the sermon as written. when i was done, it confirmed that I should have ended it earlier. I am quick to notice if someone else preaching has a good ending point, but then continues; yesterday, I was that preacher!
“Night Visits” SAPC, December 3, 2017; Luke 1: 26-28; Matthew 1: 18-25
My sermon title, indeed my sermon, makes an assumption that the angel Gabriel, who visits Mary, and the unnamed angel who visits Joseph arrive at night. We are not told that explicitly, although in the Joseph story we are told he the angel visits in a dream, which could be while he was sleeping at night.
In my mind, both conversations are the stuff of dreams, so it should be the night.
Matthew 1: 18-15 18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah[i] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;[j] and he named him Jesus.
Introduction: I have a friend who is 7 or 8 years older than I am. I met him first one summer when I was in grade school - he was in one of my father’s summer productions in the drama department at UNT, and I was following my father to work and hanging out around the stage.
a few years later, my first real job was working in a clothing store for my friend’s father. He also worked for his father, so we worked together some.
then, in high school I worked for my friend at a store he owned, and we got to be pretty good friends. He got married my freshman year in college, and I was in his wedding; he returned the favor years later when Leslie and I married.
When I was in college, a habit developed that continued through the years. when I was home for Christmas break, or spring break, or summer break (or later when I was working or in seminary and would come home for a week-end), I would stop by to visit.
Since I knew he and his wife stayed up late, I would finish my night by stopping at his house on the way home. It was often 11:00 pm or midnight before I would make it to their house.
If there were lights on, I would stop. Maybe a time or two I even stopped and awakened him. It got to the point that if he and his wife had heard I was going to be in town, or if they figured I was in town for a holiday week-end, they would leave the porch light on for my late night visit.
Those were great visits. Something about the late night and early morning hours lent themselves to deep conversations about hopes and dreams we had for our lives and the world. Lots of major decisions in my life were discussed in those conversations.
Anything seemed possible as we talked into the night.
When we read the stories of angel visits to Mary and Joseph, I remember those night visits - night visits bursting with possibilities for what God is going to do.
Move 1: In Advent, we look to the coming of Christ and remember that anything is possible.
a. Imagine Mary’s conversation with the angel.
1. “Uh, Mary, you’re going to be pregnant.”
“Huh?”
2. “And by the way, it’s going to be God’s Son.”
“Really?”
3. I bet if we had asked Mary moments before the angel Gabriel appeared what her future looked like, getting pregnant and bearing God’s son would have been pretty far down the list.
4. Who am I kidding. It would not be have been on the her list of wildest possibilities.
b. Likewise, Joseph.
1. when he learns his girlfriend is pregnant, he considers the possibilities for the future, and they do not include hanging out with her.
2. until, until the angel arrives in a dream to share new possibilities.
b. In those moments, the God for whom nothing is impossible is revealed.
1. a virgin can agree to bear God’s son.
2. the Savior can be born in Bethlehem.
3. a star can be followed to make a life-altering discover.
4. Anything is possible when an angel visits in the night.
b. As we ponder the God who comes in flesh, consider the possibilities of what God is doing in our lives.
1. What new possibilities is God putting before you?
2. maybe Advent means the broken relationship in which you find yourself has the possibility of being healed.
3. maybe Advent means your life that seems stuck is about to explode with a new opportunity.
4. maybe Advent this year is when God is going to be at work in your challenging life-situation to introduce new possibilities.
5. maybe Advent means there is a way for people in our world to join together and work toward peace and a new way of living together despite the acrimony.
5. The God who invites Mary and Joseph to consider new possibilities for how they can be part of what God is doing in the world is coming for you!
Move 2: Night visits can be scary
For awhile, my friend and his wife lived in a small house behind his parents’ house. That led to a major rule of the night visits – I had to be quiet, and for no reason could I knock on his parents’ door or ring their doorbell.
Why? Because years ago his older sister had been killed in a car accident in the middle of the night, and his parents were
awakened to the ringing doorbell of the police officer who had come to inform them of their daughter’s death.
If you’ve ever answered the door late a night to see a police officer standing there, you know that night visits can be scary.
(stay on top step of chancel)
a. “do not be afraid,” is a recurring phrase of the Christmas story.
1. Remember last week and Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father - the angels tells him “do not be afraid.”
2. The angel speaks to Mary - “Do not be afraid.”
3. The angel to Joseph -“Do not be afraid.”
4. the angels to the shepherds in the field, “Do not be afraid.”
5. Apparently, it was scary to be involved in the coming of Christ.
b. No surprise, really.
1. the amazing possibilities to which God calls us take us to new places, places where we have never been, places that might seem scary.
2. to give ourselves over to the God of possibilities means giving up our need to control our future.
move 3: the God who made a claim on Mary and Joseph in their time makes a claim on us.
a. Meister Eckhart, 13th century German mystic/theologian, Meister Eckhart, 1260-1328, German Dominican monk: What good is it to me if the son of God was born to Mary 1400 years ago if Christ is not born again in my time and in my culture?
We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to His Son if I do not also give birth to Him in my time and my culture? This, then, is the fullness of time: when the Son of God is begotten in us. http://interruptingthesilence.com/tag/meister-eckhart/
b. Mary overcomes her fears and says, “Here I am,” to the God of possibilities.
What do you say?
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