The hymn "here I am" invaded my thoughts leading the sermon title to match the hymn title, not Mary's words "Here am I!"
“Reimagining Advent: Here I Am” December 20, 2020, SAPC, Denton; Dr. Richard B. Culp; Luke 1: 26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”[a] 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 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. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”[b] 35 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[c] will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 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. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 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.
Introduction: Final Sunday in Advent.
the race to Bethlehem begins in earnest tomorrow.
the next time we meet it will be to announce and celebrate the birth of Christ.
But before we get to Bethlehem, we take a few minutes to hear Mary’s story.
In particular, I invite you to reflect this morning or her response to the angel Gabriel, when she replies, “Here I am.”
Move 1: First of all, “Here am I” comes as a word of hope.
a. Perhaps you are familiar with the Flemish painter Peter Bruegel's painting “The Numbering at Bethlehem.
1. The painting shows Mary and Joseph showing up to be counted at Bethlehem, although Bethlehem is painted as a typical Flemish village.
2. the painting reveals the hustle and bustle of this village.
3. one has to search hard to find Mary and Joseph among the village rustics crowding into town. They have disappeared into the anonymity of the powerless.
1. In fact, that is who Mary is - one of the powerless.
2. Perhaps the symbol of their powerlessness is that Caesar Augustus can command them to go to Bethlehem to be counted in the census, even when she about to give birth to her child.
3. She and Joseph must go - no options, even if she is about to give birth.
3 Ironically, as Joseph, Mary and their unborn child are headed to Bethlehem to be counted, in fact they do not count, not in Rome anyway. They are faceless nobodies under the boot of an uncaring empire (Tom Long, Christian Century, December 10, 2014, 21)
b. But as the angel Gabriel summons Mary to bear God’s son, Mary finds her hope.
1. her hope that will not rest in Caesar Augustus, of Quirinius, or King Herod, the secular powers at the time, or for that matter, the religious authorities either.
2. her only hope is in the God of Israel, who has been faithful in generations past and is now calling on Mary to have hope now.
3. if you have a sense of helplessness; if you feel a bit lost in the world; if you need more than what you are getting now - have hope - hope in the God of Israel, who has proven to be faithful to God’s people generation after generation.
Here I am - words of hope in God.
Move 2: “Here am I” is about singing a different song
a. Christmas carols
1. We love to sing them
2. They typically tell the story in glorious terms (angels from the heavens singing Gloria or hark, the herald angel sings out) or idyllic images (silent night paints a beautiful peaceful image and away in the manger with baby Jesus never crying!).
3. They all give the sense that we have arrived at the moment we have been striving for - the birth of Christ.
b. Mary, however, will sing a song that announces: “We aren’t home yet”
1. In the next scene of Luke, Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth.
2. While there, she describes what God is doing in these words: he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 God has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
God has helped God’s servant Israel,
in remembrance of God’s mercy,
according to the promise God made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
3. She sings of the way God intends the world to be.
4. in other words, We are not home until the hungry are fed and the lowly are lifted up.
5. Christmas is more than merely creating a warm moment for the family.
That’s too small.
Christmas is heaven pushing its way into history (this point is not original to me. I read it somewhere years ago, but did not write down the source citation; a Google search did not find the original source)
6. That is the Christmas we need this year as we fend with a pandemic - a Christmas befitting a God who arrives in flesh, a God who loves and saves not as the world’s powers do, but as only the God who created us and claimed us can do.
“Here I am” is a recognition that the God who comes in Christ is doing a new and different thing.
Move 3: “Here am I” is surely about Mary, and maybe about us.:
a. Cartoon: three adults riding on donkeys with signs on the back of the donkeys. One sigh says, “Our Son is an honor student.” Another says, “Our son is in medical school” Another says, “Our son is God.” Caption: “Well If it isn't Mary and Joseph.”
1. Not there yet.
2. inauspicious start.
3. She hears the angel Gabriel call her favored one Angel Gabriel and is perplexed.
4. It could also be translated as Mary was perturbed.
5. She hears Gabriel’s introduction but knows there must be more.
6. she is correct. Gabriel lays out a pretty significant ask on God’s part.
b. A challenging task, but no guarantee. the angel does not say everything is going to work out perfectly.
1. Mary’s first response is disbelief. “how can this be?” she asks.
2. The angel’s response: do not be afraid.
Mary, do not be afraid of an angel calling you in the night.
Mary, do not be afraid to be chosen by God (she knew the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Miriam (her namesake), Isaiah, to name a few)
Mary, do not be afraid of being pregnant and unmarried
Mary, do not be afraid of being a teenager and dealing with all of this (Milton Brasher-Cunningham, don’t eat alone blog, December 19, 2020, http://donteatalone.com)
c. Despite all the reasons to be afraid, all the reasons to shy away, all the reasons to run the other direction, Mary responds, “here I am I”
1. She places her trust in God and does more than just face her fears, she steps out in faith.
2. As Milton Brasher-Cunningham writes, “We don’t read this story because Mary was famous. We read it because Mary was faithful” (Milton Brasher-Cunningham, don’t eat alone blog, December 19, 2020, http://donteatalone.com)
3. Despite all the reasons we have to be afraid, to run away, to hide from the world and our calling, we have the voice of the angel in our ear - “Do not be afraid.”
4. We have Mary’s example of stepping out in faith.
5. With Mary’s story comes an invitation for us.
6. the invitation comes from the one in whom all things are possible.
Conclusion: When I served FPC, Mt. Sterling, we did joint VBS with the Catholic church down the street.
the classes were taught by either a Presbyterian team or a Catholic team, depending on the age.
One year, as I was putting my daughter to bed and praying with her, I asked about what she wanted to pray, and then she prayed. At the end, she added, “thank you for the Virgin Mary!”
I asked, “why are you thanking God for the Virgin Mary?”
“Well, that’s how my teacher prayed tonight at VBS.”
She apparently had a Catholic team of teachers!
I was not sure what to do with that, but today I join with them and say thank you, God, for the Virgin Mary.
thank you, God, for Mary who said, “Here am I.”
No comments:
Post a Comment