Sermon December 18 2011

Psalm 89 p 475
1I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
2I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.
3You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David:
4‘I will establish your descendants forever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah
5Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD,
7a God feared in the council of the holy ones, great and awesome above all that are around him?
8O LORD God of hosts, who is as mighty as you, O LORD? Your faithfulness surrounds you.
9You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
10You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11The heavens are yours, the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it—you have founded them.
This is the Word of the Lord….Thanks be to God





Luke 1:26-38 p 831
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.32He 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.33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”35The 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.36And 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.37For nothing will be impossible with God.”38Then 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.

This is the Word of the Lord….Thanks be to God


Luke’s Gospel opens with the writer telling us that he is writing “an orderly account…so that we may know the truth”.

But frankly, there could hardly be a less orderly account—a priest struck mute, an elderly woman about to have a baby, and a young woman, in a back water town, visited by an angel, given a surprising and disturbing message.

Throughout the centuries, there has been much art work depicting the event told to us in this morning’s gospel lesson. It is called the Annunciation: The Announcement. And in most of the paintings, there are typically a few things present: Mary, the Angel, the dove, representing the Holy Spirit, a lily, and a book—although sometimes the book is replaced with a spinning wheel or spindle, which represent suitable activities for a young woman.

And, most often, Mary is shown with her head down, or at least her eyes cast down, in a humble, obedient pose. Sometimes she is on her knees, sometimes she is seated on a chair-but most of the time she looks pretty terrified- after all, angels are scary- and the text tells us that Mary was “much perplexed”- in this, she is at least ahead of the shepherds, who also get an angel visitation- they were “sore afraid” in the KJV of the story- that is, scared right out of their socks, if shepherds even wore any socks.

But Mary is “much perplexed”= which translates as “greatly troubled or disturbed”…..well, wouldn’t you be, if you heard this kind of announcement? Your whole future- gone, in an instant, not even counting the singe marks on the ground from an angel of Lord, Gabriel, the messenger, showing up one sunny afternoon, or the worry about how you could possibly go home and tell your parents or your fiancée.

Mary is greeted by the angel as “favored one” or “blessed one”, it could even mean “happy one”- but I’m not sure Mary is happy. Happy doesn’t seem to be one of the things she is feeling at that moment.

Tradition has that Mary was favored because she was extra holy, or without sin, or extremely obedient. But in Mary, God is showing us that God does surprising things and regards us- all of us! With favor and blessing. We are regarded, we are seen, we are noticed by God. And not because we are special, or extra holy, or without sin. Not because we are powerful, or have status, or are shakers and movers. In fact, quite the opposite. But that is what God is like.

The text says that “Mary pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” She pondered—which sounds very calm, and contemplative--
but have you met any 13 yr old girls lately? They are rude—they are pushy—they will drive their mothers to tears and their fathers to all night worry. They will challenge anybody, yell about anything, slam doors, stomp up the stairs, throw hairbrushes- and dispute nearly everything- so when Mary “ponders”, what she is actually doing, says the original Greek, is debating, working "to bring together different reasons, to reckon up the reasons, to reason, to deliberate.”

I think what Mary is doing is wrestling- perhaps in much the same way Jacob wrestled with God. Jacob was visited by an angel, as well, at the river Jabbok, and he wrestled with the angel until daybreak, and limped for the rest of his life from that encounter.

So I’d like us to think of Mary in a different way- not as a passive, pure vessel, ready only to receive, but as someone who is actively engaged with God. Someone like Deborah or Jael, who takes action when called to do so by God. Someone like Jeremiah, the prophet who yelled back at God. Someone like Jacob, who really wrestles with what God is asking her to do. Someone who is weighing the cost of the announcement the angel brings to her.

Someone, perhaps, like each of us.

Because it is my hope and prayer that we do actively engage with God, even wrestle with God. That we do ponder, debate, dispute, what God is doing in our lives—both as the church and as individuals.

God acts in ways that we cannot comprehend—God acts in ways to redeem, and heal, and restore, even when we can’t understand how in the world that might be able to happen.

As the story unfolds, Mary acts as a creative partner with God. God has initiated this wonderful thing; God is doing this. But the word in Greek that means ponder also has the meaning of “to resolve, to come to a conclusion.” And Mary can hardly understand what is about to take place, or how it even CAN take place- how can this be? she asks. But after wrestling, she agrees to take an active part in God’s plan. Because, as a song from the Iona community puts it, Mary says to the angel “Tell God I say yes”. May it be so for us as well.
Amen.