First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
1Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.”
4But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” 8Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 16Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.
Psalm: Luke 1:46b-55
You, Lord, have lifted up the lowly. (Lk. 1:52)
46bMy soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
47my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for you, Lord, have looked with favor on your lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
49you, the Almighty, have done great things for me
and holy is your name.
50You have mercy on those who fear you,
from generation to generation.
51You have shown strength with your arm
and scattered the proud in their conceit,
52casting down the mighty from their thrones
and lifting up the lowly.
53You have filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54You have come to the aid of your servant Israel,
to remember the promise of mercy,
55the promise made to our forebears,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Second Reading: Romans 16:25-27
25Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
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.
CHILDREN’S SERMON:
After a mother duck hatched her eggs, one of the ducklings was different. He was grey and big, not yellow and cute like the other chicks. They called him the ugly duckling. He was teased and rejected by his nest mates. He finally fled the barnyard. One day the ugly duckling saw a flock of migrating wild swans. They were so beautiful and graceful. He was delighted and excited but could not join them because he was too young, ugly, and unable to fly. When winter arrived, a farmer found him and carried the freezing duckling home and cared for him. In the spring, the duckling, now having fully grown and matured, again saw the flock of swans. He was shocked when the swans welcomed and accepted him. He realized when he saw his reflection in the water that he had not been a duckling but a swan all this time. The flock took to the air, and he spread his wings to take flight with the rest of his new family.
Can you think of a time when you realized that by standing up for your Christian beliefs you would be different from others?
Let us pray. Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.
SERMON
Today is Advent 4. In fact today is Christmas Eve. We have been preparing all month for the arrival of tomorrow, Christmas Day. Advent 1 we celebrated HOPE as John the Baptist arrived on the world scene and announced that it was time for prophecy to be fulfilled. God keeps his promises. There is hope for the future. Advent 2 we celebrated PEACE as John the Baptist challenged us to confess and repent to prepare ourselves for the arrival of the Messiah who would show us the way of true peace. Advent 3 we celebrated JOY as John the Baptist challenged us to claim our identity in Christ and become more than we are now. Today, Advent 4 we celebrate LOVE. Our text takes us to Mary’s encounter with the angel when her pregnancy was first announced. Mary, a young, unwed mother is to carry God’s baby. We are challenged today to see how love works it’s transformation in Mary as she grapples with the angel’s message and all its implications. Becoming pregnant outside marriage could lead to being stoned. How would her family, her pledged husband and her community respond? The angel must have been fearful and his message was even more fearful. Not only was the scene scary, the message spoke of a God who does the impossible. How can it be that a virgin becomes pregnant by God? Mary has to live outside the box of her reality. And thirdly who will ever believe her. She will be like that ugly duckling living in a chicken coup. Let’s ponder how these three glaring challenges are transformed by love.
Love Transforms fear
1 John 4:19 says “We love because he first loved us.”
29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Mary is confronted with an angelic visitation. The Old Testament encounters between prophets and angels resulted in people falling on their face, weak and wobbly knees, speechless, and full of disbelief. Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, a priest had become dumb when he questioned the angel. Mary wasn’t a priest, just an ordinary teenage girl. The text says she was “much perplexed.” I think we would translate it “terrified.” Encounters with alien beings are not stories Hollywood puts into many romantic scenes. Alright, It’s a Wonderful Life had the angel Clarence as angel second class who hadn’t earned his wings. George Bailey was not believing him either but did become famous. Mary, though, is approached by the angel Gabriel.
Could we please note the opening of our text, the order of events. The angel comes to Mary. God initiates this encounter by sending Gabriel. It is easy for the evil one to whisper in our ear that God is not answering our prayers because we have done something wrong or because we are not good enough. Gabriel comes to Mary, not Mary praying hard and working hard to deserve an angelic encounter. God is not motivated by our goodness but he has a plan to redeem a creation he loves. Love steps into fear and transforms it.
The angel responds to Mary’s great perpexity with words of comfort, “Do not be afraid.” Gabriel continues telling Mary that God has been seeing her, favors her, and she is chosen for the task. He tells what her son’s life will be like, his resume so to speak. Perhaps you can identify with being given a task that you felt totally unqualified for, a task far beyond your imagination. I remember some of the thoughts before my first son was born. I pondered if I had unwittingly harmed the baby before I knew I was pregnant by eating something wrong. I wondered if I would be a good mother. I knew my husband and I were headed to Africa but that was only a word to me. It was a vast unknown. I thought the plain he talked about was the airplane we would fly on. That may not be your challenge with the impossible task facing you but perhaps you have been very hesitant stepping into a new job, a new home, a new anything. New phases in life are scary. If an angel suddenly appeared and announced it, it would be doubly scary. Hearing the wonderfulness of parenthood, new employment, any new prospect may take the edge off your fear but it still feels like being an ugly duckling that won’t quite fit it. The love of God, reaching out to impact his world through you, is comforting and transforms the panic, the “much perpexity” into questions. “How will I be able to do this?”
Love Transforms problems
Matthew 11:28-30 says,”‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
“How can this be…”
Mary now speaks. She has found her voice. She does not argue with God like Zechariah who declares the task impossible. He is too old and so is his wife. She does not bargain with God like Moses did when he reminds God that he, Moses, is wanted for murder and his brother is a better speaker. She does not ignor God as David did by taking Bathsheba and killing Uriah. She does not raise excuses like Isaiah did when he realizes he was a man of unclean lips. Mary simply states the obvious. The divine and the ordinary are different beings and don’t procreate. A dog does not mate a cat. Some relationships are strictly forbidden in the Torah and so she asks, “How can this be?” She is a virgin. To become pregnant without a husband and sex is problematic. Gabriel explains.
We do not understand the explanation. But then, I do not understand how that catepillar becomes a beautiful butterfly in the cacoon. I do not really understand how the sunrise can be so different every morning and different in so many colorful ways. I sit in the airport and wonder how those two people ever got together. Much of the “hows” of life we take on faith even if we are given an explanation. It is enough that God knows and cares. God’s love overshadows the events of our lives.
Jesus says to his followers, ”‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” He does not invite us into a magical resolution of our problems so that we no longer have to go through it, he invites us to trust his love for us in all situations. Whatever is going to happen to Mary will be overshadowed by God. The ugly duckling is different and in many ways that is out of the duckling’s control. The duckling only need be who he was created to be and time will reveal how the story ends. We are not promised health, wealth and prosperity from God but we are reassured as we bring our problems to him that we are being carried in his love. We can trust him for he overshadows us and leads us when we are in relationship with him.
Love Transforms community
John 14:18 sats, “18 ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.”
36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son”
In these brief verses Mary has made a journey from fear to faith because of God’s love. “38Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’” What sealed the deal? Mary was rightfully scared. Mary rightfully questioned how such a thing could happen. But I would suggest there is a third element. Gabriel adds another layer of God’s love. Even as Moses had Aaron, even as David had his faithful prophet Nathan, and even as Elijah had Elisha, Gabriel tells Mary she is not alone. Her relative Elizabeth is also miraculously pregnant. Mary will visit Elizabeth and find fellowship and understanding.
There are others who are living the journey of stepping into the impossible because of the love of God. Mary is not alone as she walks this path. The ugly duckling looks up and sees a flock of beautiful swans fly overhead. He feels hope. We are not alone. God has given us the church, the fellowship of believers to walk with us when times are challenging and we feel like that ugly duckling. When we are called upon to trust God working in our lives in ways that make us feel like that ugly duckling, we are surrounded by the fellowship of believers.
God does work outside the boxes of how our traditions, our expectations, and our wants dictate to our lives. God allows challenges to enter our lives that feel impossible and terribly threatening. It is then that we remind ourselves that God favors us, not the bad guys. God believes in us even when we doubt ourselves. We can have HOPE because of Christmas. God comes to us, we do not need to become good enough to go up to him. God is willing to explain to us the “hows” of our situation and meet with us in prayer. He is not sitting off in the heavenlies seeing if we pass some cosmic test of faith but the Holy Spirit walks with us, guides us and shows us the way – even during the dark night of the soul. We can trust him with what we do not understand. We can be at PEACE knowing that God is in control even when we feel out of control and threatened. On those days when we feel like the ugly duckling, we can have JOY. Joy may be the bowing of our heads and humbly trusting God, “‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’” Joy may be found in singing the Halleluya chorus on Christmas Day but it may also be found in the tears of knowing a loved one is now in God’s care. The Christmas story is a story of LOVE. It is the love of God who creates and redeems each one of us and places us in community to be the person he created us to be. We are not all of us are eyes or ears.
Tonight we will come to the incarnation of Christ. We will see God’s love transform a census into the birthplace of his son. We will see God’s love do the impossible as a baby is born inspite of Herod’s fears, in a village with no place to stay, and be announced to shepherds on the fringes of society. Tonight we will see God’s love become community as the wise men, the perhaps foreigners like us, be included in the event. Tonight we will celebrate HOPE, PEACE, JOY and LOVE.
Let the people of God say, “AMEN!”
On the Way to Wonder 