Sermon 12/21/03
Promise? - Luke 1:39-45
(view lectionary notes for this text)
This fourth Sunday of Advent is a strange place for us to be as Christians. We're kind of hovering, ready, now, for the day to arrive. We've waited, we've expected, we've prepared, but we're just about out of patience, and really just ready to have Christmas day arrive, to exchange gifts, to spend time with loved ones who've traveled far to be together. Aren't we ready enough? Isn't it time yet? Even today's text suggests that the time is here: we find Mary running to meet her cousin Elizabeth to share with her the news of her pregnancy. Mary has just been told she will bear God's child by the angel, and Elizabeth is expecting too - her child, Jesus' cousin, will be John called the Baptist. Elizabeth tells Mary that her child leapt in its womb at the approach of Mary and the Christ child. She calls Mary blessed for believing in God's promises. But that's it - just a few short verses, seemingly skimpy on detail. At least, we can figure, there aren't too many confusing passages, or challenges we must uncover and face in this text. It just feels like a few 'preparatory' verses leading up to the story, the Christmas story, that we will share later this week on Christmas Eve. If we can just get through this one more Sunday, this crazy Christmas pageant, these last few parties, and a stop over to the parsonage for open house - we're home free, Christmas at last.
But we have to hold out, and hang out, for just a few more days. We're not quite ready yet. These last few days of Advent are meant to be savored, like the last few moments on a roller coaster before you plunge down that first drop, when you are just hovering at the top of the climb - that's when the anticipation is at it's highest, that's when you hold your breath because the excitement is about to overwhelm you. That's where we are today, at the top of the tracks, looking down at the rest of the fantastic ride. So let's not let this day slip by us, and run to quickly into a celebration of Christmas. These last few days of Advent are precious, and the scriptures have more stories to tell us, more lessons to teach us, as we hold our breath and wait for the delivery of the child to finally begin.
In reading these joy-filled verses over again this week, I finally found myself lingering over one verse, the last verse of our passage. "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." These are words that Elizabeth speaks to Mary. She tells her that Mary is blessed because she has faith that what God has promised will come to pass. Of course, Mary has faith that as the angel told her, she will bear a child. But it's not just any child, so it's also not just any promise. Mary has to believe, more than just her own story, her own pregnancy, but she also has to believe that in her, in her life, God's promise of a messiah will be fulfilled as well, God's promise to a whole people, God's promise of centuries upon centuries, God's promise that was written about by countless prophets. All this will be fulfilled in the child that Mary is carrying, as incredible as it sounds. Most incredible of all, Elizabeth rightly recognizes, is that Mary believes what the angel told her - Mary believes that God is using her to fulfill these wonderful promises.
How could Mary believe such a thing? After all, Mary's situation wasn't exactly one of a person you would guess to be chosen for such a task. We don't know much about Mary, but the things we do know are in marked contrast to what we would classify as unique or standout. Mary was probably a teenager, perhaps even in her early teens. She was about to be married to a man named Joseph, who was a carpenter - not a career of poverty, but not the upper crust either. She was from a small town, Nazareth, a town about which would say, "can anything good come from Nazareth?" That's it, really, that's most of what we know about this woman chosen to bear the Christ child. Not that different than most of us, except maybe younger, even younger than me! And less experienced, less educated, less independent than most of us. But this is the one chosen to carry the baby, the son of God. And instead of protesting, instead of complaining or doubting, Mary responded by saying "Here am I, the servant of the Lord."
Mary believed that a promise made long ago would be fulfilled in her, as much as the prophets of long ago had to believe that the promise of a messiah would be fulfilled even though they would never see it in their lifetime. This kind of faith to me is remarkable. The truth is, though many of us believe in God's promises, we have a hard time waiting a week, a month, or heaven forbid, a year, for God's plans for us to be fulfilled, for the promises to come to fruition. How could we wait our whole lives and see no response, but still have faith and trust that God's plans would hold their course through our children or grandchildren's lives, or their grandchildren's lives? If God promised that great things would be done through us, through me, through you, but that we would never see any evidence of this promise coming true, could we maintain our faith?
It sounds like an impossible task, and yet, in a way, this is what the entire account of our scriptures is all about - the promises of God and how, over generations, they came to be fulfilled. The stories of the ones who faithfully did their part to make God's plan take place, even though they would never see the results. This is the story of faith, the story of God's children. Our story. We read about the promise made to Noah, sealed with the sign of the rainbow. We hear about the promise to Abraham to make his descendents fill the lands. We listen to the story of Moses, who was told of a promised land where he could lead the Israelites. These men didn't always find their promises from God completed in ways they could see - Moses himself died before the Israelites entered the promised land. But they remained faithful, and so did God, completing in God's right time all the things promised to the people.
And so it is with Advent. Advent is a promise, a promise made for centuries upon centuries. For hundreds of years, people mulled over the words of the prophets, words like "wonderful counselor" and "prince of peace", words about a child being born that would bring peace to all creation, words about a young women that would bear the promised one. They heard these words and believed. But finally, finally, after so much waiting, after the longest advent, the longest coming, after the ultimate buildup of anticipation, finally the child was born. God became human and dwelt among us. We stand on those promises. We stand hovering at the top of the roller coaster. Before we take the plunge and feel the joy of the celebration of Christmas, let us take a deep breath. In a few days, God's promise will be fulfilled in our very midst. Our forefathers and foremothers waited for generations, and we are lucky enough to see the promise fulfilled year after year. Take a breath. Get ready. Believe in the fulfillment of what God has planned, and stand firmly on the promises of God. Amen.