2nd Sunday of Advent, Dec 2012
Crazy stories require some crazy belief.According to our bible, God has been speaking to people for ages.
From the time of Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses, to Elijah and even down to a lowly Jewish girl.
Jacob is said to have 'wrestled with God'.
David is said to have been 'a man after God's own heart'.
In pretty much every case of interaction with God, promises are made.
Genesis 17:5
No longer will you be called Abram ; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Sometimes, the promises we see from the scriptures sound completely crazy.
Imagine the look on Abraham's and Sarah's faces when they are told they would have a baby.
The feelings of Elizabeth, Mary's aunt, also in an advanced age, when the news come about a baby boy.
And, then there is Mary.
She is young.
How old exactly we are not told.
Speculation over the years say that could have been as young as 13.
Most movies made about Christ's life always depict her as older.
Having to bear the thought of a girl that young carrying such a load seems unbearable to our minds.
And, with our views hear in America about teenage pregnancy and debates about abstinence, we just can't get comfortable with those parameters about her life.
Why in the world would God come to a young girl like this and announce such an incredible promise?
It is in moments like this that we want to look up at the sky and announce ourselves, "What are you thinking up there?
Why don't we take a gander at the situation.
Luke 1:26-38
New International Version (NIV)
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Now, I think it is important to note as we look at these events...there was no scribe standing there writing these event down as they happened.
Luke's gospel is not written until about 60 A.D., roughly 30 years after Christ is gone.
Mark and Matthew were already down on papyrus and their accounts would have been circulating.
Luke come's with this account on top of what those writer's have already noted.
Where he gets his information from is uncertain.
Some scholar's seem to think the Apostle Peter could have supplied him with much of his information.
It is interesting to think that Luke could have been talking to people, believers in the story, some three generations after Christ had gone back to the father.
If I were in Luke's shoes, what questions would i ask of the people I came in contact with before I started writing?
"What have you learned about Christ? What stories do you have to recall?"
"I remember people talking about his mother..."
If you've ever been in a shoe store and had time to sit down and try on several pairs of shoes, let yourself slide into the metaphor for a moment. "Put yourself in my shoes."
Put yourself in Mary's shoes and feel how impossible as it might have been for her to believe the news brought from God, through an angel, who shows up out of nowhere.
Now, put yourself in the shoes of people three generations down the road.
"You want me to believe what? A young girl got a message from God, through an angel, that she was going to magically become pregnant? Sure...call me when they find Elvis."
But, it might just be that moment of putting ourselves in Mary's shoes that can help us in this crazy moment.
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
The people recalling this story for Luke to record seem to know something intricate about these events.
Mary's feelings.
Feelings can be the missing element in relaying events like these.
To often when we teach and recall the miraculous in the bible, we just say it and expect people to simply nod their heads in approval.
Rattle to rocks in your head and show me that you understand.
Yea, that's what I thought.
We've all been there.
But, maybe you actually have been there.
Have you ever gotten a feeling, a word from Above, and then felt "greatly troubled".
You are asked to serve on some committee in the church...
You hear a sermon about serving or discovering your gifts...
You are in a situtation where you have an opportunity to share about Jesus Christ...
Like a good therapist I bring forth the question, "How did that make you feel?"
"It made me feel very uncomfortable."
Greatly troubled might be an accurate description.
And, somehow in the recalling for the story, followers of Jesus three generations down the road know this information about Mary.
"Mary was greatly troubled at his words..."
Maybe when you hear a sermon on Sunday morning those words would be an accurate description about how you feel.
The preacher tells you something and it just settled on you.
Some would call it conviction.
Lets take a look at that real quick in Webster's.
Definition of CONVICTION
1: the act or process of finding a person guilty of a crime especially in a court of law
2 a : the act of convincing a person of error or of compelling the admission of a truth
b : the state of being convinced of error or compelled to admit the truth
Someone, three generations after Christ had risen from the dead and gone back to the Father was so convinced about the story, that they recalled the emotion Mary felt and must have had some personal conviction, feeling, themselves to share that story with Luke.
2000 years later, what is it about this story that makes us want to gather together during a snowy time of the year and recall these writings and stories for ourselves?
Maybe it has something to do with the promises.
The Psalmist seemed to know something about this.
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[a] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[b]
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Psalm 85:7-9
New International Version (NIV)
7 Show us your unfailing love, Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
and grant us your salvation.
8 I will listen to what God the Lord says;
he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—
but let them not turn to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.
he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—
but let them not turn to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.
The disciples of John recorded the words of Jesus for us to recall also.
John 3:14-16
New International Version (NIV)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Do these words greatly trouble you?
Even though they are great promises and they promises great relief to those who believe, that in itself produces the conundrum.
You have to believe.
The story is clear.
In the midst of these crazy promises Mary felt greatly troubled.
But the story also shows her firmness.
"I am the Lord’s servant... May your word to me be fulfilled."
"I am the Lord’s servant... May your word to me be fulfilled."
This is incredible stuff to believe.
And, it requires some incredible faith.
The disciples who would follow the apostles would put their beliefs into creeds, asking people to recite and share their beliefs and feelings with generations to come.
As late as the eighth century A.D. those same feelings were being conveyed.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;*
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of the Father Almighty.
from thence he shall come again to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic** Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
And, even in 2012, we gather together, still holding to the story.
"That's my story and I'm sticking to it."
I don't see any reason why not to.
If you come up with one, I'd love to hear it.
But, check your feelings at the door.
If there be any feelings of being greatly troubled, you might want to rethink having that talk with me.
The story might not be as ridiculous as it seems.
