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What’s at the top of your Christmas list? Have you ever wanted
something so much that you could think of little else? Perhaps it was
that first bicycle, a video game, cell phone, or iPod that you desired
all season long. If you have ever had one of those years, then you
have something in common with Ralphie Parker who wanted only one thing
in the Christmas movie, “A Christmas Story”. He saw it just after
Thanksgiving in the window of the department store. His request was
well rehearsed. When anyone asked Ralphie what he wanted for
Christmas he would blurt out, “I want an official Red Rider carbine
action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and
a thing that tells time.” He presented the request to his mom, his
teacher, and even to Santa himself. Each of them gave him the same
discouraging response, “You’ll shoot your eye out.” It seems that
each of these verbal blocks only increased the craving. Have you ever
wanted something that much?
I
wonder what Mary longed for. I wonder what was at the top of her
list. We really don’t know much about her. There is no mention of
her parents or siblings in the scriptures. We assume that she was
from Nazareth, but we are not told if she grew up there or from what
tribe of Israel she descended. We don’t know how old she was in
today’s story or what kind of business her family was in. All we know
is that she was engaged to a guy named Joseph, who was of David’s
ancestry, and that an angel came to her one day in Nazareth. That’s
where we find her in Luke 1:30-38. Hear now the Word of the Lord:
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 God for the people of God. In this passage Luke reported
to his readers the angelic announcement and assurance given to Mary.
Let us pray.
Just
eleven more days, what’s at the top of your Christmas list?
I think those lists have a way of changing with time. In this brief
story about Mary and the angel it seems as though there are several
things on Mary’s Christmas list. I am sure that each one of these is
on some of our lists.
Some people want comfort from
their fears
Mary’s
first response was to be afraid. The angel is quite clear in his
instructions to Mary. The NRSV translates it, “Do not be afraid,” but
most New Testament scholars translate it, “Stop being afraid.” It was
too late to tell her not to be afraid. She was already there. This
is typical of all these angel stories in Luke. The angel has to tell
Zechariah not to be afraid, Mary not to be afraid, and the shepherds
not to be afraid. This is pretty common anytime people come into
contact with the supernatural. The prophets experienced it: Abraham,
Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and many others were scared half to
death when confronted with the divine. It is a scary thing to come
face to face with an angel. The angel seeks to comfort Mary, because
he knows before the story can go any farther she needs to not be
afraid.
I
watched the movie, A Christmas Story again this week. I laugh
every time I see the scene where children are lined up throughout the
store waiting for their turn to see Santa Claus. They are nervous and
a little worried about what they will say. When their turn comes and
they find themselves one by one on Santa’s lap, some of them freak out
and begin to cry. Others are stricken mute. When Santa asks them
what they want for Christmas, I am sure that for that one moment what
they want is to not be afraid.
Fear is
not unique to Mary’s story or limited to children waiting in line to
see Santa. In fact, this is the time of year when fear, anxiety, and
depression are at an annual high. People are afraid that they will
not meet other’s expectations when it comes to gift giving. They are
anxious about finances, hectic schedules, and making it through that
first Christmas without the loved one who had been there every other
year. Christmas can still be a very scary time. There are some of us
here who have at the top of our lists comfort from fear. May we hear
those beautiful words of Gabriel, “Do not be afraid, for you have
found favor with God.” What’s at the top of your Christmas
list?
Some people want clarity from
their confusion
Once
Mary got over her initial fright, confusion set in. She heard what
the angel said, but she did not really understand it. She was going to
have a baby, and by the tone of the conversation, relatively soon.
But she was not married and she was engaged. The act of betrothal in
those days was as serious as a marriage. Papers were drawn up and
witnessed. The father of the bride had already sealed the deal with
what was called the bride-price or a dowry. It was generally a year
before the wedding occurred, but to break the engagement required a
divorce. The law stated that adultery could be punished by execution,
though that was seldom, if ever, enforced in Mary’s day. The more
common response to a woman becoming pregnant outside of marriage was
shunning. But not even that had seeped into Mary’s mind just yet.
She was not thinking about consequences, she was thinking about human
realities, “How can this be?” she asked. She was confused and more
than anything else she wanted clarity.
Years ago, when Chelsea was about five or
six, she would go to the softball games with me. She always liked to
go, but she seldom watched the game and never cheered for me. One day
I asked my one fan that was present why she never cheered at the
softball game. She explained that the game was too confusing. She
didn’t understand. So I began to explain the basics to her, “When I
get up to bat, I want to hit the ball and get to first base before the
ball gets there. Then I go to second base, then third base, and
finally and best of all - home. That means we score a run.”
She stopped me and asked why it is called
‘home’. I said because it is where we started. She paused for a
while, assimilating this new information and then said, “You mean it’s
like when I go to one shopping mall and then I go to a second mall and
then a third shopping mall and then I come home.” I knew then that
parenting should have come with instructions.
“How can this be?” Mary asked and the angel
vaguely defined the process. Then he assured her that her relative
Elizabeth was told that she couldn’t have any children and was long
passed the age when women had babies, but she was only three months
from delivering her first born. Then the angel said something that
I’m sure Mary never forgot, “For nothing will be impossible with
God.” That is the real answer which brings clarity to the confused,
“Nothing will be impossible with God.”
Are you confused? Some of us are. We don’t
know what to do next. We don’t know how we are going to get it all
done. We have a lot of graduating high school seniors who don’t know
where they will be living or what they will be studying next year.
Life can become very confusing. That is a good time to stay close to
Emmanuel – God with us – because nothing will be impossible with
God.” What’s at the top of your Christmas list? Is it
comfort to calm your fears or clarity from your confusion?
Some people want cooperation
with God’s plan
Once
Mary was calmed down and assured that nothing is impossible with God
she was on-board with the plan. I love her words, “Here
am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your
word.” Mary was ready to participate in this story. She
became one of the millions who have exclaimed, “I can’t wait until
Christmas!” Joel Green wrote in his commentary on this passage, “Luke
has undercut the competitive maneuvering for positions of status
prevalent in the 1st century Mediterranean world. Mary,
who seemed to measure low in any ranking – age, family, heritage,
gender, and so on – turns out to be the one favored by God, the one
who finds her status and identity in her obedience to God and
participation in his salvific will.” Get that last part – “she finds
her status and identity in her obedience to God and participation in
his salvific will.”
I have
seen these types of participants in the past year. What a year of
unpredictable events 2008 has been! Last week we said good-bye to our
first guests through Family Promise even as we said good-bye to the
40+ classes of Texas A&M University – Galveston that met in our
facilities for the last several months. Many of you took part in
those ministries reaching out to others as participants in God’s
plan. One of these participants that stand out to me was Charles. I
met Charles while we were serving as a shelter for individuals fleeing
from Hurricane Ike. He was always cleaning up after meals in the
Great Hall. I grew so accustomed to seeing him that I started
referring work to him, “Charles, can you get me an extra trash liner
for this can? Did you get this table? Can you help me with this?” I
remarked to Will how fortunate we were to have Charles helping out and
asked Will where he found him. It was then that I discovered Charles
was one of our guests. I thought we had hired him to help out in this
time of need.
I saw
that same spirit last Sunday when twenty-three athletes from eight
different Aggie athletic teams and about a dozen or more Aggie Angels
came here to help us in our Nothing but Nets Christmas Celebration. I
wish you could have seen Bryan Davis and Chinemelu Elonu, Jr.
decorated by the children as Christmas presents. It was pretty
comical. It was pretty touching when you realized that their efforts
in our CLC were saving lives in Cote d’Ivoire, Africa, even as they
were making a difference in the lives of children in College Station.
They were participating in God’s plan to care for others.
Do find
your status and identity in your obedience to God and your
participation in his salvific will? This is what brought Mary the
most joy. What’s at top of your Christmas list? I
encourage you to cooperate with God’s plan.
Last
Thursday we had the church staff over to our home for the Christmas
party. As has become our custom, we ended the evening around the
Advent Table. As I lit the first two candles and said, “We light this
candle for hope. We light this candle for Peace,” Julie McCollum said
their youngest child, Maggie, could not wait to light the pink candle
- the candle we light for the first time today. The pink candle,
called the Jubilate Candle, was introduced to focus on joy on this
day, the third Sunday of Advent. I agree with Maggie. I have looked
forward to the pink candle for quite some time – pure, unmixed joy.
That’s what’s on the top of my Christmas list. I am confident that
this comes in those Emmanuel moments, when I sense the wonder of
Emmanuel – God with us – with me. That presence will bring me comfort
for my fears, clarity for my confusion, and calls me to cooperate with
God’s plan where I will find my true status and identity.
What’s at the top of your Christmas list? Amen.
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