Betwixt & Between: A CHRISTmas Story

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SCRIPTURE

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Luke 1:39-55 (NRSV)
Blessed are you among women

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

And Mary said,
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."


SERMON

Today is the Fourth and final Sunday in Advent. As we know by now Advent means “to come” and it heralds the start of the Christian calendar when we wait, hope, anticipate, and repent in anticipation of the celebration of Jesus’ birthday on December 25th and of his glorious return from the heavens on the day of his choosing!

There are no other people who are more aware of the feeling of Advent than Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth knew what it was to wait in great expectation for something wonderful to happen!

After all, she was an elderly and barren woman who had lived her entire life waiting, hoping, expecting, dreaming that one day God would open up her womb and bless her with a child!

Well, after all her waiting, God did indeed do just that, but it sure took God long enough, didn’t it?

Poor Elizabeth! Whilst she was excited about her child, she was also shut up in her house ashamed to come out because she didn’t want to be the butt of her neighbors’ jokes as they gawked at her rounded and aged belly.

But one day, as she was hiding from the prying eyes of her neighbors, she received a most unlikely visitor. It was her young, teenage, and unwed cousin Mary.

Now, Mary also had a reason to want to hide inside of the house. She was probably deathly afraid of anyone finding out that she was pregnant because the penalty for such a thing would be stoning if the people were feeling generous and being burned alive if they were not.

How awful! In this little Judean town, Elizabeth and Mary huddled together with Advent Spirits—excited, afraid, anxious, fearful, worried, and amazed at what God had done to—and with--them!

Elizabeth carried the prophet, Mary the son of God, and yet here they were hiding and ashamed—triumphant and exultant.

Isn’t this an amazing paradox? I don’t know about you, but I have lived that paradox at certain times in my life. I suspect that all of us Christians have.

After all, we all have secrets. We all hide sin. We all have done things that we don’t want people to know about. We’ve all had people do things to us that we don’t want to talk about with others. We all know what it is to live with the sin and shame of self—or others--because this is just a part of the human condition.

But, as followers of Jesus, we also know the joy and excitement of living a saved life! We know what it is to believe that God loves us so much that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sin and gift us with eternal life!

Doesn’t that good news make you feel positively giddy? Joyful? Excited? Expectant?

Whilst Elizabeth and Mary had done nothing wrong to warrant their conditions, they lived in the cusp between joy and sorrow, excitement and fear, freedom and shame.

This is the same place that many of us live. For we know that He whom The Son sets free is free indeed. But, we also know that there is a war within “our bodies” between the flesh and the spirit and that war is what causes us to live in the cusp.

So, what are we supposed to do in the cusp between the now and the not yet now? How do we live expectantly, wait actively, and hope ridiculously as we stand between time and eternity?

Well, again, we can learn from Elizabeth and Mary. For as they stood in the cusp they gathered together the shreds of their hope, dignity, and courage and began to praise God—in advance—for the miracles that they carried inside of themselves and the certain hope that God would bring the promise of their babies to pass.

I don’t know about you, but I believe that it is always a good time to praise the Lord! When Elizabeth caught sight of Mary, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit got to moving inside of her and Baby John. She began to exclaim with a loud voice, “"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

Oh glory! Have you ever praised God for what God is doing in the life of someone else? In my tradition we do this all the time. We say, “If God can do it for you, God can do it for me.” and we get to praising!

In response to Elizabeth’s greeting, and the move of the Holy Spirit, Mary began to praise God her own self! She said, “"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

Hallelujah!

Mary’s Song, now also called “The Magnificat,” continues to inspire us as Christians today. As she began to pray and praise I believe that God began to minister to Elizabeth and Mary. I believe that God began to encourage their souls. I believe that God built up their courage, strength, and fortitude such that they were able to support each other, as they trusted in God!

Wow!

This is the type of “walking together” that we are called to do as Christians. Although we sometimes walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we ought not to be alone as Christians. We have the presence of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us and we should have the love, care, and ministry of our communities of faith, as we journey through hard times together.

Mary and Elizabeth became a community of two, hunkered down in the house for three months, encouraging one another to go on and see what the end was going to be!

This reminds me of the importance of having a prayer partner, being a part of a small accountability group, and/or attending worship regularly.

There is just something about walking with someone on this road called Life that makes the journey sweeter, easier, and more worthwhile! God created human beings to be in community.

God made us so that we would want—and need—each other to share love, joy, peace, and companionship. Adam needed Eve, David needed Jonathan, Elizabeth needed Mary, Jesus needed his disciples, Paul needed Timothy, and so on. We are not meant to face the trials and tribulations of this life alone.

So, when we feel lost in the cusp of the now and the not yet now, we need to draw near to God and to a Christian whom we trust. It is when we try to go it alone that we get into real trouble.

Elizabeth and Mary model a better way of confronting challenges—that is, to be in beloved community with people who can understand.

Finally, when we find ourselves “stuck” between the sorrow of our sin and the joy of our salvation, in addition to finding a community of faith to help us bear our burdens and lift up our praise, we need to remember that joy comes in the morning as we serve other people!

Within Mary’s Song we hear the promise of many good things for those who love, follow, and believe in Jesus!

She says that God will grant us mercy, show us strength, scatter and bring down our enemies and oppressors, lift up the lowly, fill the hungry, and remember us forever.

Yes, Lord!

Because Mary was willing to say, “YES, LORD!” when the angel came to her with the news that she would be the Mother of God we have a stellar example of what total surrender to Spirit should look like!

I love Mary’s response to the angel who brought her the news about Jesus. She said, “I am the Lord’s servant, may everything that you have said come true.”

I want to live a “Yes, Lord!” kind of life. I want to be so sold out for God and for the Kingdom of Love that I would never consider denying God’s requests of me!

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus this week, let us think about the ways that we can be of service to others. Mary said, “I am the servant of God.”

In what ways can we make that same declaration?

I believe CHRISTmas gives us manifold opportunities to serve God and community. After all, CHRISTmas is about the generous and loving gift that God bestowed upon humanity when Jesus was born. As we receive God’s generous gift, we are compelled to share it with others.

There are hungry people to be fed, thirsty people who need water, naked people who need clothes, homeless people who need shelter, sick and imprisoned folks who need visitors, and widows and orphans who need care.

Furthermore, there are still far too many people who have not heard the good news that Jesus saves and he saves to the utmost!

On Christmas Day as we eat cake, sing “Happy Birthday," go caroling, read scripture, pray and attend church, we will be making the extraordinary effort to keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas!

As we keep CHRIST in CHRISTmas, we will bear witness to the world that JESUS is the reason for the season.

In these waning days of Advent, please have the wisdom to slow down like Mary and Elizabeth. Take the time to gather with your community of faith for worship, praise, prayer, and mutual support and then together, please find a way to bring JESUS into the lives of those who need him, by faithfully serving the least of these!

These actions will be a wonderful birthday gift for our Savior!

Go in peace, serve the Lord! Thanks be to God!


INVITATION

If you would like to put all of your hope in Jesus in anticipation of his birthday this week, please pray with me:

Holy God, thank you for the precious gift of Jesus! Thank you that you love me so much that you gave Jesus to die on the cross and rise again on the third day, to forgive me of my sin and make provision for my eternal life. Please forgive me of my sin and fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can share the CHRISTmas message to everyone I meet! I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.


SPECIAL NOTE

If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, today, you are saved! Let me encourage you to tell a Christian friend that you just put all of your hope in Jesus. Ask him or her to help you find a Bible that is easy for you to understand and to find a good Bible believing church where you can be baptized and make new friends who will walk with you on your Christian journey!

I would be honored if you would let me know about your decision today by clicking "YES" in the poll located in the upper-right hand corner of the good news blog in answer to the question, "Did God save you today?"

Congratulations and Happy Re-birthday! Your salvation is our GOOD NEWS, please go and share the GOOD NEWS with others!