Fearless Living

Here is my message from Sunday. The text was Luke 1:26-33, 46-55

When it comes to fear, Halloween is sort of an amazing holiday when we look at it from a 30,000 foot level, because what we do is to turn on lights and invite all the gremlins and goblins to come into the light and then rather than shrieking in fear, we instead ooh and awe over their costumes and tell them how great they look, maybe even how scary they look, and then give them candy and send them off to be bathed in someone else’s light. How great is that? What if the world acted like that all the time? Because normally we shrink in fear, we turn off our lights and lock the door to the gremlins of the world, or those who are different, those who don’t meet the standards we want them to have. We keep them at arms distance and away from us and we fear them. But a holiday that is in some ways to celebrate the fear in actuality works to overcome it, which was part of the purpose. And Christmas is working to try and do the same as well, because the refrain we continually hear from the angels in their proclamation about the coming of Jesus the messiah is do not be afraid, and so that is our theme for this Advent season of learning how not to be afraid.

And so last week we heard the story of the announcement to Zechariah that his wife would become pregnant in her old age and give birth to a son who would become John the Baptist. And even though he has been praying for this to happen, it doesn’t seem he actually believed it would happen because he questions Gabriel about the reality of it. And because of that questioning he is struck silent, unable to speak for the nine month pregnancy of his wife Elizabeth. But the other piece of his story is that we are told that when he sees the angel Gabriel as Zechariah is serving in the Temple that he is terrified. And Gabriel’s response? “Do not be afraid.” And so then let’s compare that against today’s passages.

Songs of Thanksgiving

Here is my sermon from Sunday. The text was Luke 1:39-56:

If you were here last week for our incredible Christmas Cantata, for the scripture reading you also heard the passage known as the annunciation, in which Mary is told that she will give birth to a child and she is to name him Jesus. Additionally, we lit the third candle of Advent, the candle of joy. The other candles of Advent are purple, which represents royalty for Jesus, and the coming birth of the king, but also for repentance and suffering, which like Lent, are part of the season of Advent, although they are now greatly downplayed in importance. The pink of that third candle also comes from a Lenten practice, in which on the fourth Sunday of Lent, there was, and is, a pause from the theme of repentance surrounding Lent, and also the color purple, with a change to pink, or rose and it was a Sunday of rejoicing, a break from the penitential practices of the season. It is seen as a day of hope as we approach the darkness of holy week and then the celebration of Easter. Traditionally no one could be married during Lent, except on this day, it was a day of celebration. And so, when Advent came into being as a liturgical practice, it followed the time of Lent, and the third Sunday too was represented by pink, and the theme of joy, that no matter what is going on in our lives that we can have joy in the presence of God and in the expectation of the coming of Christ.

I think that idea is important as we think then about the stories of Elizabeth, whom we have been hearing about since the first Sunday of Advent with the announcement to Zechariah that she was to bear a son in her advanced age, and then with John the Baptist preparing the way for the coming of Jesus, and even in the annunciation, Mary is told that her cousin Elizabeth is with child. Now it’s not clear why Elizabeth plays such an important role at the beginning of Luke’s gospel, and he is the only one to mention her, and she disappears after the birth of John the Baptist. Perhaps it’s to emphasize that John is not as great as Jesus, after all he leaps in his mother’s womb in praise of Mary, not the other way around. And then, of course, John says that one who is greater than he is coming. Or perhaps Elizabeth is seen as playing the mothering role for the young Mary, as there is no mention at all of Mary’s family. But whatever the reason, Elizabeth clearly plays an important role in Mary’s life at this time, and her response to her pregnancy, and to Mary’s pregnancy, perhaps gives more indication to Mary of how she too should feel and approach the coming birth, as will then be seen in Mary’s song of praise, known as the Magnificat.