Sermon: Impossible Peace

Luke 1:26-38

Prayer:   “May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our minds and hearts here together be acceptable to you, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.  Amen.”

            Have you ever heard of the term “old soul”?  Generally “old souls” refer to younger folks, like children, who are extremely perceptive, thoughtful, and wise beyond their years.  I have known a few “old souls” in my time, in fact a few of them are children right here in this community.  It always takes me by surprise the thoughtfulness with which they answer questions, the ways they reach out to friends and adults alike in times of difficulty, and the depth of emotion with which they react to their own and especially other people’s concerns and joys.  Children with “old souls” tend to be a blessing, and as I re-read this morning’s scripture from the gospel of Luke, that is how I identified Mary. 

            Now, we have come to know that at the time, identifying Mary as a child would have been ridiculous.  At 13-years-old she was of marriageable age, and she was already in fact preparing for her arranged marriage to Joseph.  But knowing what we know about 13-year-olds and their development now, it seems very outer limits to think of Mary as a full-blown adult.  Rather, we might consider her in that in-between – what we now call the ‘tween – stage, beginning to engage in critical thinking but still young and in need of others to help mediate decisions or help keep boundaries.  Up until this moment in Mary’s life those people were more than likely her parents, and soon that person would be Joseph.  But here in the in-between is when the Angel Gabriel comes to visit her, and announces that she will bear a son – the Son of God.  That is when the “old soul” in Mary kicks into gear.  And her response never ceases to amaze me.  After being a bit perplexed about why the Angel is calling her the favored one of God, and after lending her thought and faith to the situation, Mary says, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  Another translation of this passage records Mary as responding, “Yes, I see it all now: I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.  Let it be with me just as you say.”  Ready to serve.  Do with me what you will.  Such a thoughtful, faithful, and peaceful response in the midst of a rather challenging and unexpected situation.

            Although the meaning of Mary’s name is “excellence,” it is not as if Mary were someone extraordinary.  She was a 13-year-old girl, following along the normal path of life for a young woman her age, who lived in a village full of carpenters.  Nazareth itself was a small village and not known for much.  It happened to be on a trade route that led to Egypt, which seems to be the only reason anyone even acknowledged the presence of the place, before the annunciation and the beginning of Jesus life and then ministry, that is. It was not until many years later, upon archaeological digs, that Nazareth came to be known as the village of the faithful.  There was no evidence of pagan culture or ritual to be found.  Along with the gospel of Luke having the only mention of Mary being from Nazareth, there are a few other interesting things about Luke’s gospel account that are very different than the other gospels.  Luke is written by a gentile to a primarily gentile audience.  Luke is written as a radically inclusive gospel – showing Jesus’ inclusion of many of the people that his society would have had him set aside.  That group includes women, who play a prominent role in the gospel of Luke.  That is why the birth narrative in Luke is actually told with Mary in mind.

            The interesting part about the annunciation is that an annunciation by definition is an announcement.  Much like the announcements we make on Sunday mornings, people believe that there is no real opportunity to reply.  However, that is more fiction than fact.  Yes, information is shared – some might say fed to all of us, but given with the chance for people to take and do with what they please.  And the opportunity to reply is the opportunity to reply with one’s own life.  When we invite people to come and participate in something we ask that you will set aside the time, make the commitment to be with folks in our community, and respond with your lives.  That is what Mary chose to do.  Gabriel arrived with an announcement for her – one that challenged her to dig deeper than she would ever have had to before.  She had the choice to respond to the Angel –to say “yes,” as she chose to.  Can you imagine what would have happened if she had said, “No”?

            We are blessed that Mary responded “yes” and responded with her whole life.  We see thousands of pictures of Mary, meek and mild – Mary who just was and went along with the program.  But the reality is that Mary must have had some serious spunk and spirit.  First, she challenged God’s messenger, and then she chose to say “yes.”  She chose to say “yes” to a very dangerous proposition, one that had the potential to get her killed.  And that “yes” was only one in a long line of “yes’es” with which Mary responded.  Through that first “yes” and all those that followed Mary served and continues to serve as a role model in faith for each of us who choose to follow God.  Mary was roughly 46-years-old when Jesus was crucified, and in the span of those 30 plus years she was not only a strong mother.  She was a questioner, encourager, worrier, follower, do-er, and pray-er.  And in all of it Mary believed that she was blessed.  We might not have thought of her as blessed – knowing what is to come, but Mary as an “Old Soul” perhaps thought that she was.  God blessed her with the opportunity to be a part of the grander plan.

            Mary’s story, much like the one we heard last week about Zechariah and Elizabeth, helps us to see that God breaks into the lives of everyday ordinary people to do extraordinary things – that the most seemingly ordinary moments and times in our lives can be packed with God if we just open ourselves up enough and allow ourselves to see it.  And Mary’s story serves to remind us that God offers folks like us opportunities to participate in God’s plans for justice and peace in the world.  Stories like that of Mary not only show us that nothing is impossible with God, they show us that we too, as children of God, have a challenged and strangely blessed calling.  God wants us to be part of the plan too, part of taking responsibility for the world and the state of it, and part of the peacemaking.  We come to the Advent season each year, and we get to know Mary once again.  We come to like her and to admire her and her courage, her willingness, her story which gives birth to our common story as Christians.  The question is whether or not we are ready and willing to do the same – to not only know the good news but to be bearers of it to our world that is in such deep need of healing, especially when we are in need of healing ourselves?

            I have to admit that I had a difficult time with the ending of this message.  After all it is strange enough for us, in the Protestant tradition, to think so much about Mary to begin with.  So where do we go from here and how do we get there?  I came to realize that one of the reasons it was so difficult is because we know so little about Mary’s ending.  We don’t know much about the ends of the stories of Mary who is spoken of very little after Jesus’ death, and of Elizabeth and Zechariah who we don’t hear about after the birth of John the Baptist.  What we do know is what they did with their lives and what they gave.  They chose to follow God, to bear these special children and to raise and support them.  Much like their stories we don’t know much about the ending of our stories of the story of our world that still seeks justice, peace, equality, and an end to so many of the issues we face each day.  (Just this morning, as I went out to heat up my car in the bitter cold all I could think about were the people who spent last night out on the street.)  What we do know is that we have a choice.  We have a choice like Mary about whether or not to answer God’s call.  And we can imagine God awaiting our answers.  The question is: What will we choose?  Amen.