Tired of Waiting - A sermon series for Advent, modified from a similar series at reformedworship.org, week 4 of 4, preached Dec 22, 2024
Children’s
Hey, question, do you have to be an adult to do important things?
Well, there’s this part of the Christmas story about a kid, a pre-teen doing a really important thing for the world…
Scripture Luke 1:26-33
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a (young) girl promised to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The girl’s name was Mary. 28 And the Angel of God came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”[b] 29 And she was very confused by these words, and questioned what sort of welcome this might be.
Message
This God asks the really old, and the pretty old, and the middle aged, and younger adults, and teenagers, AND kids to help God do new important world changing things. You are never too old OR too young to be a part of what God is doing. Listen carefully with your heart, and you might hear God asking you to do something good, holy, helpful, that brings peace, or joy, or justice.
Let’s pray…
QUOTE of the Day
In the musical Hamilton, there’s a song about Alexander who will never be satisfied. His imagination of what could be is too out in front of what already is, and that gap means others perceive him as never able to be satisfied. Is that true?
Can we be satisfied if we are still waiting for something? Let’s group up in 2s and 3s and spend 2 or 3 minutes on this question of the day with one another.
(Open YouTube livestream, muted, on iPad, and chat with online attendees?)
Context
This Advent season, the four Sundays before Christmas, we are calling “Tired of Waiting”
Three weeks ago, we heard Jesus tell us waiting is not passive, but active. We wait by getting ready, being aware, and preparing to act.
Two weeks ago, we heard John tell us to wait by nurturing God’s light in us and all around us, and by elevating God’s light so it shines into every corner of church, community, family, career, politics, all aspects of life.
Last week, the prophet Isaiah did not comfort but warned the leaders and people who were not in line with God and who waited too long to change. They enjoyed their comforts and pushed off the burden to act onto future generations. Isaiah comforts those future generations, and waits with them for God to lead them out of the trouble their ancestors caused, and back home.
Today, we wait with Elizabeth and Mary. Let’s pray…
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Luke 1:39-56
39 In those days, Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be[e] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
46 And Mary[f] said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
50 indeed, God’s mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 God has shown strength with his arm;
God has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 God has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
53 God has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 God has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of God’s mercy,
55 according to the promise God made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
56 And Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned to her home.
This too is the word of God for the people of God… (Thanks be to God)
Sermon Waiting to be Satisfied
Mary set out and went with haste. You bet she did. Her dad had been working on arranging this moment since Mary had been born. Having a girl wasn’t the best thing back then, but he was committed to making the most of it. The best case scenario for a poorer man like him, with no social or political clout, was to arrange the marriage of his daughter to a man in a good house, a family with a big reputation and with enough money to buy her hand. Poorer families would promise their son to work for the bride’s father for seven years, but wealthy families would drop off a lump sum payment, enough to change the fortune of a poorer family.
After all the conversations and rejections, finally, dad had finagled an agreement with a family descended from the house of David, successful trades people with enough capital to skip the seven years of service and buy Mary’s hand out right. Dad was planning a few trips, and being known around town as someone connected, important.
Mary had come of age. Mom had prepared Mary for this day, when the bleeding would begin, how not to be too alarmed, and what to do, but Mary called for Mom anyway. Mom, its happening! Mom when to Mary, and dad grabbed the celebration kit, and ran to Joseph’s fathers home.
When Joseph’s father answered the knock at the door, Mary’s father hugged him with a big smile, gave him a brand new custom fitted pair of padded leather sandals, opened a bottle of aged wine, gave Joseph’s mother jars of figs and honey, then passed out Palestinian cigars to all the men in the house. They celebrated and laughed and drank and dreamed grand stories of the future.
Mary’s dad wobbled home a few hours later with a silly grin on his face, and a sense of pride and relief in his belly, that all his planning and working were bearing fruit. He twirled a few times in the road when he thought about the new house they might buy, closer to the market, how he could upgrade the equipment in his shop and accelerate his run to retirement.
When he walked in the door, Mary and her mother were sitting on the sofa with strange looks on their faces. Sure, no teenage girl was excited to be going through this, and then being sent away from the only family she had ever known, but hey, this is how we do things, and like all the girls before her, she would figure it out. Its not so bad.
No, that wasn’t it. Mary was okay, calm even, but Mom was the one upset. He sat beside them on the sofa and tried to cajole an answer out of them. What? What’s going on? What happened? What’s wrong? Their answer didn’t make any sense to him. Mom said things had started for Mary, but not like they expected. It wasn’t red, but white, almost water. He didn’t understand, and almost shouted “I don’t know what you’re telling me.” Mom couldn’t say it, but Mary did. “Dad, I’m pregnant.”
He had never been very good at naming feelings, even when there were only one or two. But now, he felt a flood of them. Anger? that Mary could have ruined everything. Revenge? at the man who took advantage of her. Fear? that others might find out and assemble a mob to go Leviticus on her. Confusion at how this could be possible. Hopeless as he watched plans crumble in a way he could not fix. Shame that this mark would be on his family for the rest of their lives.
He stood up, shuffled across the room, and sat awkwardly in his favorite chair. He didn’t say anything for a long time, so long Mom stopped crying and became worried about him. Did he have a stroke? A heart attack? Mary tried speaking to him. “Dad, its going to be okay. This baby is from God. An angel told me. The angel said he would be born in the house of David, so the marriage with Joseph will still work out. Dad… Dad?” Mary wondered had he blinked in the last few minutes?
Finally, dad did blink and looked at Mary right in her eyes and said with a whisper… “get out.” “What?” She asked. He took a deeper breath, like someone does when they’ve been resuscitated after drowning, then snarled at Mary so deep and guttural the neighbors heard him. “GET OUT!”
It scared her. She had never seen her father like that. She did get out, ran right out the door, and didn’t stop. Her mind and heart were racing and taking all her attention, trying to remember things the messenger of God said, thinking about how crazy it sounded, seeing the happiness of her parents, seeing mom devastated and dad explode. Her faith and her doubts battled with one another while her legs just kept running in some not so random direction. She crashed through the door, and into the bosom of Aunt Lizzie.
Elizabeth had been between the sink and prep table in the kitchen when the door slammed open and sweet Mary came barging in. She didn’t have time to say “O hey honey, I didn’t know you were coming today,” before Mary plunged into her. Elizabeth registered her face, red, distraught, and she felt a smidge of fear arise in her chest. But then the baby in her belly started doing somersaults… of joy. What a weird feeling, to have inside you your own emotions from experience… worry, fear… then have these other emotions inside you as well, not yet tainted with the worries of the world, just purer promise, joy.
Elizabeth chuckled a bit as the baby inside guided her away from worry or fear toward hope, and love. “Mary honey, I don’t know what’s going on, but this Baby inside me is telling me, it’s going to be okay, better than okay. You are special, you are blessed. God is with you even now, and God is going to do great things through you, maybe even bring about God’s kingdom on earth through you.” Their hug lasted until Mary’s heart slowed and synced itself with the heartbeat of the baby inside Elizabeth.
For three hours, Mary told Elizabeth everything, while Elizabeth believed her, and listened with compassion as every unchecked emotion gushed out onto the kitchen table. Mary spent the next three days resting, sleeping, praying, while Elizabeth generously served her warm meals, cool drinks, radical hospitality, and never one ounce of judgment or shame, only love. Over three months, Mary began to show, and Elizabeth guided her through what to expect when you’re expecting. Elizabeth grew larger and more tired, and Mary picked up some of the chores and duties and returned the favor of service, generosity, and compassion to Elizabeth, while Elizabeth nurtured hope, trust, and faith back into Mary.
They made plans… when Elizabeth’s contractions began, Mary would go alert the town doula, who would come guide the birth and keep mother and baby safe, and Mary would not come back but return home. Mary told the doula, who grabbed her bag and went to Elizabeth. Mary turned her face and feet toward Nazareth, toward mom and dad, toward Joseph and his family, toward the neighbors and judgmental synagogue people. She barely remembered running here three months ago. But now, as she walked home, she hummed an old tune she learned in shabbat school, that finally made sense to her…
Oh God our Savior gaz’d on those down low
God calls me blessed, one day the world will know.
The Mighty One’s done great things for me,
All those who trust discover God’s mercy.
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel… comes to you now, Oh Israel
God lifts the low, and feed the hungries needs,
God brings down the proud, puts leaders on their knees,
God sends the rich away with far less,
God helps the poor, and gives the tired rest.
Rejoice, rejoice, Oh Israel, God’s promises are true and coming still.
Great and loving God, we pray you give us faith to trust you. Even now, you are doing great and crazy things through the least expected people. May we have the love to join them, not judge them. May we be a house of radical hospitality and welcome to all who run from shame or fear. May we be your manger, when there is no room at home, or in the rented rooms. All this we pray to you and you alone, Emmanuel, God with us, Amen? Amen.
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