A sermon for First
Presbyterian Church, Spring City, TN, read by Georgette Boozer, Ruling Elder
elect, on Dec. 24, 2017.
We all imagine Mary’s
predicament being an unmarried young, pregnant girl as something supernatural, defying anyone’s
belief. But I think we tend to hear her
story through the Birth Narrative as part of the great unfolding of God’s Grace
– an idea of a Creator who turned from Judgment to Mercy. That is a very powerful and wondrous point
that we never want to diminish.
Yet, the Gospel as a
whole is about the relationship of God and Humanity. As I read the scriptures,
New and Old, more and more, I come to realize that it is the human aspect of
scripture that is so powerful. It takes imagination and a willingness to
express what scripture means to you. Scripture
is rooted in us as human beings who love, desire, hate, envy, hope and dream
for tomorrow grounded in awe or resentment (Psalm 8) of our Creator.
I believe it is our identifying
with the humanity of the characters of scripture that conveys its meaning and
sense of the Divine.
For example, the power of
the Gospel of Mark is that it describes a man (Jesus) who suddenly appears
walking out of the desert of Galilee to his baptism. The man Jesus is driven by urgency of the
highest importance - so much to do and so little time to do it. Every second is a second to use, not waste to fulfill a calling.
The reality that Jesus is
the Son of Man is never in question in Mark as much as he seeks to hide it. It
is revealed in his human frustration, anger, impatience and even
sharp-tongued irony at his followers and listeners. Jesus is a man, a very special man, who faces a
certain future of miserable human death – no exit from this world or the next.
Death has a logic about
it to the wise, as Paul would say. It is a “fish trap.” There is one
way in and no way out. As Jesus prepared in his younger years (never described
in Mark) to enter into three short years of ministry, that reality of death faced
him every day. And, though he knew he
would transcend (overcome) death, his humanity had to fight the fear of that reality
of death to the end. To do otherwise
would not be human and diminish the act. For me this is probably the best definition of
fearlessness.
Other parts of scripture
are not so dramatic but still deal with fearlessness. Take the story of King David that we read
today. King David who was so sure of himself and the power God gave him he
thought he could decide on his own to build a house for God. David was chosen by
God, but was as weak as any of us. He
feared his own son, Absalom and he planned the murder of his Chief General so
he could continue an affair with his wife. He regularly forgot that the power
behind his fearlessness was the Lord, not himself. David could be a model for any of us - after
all, the Lord used him as a model for the Messiah.
Jeremiah was called to prophesy,
yet he was chased by the Judeans,
thrown in a dry well and left for dead, all because he spoke truth to power not
with his own voice, but with the voice of God. He was fearless only because
of that promise of God to give him the worlds to speak.
But these three examples of
fearlessness or power have a commonality. They are all human examples.
I’d like to think I can
offer some perspective on Mary’s plight in this passage, but I admit at the
beginning, it will be a sorry effort on my part as a male, and maybe on your
part, regardless of gender. Keep in mind that in our great country we fail to realize women got the
right to vote after African-American men. Women have been able to vote in the USA for
only the last 98 years!
So, let’s pick up where I
left off with Jesus. Let’s put aside that Mary is the Mother of the Son of God.
Let’s put aside that this act is
something only capable by the power of God.
Let is focus on the fact
that Mary was chosen, out of the blue, if you will. Like a thief in the night, the Holy Spirit
appears announcing she is pregnant. No
choice, no option. Her only words were,” (Luke 1:38) Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with
me according to your word.”
Mary was perhaps 14, 15,
16 years old, we do not know, but she was not in a situation like we might find
in middle or high school today where a boy and a girl start experimenting with
these newly found feelings and the girl ends up pregnant. That certainly is a very challenging and
world-upsetting thing to deal with. Your life would be turned upside down.
But, realize Mary lived
in a time and was a member of an ultraconservative Jewish group called Essenes
– they wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. Very severe and strict rules set the bounds
of the relationship between men and women, between husband and wife. Violating those rules could lead to expulsion
or even death.
I wonder if this is one
of the reasons she was told to go and live with her aunt Elizabeth who had a
similar experience, being pregnant with John?
The scriptures are almost
silent about what happened in that time except we know both Joseph and
Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah were righteous Jews. We can only imagine how Elizabeth and Mary were
received and how everyone explained the circumstances.
Elizabeth and Mary gave
birth, with Elizabeth’s son, John, proclaiming the coming of Jesus.
John met his death due to
a cruel outcome of a sordid affair between King Herod and Salome, the wife of his
son. We know the outcome of Mary’s son.
What kind of life it must have been for Mary to hear all the religious figures curse her
son, calling him a heretic and constantly trying to entrap him.
Both Mary and Elizabeth
were called to a life by God. No one
could say with a straight face they were called to walk in the rose garden.
They knew this
call and their faith made them fearless to do God’s work. I repeat, they knew this call and their
faith made them fearless to do God’s work. The agony of that work is visible for all to
see. The beheading of John, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
Their faith made Mary and
Elizabeth fearless. For Mary, to stand at the cross as Jesus died, to run to
the tomb ("Mary [mother of] James?") and bring back the news to the disbelieving disciples, “He is arisen!”
It takes faith in God to
accept that we have a home, a refuge with God to make us as fearless as Mary
and Elizabeth.
In a world where
everything seems to be running on all cylinders and then a wheel falls off - that
is the world we live in - we must be ever-fearless so we can listen for
God’s Holy Spirit. He will lead us home, he will lead us all home in his time.
So, I encourage you to be
fearless as we discern and work towards God’s call for the ministry of First Presbyterian
Church. We shall be a city on a hill. We only need to be fearless of the world and
Thankful “God is with us” (Emanuel).
We know Mary’s road and
Elizabeth’s was not easy. We ought to
admit our road is not easy. We may
disagree, we may lose our temper, but we must always cling to faith, love
and hope and our calling because as Paul said, these three things
hold a congregation together, hold a congregation together, Faith in our
calling, Love of our fellow members inspired by our faith, and hope for our future.
That, my friends, is my thanksgiving as
I face a fearsome future myself.
I thought that given all
we have been through you may be carrying fears and worries, or unanswered
questions. it could be helpful if desire to voice your fears, or your fearlessness.
Rather than ask you to speak out now, please take the piece of paper you
received with the bulletin and write them on it, then during the offering place
it in the offering plate, or raise them as a prayer for discernment. We will be sure that your fear or worry is
addressed on an upcoming Sunday, or by phone or directly if you wish.
Now, as a rhetorical
question, where do you find fearlessness and thanksgiving?
Amen.
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