One of my favorite
Christmas carols is “Mary did you Know.”
Actually, I have lots of favorite Christmas carols and each of them is
special in some way. But this carol, it
speaks to me:
Mary
did you know that your Baby Boy would someday walk on water
Mary
did you know that you Baby boy would save our sons and daughters….
Mary
did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod
And
when you kiss your little baby, you’ve kissed the face of God.
Oh
Mary did you know?[i]
Oh Mary did you Know?
We will hear on
Christmas Eve the story of how the angel Gabriel came to Mary and announced
that God had looked on her with favor and chosen her to be the mother of God
with us – Jesus.
How Mary was puzzled
that she should be the one to have this child
–
as
much because she was an ordinary, poor woman
–
as
because she was not married.
To which the angel replied,
–
the
Holy Spirit will come to you,
–
the
power of God will cover you in God’s shadow,
–
this
child, born from a human mother – is the Son of God,
–
this
child, born to a poor ordinary couple, will be King of all,
–
Nothing
is impossible with God, who can cause an old woman way past childbearing age to
conceive
o
Like
Sarah
o
Like
Hannah
o
Like
your cousin Elizabeth
Mary did you know?
Mary goes to visit
Elizabeth. Who better to understand the
inconceivable? Who better to
believe the
unbelievable?
Who better to share her
good news with - someone else who has experienced the power of God in her life.
If Mary didn’t know,
Elizabeth certainly tells her
–
My
unborn child recognized Who the child you are carrying is,
–
My
child leaps for joy at the sound of your voice,
–
Mary
did you know you are blessed?
–
Mary
did you know you are carrying God’s son?
Mary bursts into
song. Praising God for what God has done
for her. But her song quickly changes to
praising God for what God has done, is doing, and will do for the world:
–
God’s
everlasting mercy throughout the centuries;
–
Casting
down the proud and powerful;
o
Lifting
up the poor and oppressed;
–
Filling
the hungry with good things;
o
Sending
those who are rich and satisfied with the status quo away empty;
–
Remembering
God’s promise to bring salvation, reconciliation, re-creation:
o
Her
child, decedent of Abraham will bless the world
o
Her
child, from the line of King David, is the Prince of Peace.
No doubt about it - Mary
did know how God had drawn her into God’s redeeming, re-creating activity in
the world.
There are lots of songs
sung at Christmas time. When we sing, do
we know how God draws us into God’s reconciling, re-creating activity in the
world?
People
do you know that the Son of God is God’s sign of love for you?
People
do you know that this baby boy brings God’s grace and love to earth,
And
you’re called to live God’s story, as you sing about his birth?
Oh
People do you know?
People do you know? [ii]
That when you sing “Joy
to the World,” God works joy in your heart, drawing you into joyful anticipation
for that day when “No more let sin and sorrow reign and thorns infest the
ground.” That God comes again through
you to make “God’s blessings known, far as the curse is found.”
That when you sing “What
child is this?” the marvel of God come in human flesh, God with us, born in a
humble stable that night long ago becomes even more marvelous as the
realization seeps into you that Jesus still comes to us, still lives in us, is
still with us – through you!
That when you sing “O
Little Town of Bethlehem,” “the hopes and fears of all the years,” the hope and
fear of today are given voice, are lifted to God once again, and God once again
answers those hope and fears with love and grace and mercy.
That when you sing, “It
came upon a midnight clear,” you join
the angels’ song, singing “Peace on earth, God’s mercy and favor is shown to
those who are crushed by life, who are burdened and weary,” and suddenly you
understand that the angels’ have come to you, to tell you that you are blessed,
that you have found favor with God and that you are sent as a messenger from God
to proclaim peace, to reveal God’s love for the world.
That when you sing “O
come thou long expected Jesus,” you are singing Jesus into your heart, into
your very being so that Jesus birthed in your soul can continue God’s reconciling,
re-creating activity in a world that needs to be set free, to be released from
fear, to be restored to right relationship (freed from sin) with God and each
other, to bring hope and peace and joy and love?
That each Christmas we
sing, because we are pregnant with Mary[iii]
–
pregnant
with the possibilities inherent in our God with whom nothing is impossible
–
as
a pregnant woman carries her unborn child, we carry Jesus, speaking for him,
breathing his love into our world,
–
anxiously
awaiting God’s promise of hope, joy, peace and love, the birth of a world
changed.
That’s the song we sing at
Christmas.
We join in Mary’s song.
[ii] From
here on out this sermon is directly influenced by David Lose’s thoughts for the
Fourth Sunday in Advent, Dear Working Preacher, workingpreacher.com. http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=650
[iii]
Thanks to Terri at “Seeking Authentic Voice” for including the Caryll
Houselander quote that talks about how we birth God to the world in her sermon
for this Sunday. It’s a great sermon, and I wish I wrote it. You can read it at: http://seekingauthenticvoice.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-rhythm-of-life-claims-my-soul.html
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