Sermons for the Month
Joining Mary In A Song Of LOVE!
Theme: LOVE
DATE: December 21st, 2003
SERVICE: Fourth Sunday In Advent
TEXT: Luke 1:39-45
“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace
and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His
Holy Spirit. AMEN
We have heard songs of joy as we continue waiting to receive the LOVE of God. On this Fourth Sunday in Advent the theme is LOVE; it's an emotion that is vividly expressed in the readings from the Gospel of Luke.
A beautiful picture is painted of two women, one young and newly pregnant, the other older and close to delivery, greeting one another. Elizabeth is a relative of Mary, an aunt perhaps, who had wanted children all her life, but remained childless. When an angel came to her husband Zechariah and told him their hope for a child would be fulfilled, he doubted, and thus was struck dumb, unable to speak until the baby was born.
An angel had also come to Mary, who accepted the amazing news that she would have child with humility. She then travels to her kinswoman, perhaps for moral support. In their individual worlds nothing was normal any longer, and that trend continued as Elizabeth expresses honor at Mary's visit.
In the usual course of events it would have been the other way around. The teenager would have honored the older woman whose life-long disappointment was being reversed. Instead, Elizabeth is inspired by the Holy Spirit to greet her young relative with words that have become a prayer in the Catholic tradition. "Blessed are YOU among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." It is such a moment of joy that even the baby inside of her - who we later know as John the Baptist - is excited.
This is a moment that reflects Divine LOVE as these two ordinary women are touched by God and the world is blessed through them. Mary's response is recorded in scripture as a song, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…." First she celebrates the blessing she received from God; people will now revere her for her special place in God's plan. Then she celebrates Godly reversals in which Good News is proclaimed to the dispossessed, the lowly. Indeed, her gratitude for the tremendous love of God is proclaimed in her singing.
One day last week I decided that I needed to follow Mary's example. Perhaps this revelation came to me because the only thing I was tempted to purchase at a craft show was a sign to place on my office door that announced, "Scrooge is in". Or maybe it was because the Worship Team teasingly suggested that Christmas might be a good time for a pastor exchange, with the hope that there's a clergy person out there somewhere who likes Christmas.
Everyone knows that I enjoy the true observance of Advent as a time of preparation to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But, it's hard for me to get beyond the commercialism of Christmas which has beaten down the religious holiday and made this time of year a money-making (and spending) proposition.
Certain things just annoy me, like a recent newspaper report that gift cards - or gift certificates - have a hidden agenda and are a profitable convenience. Did you know that between 4-10 percent of all gift cards are never used, and that 14 percent are not used to their full value while two-thirds of gift card recipients spend 20 percent more than the cards value. What a racket! It is things like that which make it difficult for me to find the joy in the Christmas season.
But then I picture these two women whose lives have been turned upside down; I imagine Mary singing with sincere happiness and gratitude. And I'm then reminded to look beyond the stuff of Christmas and to find my own song of joy for the pure, unconditional love of God that sent us Jesus, the gift that has no hidden agenda.
Let me tell you a story adapted from a German folktale that reminds us of how important songs of celebration can be.
The wife of a poor merchant died leaving him with five children, ranging in age from six to 15. The older children assumed many of the household chores and helping the younger ones. When the merchant came home at night he always brought a bag of groceries, food for the next day. The evenings were always the same - hugs for each child, scripture reading and prayers, a simple meal and the singing of quiet folk tunes before bed.
The first Christmas after his wife died the merchant told his children there would be no store-bought presents. My gift to you, he said, will be a fine Christmas song. We will learn it in the weeks before Christmas and sing it in church on Christmas Eve.
True to his word the Father wrote a wonderful song of joy and began to teach it to the children who loved it so much that they sang it with great gusto and volume. However, their neighbor hated Christmas and hated music even more.
Night after night as he listened to the children singing the new Christmas song he became more and more irritated. Finally, several days before Christmas, he knocked on the door and made an offer to the family. "I will give you 100 gold coins if you promise not to sing for three months."
That was more money than the father could make in several years. With visions of Christmas presents in their heads they accepted the money and the rich man's terms. Then, an amazing thing happened as night after night in silence they planned how to spend the money. It became quieter and quieter in the house and they became sadder and moodier. Finally one of the little ones said, "I'd rather have music than any present."
The gold was returned with the explanation that singing filled them with joy. "When we sing", the father explained, "We celebrate the best news that have ever been given to poor people like us, that God so loved the world that he became one of us."
That's what Mary's song was all about, the generous love of God that turned her world, and then the entire world, upside down. That love can survive all attempts to subdue it; that's what I and all of us must remember.
So, as we wait just a bit longer to celebrate the birth of Jesus and look forward to his coming again, may we do so with a song in our hearts.
AMEN