Sermon for December 13th, 2020

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Angel Songs: Afraid to Hope

It was Christmas day, and the virgin Mary had just given birth to baby Jesus. Shepherds and angels gathered around the manger to pay their respects, and the three wise men had just arrived. The first one walked into the barn and gave Mary a gift for the baby. The second one did the same, and Mary thanked them both. Then the third wise man, who was rather tall, walked into the barn and banged his head against one of the rafters, exclaiming in a loud voice, "Jesus Christ!" Mary turned to Joseph and said, "Write that one down, it sounds so much nicer than Clarence!"

This week's scripture passage is about the angel Gabriel's visitation to Mary, the mother of Jesus. We've been talking about angels in the Christmas story and their consistent message, whenever they appear, of "Do not be afraid." It's a highly relevant message, both then as well as today--precisely because fear is such a powerful emotion, and because our fears control us, so much more than we like to admit.

What are you most afraid of, today? And what does that fear prevent you from doing, from becoming? If God appeared to you today, with a message from an angel, I can almost guarantee you that the angel's first words--just like in all of our scripture passages--would be "Don't be afraid of that thing you are so afraid of." Step into the hope and light and confidence of God, who frees us from our fears, who calls us to become all that we were made to be. Do not be afraid.

So. What is Mary afraid of? The answer to that question, I believe, is evident in the angels opening words to Mary:

“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

We tend to read these words in the light of 2,000 years of Christian history and doctrine, all of which is comes from hindsight, knowing that Mary is chosen to be the mother of Jesus, the savior of the universe. Next to Jesus, Mary is probably the most revered person in the entire Bible, and so we hear these words "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you" and we think, "yeah, clearly."

But Mary didn't know any of that when the angel appeared to her. Look at her response in verse 29: "But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be." Or, in 21st century vernacular, Mary said, "Wait...what??"

So the angel says it again, in a slightly different way. Verse 30: "30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God."

There's that word, a second time...favor. Some ancient manuscripts of this passage even have it a third time, with Gabriel telling Mary that she is "favored among all women."

What is Mary's fear? Exactly the opposite of what the angel is telling her: That she is not favored, not special, alone and unimportant in all the world. That's actually a pretty common fear that many of us have, if we're completely honest with ourselves.

29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

-Afraid to conceive--I can't do it by myself? No, but with God...

-Mary is favored, perplexed, thoughtful, afraid. She questions, believes, submits

-Impostor syndrome?

-God chooses Mary because she has nothing, and is nobody. God's favor cannot be transactional, you can't "earn" it.