The Power of saying Yes to God
Click Here to Download This Week's Bulletin
Luke 1:35-56
Mary’s “Yes”
“I am a Christian not because of anything I’ve done
but because a teenage girl living in occupied Palestine
at one of the most dangerous moments in history said yes—yes to God.”
These words came from Rachel Held Evans and express insight that applies to every one of us.
Mary said, “yes” to God…and through her, God changed the history of the world.
Mary was un-remarkable or normal, by all the world’s standards. Her hometown was unremarkable. Nazareth, wasn’t even mentioned by great historians like Josephus lists of Jewish villages of the time. Mary was young, relatively poor, and a woman in a society that gave little status to women. In Jewish law at the time, women were not reliable eyewitnesses. The testimony of a woman couldn’t be accepted in court. Yet, God calls this young, unmarried, teenage girl to participate in making God’s will happen!
Mary could never have possibly understood all the consequences...but she said, “Yes.”:
· Yes to vulnerability, as an unmarried mother faced with judgment from her community,
· Yes to all the physical risks of pregnancy and childbirth,
· Yes to an incredible vision from God…for herself and her little boy
o that he would bring down rulers and lift up the humble,
o that he would turn away the rich and fill the hungry with good things,
o that he would scatter the proud in their deceit and gather the lowly [see Luke 1:51–53],
· May’s Yes didn’t come with any safety guarantee for her or for her son.
God calls plain ordinary people
Yet, Mary’s “Yes” is complete and unwavering. In Luke 1:35-56 we read how the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would become pregnant, miraculously, as a gift from the Holy Spirit. Then the angel reveals a 2nd miracle. He tells Mary that her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, who had been barren all her life, is also miraculously 6 months pregnant in her old age!
Mary rushes off to see Elizabeth…maybe to confirm this miracle and see for herself? We don’t know what she was thinking. But as soon as Elizabeth sees Mary, her unborn baby jumps inside her womb! Elizabeth proclaims an incredible blessing on Mary:
“…Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment
of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” (Luke 1: 42-45)
That baby who leapt inside Elizabeth’s womb…was John the Baptist, who Jesus would one day call the greatest of the prophets. But already in the womb, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit and leaping for joy when Jesus is near!
Elizabeth herself was also unremarkable. In a society where a woman’s value was tied to giving birth, she never had a child. People certainly looked down on her, and she would have felt great shame.
Here we have God inviting two ordinary women, two marginalized individuals, to participate…to be the instruments, even the partners with God in bringing salvation to the whole world!
The Joy of Mary and Elizabeth
The joy of Mary and Elizabeth is unmistakable! After John the Baptist leaps for joy, Elizabeth starts praising God – almost giddy – and ultimately Mary erupts in a song of joy that tradition calls “The Magnificat”. These women were bubbling with awe and wonder at what God was doing that first Christmas. And Mary’s song is not only filled with joy, it announces the themes of Jesus’ life, that we will see played out through the rest of the gospel of Luke. Themes of the hungry being fed, the humble being lifted up, and the rich and powerful being overthrown.
I love Dr. Walter Brueggemann’s reflections on the Magnificat. He compares this song to songs sung during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s and ‘70s. In those days singing was a way to keep your nerve. This kind of singing is a refusal to accept the dominant definitions of reality. This singing is storytelling…and it insists “that there is another way to experience the world and there is another way to act in the world.”
We are invited to join in this kind of singing. Mary is an important model for us.
Advent and Christmas music resonates with themes of love of neighbor and a world transformed by equity and compassion. When we sing carols and songs of hope this year, let us be mindful of solidarity with our neighbors – especially those marginalized. How will the songs of equity for all people, hope for the poor and hungry, and songs of joy move us to act as neighbors filled with the love of God this year?
You Get to be a Part of It!
The miracle we celebrate in this season of Christmas is the incarnation…God with us in the flesh. The good news is that God offers you and me eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and unity with God without earning it in any way. But that’s not all. The good news isn’t just about going to heaven when you die. The really good news is that God is bringing about God’s will on earth and YOU get to participate in it!
Mary’s humanity played a central role in this incredible work of God – this miracle. God chose to work in and through a simple ordinary human…willing to say “Yes.”
How is God stirring you to say “yes,” this Christmas?
Last Friday night a number of us joined Iglesia Lutheran San Pablo-St. Paul’s Lutheran Church for a Community Peace Procession called "Las Posadas”. While it was a fun event, they whole event invited us to serious reflection on how we are called to welcome the stranger in our midst as a way of saying “Yes” to God’s call to bring peace and good will to all people. I’d like to close with the beautiful prayer we prayed on Friday night:
“Caesar’s decree compelled Mary and Joseph to journey to Bethlehem.
Let us pray for all who journey this night because of persecution by governments, gangs, and other institutional forms of violence.
In Bethlehem, no room could be found for the holy family.
Let us pray for all who are unhoused, whose lives are at risk because of bitter cold and bureaucratic apathy.
Shepherds inspired by angels visited the newborn Christ.
Let us pray for all who work afternoon and night shifts, whose labor often goes unseen and undervalued.
Magi from different cultures brought gifts for Mary’s child.
Let us pray for all cross-cultural encounters and the gifts that may be shared by people of good will.
King Herod sent soldiers against the children of Bethlehem.
Let us pray for all who are haunted and hunted by immigration and Customs Enforcement, and who spend this night in detention.
Emmanuel, God with us, kindle on the earth the fire of your love, that justice may shine bright and every weary body feel the warmth of compassion. In your name we pray. Amen."
Pastor Doug Cox