Who, Me?

Luke 1:26-38

There is the true story of a train that was racing through the night, its powerful headlamp spearing the black darkness ahead. The train was carrying the Queen of England.

Suddenly the train's engineer saw a startling sight. Revealed in the beam of the engine's headlights was a weird figure in a black cloak standing in the middle of the tracks and waving its arms. The engineer grabbed for the brakes and brought the train to a grinding halt.

He and his fellow trainmen climbed out to see what had stopped them. But they could find no trace of the strange figure. On a hunch, he walked a few yards further up the tracks. Suddenly he stopped and stared into the fog in horror. The bridge had been washed out in the middle and had fallen into a swollen stream. If he had not heeded the ghostly figure, the train would have plunged into the stream.

While the bridge and the tracks were being repaired the crew made a more intensive search for the strange, seemingly angelic flagman. But not until the train arrived in the station did they solve the mystery. At the base of the engine's head lamp, the engineer discovered a huge dead moth. He looked at it for a moment, then on impulse wet its wings and pasted it to the glass of the lamp.

Climbing back into his cab, he switched on the lamp and saw the "flagman" in the beam. He knew the answer now: the moth had flown into the beam seconds before the train was due to reach the washed-out bridge. In the fog, it appeared to be a phantom figure, waving its arms. What had seemed like an guardian angel was only a moth. And, yet, who is to say that God did not send that moth as his messenger of salvation, that night?

I never cease to be amazed at how God constantly struggles with us to break down our barriers of belief, custom and convention to do something that is totally uncustomary and strikingly unconventional. God's amazing work among us often takes place when we least expect it and in ways that most often demand an open mind among those with whom God is working.

Perhaps what God did with Mary is a prime example of this. Of course, Mary and her people were people whose lives were run by belief, custom and convention. Nazareth, a small town nestled in the hills of Galilee, had a history that went back at least 600 years, to the days just following the settling of the Promised Land by God's people. In those early days, Nazareth had been the home of Samson, who believed that his physical strength was in his hair, so he never cut it. And, of course, you all know the rest of the story about Samson, how he was betrayed by Deliah and how in spite of this he defeated the Philistines in their own temple. It was from then until the time of Jesus that the men of Nazareth, remembering Samson, did not cut their hair. This was one of the proud customs of the men of Nazareth that we might keep in mind as we think about the people of the city where Mary and Joseph came from, and where Jesus grew up.

But, there were other customs, as well, that are even more important that are mentioned in our gospel lesson for today. First, we're told that Mary was a virgin, pledged to a man named Joseph. What this means is that Mary was a young woman, probably still in her teens, perhaps as young as sixteen years of age, who was engaged to be married. And, in those days the engagements were long. During the engagement, the man was expected to come courting the woman. And whenever he came to visit there was always supposed to be a member of the family present with the couple. If the couple wanted to go for a walk, the family member would go along. If the couple wanted to sit and talk, the family member would be there, as well. In fact, the man and woman could do little more than hold hands during the period of engagement. That is how ridged the customary morals were in those days. And this custom was believed to be good, even by the young people. For it prevented such things as unwanted pregnancies and rumors; it protected reputations and was, therefore, accepted as a necessary brick in the foundation of a stable community. And, what's more, is that persons who followed these customs were considered to be "good," while those who violated them were considered to be "sinful" and "bad."

It was in such a strictly moral and custom-laden community that Mary and Joseph lived. And, as ironic as it often seems to be, it was into such a life that God sent a message of salvation, a message that would suddenly put Mary and Joseph into the difficult position of being accused of having violated these treasured customs and morals. Suddenly, because of God's message to Mary, because of God's gift to the world, without even deserving it, Mary and Joseph would be considered to be "bad" and "sinful" by their families and by the people of their very own town.

But, isn't this the way God's messages often are for those who hear God's word? Answering God's call to be a Christian, for instance, is not always convenient. In fact, it may often be just the opposite -- very inconvenient, indeed. When God calls us to build a church or to be faithful in some way, we may do it gladly and answer God's call cheerfully, but it may not be convenient, but (rather) put a demand upon time and resources that may cause us to sacrifice. Such sacrifices of time and resources may even put us at odds with families, or friends, or employers, or neighbors.

I was reading in the newspaper, the other day, about a man in a suburb of a large city who felt he had been called by God to place a huge and wonderful display of Christmas lights in his yard in honor of the birth of our Savior. So, he went out and bought over 20,000 lights and Christmas decorations of all kinds and placed them on his house, in his yard, along his driveway, and in his trees. And it was so beautiful that people from all over the city and surrounding communities began to drive by his house, at night. The only problem with this was that the street he lived on was a residential street that couldn't support such a load of traffic. The man's neighbors complained because they often found it necessary to wait in a long line of traffic just to get to their homes, at night. So, the neighbors took the man to court. And all of this took place because the man had believed he had heard the word of the Lord.

Or, take the case of that Pentecostal woman (you might have heard about on the news) who is going to be giving birth any day, now. Her doctor told her that if she didn't have a cesarian section her baby would die or be severely retarded. Yet, because of her religious beliefs, she refused, so they took her to court. Now, won't it be a marvelous Christmas story of faith if the child is born healthy and whole? I pray that it is!

It is true that God's messages, our religious beliefs, may not be convenient for us but may even cause us to be at odds with everyone else. And, certainly, this is the predicament Mary and Joseph found themselves in after the angel came to Mary and said, "You will be with child and give birth to a son."

Of course, today, we don't believe in angels, do we? I mean, we're too busy for angels, too sophisticated for angels, too well educated for angels. Many of us would rather believe in coincidences, like in that story about the train and the moth I told. And I think that's too bad. An angel, after all, is simply a message from God. The word "angel" comes from the Greek word " ," a word which literally means "news." In fact, the word " " literally means "good news."

I guess the question we might concern ourselves with is, "Where do we get news that we can trust?" Many people figure that CNN is about the best and most accurate. Or, for more detail, some people watch Public Television's McNeil-Lehrer Report. Or, some of us may take Time Magazine, or Newsweek. Or maybe we listen to WJR, WWJ, or CKLW or some other local radio station. But, how many of us would trust a message from God? Would we bet our life on such a message? Would we bet our eternity on a message from God? Would we bet peace on earth, good will toward all upon a message from God? And, what's more, would we believe such a message, especially if it presented special problems for us, like it did for Mary and Joseph? Christmas, then, is a test of our faith.

Maybe that's why the angel told Mary, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Is it possible that Mary was called this because God knew Mary would hear his message and accept it? What I mean is, was Mary really more moral than anyone else in her town that God favored her? Did God choose Mary because she was just prettier than the other girls in town? Did God choose Mary because she went to more worship services than the others? Did God choose Mary because her parents were good? Or, most intriguing, did God choose Mary simply because Mary faithfully listened to God?

God is calling us, as well. He has a message for us to hear. God does speak to us, each of us, in a special way. The question is whether we are listening, whether we are tuned in and have the volume turned up.

Each of us in our own special way may carry Jesus in our lives in order to share him with others, just as Mary carried him in her body. Each of us can be like Mary, if we but listen to God. And when we do, are we not favored by God, as well; is not God with us -- Emmanuel?

Over the past four weeks we have been lighting candles on the altar, candles whose light should lead us to nothing other than this conclusion, as stated in this little poem I wrote:

Light through darkness glowing brighter,

Through these Advent weeks we've trod.

Candles in the chancel burning

Lead us to the child of God.

Born of Mary, Son of Joseph,

Love's incarnate mystery:

Calls the world to faith, united,

Children of the Deity.

Promised to the world in scripture,

Sent to us from God, above,

Gives us grace to be apostles,

Serve we now the Christ of Love.

As the infant lies before us,

Ever mindful must we be:

This is Christ, the One who saves us,

Christ who died at Calvary.

Let us have the faith of Joseph,

Trusting those angelic dreams.

God is with us as a shepherd,

Leading us to quiet streams.

Let us have the faith of Mary,

That the child may in us be.

Love is born of those who share it

To the world for all to see.

Amen.