Blessed Among Women, Luke 1:26-38

This is the sermon for Sunday, December 21, 2008 at Trinity Church of the Nazarene. The picture is from "Art in the Christian Tradition" from the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. I choose this picture because it reveals the redemptive work God is doing (with the hint towards Adam and Eve in the corner). There are many, many more beautiful depictions of the annunciation. You should really check them out at http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-search.pl (and type in annunciation).

Have you heard any jokes with the intent of making fun of blonds or brunettes lately?

I saw one recently that caused me to laugh out loud.

Apparently during Thanksgiving a Mom wanted to play a joke on her blonde daughter and decided to send her to the store for some last minute Thanksgiving items. Before she returned, she pulled her blonde daughter’s turkey out of the oven, pulled out the stuffing, and replaced it with a Cornish hen. When the daughter returned she took the turkey out of the oven, placed it on the table for serving, and was mortified. She thought she cooked a pregnant turkey.

…. Even though turkeys lay eggs.

Or what about the joke that tells about two brunettes going sky diving? The instructor told these two find brunettes to pull their parachute when they reach the point they can recognize people on the ground. After thinking about it for a moment, one of them quietly asks, “But what if there’s no one I know down there?”

Oh, that one’s bad. But the point is we have fun making fun of people, do we not? Some of us are anti-blonde and some of us are anti-brunette. It is a horrible tragedy in the world. There’s poverty, world hunger... and then there's blonde jokes.

But even a far greater tragedy than this anti-blonde or brunette behavior is the anti-Mary behavior some of us have in the Protestant Church. We almost ignore this person who was the mother of our Lord.

We (good protestants) try very hard to make sure we do not accidently start worshipping her.

It's fairly ridiculous, really. The Bible says Mary is to be blessed among all women. “Blessed among all women,” we fail at this one.

Mary’s song, in Luke chapter 2, says, “Surely from now on all generations will call” Mary “blessed” (NRSV).

But (as Kaza Fraley says) we “treat” Mary “almost like a footnote in the Christmas story; push her to the side. She is an unwanted ugly stepsister, who sits in the corner waiting to be noticed.”

And so today, with this sermon, we are going to honor Mary, the mother of our Lord.
We are going to bless her today, among all women. We are going to honor scripture by honoring Mary.

Today we are focusing on the scripture passage where Mary is called to bear the Christ child from Luke 1:26-38.

Mary is a beautiful part of our Nativity Christmas story. She should be “blessed among all women,” as scripture says.

Mary’s response to the call of God on her life absolutely fascinates me. And it should fascinate all of us.

God calls her to bear the Christ child, calls her to do something completely radical, and border line crazy… and she responds just as she should.

She says, “How can this be?”

In other words, “Why in the WORLD would you pick me?” “Of all people, why me?”

She gives a list of reasons why it does not make sense.

She asks questions.

And what she means is… “I’m nothing God, why me? Why in the world would you call little old me, to do something so fantastic and great for your redemptive purposes? WHY me? Why pick ME to bear the Messiah?”

I don't know about you, but this has happened to me before.

Here recently, I began to really understand how poor Mary must have felt.

God asked me to do something really, really radical in November.

I was in the bathroom at Barnes and Noble after writing Advent devotions with Pastor Kaza(from Mulvane) for our congregations.

I was in the bathroom and my life changed forever.

And yes, I feel the need to pause here. Because it just sounds way too cool to move on with the sermon. … I went to the bathroom and my life changed forever.

Anyway, I looked in the mirror and God asked me to do something crazy. And what do you think my response was?

… “How can this be?” “Why in the world would you pick me?” “Of all people why me?”

When God called me to do something radical, I responded just like Mary.

The craziest thing about being called by God is we realize how insignificant we are.

It happened to Mary. “Why me, God, I’m so insignificant.”

It happened to me in the bathroom of Barnes and Noble, “God, why me? I’m so pathetic?”

And… Like Mary, when God calls us we realize we are completely unable to create ourselves. We realize we are completely unable to call ourselves. We are completely unable to redeem ourselves.

God must do the action for us.

We are simply passive recipients of this gracious act of God to call our name to do something radical.

God graciously acts to create, call, and redeem us. And we say, “How in the world can this be?!”

See the truth is: salvation—being saved—is nothing more than little people getting caught up in God’s big plans.

Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon say (in “Lord Teach Us”), “Salvation is the delightful surprise of having your little life caught up in the purposes of God for the whole world” (21).

We are nothing. It is true. We are fairly insignificant. We are just human. We are nothing more than “little lives.”

And so Mary’s response is right on target for normal human response to God's call: "How can this be?"

My response was right, “Why in the world would you pick ME to do that radical thing, God?”

BUT-

When Mary is called… she finds her little servant self caught up in God’s plan to redeem all of creation through bearing the Christ child.

This is salvation.

This is being saved.

This is Mary becoming a co-creator alongside of the Divine Creator. Allowing her body to become the body that bears the Christ child.

And what does Mary say AFTER her questions concerning her insignificance?

Mary says, “I am a servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!” (NCV).

And, just like Mary, when God called me to do something really radical in November, I said something super intelligent like, “Uh huh. Okay God.”

Just like our precious mother of our Lord, I said, “Okay, God. Okay.”

After lots of questions and pointing out our insignificance to the divine, in our best moments… we say, “Okay God.”

We respond to the Great and Holy One, in spite of our insignificance, in spite of our “little selves” and we say, “Okay God.”

And as Mary realizes in spite of her lowliness, in spite of her slave status, in spite of any difficulties there may be because of who she is… she breaks out in song.

She finds great joy and her heart is thrilled, excited to take part in what God is doing.

And just like Mary… when God called me to do something radical in November (after my long list of why I was not good enough to be called to do something so big), I wanted to break out into song too.

I wanted to sing too.

In spite of who I really am (at my worst), God picked me to take part of the redemption of all of creation- in a big way.

And suddenly I understood “The Magnificent,” Mary’s song, in a new way. My soul wanted to magnify the Lord, my spirit wanted to rejoice in God my Savior. Because God looked at someone as lowly as me and chose me to do something big, something amazing—to take part in the ongoing work to redeem and draw all of creation towards God.

Because when God called Mary and when God called me, our hearts break out in song. We are filled with joy- that God would pick someone as lowly as us to take part in what God is doing for all of creation.

No longer are we passive recipients of this grace of God. No longer do we sit and just receive the gracious action of God on our behalf.

We get to jump up with creativity and imagination to be dynamic. To be active. To create alongside of the Holy One.

We are called, just like Mary- to have Christ born in us.

We are called, just like Mary- to deliver Christ to the world.

God chose each of us, each of us lowly little people- unworthy to be called. God picked us in spite of any questions we have, in spite of any objections on how we are not good enough—God picked us.

God selected us and called us to take part in what God is doing to redeem all of creation.

We are all called, alongside of Mary to bear the Christ child.

We will not be carrying around Christ in our womb. Only one woman was blessed among all women to do this.

But she was an example for us. She was a model.

Mary was a beautiful example for how we should accept the call of God in our life to become active participants in what God is doing to redeem all of creation.


The question now is: How are you called to deliver the Christ child to the world?

How is Christ being born in YOU this advent season?

How do you bear the Christ child in your body?

I am sure all of you are wondering what God called me to in November, at Barnes and Noble. I am sure all of you are wondering what radical thing God asked me to do… what crazy thing caused me to hold my breathe and say, “Me, really, God? Seriously?”

Well my call continues like this…

While I was in the bathroom at Barnes and Noble, I looked in the mirror. And I heard God say, “Do you remember what you wanted to be in the 5th grade?”

Of course I remembered. I wanted to be a writer.

God said, “Go. Write. Be who I created you to be.”

And my jaw dropped.

That night I sat down at my computer with 1000 questions for God from “What in the world do you want me to write?” to “What if no one wants to read this?!”

And God said again. “Let me take care of all the details. Just write. Be who I made you to be.”

And I said, “Okay, God.”

And so I started to write. I wrote every single night… after working all day as pastor, making dinner, taking care of my 2 1/2 year old, and trying really hard to potty train… I would stay up until almost 1:00am writing, writing, and writing some more.

Before long God spoke to me again. It was around chapter 5.

God said, “I am calling you to create a fiction novel that brings theology to life with characters my people can fall in love with and from whom they can learn.”

And yet again, my jaw hung open.

And I said, “Okay, Lord. Let’s do this.”

I began November 12 and I finished December 12.

That is FOUR WEEKS.

After that radical call of God… and after my humble acceptance of that crazy call… I wrote 29 chapters of a theological fiction novel. At night, when everyone else was asleep.

It is 29 chapters of discovering who we are in God’s plan to redeem all of creation. It is 29 chapters of characters becoming who they were meant to be even when they encounter death and suffering. It is 29 chapters far better than anything little Pastor Christy could have come up with on her own.

It was God’s call on my life. It was God’s choosing me, in spite of who I know I really am, and equipping me for a huge task.

God asked me to deliver the Christ child through a theological ficiton book.

And so I turn the questioning on you again.

How are you called to deliver the Christ child to the world?

How is Christ being born in YOU this advent season?

How do you bear the Christ child in your body?

Mine was in a novel. A novel, that believe it or not has already been reviewed by an editor and the manuscript is set to be bound this week for further editing to prepare for publisher proposals. 5 1/2 weeks now, after God called.

And an artist already created drafts for a book cover, 5 1/2 weeks now, after God asked me to do something radical, something I didn't think I was equipped to do. Something crazy, like Mary, to bear the Christ child through my life.

What are you called to do, to deliver Christ to a world in need of redemption and love?

What is God calling you to do?

And do you have the guts to respond like Mary?

..."I am a servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say."