Love's Glory

Luke 2:8-20                                                                                      4^th Sunday of Advent

Elizabeth M. Deibert                                                                      21 December 2014

Let’s remember where we have been in Advent.  Isaiah sang a song of comfort, giving us hope, encouraging us to prepare the way of the Lord.   Zechariah sang a song of peace, urging us to trust in the dawning mercy of the Lord to bring light to our darkness.   Mary and Elizabeth sang a songs of joy about their boys, inviting us to embody the Holy Spirit who can give birth to a new creation in us, and today, the multitude of angels sing a song of praise, leading us to glorify God for the supreme gift of love, a Savior. 

 

The first announcement of the birth of a Savior for the world comes to the ordinary of society, shepherds, while they were doing ordinary work.   It’s like a angel of the Lord bringing the message to a group of women working for a cleaning service, cleaning offices in the night or to a yard maintenance crew as they trim the hedges.  This multitude of angels is more dramatic than a single person having a dream or getting a vision of an angel, as in the case of Zechariah, Mary or Joseph.   This is group of shepherds all seeing heavenly beings at the same.  Wow!   What an experience.

 

Let’s hear now the story of the angels in their visitation with the Shepherds.   As I read, I invite you to notice the word “Glory” which occurs three times.   “Glory, glory, glorifying.”   I believe in that one word, the message of Christmas love is summarized.   It is the message of the angels.   It is the response of the shepherds.   It is our primary purpose in life, as the often quoted Westminster Catechism says, “Our chief aim, our primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy God forever.”

 

Luke 2:8-20

 

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹ to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" ¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." ¹⁶ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.  (NRSV)

 

To glorify is to lift up high, to honor, to worship, to praise extravagantly.   The Greek word is Doxa, from which our comes our word “Doxology” “Angels We Have Heard on High” does with music what doxa  means.   It goes on extravagantly Glo-o-o-ria.   In Handel’s Messiah, we hear “And the glory, the glory of the Lord.” sung by one part and then another.  

 

In glorifying God there is an unreserved, unabashed celebration and honoring God’s goodness.   What an amazing story!   God, the one whose glory could not be viewed without perishing, according to many Old Testament stories ,has now been born as one of us.   The poet John Donne says it so beautifully in so few words.  I have made his words inclusive: 

 

Twas much that we were made like God before,

But that God should be like us, much more.

 

That the glory of God could enter our humanity and be completely one with us is the beauty of our Christian faith.   No other faith affirms such an amazing truth.

This remarkable gift has changed the world, and lowly shepherds are the first to hear.   The glory of the Lord descends upon them and they were scared to death, sore afraid, terrified. 

 

This glory is such a wonder to behold it is frightening.   But the angel says, “Don’t be afraid, for we bring good news.   This good news will produce great joy for all the people.”    This gift is for the joy of all.   This gift is for you.   “To YOU is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”   And they are given the sign – a baby will be wrapped up and lying in a feeding trough.

 

And with the utterance of this great news comes a whole multitude of angels who are praising God and saying, “Glory to God”   “Glory to God in the highest and peace to God’s people on earth.”   Glory to God for this love, this peace.

 

Glory to God issues in peace on earth.   Glory to God is not just for you and me to revel in God’s love.   That’s the triumphalism that none of us can stomach.  Glory to God leads to peace on earth.   Worship leads to mission.   We come in to praise.  We go out to serve.

 

Let’s reflect on what that means in our everyday lives.   If we are glorifying God with our whole being, then we are treating all who are created in God’s image with loving respect.   Even when we believe someone has been grossly mistreated, we do not react in violence but non-violent protest.  Glory to God leads to peace on earth.   Peace-filled relationships.

 

Like the grave-digger in Pakistan who is poor himself, needing to feed his own eight children, but he refused to take any money for all the graves of children from the school massacre there.    He said he never cries when he digs graves.   It is what he does, but this time, with so many children dead, he had to weep.

If we are glorifying God, then we cannot be selfish, putting ourselves in the glory  position.  Glory to God leads to peace on earth.   Not self-centered power struggles.  Ethics in the corporate world and in the church.  

 

If we are glorifying God, then we cannot place undue expectations on other people, thinking that they can or should meet all our needs, which is glorifying them, instead of God.   Glory to God leads to peace on earth.   Peace in our relationships with those closest to us.             

 

If we are glorifying God then we cannot be overly concerned with dress or appearance.   We do not glorify food, drink, or clothing.  Glory to God leads to peace on earth.   Inner peace which is able to embrace both self and others.

 

Glorifying God means that all physical pleasures are submitted to God, such that we are not glorifying bodily pleasures, but God.  Glory to God leads to peace on earth.   No addictions to sex, drugs and alcohol.   No lust without loving commitment.

 

If we are glorifying God, then we cannot be consumed with buying things and securing our own future, because that would be glorifying wealth and possessions.  Glory to God leads to peace on earth.   No futile striving for materialistic gain.  

 

Glorifying God means that our work – whether at home or at office – is not climbing a ladder to bring glory to self.  Glorifying God means a tamed competitive spirit.   Not priding self on being the most successful in work, school, or in home life, or even the most spiritual one at church.  

 

Glorifying God means that I ultimately relinquish the right to understand why bad things happen.   O sure, we struggle with it, but in the end, we do what the Burkholders will surely find a way to do – find peace in knowing that Justin’s shortened life still had meaning and purpose.

And that this death, while a nightmare for them, is still contained in the larger sovereignty of God who comes to bring light to our darkness.   While we don’t understand why it happened, we don’t blame God, but we find a way in the end, to trust God even in its deep sadness. 

 

C.S Lewis once said something like this, “A person can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship [God] than a [any one of us] can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of [our room]”   

 

God’s glory is love come down to earth.   Angels, extraordinary beings say “Glory to God.”   Shepherds, extremely ordinary people say “Glory to God.”   We also say “Glory to God” for this amazing gift of love.   We live glory to God by living in genuine, humble life-giving love, as he did.

 

Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die,

Born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth.

Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

 

Back in 1789 Charles Wesley wrote a hymn, entitled “Hark how all the welkin ring!”  That’s right welkin – an old word that means the heavens.   The heavens are ringing with God’s glorious love.   Love has come a light in the darkness.   Love shines forth in the Bethlehem skies.   See all heaven has come to proclaim it; hear how song of joy arises;  Love!   Love!  Born unto you, a Savior.   Love!   Love!   Glory to God on high.  

The Joy of Trusting God

 Luke 1:26-45                                                                        3^rd Sunday of Advent

Elizabeth M. Deibert                                                          14 December 2014

 

We have been discussing the gifts of Christmas – hope, peace, joy, and love.   Today we read the story of Mary, the one who received the gift of God in all its fullness of joy, despite her concerns.   We talk about receiving gifts, but all hail to Mary.   She received the best gift of all.    She caught in her very own womb, God’s miraculous fullness to transform all of creation.  She was chosen to be the mother of God with us, Immanuel.   Let us pray: Ave Maria....   Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.   Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  Amen.

 

For some of us that prayer is as deeply inbedded in our souls as the Lord’s Prayer. For others of us, only the sung version, Ave Maria, is part of our repertoire.  Mary is the greatest example of human faithfulness.  She represents the person I could become, were I to be as receptive to God’s will as she was.   Jesus was fully human, fully divine.   I cannot relate to being fully divine, even though through the power of the Spirit I am able to grow in Christ-likeness.  But I find it easier to relate to Mary, who fulfilled her calling by being receptive to God in her body, mind, and soul.   Receptive to God in body, mind, and soul.

 

Protestants often resist praying the Hail Mary prayer because we have been taught not to worship or pray to Mary.   But I think Protestants might grow in respect for Mary by attending to this prayer, as it relates to our scripture today.   The first part of the prayer is the greeting of the angel.   “Greetings, favored one is the same as Hail, Mary, full of grace, or graced one.”   Then the second part of the prayer is Elizabeth’s greeting, mother of John the Baptist, who says, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  But it is the third part which makes some Protestants uncomfortable.   “Pray for us” Yet I invite you to notice that we’re not praying to Mary, but asking for her prayers, in the same way we might ask for anyone to pray for us.   Of course, Mary is the consummate saint in heaven. So if you believe in the communion of saints, then perhaps you are okay with asking for Mary’s intercession.   

 

Hear the prayer again, this time the way the Eastern Orthodox Church prays it:  God-bearing Virgin, rejoice! Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have born the Savior of our souls.   Mary was called in the early church, the “Theotokos” which in Greek means “God-bearer.”  Her womb is said to be more spacious than the heavens because she held there and nourished with her own flesh and blood, the God of love, the One who made the heavens and the earth.

 

Luke 1:26-45

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. ³⁹ In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, ⁴⁰ where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit ⁴² and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. ⁴³ And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? ⁴⁴ For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."  (NRSV)

 

Imagine Mary’s surprise at the message of Gabriel.   She was a young teen girl, and as was customary in the day, she was promised/betrothed to Joseph.   Imagine the challenge of telling Joseph – fortunately, he had his own visitation by an angel in the night, according to Matthew.   Young women who got pregnant accidentally were not just scorned – they were subject to abandonment and sometimes torture.   And yet this young peasant girl, not powerful, not expected, was the favored one, the one chosen to carry the Messiah, to contribute her own chromosomes to the Son of God.   Why?   Because she trusted.    She heard the message of the angel.   She responded faithfully, despite her doubts.  

 

If Jesus was just a great prophet, a highly visionary teacher/leader, then Mary is just an ordinary woman.   But if you have a high Christology, if you believe that Jesus was fully divine as well as fully human, then what Mary contributed is amazing.   That her body could contain all the holiness of God is overwhelming to imagine.   Mary trusted from the beginning and she had to trust through to the end.   No one has ever been closer to Christ our God than Mary.   The one she carried had a special purpose far beyond her own love.   She had to make a huge sacrifice to allow him to be for the world, and not just for herself.   This required deep trust on her part – to permit him to have his identity with God his father, and not just with her, his mother.  

 

The beauty of God’s love is that it is never coercive.   We have to be willing and ready to receive it.   That’s what Mary was able to do to the extreme – to be receptive to God, able to trust God and allow God to do whatever God wanted to do with her.

 

One of my favorite carols is O Little Town of Bethlehem.   In the last two verses, we hear these wonderful words.  

 

“How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given! 

So God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of his heaven. 

No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,

where meek souls receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.  

 

 

 

O holy child of Bethlehem descend to us we pray.  

Cast out our sin and enter in.  Be born in us today.  

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell.

O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel.

 

Can you be pregnant with the power and presence of God?   Yes, I believe you can.   Christ can be born in you.  Let me remind you of the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus about these matters of being born twice.  ³ Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" ⁵ Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  (Joh 3:1 NRS)

 

Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he says, it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.  (Gal 2:20 NRS)

 

And in the letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul or one of his followers prays 

that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, ¹⁷ and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹ (Eph 3:17 NRS)

 

Jesus Christ dwelt in Mary’s womb.   Christ dwells in our inner selves, as we live according to his Spirit.   It is no longer we but Christ in us.

 

The Angel Gabriel said to Mary when she wondered how she could be mother of the Son of God, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will over shadow you.  

 

Mary responds, “Let it be with me according to your word.”   Supreme act of trust.   God, whatever you want with me.    With most of us, our prayer is “Let it be with me according to MY word.”   We pray to God, telling God how WE want it to be.   Mary prayed that it would be as God wanted it to be.   That’s faith.   That’s trust.    And, in the end, that’s joy for all the world.    Nothing is impossible for those who allow God to work in them and through them, who are willing for their own personalities and wishes to be over shadowed by God’s. 

 Maybe it is not so surprising after all that God so often chooses the powerless to accomplish great things.   It is easier for those who have no stature in the eyes of the world to listen to and abide by God’s will and to believe that God can do impossible things.   The powerless are much more likely to acknowledge the presence of angels and to be radically open to God’s will and way, rather than insisting on their own way.   Mary became the new Eve.   She is the woman who undid the great disobedience in Eden by her great willingness to do just as God wanted.

 

So in summary of the Annunciation, Mary receives the comfort of HOPE as she hears from Gabriel, “Do not be afraid, God is with you.”  She receives the promise of PEACE, as she hears that she, an unlikely, powerless person, is favored by God and will give birth to the Son of God.  Like many in the Bible who are called by God, she initially questions, “How can this be?”  But then having heard about her relative Elizabeth’s equally unlikely news of a coming child” she agrees that God can do the impossible and says, “Let it be with me according to your word.”  

 

(slide)  And she quickly travels to visit Elizabeth, filled with hope and peace.   As soon as she enters the doors of Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house, she receives the joyful confirmation of the Holy Spirit in Elizabeth, filling Elizabeth with knowledge and joy before Mary even says a word.   We too need the confirmation of others who see that we are called, who announce to us what we were afraid to say ourselves.   Elizabeth knows and even her infant John is jumping for joy in the womb.   This reassurance fills Mary with the confidence to sing her famous song, the Magnificat, which we will read on Christmas Eve.

 

Mary demonstrates the joy of trusting God, even under difficult circumstances.   We too can be called upon to do things that at first seem ridiculous, impossible.   Like Mary we can move from doubt to discipleship.   Mary went from lowly peasant to powerful prophet.   Mary went from being an ordinary girl engaged to Joseph of Nazareth to Mother of God, Christ-bearer.  Blessed is she who believes that God’s word is trustworthy.   She brings joy to the world by trusting God, by believing, despite all reasonable fears, that God can do things that seem impossible.   What child is this growing in Mary’s womb?  Elizabeth knows, “She says, “Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should visit me?”   Blessed Mary, Hail Mary, for you trusted in God and brought into the world a Savior.   Joy! Joy! For for Christ is born, the babe, the Son of Mary.