Sermon
of December 18, 2005
Presented by Rev. Chuck Ericson
Scripture lesson: Luke
1:26-38
“The Advent Call to Serve"
Two weeks ago, I suggested we consider the matter of “the Call” as we move through Advent this year. I mentioned many of the calls that are found in the Christmas story as recorded in the Bible: the calls from God to the Hebrew prophets…the calls from the angels to Mary & Joseph and others…the call from Herod to the magi…and several calls directly from God.
We then looked for a few moments at the Advent call to prepare. Today, I want to follow up on that with a look at “the Advent call to serve.”
The first message I have about that is that the Advent call to serve is an extraordinary call. We can see that clearly in the call that the angel brings. That’s really extraordinary. The message in this story that the angel brings to Mary is, “I’m calling you, oh favored one, to be the one to carry in your womb and give birth to and raise and nurture to adulthood the child who will be known as the Messiah, the savior, the Son of God.” So far as we know in the traditions and history of our faith in the Bible, that did only happen to one person. Very extraordinary – “extra”-ordinary. So this is a story that Luke has preserved for us that we recall each year that is full of extraordinary things.
And how do we respond to that call? We respond in extraordinary ways, too. Look at this—beautiful poinsettias. Every year it’s a little different, every year it’s incredibly beautiful. We don’t do this in July, do we? We don’t put poinsettias up here at any other time of the year. This is an extraordinary time of year for our church. We only do it for a few days for a short period of time. And the same with the advent wreath. We don’t light candles in a wreath at other times of the year. It’s an extraordinary season for us. A time when we only certain things at certain times.
I heard a comedian talking the other day about what our traditions are about celebrating the birth of Jesus: “Oh it’s the savior of the world—it’s his birthday—what do we do—oh let’s go outside and cut down a tree and bring it in and put it up in the house.” When you think of it that way, it is kind of an extraordinary thing. I don’t know many people who go out and cut down a tree and pay for it and set it up in the house except a couple weeks before and after Christmas. It’s an extraordinary thing to do. And then there’s the fruitcake and the eggnog and the cookies and all those other things, the foods that we enjoy, we do extraordinary, out-of-the-norm things in response to the extraordinary thing that God did, announcing it to Mary and recorded by Luke. So that’s one aspect of the call, it’s an extraordinary call.
It’s also an eloquent call. If you think of those words that the angel speaks to Mary and Mary’s response, they are incredibly eloquent. I think many of us consider the psalms written eloquently, and first Corinthians 13 and maybe a few other verses, but after that, the words in the Christmas story I think are very beautiful and eloquent and maybe the next group of eloquent words right under the psalms and first Corinthians 13: “Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you,” is how the angel greets Mary. It’s today’s, “Hey,” when everyone says, “Hey, hey, hey,” “Hail, oh favored one, the Lord is with you.” Eloquent. Try saying that to somebody sometime. Go down the hall at work and say, “Hail oh favored one, the Lord is with you.” See what happens. And Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you.” God’s power will overshadow you.
And then Mary’s response later on, we didn’t read this today, but in the Magnificat, Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior for he is regarded the low estate of his handmaiden, his servant, for behold henceforth all generations will call me blessed.” What eloquent words. And the words of Isaiah that we read as the unison reading this morning about the stump coming forth, the shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of its roots…beautifully eloquent imagery…. “and the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the vision of the peaceable kingdom...and they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” What a beautiful vision that is. Eloquent images and words in the Christmas story.
The advent call is one of incredible eloquence. And again we respond with eloquent words. We’ve done a variety of different liturgies for the advent candle lighting from year to year but they’re always something written very carefully, it’s not just, “We light this candle, it’s the candle of hope, candle of peace…” There are eloquent words that lead up to the lighting of the candle. There are eloquent words in our hymns. On Thursday night it was pretty cold and I knew it was going to be cold so when we had the worship service that night I purposely picked “In The Bleak Mid-Winter” because it was just like it was outside even though it wasn’t quite winter yet, but listen to these words, how eloquent they are, describing the world at this time: “In the bleak mid-winter frosty wind made moan. Earth stood hard as iron—that’s how it was out there, it’s still like that in some places—water like a stone.
Where I park on Sunday mornings up by the mailbox most of the year I step out into a puddle when I get out of my car. But this time of year, it’s water like a stone, I just have to be careful not to slip, but I’m not going to get wet, I know that. “Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow. In the bleak mid-winter, long ago.” And they even get more beautiful as you read through. We respond with carols and hymns that have been written over the years that are more and more eloquent and beautiful. “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem”, which we’ll sing in a little bit, “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful”, “Silent Night”, eloquence of those words; “What child is this who laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping”—we read a story that Luke and others preserved for us that is full of eloquence, and we respond with eloquence, too.
And then there is the call itself, the advent call to serve – it is engaging. It is something where God calls us to become engaged in the birth of Jesus. That is what Luke’s story is all about—the angel comes not just to tell Mary that she’s favored, not just to tell Mary that she’s going to have a child, but to invite her to be engaged in this unfolding drama that will touch and bless the world like nothing else before or after—the birth of Jesus. And Mary has free choice, that’s one of the gifts God gives in creation: we all have free choice to obey God or not obey God, to follow or not follow, and Mary decides she will be engaged in this great story that is about to begin, and so she says, in response to the angel, “Here I am, the handmaid,” or really the servant, “of the Lord. Let it be so for me according to your word.” “Here I am, your servant, let it be just as you have said, oh God.” What beautiful words of Mary’s, but not just beautiful words, words of conviction: “I will be your servant.”
To me that’s at the center of what this whole season is all about: that call from God to participate in the Christian drama and to respond by saying, “Here I am, I am your servant, God.” So I’m going to ask you and myself also how do we see that happening for us this year? That’s the question of this Christmas season that’s on my mind. Where and how and for whom do we hear God calling us to serve in some way to in a way give birth to the spirit of Christ in some place or in some person’s life in a way that will bring blessing, just like Jim said in the prayer he offered this morning, how can we find someone who has a need and bring the light and love of Christ to him? Is there somewhere that God might be calling to you through all else that is going on, at work or in your family somewhere or somewhere in your neighborhood or even in the mall—maybe there’s somewhere in the mall God wants you to serve if you’re out there. Don’t go there if you can help it, but if you are there, maybe you might feel God calling you to serve in some way, even to a stranger who’s there. Is there a particular person you know who needs to be invited in to the eloquence and extraordinariness of this hopeful season of Christ’s birth? To whom and where and in what way might God be saying to you, “Hail oh favored one,” to each of you, and inviting you to be part of it? And will your answer be, “Here I am, your servant, let it be for me according to your word?”
The good news today is that this does not leave us with a burden but rather a satisfaction. Often when we feel we commit to something, when we say, “Here I am, I’ll be your servant,” we expect it’s going to be something that will wear us down, deplete us of our energy, take away our time – and in reality if it’s God’s call and we say, “Here I am, a servant of God, let it be so according to your word,” that won’t happen. You might be tired sometimes, you might feel a little worn down but ultimately what happens in responding to that call is an incredible feeling of peace and satisfaction and fulfillment that lives forever in the heart. So if you decide to answer as Mary answered, don’t be afraid. It’s not going to be a meaningless burden to be a servant of God in some place for someone. It will be something that will bless your life and stay in your heart forever.