December 20, 2009
“BLESSINGS GIVEN, BLESSINGS RECEIVED”
Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about how our moments and days, how our experiences and decisions might have a greater impact beyond our own lives. What is the bigger picture? Who else is touched or maybe even changed by this specific event in my life? What are the lasting effects of this decision I have just made? Major world events could have had a much different outcome if one small decision or choice had not been made, if a major player in world events had turned right instead of left. What would have happened if John F. Kennedy had decided at the last minute not to go to
Have you ever thought about what may happen in this room beyond what you and I see, experience, or feel? How might a person be transformed, empowered, uplifted, given hope by a word, or a loving act, or hearing the grace of forgiveness, or singing a hymn? How often do we sense that our Sunday morning gatherings are actually ongoing links in the faith chain that go all the way back to the earliest days of Christianity? How many people in how many places of worship have read these exact words from Scripture? How many people in how many places have gathered around the Communion table to receive the Christ who makes himself present in the very meal he initiated centuries ago? How might this worship experience, which is seemingly exactly like the other worship services we celebrate on the third Sunday of the month, have an impact on gatherings five or ten or twenty years from now? Do we think, for instance, that when the Apostle Paul wrote a letter and that letter was later read aloud in Roman Christian congregations, either Paul or those believers had any idea that same letter would be read aloud or in silence by Christians some two millenniums later? Do you think Paul knew how Martin Luther in the 16th century would be empowered and transformed by that letter, and do you think that Martin Luther had even an inkling of an idea that his sermons and writings on that letter would later transform us?
I think of these questions as I read our Gospel text today, because I sense the events in our text happen again and again. I would like to suggest today that most of what took place within our text today also has taken place in this worship service today.
In our time Mary has been set aside as a saint in our eyes. At the time she first heard the angel’s message that she would house the Savior of the world in her own womb, she was unknown, impoverished, and unmarried. God had turned her life and the world’s future upside down as God planted his own embryo into Mary through God’s Spirit. Mary said “yes,” “let it be to me according to your word.” Mary responded to God’s promise with the “yes” of faith and obedience. Have you ever wondered how things might be different if Mary had said “no?”
You and I don’t see ourselves as being anyone unique or special. But God has called us, too. And as called ones we walk into this church today with the brand of baptism on our foreheads, the sign of the cross. Our presence in this place today is a part of our “yes” to the promises of God. “Let it be to me according to your Word.” We belong to God. And today you and I have been changed, transformed, whether we realize it or not. Our lives were turned upside down when we earlier heard that all the sins we have committed have been forgiven. All. Forgiven. How will that forgiveness today change our lives? How will the grace of God’s forgiveness possibly become grace for someone else we might forgive this week? How might our forgiveness change, transform another?
Our text tells us that Mary, upon hearing the news of her pregnancy, went “with haste” to visit her much older cousin, Elizabeth, who was also unexpectedly expectant herself. Artists throughout the centuries have depicted their greeting as a sharing of joy between two illumined faces as hands reach out to one another’s bellies, as mutual blessings are given. We hear that Mary will spend three months with
As you and I walk into the worship space on Sunday mornings, we have the same opportunity to give and receive hospitality, and we have the same opportunity to bless one another. No one really knows what each of us carries with us into the sanctuary, and when we share the peace of Christ with one another, we may never know how those words may have touched another. When we come together, we have the possibility of sitting with others, meeting with others who are facing our same struggles and joys, who understand what it is like trying to be a disciple within our culture. We take turns holding each other up in the Name of Christ. The handshakes or the hugs on Sunday mornings may be the only time in a given week there will be touch for some. Those may be the only hugs another receives all week long. Community and connection are valuable by-products of coming together for worship.
When grace is received and forgiveness happens, when unexpected blessings come our way, when we come to realize that another really understands us so that lives can be shared, there will be praise because we will come to believe that we are truly in the midst of the holy. There will be praise. Did you notice? Mary went with haste to visit Elizabeth, who welcomed Mary into her home and heart. Their mutual experiences were shared, they came to know and love one another so much better because they learned to trust each other in a deeper way. They were both called, both were graced, and both were thankful. Bursting with joy, Mary sang. She sang her joy. She sang her praise. One scholar suggested that, as those wonderful words began to pour from Mary’s lips, Mary was no longer singing the song. The song was singing her. “The Mighty One,” sang Mary, “has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
I was tucked away at a table behind classroom dividers during Bell Choir practice last Tuesday evening. I shared the table with Kiely Maddasion, who was working on her art projects while her grandma and aunt played bells. Since I didn’t have to sub for any of the bell choir members, I could continue working on this sermon. The choir was practicing a piece they will offer the Lord and us on Christmas Eve. With each successive run-through, it was clear that the bell choir was becoming more and more confident in what they were playing. Notes were played with increased boldness. Passion welled up from souls, and the song was not just played, it was proclaimed. I heard the director’s compliments shouted as the choir finished one of those practice run-throughs. Sherri said, “I know you want to play this, because I can feel your intensity to play it well.”
I know what she means. When the Holy Spirit enters us, freely enters us, because we can’t make it happen ourselves, we, too become singers, whether we can carry a tune or not. We become singers as praise wells up from our hearts, as song becomes proclamation. “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation. O my soul praise him for he is your health and salvation.” “Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king!” We sing it like we mean it, because we do. We mean it. Our song is our “yes” of faith, and the song is more than sung; it is response; it is the proclamation of good news, great news.
Have I been clear? I saw through the events and the people in our Gospel text today the very events and the same kind of people that take place each and every time we gather for worship. We are changed, transformed, through forgiveness. We experience hospitality, community, and connection. The Spirit calls and gathers us, fills us, and we respond with the “yes” of faith, we respond with the songs of faith. So, how will this day, this worship service impact believers for generations to come? Will anyone beyond these four walls be touched by any one or anything that has taken place in this worship service today? God only knows, but may your praise be full. May your hospitality bring warmth and welcome to hearts. May you seek ways to connect through community and worship. May we all be open to a response to God’s call that mirrors Mary’s: “let it be to me according to your word.” Amen
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