Sunday 12/20/20 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Bearing
God”
(“The Path To Christmas” Series: Part 4 of 5)
Old Testament Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
New Testament Scripture: Romans 16:25-27
Gospel Lesson: Luke 1:26-38
Welcome once again, on this our Fourth
Sunday of Advent. This season of Joy, Hope, Peace, Love, expectation, and anticipation,
that leads us to the birth of Christ on Christmas. This season where we await
the birth of Christ, and his triumphant return to earth.
Through this season of Advent and soon
to be Christmas Eve, I have been preaching a sermon series called “The Path To
Christmas”. Every year, the season of Advent begins, and we all begin our journeys
towards Christmas, towards the birth, and hopeful return of Jesus.
So far in this sermon series, I have
talked about Jesus’ birth, his anticipated return, and how not everyone knew
everything Jesus would fully do in his life leading up to that first Christmas.
Sure, we knew the big picture, but like this Covid-19 Pandemic, we did not have
all the concluding details. So many of us know the story of Christmas, and all
the details and struggles leading up to that first Christmas. So, we know the
story, we know the season of Advent, and we know what happened that first
Christmas. On that first Christmas all the people knew was that Jesus, the
Messiah was coming soon. Joseph and Mary, I am sure did not know the exact day
and time that Jesus would be born. Joseph and Mary knew that Jesus was the
savior and that he would save us all, but they probably did not know a lot of
things that we know now.
In the same way of knowing the big picture,
and having some uncertainty, this is like us not knowing when we will get through
this COVID-19 Pandemic. We know it will end, we have hope that we will be
delivered, and we know the big picture. Yet, like the events leading up to that
first Christmas, and the first Christmas itself, we are not going to know all the
details and all the specifics until this pandemic ends.
Last Sunday, we had a Gospel of John reading
that discussed Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist. John the Baptist called people to
repent of there sins and to be baptized. John the Baptist told everyone that he
was not the Messiah, but that the Messiah was coming. John the Baptist was
preparing the way for Jesus. In a similar way, in this season of Advent and
soon to be Christmas, God calls us to prepare in our hearts, in our homes, in
our churches, in our communities, and in our world, for the birth of Christ. Like
John the Baptist, in this season of Advent, through this COVID-19 Pandemic, how
are we preparing the way for Jesus? Are we praying? Are we reading scripture?
Are we calling, reaching out, sending cards, cooking meals? How are we connecting
to God and God’s people in such a way that we are orienting our lives to
prepare for the birth and hopeful return of Christ? How are we in our various
ways sharing and telling the story, and showing Sidney and the world the joy of
Christmas, this baby that will be born and who will change the world?
This morning my sermon is called “Bearing
God,” as this morning Jesus’ Mother Mary found out that she was going to carry and
give birth to Jesus the Messiah. I remember some years ago, I saw a man get
into a discussion with a few women on how he fully understood what being
pregnant was like. Like a smart young lad, I just watched and said nothing.
This man was relentless, and he kept digging himself deeper. At this point the
few women grew aggravated with this man, and he ended up storming off.
I learned a few things that day. Number
one, as a man, do not get into an argument with a group of women, because you
will always lose. Number two, I will never ever tell a woman that I understand
or know anything about having a baby. Number three I decided, as this was years
ago, if I were ever to get married, which I did, and if my wife were ever to
have a baby, which she has not yet, I know what I would do. You know what I
would do? I would do whatever, Melissa told me to do. For example, it is 2:00
am, and Melissa wants me to run out and get her Rocky Road ice cream and tuna
fish. Done! Melissa wants me to get this or that. Done! I decided that I would
do whatever she told me to do, and as a side note, we have had a really great marriage
all of these years. I also remember learning about pregnancy and birth in my
high school health class, and I just remember thinking that all women have my
respect.
What many of us never stop to think
about though, is that Jesus’ Mother Mary, carried, physically, Christ in her
womb for 9-months. Well likely 9-months unless Jesus was born a little early or
little late. For the women that are here or watching, what would it be like to “Bear
God”? What would it be like to literally carry in your womb the savior of the
world, God in the flesh? When Mary was pregnant and she saw her cousin
Elizabeth, who by the way was pregnant with Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist, the
scripture tells us that John the Baptist leapt in Elizabeth’s womb in acknowledgement
of Jesus.
In fact, the gospel of Luke 1:41-44
says, when Mary was pregnant with Jesus that when she saw Elizabeth pregnant with
John the Baptist that:
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 (Lk. 1:41-44, NRSV).
So, John the Baptist acknowledged Jesus in Elizabeth’s
womb, and this scripture is in a small part, where the Roman Catholic Church, the
Eastern Orthodox Church, and other Christians have developed the tradition of
praying with rosary beads. Or “Praying the Rosary” as some call it.
So, Mary bore God, bore Jesus. Imagine for second what it
was like for Mary a couple of years after Jesus was born. Mary was caring for
Jesus while her husband Joseph was working as a carpenter, or maybe stone
mason. I can imagine in my mind Mary sitting around with other mothers having a
play date where they lived in Nazareth, where Jesus grew up after his birth. In
my mind I imagine that in this play date, including Mary and little Jesus, that
one mother would say, “My Nathaniel is going to grow up and be a great general
in King Herod’s Army”. Another mother would then say, “Well my Daniel is going
to grow up be the High Priest of the Temple someday”. Then Mary, likely being
very humble would be asked by the other mothers, “And Mary what will Jesus
become one day?” Maybe Mary being modest would say, “Oh I’m sure he will think
of something”. Maybe the other mothers would then press Mary and say, “Oh come
on Mary tell us, what will Jesus become”? Then Mary would say ok, “Jesus will
grow up, and at age 30 he will start his ministry as the savior of the world,
he is God in the flesh foretold for centuries, he will save Israel, did for the
sins of the world, and teach us a radical new way of living and loving. My son
Jesus will be the most influential person who have ever lived”.
At this point, I would imagine that the rest of the mothers
would think, “well isn’t Jesus special”. Lastly, they would ask Rachel, and
what will your son become when he is older. Rachel would then sarcastically
say, “Well not the savior of the world, I can tell you that!”
In
our Old Testament reading for this morning from 2 Samuel, God is telling the
great King David, that he will make him great, and that his kingdom will be forever.
David will not be the eternal king, but one of his own family line will come
and rule forever. This prophesied king born on Christmas, is Jesus. 2 Samuel
7:16 says:
“16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:16, NSRV).
The
prophesy of the Messiah, the savior, Jesus Christ, says that this savior will
be born in the Bethlehem, the city of King David, he will be born of a virgin,
Wise Men or Magi will visit him, guided by a star. This baby who will be born
on Christmas, will transform the world, die for our sins, and as 2 Samuel says,
will live and reign forever.
Even though many women here or watching live have given
birth to many beautiful and terrific children, none of you given birth to God.
There might have been some day that your children acted like there were God,
but none of them are God! As a woman carries and bears a child, as Mary did
this culminating with the birth of Jesus on Christmas, we are invited to be
bearers of the love of Christ.
You see, Advent and Christmas are seasons of hope, joy,
peace, and love. In these seasons we are called to draw closer to God, closer
to Christ, and seek the Holy Spirit. In doing so, we can feel the presence of
God in us, in our hearts, and in our souls. We cannot bear Jesus as Mary did
physically, but we can bear his love, his gospel, and his hope, with a community
and world that desperately needs it now more than ever before. The power of
hope, the power of faith, my dear friends, can transform Sidney and the world.
In referencing quick again our gospel of Luke reading for
this morning, Mary, who is likely a teenager is given quite a message. Once again,
the gospel reading says:
“26 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” (Lk. 1:26-33, NRSV).
The
gospel reading continues longer, but the Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will
bear the Messiah, the Christ, Jesus, and she agrees. She is now “Bearing God,”
who will be born on Christmas in Bethlehem the city of King David, who is Jesus’
ancestor.
What is amazing to me my friends, is
that on that first Christmas, and this Christmas 2020. we celebrate the savior
of the world. We celebrate God in the flesh who will come to us as a little
baby. The God of the universe, who existed before time, the God who created
everything, has saw fit to come down here into our mess and become one of us.
God chose a common and poor woman, and his son will be born in an animal
stable, will be raised in a blue-collar home, as his dad was a trade worker.
The
God of the universe so loved us that he is sending his only begotten Son to be
among us. This Jesus, this baby that this coming will experience everything we
do. This Jesus will know joy, sorrow, thirst, hunger, exhaustion, and
incredible human suffering to the point of death on a cross. This baby that is
coming in the simplest of ways, and who will grow into a man and be baptized by
his cousin John the Baptist, will change the world.
This
Jesus will give us his gospel, teach us a new way to love, heal, and forgive,
and even lay down his life for us, all because he loves us so much. This baby
that is coming on Christmas is more than just an exciting night, is the start
of the greatest story ever told. A story that we have been telling for over
2,000 years of how the Christ Child was born, and how he would change the world
forever.
Friends,
in our hearts, in our souls, in our lives, in this season of Advent, may we all
be “Bearing God” every day. May we all show the people and the world around us
the great love of this Jesus, this Immanuel, this God with us, who is coming
very soon on Christmas. Amen.
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