THE ATTRIBUTES OF ADVENT - Part 1 – “Willingness”
Luke 1:26-38
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Today is also the 1st day of the
Christian year. Advent is a time of preparation…not for Christmas, but
rather of our hearts as we prepare to welcome “Mashiach” [Messiah] into
our lives & the world. It is a time of examination so that we are prepared
to receive Him as Savior & Lord.
I imagine that as the Thanksgiving festivities wound down this week,
several of you took the extra time & opportunity to begin decorating for
Christmas, just as we will, as a church family, following this service.
We pull the boxes of decorations from their storage places; we unpack
the Christmas tree & assemble it again, paying careful attention to make
sure all the branches are well-placed. Or maybe we pile the family into
the car, with saw & rope handy, & head out to the Christmas tree farm or
‘the back 40’, in search of that perfect Christmas tree to adorn our home.
And that’s part of the joy of decorating for Christmas isn’t it, finding the
perfect Christmas tree; well-proportioned, symmetrical, with full
branches, & that wonderful pine scent.
Yes, when it comes to finding a Christmas tree, we typically walk past the
short ones, or the thin ones, or the ones with lots of needles lying at their
base, without even a sideways glance.
Perhaps some of you remember Charlie Brown’s quest for a Christmas
tree in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
[VIDEO CLIP??]
Chuck & Linus have been charged by Lucy to find the perfect Christmas tree
for the children’s Christmas pageant, a tree which reflects the “modern
Christmas spirit.” As the two boys enter the Christmas tree lot,
we see an array of Christmas trees in every color; pink, purple, orange. Linus
knocks on one of the trees & we hear the rattle of hollow metal. But then the
boys spy the tree they want; a short, spindly pine, with barely a handful of
needles. Linus comments, “I didn’t know they still made wooden Christmas
trees.” It isn’t much, but it is the “perfect” tree to Charlie Brown & Linus,
& so they carry it back to the school where their friends are rehearsing for the
pageant. Only, the Peanuts gang isn’t so enthusiastic, & they are quick to
make fun of the pathetic-looking tree, & Charlie Brown’s poor choice.
So, shoulders sagging & feet dragging, Charlie takes the tree & heads home.
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I suppose we shouldn’t be terribly surprised by the reaction of Charlie
Brown’s friends, I mean, it really was a pretty pathetic Christmas tree,
but Charlie Brown’s choice of a Christmas tree is a good reminder of
God’s choice of a mother to bear the Messiah.
Listen to our text today found in Luke 1:26-38.
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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 named Joseph,
of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel
came to her & said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.
[Blessed are you among women].” 29 But she was deeply troubled by
this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
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Then the angel told her:
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
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Now listen: You will conceive & give birth to a son,
& you will call His name [Yeshua] Jesus.
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He will be great & will be called the Son of the Most High,
& the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
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He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,
& His kingdom will have no end.”
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Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been
intimate with a man?”
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The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
& the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
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And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son
in her old age, & this is the sixth month for her who was called
childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
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“I am the Lord’s [servant] slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me
according to your word.” Then the angel left her.
And that woman, Mary, is going to be the focus of our attention today as
we begin our journey to Bethlehem, & our journey into deeper
relationship with this Messiah whose birth we celebrate each year.
It doesn’t take much to realize that Mary was a lot like that little
Christmas tree Charlie Brown picked out for the Christmas pageant.
 There was nothing special about her.
 She was not rich,
 She did not have a prestigious social standing.
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 She probably lived in a very modest home, likely a cave-like
dwelling.
There would have been nothing to make her stand out from the hundreds of
other women of her day, who went about regular chores of fetching water,
cooking, cleaning, & otherwise looking after the well-being of their family.
 And, she was from Nazareth.
At the time of Jesus’ birth, Nazareth was nothing more than a tiny,
insignificant village. It would be what we might call “Podunk” today.
It did not appear on any Roman or Jewish maps until years later.
There was a reason that when Philip shared with his friend Nathaniel that
he had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, Nathaniel’s response went
something like this, “Are you kidding me? Nazareth! Can anything good
come from there?” But something good did come from there, didn’t it?
Of all the places God could have gone, of all the women God could have
chosen to bear the Messiah, God sent the angel Gabriel to this tiny village
to knock on the door of a normal, humble, young Jewish woman, whose
actual Hebrew name was not Mary, but rather Miryam.
What then does it mean that God went to Nazareth instead of one of the
big cities of the day where there would be refined & cultured women?
Even before Jesus is born, God is teaching us anew,
reminding us of His long-established values.
 God recognizes those who love Him with all their
Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength
 God favors the meek, the humble, those who “do justice, love
kindness, & walk humbly with God,”
 God blesses those who love others as they love themselves, &
who “take up [their] cross daily” to follow Him.
God saw in Mary the kind of humble & obedient servant, that He desires
all people to be, & despite all the challenges, Mary did not disappoint.
Could you imagine being in Mary’s shoes?
Jan & I were sort of light-heartedly joking recently about what it would be
like to be visited by an angel, a messenger from God, & told that you
were going to become pregnant, not in the usual way, but because God
has chosen you, & “the power of the Most High will overshadow you”
until you conceive & bear none other than the Messiah!
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This is nothing short of crazy! If we were to take such news out into the
world today, people would call us crazy; we would be admitted into the
local mental institution.
But here’s the thing, the scenario really wasn’t all that different for Mary.
In her day, the penalty for pregnancy out of wedlock was death. At best,
under normal circumstances, Mary would have been abandoned by
Joseph because of her “infidelity;” &, assuming she made it through the
dangerous ordeal of childbirth, she would have been ostracized by her
family (as well as the community) & left to raise her child as a single
mother. She would have been mocked & ridiculed & become an outcast.
But that didn’t stop Mary; all those challenges didn’t keep Mary from
doing what she knew in her heart was the right thing to do, & opening
herself for the work of God that was to happen through her.
As a humble servant, Mary “took up her cross” & followed this most
unlikely path described by Gabriel, & in this early part of the gospel, Mary
is the star of the show.
There is a pastor who tells of the annual children’s Christmas pageant at
his church. Each year, as Advent approaches, the children are gathered,
& the parts of the Christmas pageant are assigned.
The children play all the parts; angels, wise men, shepherds, stable
animals, & Joseph, but none is more popular than the part of Mary.
Only when the question, “Who wants to be Mary?” is asked, do all the
little girl’s hands in the room fly up in eager anticipation.
And yet, this pastor reflects, “I wonder if Mary wanted to be Mary?”
As a young woman, probably no more than 13 to 15, she compromised
her entire future. She surrendered her body & carried within her the
Christ-child for 9 months. Do you think Mary wanted to be Mary?
In the early church, she became Theotokos, or the “God-bearer.”
She went through the dangerous ordeal of childbirth.
Then she nurtured the child; she fed him, clothed him; she raised him,
taught him scriptures, & modeled the faith.
Just 33 years later, after He had taught the world about the
unfathomable love of God, she watched Him violently die on a cross,
in accordance with God’s will. The will of God which, she knew, requires
so much of all of God’s servants.
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Do you really think Mary wanted to be Mary?
Sometimes, when God calls us, what God calls us to is hard, not easy.
It’s not what we want or what we dream about; it could be risky &
dangerous, it could separate us from everything we know & love. And
that is where we have so much to learn from Mary today. We cannot
downplay Mary’s significance in history. No other person, besides Jesus
himself, plays a greater role in the salvation of the human race than
Mary. And it was all because of her faith in the God who called her, by
name, & her willingness to obediently serve Him.
So what is it we need to take from this lesson this morning?
That God favors the humble & lowly, & that we need to make sure our
hearts & minds are always in the right place to respond to God’s call?
Absolutely.
Perhaps the thing to remember is that nothing is impossible with God.
That’s important too.
Does this story remind us that God is the giver of new life?
It certainly does!
But the most important part of this story is that when Mary was asked to
do something hard, when Mary was asked to surrender everything
(including all her hopes & dreams) & to serve God, her answer was “Yes!”
Are we so very willing to do the same?
This Advent season, as we prepare once again for a Christmas celebration
not only remembering Christ’s birth, but anticipating that day when He will
come again, (which events around us are seemingly indicating to be much sooner
than later), we need to take time to search our own hearts & minds.
We need to ask the tough questions of ourselves & examine our values.
In the midst of the chaos of Christmas shopping, musical programs,
family activities, children & grandchildren, parties, & entertaining,
we need to pause, & humble ourselves before God in prayer, crying out,
“I am the Lord’s servant. (God, I am Your servant).
May it be done to me according to your word”
And then as we listen for that often unexpected call from God,
we all need to explore our own willingness to say like Mary,
“Here I am, Lord, use me.”
Lets Pray…
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