THE MIGHTY ONE'S GREAT THINGS
First Congregational Church of Evanston
December 17, 2006
Luke 1: 39-56, Advent III
Rev. Dr James E. Roghair, Interim Minister
A Tale from Minnesota
I begin with a story from William Willomon, who got it from a book of church stories called The Good News From Northhaven by Michael Lindval, a Presbyterian minister in a little town in Minnesota.
There was a baptism Thanksgiving weekend. Elder Angus McDonald stood proud with his new grandson, Angus III to be baptized. In that church, whenever a there is a baptism, the pastor asks the congregation, "Who stands with this child?" Then the grandparents, and other relatives, join the parents holding the baby.
After that service all had gone except for one dressed in what appeared to be clothing from the Salvation Army. She seemed at a loss for words, but then she commented how lovely the baptism had been. Then, she struggled and to get the words out: "Tina has had a baby and, well, the baby ought to be baptized, shouldn't it?"
The pastor suggested Tina and her husband should come to see him, and they could discuss it. The woman looked up, "Tina has no husband. She was confirmed here, came to the youth group. But then she got involved with this guy and she got pregnant. She is only eighteen."
It was awkward. The pastor mumbled that he would bring the request to the Board, and he did. In the meeting there was more mumbling. Who was the father? The pastor didn't know. How could they be sure that Tina would be faithful to the promises that she was making in the baptism? How could they be sure about anybody's promise? Finally, the baptism was approved.
On a Sunday in Advent, the church was filled, as it always is just before Christmas. They went through the service, sang the Advent hymns like “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus." It was time for baptism. The pastor asked, "And now would those to be presented for baptism come forward." An elder read: "Tina Corey presents her son, James, for baptism," then he stared at his paper. Tina got up and came forward, holding two-month old James, a blue pacifier stuck in his mouth. The scene was as awkward as the pastor and the elders knew it would be. Tina was so young and so alone.
When the pastor came to the question, "Who stands with this child?" He looked out at Tina’s mother and nodded toward her. She, hesitated, stood up and moved forward. The pastor looked back at his book to ask the questions for parents.
Then there was movement in the congregation. A couple of elders stood up – others stood beside them. The sixth-grade Sunday school teacher got up. A new young couple stood up. Then, the whole church was moving forward, clustered around Tina and her baby.
Tina was crying. Her mother was gripping the rail. As the water touched little Jimmy’s forehead, he was peaceful and calm. Perhaps he felt the warm embrace of the congregation who had gathered claiming him as their child. It was something like the way people gathered when Jesus was born. Mary was very much alone, and unwed. Tina and Mary were like sisters. (Adapted from Pulpit Resource www.logosproductions.com)
When Jesus was born it was a messy situation, too. Mary was very young – perhaps only 14. The value of virginity when she married was extremely high. And yet Mary had to come to her fiancé with news that she is pregnant, but besides that, she was visited by an angel. Difficult for Mary, but not an easy situation for Joseph, either. He was inclined to do the decent thing, i.e. not to have her stoned – but to put her away quietly. But Joseph was visited by an angel, too. And you know the rest of the story.
The Scripture story is only an outline. We can imagine what happened in the families and communities.
Outrageous Christian Claim
The outrageous claim of the Christian message is that Mary’s offspring is not only God’s Savior for earth – the Messiah Jews were looking for – but the incarnate Son of God. Jews and Muslims and even Unitarians shake their heads. Son of God? The monotheistic, Abrahamic faiths all know there is only one God: YHWH, or Allah, or God named in any language. But only the Christians say God became one of us – was born, lived a human life and to died a human death. That is the legacy of our faith. And what does that mean for us?
For the Least of These
In Jesus’ parable about the final judgement, the One on the throne says: Whoever has cared for one of the least of my little ones, has done it for me. Jesus is saying that the incarnation continues. God is in those around us – especially the ones in the most need of our presence.
The little congregation embraced James. How will his life be different because of that embrace? Is not God present among those people and their youngest member even in the messiness of his coming?
Mary’s Words
God was present with Mary, too. She was in need. Where were her parents? Other relatives? Only her cousin Elizabeth who lived in a distant village was available.But Mary exclaimed when she met her cousin, “The Mighty One has done great things for me.” Surely the greatest thing that God had done was to be present to her life – the life of poverty and the mess Mary was in. God was there.
And could Mary recognize that God was going to be especially present in that baby? That’s the incredible part of Advent and Christmas message – not the virgin birth, but the incarnation.
The delicacy in which this story is shared, the sparsity of the details, the lack of reference to the virgin birth in the earliest writings of Paul, don’t lead to the conclusion that virgin birth was something on which early Christian faith stood or fell.
But the story of the virgin birth is told in support of the extravagant faith claim that God came into the midst of human life – that God lived among human beings – and that Jesus Christ is the human expression of who God is.
If we encounter nothing else this season, I hope that we come face to face with this claim: That God is in our midst in Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
God was present in Jesus. God was there when Mary delivered. God was in the little Minnesota town when James was baptized.. God is here when our children do a Pageant, when we serve the needy, when we mourn the death of a loved one, and when we care for the sick.
God is incarnate in our world.
Amen.
Last Updated: Wednesday, February 6, 2008