What would you do?

 

1 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:46-55; Luke 1:26-38

 

These stories today are mostly very familiar. Nathan tells King David that God doesn’t need a fancy temple. More important is establishing his reign in a united Israel. Then, Nathan promises David that his line will be established as a house and continue forever. This is the link to Jesus, who descends from David.

 

In the Gospel, we have the story of the Annunciation, when Angel Gabriel tells Mary she will become pregnant and give birth to the savior of the world. Today’s Psalm is from Luke, and it’s Mary’s response to seeing her cousin Elizabeth, who is also pregnant by God’s special intervention. We call the poem / song the Magnificat because in the Latin and in some English translations it begins, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

 

Today, the sermon will take a different form. I have some questions for you, and some more questions about how you might respond to each set of questions. I hope they will lead you into pondering what God has done, continues to do, and will do in the future – your future and the future of St Matthew’s Lutheran Church.

First question: What would you do if an angel suddenly appeared before you?

 

·         Would you be terrified or delighted?

·         Would you welcome the angel?   

·         Would you listen to him or her and believe what they told you? Would you do as God asked?

·         Or would you think you had been dreaming and go on with your life as if the angel encounter never happened?

 

Next question: How would you respond if you were told you were highly favored by God?

 

 

 

·         Would you puff up your chest and say, “Yes, I am! But I already know that.”

·         Or would you say, “Who, me? How does God even know I exist? I am a sinful nobody.”

·         Or would you say, “God favors me? Really? Wow! I need to think about that a while.”

And the question that gets to the heart of the matter for today: What would you do if an angel asked you to make major changes to your life? What if these changes would threaten your reputation, making even your immediate family question your loyalty? What if these changes caused you to believe the impossible?

 Here is what Angel Gabriel asked Mary to do: Allow God to make her pregnant, even though she wasn’t married. In those days, such women could be stoned, or at least cast out of the community. She was asked to help Joseph believe what Gabriel told her. She was asked to name the child Joshua – which means God saves. She was asked to raise this child to know he was a descendant of King David and worthy to be king of Israel.

 So, if you were Mary – even at the age you are now, what would you say to Gabriel? And, if you were Joseph, even at the age you are now, what would you say?

A colleague posted a similar question in a Facebook group and here are some of the responses. Here is the question reframed for us all today:

 

Just imagine. Angel Gabriel shows up in your kitchen, your bathroom, your office, your class, and disrupts everything. "I know you had a meeting planned, beloved...or a lunch date scheduled, or were about to handle that load of laundry, but God needs you. The time commitment will be 9 months and you won’t be able to keep this to yourself. Everyone is going to know. And when it’s all over, it won’t be over. You will have to feed and nurture and raise this new life, new dream, new way of being... What would you say? What would people in your family or congregation say?

Here are some of the responses:

·         Wait. What?

·         Give me a moment to process this. I’m not good at switching my focus – but I’m pretty sure I’ll come around soon. … And, um, could you tell my spouse?

·         Long silence. Me? You want ME to do this? Yes, yes, yes! Of course, I will, I would be so very honored, but isn’t there someone more worthy?

·         I don’t think this is going to fit into my schedule …

·         So, here’s the thing … this thing you are asking me to do is not immoral, but people are going to think that I am immoral.

·         Is there a Plan B and will I be in trouble if I say no?

·         Can I just write you a check instead?

·         Can you come back after the holidays and give me some more details so I can make an informed decision?  

One further question: How would you respond if you knew God’s goal was to change the world, to change the status quo? Mary said “yes,” and taught her child about God’s justice. I wonder if Mary sang the poem we know as the Magnificat to Jesus as he was growing up. I wonder what the local rabbi taught the people of Nazareth. I wonder what Joseph taught him about the way to treat customers and coworkers.

I wonder if Mary and Joseph taught Jesus to be generous, if they taught him the difference between the classes, and how one group of people mistreats another. And at the same time, did they teach him that the very wealthy and the very poor are all are beloved by God?

Lots to wonder about if we put ourselves in Mary’s sandals. No matter what we decide to do, Mary said “yes.” And she said yes knowing and believing that God can do anything that suits God’s purposes. She said yes because if God believed in her, she could do whatever God asked her to.

 

And one last thought. Today’s angels may not look like they did in Jesus’ time. You may not know when you have been speaking with an angel, but you may find your life is changed by the encounter.

Beloved, we all are God’s highly favored ones. We can do whatever God asks us to do, because with God, nothing is impossible. Amen