Surrender

Advent 4 year B Sermon 08 

"May it be to me as you have said."

On this fourth Sunday of Advent… we continue to celebrate the time of God’s promise… coming into time and space…in the form of a vulnerable human baby.

Over the past weeks… we’ve shared expectation and longing for a Messiah…we’ve shared it with the disappointed Hebrew elite… returning from exile five hundred years before the first Christmas…

And we’ve tried to comprehend the coming of the Messiah… with survivors of Jerusalem’s destruction… as they look back on Jesus birth seventy years later.

So we’ve looked at Jesus’ story…from the past and the future… but today…we zoom in… to the life of one young Jewish woman…the very same year… Jesus was born.  

We look closely at her encounter…with a messenger from God …a conversation that speaks to us…not only of Mary’s faith…but of God’s respect for her decision.  

And we ask…when Mary gave her consent… when Mary put her body unconditionally in God’s care…did she have any idea what was coming?  Listen as Hailey Westenra sings ‘Mary did you know?’  [Blog readers should Google 'Mary did you know?' for lyrics and video.]

Yes Mary’s son would heal and teach…and liberate and save…Yes… her son would proclaim his way of peace from a mountaintop… and yes…her son… would one day enter into the gates of Jerusalem … and lay claim to David’s throne…[pause]

but when Mary said yes to God’s messenger…did she know… there would be pain and grief and suffering …in her future too? Did she know there’d be sacrifices that most Christmas songs and stories never mention?

When Mary says to the angel "I am the Lord’s servant… may it be to me as you have said." …She wasn’t just agreeing… to be the proud mother of a king. She was making a radical statement of faith. 

You might say Mary surrendered herself… body… mind and spirit… trusting in the purposes of God. 

As the story goes…Mary didn’t bargain or negotiate with the angel. She didn’t say ‘well Ok… but only if you can absolutely guarantee… I’ll never have to endure any suffering… for the rest of my life…

 She didn’t say… yes I’ll do it…but first you have to promise… my son will live to a hundred and make me thousands of grandbabies. 

And Mary didn’t say…well that’s all fine with me…but don’t expect me to make any more sacrifices.

No Luke tells us…Mary just surrendered…then and there Surrendered a hundred percent…not ninety eight percent …not ninety nine point nine percent ... but totally and completely. [pause]

Do you have any idea… what it would mean to surrender your will and your life …and even your body… to God…as Mary did?

To say OK… whatever you want God…I’ll do it … even if it’s not what I was hoping for… or planning for… because your purposes are greater than mine. 

You know I never fully appreciated… the magnitude of Mary’s surrender… until I heard the story… 

of a slender young woman who wandered into a church one day…right into the middle of a communion service…

Instead of taking a seat… she walked slowly and with great dignity…right up the aisle. Without stopping she climbed the few steps… up to the communion table.

At first people were appalled by this sudden intrusion into their worship time. Eyes and mouths were set hard …heads shook in disbelief at her cheek …and  everyone wondered… how the minister would deal with the disruption

As the young women turned to face the congregation they noticed she appeared to be carrying a baby wrapped in a blanket… tears were streaming down her face…she clung tightly to the bundle in her arms…

the minister gently beckoned her forward…and smiling down at the bundle in the woman’s arms… the minister lifted a corner of the blanket to peek inside.

Solemnly he nodded to the woman…and with a great sweep of his hand…invited her to take his place behind the communion table.  

Moving where he pointed…the young women looked out with sad eyes at the wary congregation.

And with great tenderness she laid the bundle on the table and began to unwrap the blanket…

Suddenly there was a loud gasp from the congregation

as everyone realised what was inside.

And slowly…

the woman lifted the loaf of bread high into the air…as though she were offering it to God …

and then holding the bread out toward the congregation…she broke it in two… and offered it to them.

Welcome to the Table of our Lord. Come if you have surrendered much and come if you have let go of nothing. These gifts are freely given for you.