This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church Eureka on Monday December 24, 2018.
“Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.”
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord our Light and our Freedom. Amen.
Can you sense the angels in this place? They are here with us now. I’m not just talking about our amazing choir members who sing like angels and the beautiful earthly angels of the altar guild and the angels who are sitting right next to you in the pews. I’m talking about those angels whom we see with the eyes of our hearts and imaginations. Those angels whom the shepherds saw clearly those many years ago, who sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” They are singing these same words here tonight. And the good news is that God favors you and God longs to bless you with God’s heavenly peace. This evening, I invite you to treasure these angelic words and ponder them in your heart: You are favored by God and God, whose glory fills the highest heaven, longs to bless you and comfort you with heavenly peace. These were the words that Mary treasured and pondered in her heart. Even if you might feel confused or empty or hurt or forgotten or lonely, remember that God favors you and longs to bless you with heavenly peace.
After Mary gave birth to her child, I imagine she was feeling a torrent of powerful emotions: profound joy and relief, but also confusion and sadness. It is helpful to remember that Mary was pregnant out of wedlock. She could be considered scandalous today so just imagine how much more scandalous she must have been to everyone in the Middle East 2,000 years ago. I sometimes wonder if there really was no room in the inns of Bethlehem for Mary and Joseph, or were the innkeepers just uncomfortable with housing a young pregnant woman, who appeared to be irresponsible and reckless? Had the innkeepers already heard word of a young woman from the boonies of Galilee who had become pregnant out of wedlock and then made up some silly fairy tale about an angelic visitation? Perhaps the people of Bethlehem wanted nothing to do with this scandalous young woman and her foolish fiancé. The Gospel of Luke records no visitors from Bethlehem, probably because they wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole. Many of the Bethlehemites probably snickered and sneered at her as she entered the city and was then relegated to give birth among the animals of the stable, where the people felt she belonged.
In the midst of all this, Mary must have wondered if those words she heard from the Archangel Gabriel nine months ago were really true. Gabriel promised that she would give birth to a child who would be called the Son of the Most High, who would sit on the throne of David and whose kingdom would never end. Perhaps she thought, “How could this child be the royal heir of King David, who was born among manure and who is now sleeping in an animal’s feeding trough? There must’ve been some mistake. Did I mess up somehow?”
I imagine some of these questions were haunting Mary when the shepherds from the outskirts of Bethlehem arrived. The Scripture says that the shepherds shared “what [the angels had] told them about the child and all who heard it were amazed. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” Just as Mary may have been starting to doubt the message she received from the angel Gabriel, she hears news of yet another angelic visitation regarding her child. The shepherds tell her that they were just minding their own business like any other boring night, when a terrifying angel appeared to them surrounded by the dazzling glory of God. After calming their fears, the angel told them the joyful and surprising news that the Messiah was born that evening and that you wouldn’t find him sleeping in royal halls of luxury but rather in a dirty stable, sleeping in a manger. After the angel declared this mysterious good news, a plethora of angels filled the sky singing about God’s affection and love for humanity. The original Greek word used in Luke to describe the angels is plethos, which is where we get the word “plethora” and which actually means an excess amount. So the heavens appeared to go a bit overboard with the number of angels singing and declaring to humanity, “God favors you and God, whose glory fills the highest heaven, longs to bless you and comfort you with heavenly peace.”
The shepherds’ news about the angels and their message strengthened and warmed Mary’s weary soul. She treasured them in her heart and pondered them and found courage in them to reject all the accusing voices that she heard in Galilee and Bethlehem and in her own head which insisted that she was a public disgrace. With the shepherds’ words, I imagine the memory of Gabriel’s visit nine months ago returning to Mary with more clarity and verity and vividness than ever. She remembered when Gabriel first appeared to her with that strange greeting when he said, “The Lord be with you.” [According to the Gospel of Luke, Mary was initially troubled at these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. I like to joke that if Mary were an Episcopalian, she wouldn’t have been confused at all, but would have said, “And also with you.”] But Mary wasn’t an Episcopalian, so she was initially confused and afraid. So Gabriel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you are highly favored by God.” And these were the words that came rushing back to her with great power and authority when she heard the shepherds’ news: “Do not be afraid, you are highly favored by God.” And these were the words that empowered Mary to stand up defiantly to those accusing voices that told her she was stupid and reckless and a disgrace. These were the words she treasured in her heart and pondered and which gave her the tremendous inner strength to say, “I reject those voices of shame and oppression and I refuse to let them win because I am God’s highly favored one and because it is God’s voice of love that reigns supreme in my heart. I choose to be submissive only to God’s Love, which means I refuse to be submissive to such shame.”
Again, on this Christmas Eve, I invite us to treasure these angelic words and ponder them in your hearts: “You are highly favored by God and God, whose glory fills the highest heaven, longs to bless you and comfort you and strengthen you with his heavenly peace. And God wants to give birth to something beautiful through you that will change the world eternally for the better.” Let these angelic words strengthen you as they did Mary in the midst of her feelings of shame and confusion. Let these angelic words also inspire you to share God’s favor and love with a world of souls mired in hopelessness and despair. I invite you to claim for yourself and your loved ones (and especially those in need) the Gospel truth of Christmas that God enjoys going overboard in declaring with a plethora of angels how much he loves being with you, how much he wants to give birth to something beautiful through you, and how much he wants to bless, comfort, and strengthen you with his heavenly peace that passes all understanding. May it be so. Amen.
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 