This is a special guest h2o devo from Pastor Ruth Ann Loughry:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
As we inch closer to Christmas, the numbers of carols on the radio increase. Every week
more airtime is given to Christmas songs. You, like I, might find yourself humming or
singing along. Or if you're a non-singer, at least tapping your finger on the steering
wheel.
St. Augustine is often quoted as saying, 'He who sings, prays twice.' She, who sings,
prays twice. Indeed, isn't it fascinating that God gave us the ability to speak and use
words to express ourselves? Yet along with that gift came variations; we shout when
we're angry, we whisper when we're being tender, we sing to voice to any number of
emotions. Singing is a gift from God. Are you ready to sing a song of your soul?
I am so excited to share this text with you today. Excited because it's about two very
important women. I'm excited because I love music and Luke dictates Mary's song of
praise. I'm excited because we have a special guest with us this morning, Peter Mayer.
In just a few moments, Peter will sing to us these words:
Sing a song of love made new, Born on this Christmas day. Heaven and earth
rejoice in the view, when love is born anew. Love is born anew.
We are almost there. This fourth week of Advent is really like the last trimester of
pregnancy. Jesus' due date is coming; but He's not in the manger yet. So today for a
brief time, we get to sing along with Mary in her song of delight that her baby, God's
Son, is on the way, a few more months to go.
She sings these words in another translation of Luke 2, 'I'm bursting with God-news; I'm dancing the song of my Savior God. God took one good look at me, and look what happened - I'm the most fortunate woman on earth! What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.' i (Luke 2:46-49)
I can only imagine that perhaps God was singing right along with Mary. When Jesus was
conceived in her womb, God knew that love would be born anew. God had seen that all
of creation was good in the beginning of time when sun rays and blue fish, parakeets and
raindrops, brought God joy. But then as history played out, God's people strayed and
wandered not following their creator. With a grieving heart, God punished them and sent
them shouting prophets to get them back on track, often to no avail. Now in Mary, there
was to be a new beginning! A new creation. Love would be born anew.
Sing, Peter!
(Peter sings Chorus - Slide 1)
Yes, love is born anew. It never fails that new parents count fingers and toes. 1-10.
They touch them, they gaze at tiny eyelashes, they rejoice in silky, soft skin. New life. It
is amazing, mysterious, and beautiful. Only God could create such a creature as a baby.
Which is why it came as so great a surprise to Mary. This young teenager, inexperienced
with men, pushes back on Gabriel when he delivers the news of her impending delivery.
'How can this be?' It's what makes Mary's story so incredible to us: that divine and
mysterious conception. But remember, God has always been in the business of birthing
life where there is none.
To provide Mary's needed support, Gabriel tells her that Elizabeth, her aged cousin, has
also conceived a son - she who once was barren. And upon that news, Mary goes
running to the hills for a much needed female-to-female visit. Upon her entrance into the
house and cheery, 'Hello!' Elizabeth gets a strong kick from baby John in her own
womb. The Holy Spirit was moving. Elizabeth didn't see Mary's ultrasound to figure it
out, the Lord told her that standing before her was the mother of the Son of God. Then
Elizabeth rejoiced! She sang!
You know that feeling. Well gentlemen, you may not know the feeling of a baby
kicking, but you know the joy that comes when God acts in your life. Unexpectedly.
Marvelously. Decisively. In ways you never imagined and all you can do is rejoice or
sing! The check comes in the mail. The long lost daughter finally calls. Forgiveness is
granted and a relationship is restored. God's 'rivers flow through highlands and dry
lands, raise blossoms where nothing could bloom.' They are moments that God grants
us, to tell us in tangible ways that nothing will come between God and God's people.
(Peter sings Verse 1 and Chorus - Slide 2 and 3)
What happens when you and I are confronted with God's crazy call in our lives? When
an angel comes bearing an unexpected message of direction - what do we do?
We could decide to say no: stand still with eyes downcast waiting for the angelic being to
go away and we are alone again. Then we go back to all that is familiar and usual and
concrete, humming a comforting tune, trying to forget the encounter ever happened.
If God begins to change our lives anyway through aging parents, change of jobs, sudden
illness, we could actively fight it. Resisting with all our might and denying the reality we
see so that we don't have to alter or modify our routines, emotions, or best laid plans.
'Life the way it used to be' is a powerful catalyst for anger, depression and definitely, no
angels or singing.
But what happens when we say yes? What transformation comes when we say 'yes' to
crazy ideas from crazy angels who tell us that God is at work in our lives? Then we
embrace the unknown, get excited about mystery, actually look for adventure and come
alive. Our souls sing! Then love is born anew in us.
Mary sings about God who brings down the powerful and lifts up the lowly. We never
know what God will be up to when we accept a call. God's ways are not our ways, but
God is the only One to know the way. It doesn't mean we might not be scared or
encounter difficulties. Yet even when 'roads are long and weary', 'nights long and cold',
it is worth it! Why? Because the God of creation is birthing new life in ... us! We
'lovers are dreamers' and Jesus said we could move mountains with only a seed of faith.
With faith Mary accepted God into her body and therefore moved not only mountains,
but the whole of history. Say yes! 'Sing the song of your soul!'
(Peter sings verse 2 and 2a)
Mary is known in the Greek Orthodox Church as Theotokos, "the God-bearer." Only she
had the unique joy and burden of carrying Jesus into the world. Mary the God bearer.
Mary, the mother of God.
Meister Eckhart, the Dominican monk of 14th century Germany wrote, "We are all meant
to be mothers of God. What good is it to me, if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes
place unceasingly but does not take place within my self? And, what good is it to me if
Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace: What good is it to me for the Creator
to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time? This, then is the
fullness of time: When the Son of God is begotten in us." ii
To be a God-bearer, doesn't depend upon gender. When you and I open the wombs of
our souls, we simply acknowledge the Divine who already exists therein. Then when we
say yes to angels' visits and new directions, the Holy Spirit kicks inside of us. The Spirit
forms our hearts and minds to carry God into the world. We die to self and rise to bear
life in new places, with new people in places we never dreamed of going. That's when
God sings, because we are pregnant to God's possibilities. As Elizabeth said, 'Blessed
woman (or man) who believed what God said, believed every word would come true!'iii
(Peter sings last Verse/Chorus - Slide 6 and 7)
Sing the song of your soul. Sing the song that God is currently writing on your heart.
Sing! Love is Born Anew! Let us sing! Amen.
i Eugene Peterson, The Message (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1995), p. 139.
ii http://marshmk.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/birthing-god-the-feast-of-the-annunciation/
iii Eugene Peterson, The Message (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1995), p. 139.
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