For the first three weeks of Advent this year I decided to do sermons a little differently. In fact I decided not to do "sermons" at all, but to instead read a story each week. Now of course these stories would have larger meanings beyond the words on a page, but they wouldn't be a point by point [or rather point by point by point by point by point by...] sermon tied together loosely by illustrations. Well, as you are about to read this first one kind of is. You know what they say, write about what you know, so I did.
Without further adieu, I present to you Pastor Joe's Snowday.
Peace and Love,
Pastor K
Pastor Joe’s Snowday
Michael sat there, on the top step, as the snow fell down in the soft and gentle way it sometimes does. His coat, hat and gloves kept him warm, though if it was up to him he would be less dressed up under them and free to play in the snow. He sat there, 12 years old and stuck on the top step as he waited, waited to leave for church early enough to get there before anyone else. He sat there in his coat hat and gloves and dress pants and dress shoes and collared plaid shirt, that scratched his neck every time he was forced to wear it. He tried to tell his mom that he was old enough to pick out his own clothes, and that he hated that particular shirt, but neither argument every got him anywhere with her.
Joseph stood at the window looking out at Michael, he knew his son would rather be building a snowman or having a snow ball fight, and he knew that his wife would rather be making cookies for tomorrow, but it was Sunday morning and strangely enough most churches expect their Pastors to be in church on Sunday mornings.
Bzzzz. Bzzzz.
Joseph pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and saw that his Board President was calling.
“Hello.”
“Pastor Joe?”
“Hi Mark, what can I do for you.”
“Pastor, we are going to have to cancel church this morning, the parking lot is covered in ice and the board and I feel it might be too dangerous for some of our older folk.”
“This is getting to be a semi-regular thing for us, isn’t it?”
“That’s kind of how things usually shake out for us up here.”
“Okay Mark, if that’s what you all feel is best.”
“We do, hopefully this weather, or at least the parking lot will be better next Sunday.”
“Hopefully, thanks Mark.”
“Thanks Pastor, I’ll talk to you later.”
“Good bye.”
He walked down the hall and informed his wife that she could stop getting ready.
“What?”
“No church today, frozen parking lot.”
“Of course, should’ve known, this weather is driving me crazy.”
“Welcome to the great white north.”
“How I miss Florida.”
“You’ve been saying that since college, no matter where we live.”
“And I will to my grave, or until we move back.”
“To the grave then,” Joseph said with a grin.
Carrie threw a dirty shirt his way and laughed.
“I’m going to go tell Michael, let him know he can take that shirt off now.”
He walked back down the hall, grabbed his jacket and opened the door.
“Michael, no church, you can come in and change. You can go play if you want.”
“Why aren’t we going?”
“The parking lot is frozen.”
“What was your sermon going to be about dad?”
“John the Baptist”
“John the Baptist? Isn’t this the first Sunday in Advent?”
“Yes, yes it is, it wasn’t going to be about him as much as his parents and his mom’s cousin.”
“John the Baptist’s parents are in the Bible?”
“Yep.”
“His mother’s cousin is in the Bible?”
“Yep.”
“And they have something to do with Advent?”
“Yep, would you like me to tell you about it?”
“Sure, this seems like a sermon that might actually be interesting.”
“Ouch.”
“Just joking. I still don’t understand what John the Baptist has to do with Advent.”
Joseph, zipped up his coat and sat down on the step next to Michael
“Well let me tell you…
The Gospel of Luke starts off, not with a birth announcement of Jesus, but rather one about John the Baptist. John’s soon to be dad was named Zacharias, and Zacharias was a priest. Zacharias was married to a woman named Elizabeth, whom had a cousin named Mary.
“Well that explains that part at least.”
Mary, as you know was a young girl, perhaps as young as 13, we don’t really know, but Elizabeth on the other hand was quite a bit older, so much older in fact that she was past the time of being able to have a baby. Zacharias was also an old man. But Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous people, in other words they followed the commands of God, Luke goes so far as to say that they were blameless before God.
“Impressive.”
“Yes, it is.”
Anyway, one day Zacharias was performing his priestly duties, burning incense in this particular case and he walked into the temple and an angel appeared to him. Zacharias was afraid at the presence of the angel, a running plot line in the Bible which leads me to believe that they don’t look like Michael Landon or Roma Downey. Luke says that as soon as Zacharias saw the angel he was troubled and fear fell upon him, this priest who is doing the work of the Lord, who is “blameless” before God gets scared out of his wits.
The angel tells him to not be afraid and that the Lord had heard his prayer. He says that Elizabeth would give birth to a son that would upend the world. He would lead many children of Israel back to God, that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit, that he would prepare people for the Lord and that he wouldn’t drink alcohol.
“Huh?”
“Yeah, I agree, it’s rather a strange add on, the angel puts its earlier, but I feel it makes a bit more impact when listed last.”
If you were paying attention just about 30 seconds ago you will remember that the angel says that Zacharias had been praying for a child. A few seconds before that that we will remember that Zacharias was very very fearful when he saw the angel, and now he doesn’t believe him. He’s been praying for a child and yet he thinks he and his wife are too old to have one.
“Remind you of anyone?”
“Not really.”
How about Abraham and Sarah? If you read carefully and with an open mind you will see that a lot of the miracles that happen in the New Testament are remixes of those that happened in the Old Testament. In Genesis Abraham and Sarah are an old couple and God tells them they will have a child and Sarah hears this and laughs, this time Zacharias is told that Elizabeth will have a baby and he scoffs. Because of his unbelief the Angel strikes him mute for the entirety of the pregnancy. Zacharias leaves the temple and he can only beckon to the people because he has no voice.
He goes home and soon Elizabeth becomes pregnant. Now, Elizabeth may have been blameless before the Lord but unfortunately people often look upon others in ways less pleasing, in other words people looked down on Elizabeth because she had no child. Many things have changed in the 2000 years between then and now, yet there are still people who look down on women because they have no children or because they don’t have as many as another one does, or because they only have boys or only have girls, we have advanced in so many ways, and yet we still can be as vindictive and demeaning as we have always been.
“That’s not right.”
“No, it’s not.”
When Elizabeth had been pregnant about six months Gabriel, the angel that had appeared to Zacharias, appeared to her cousin Mary. Now Mary, who as I mentioned was quite a bit younger than Elizabeth was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a man that I am named after. Joseph was descended from the great King David.
“The one the slept with a lady and then had her husband killed.”
Yep, same great King David. The one overarching concept in the Bible is that God uses regular people, they might be shepherds or kings they might be adulterers or politicians, but God can use them anyway. David messed up about as bad as you can and yet God still used him to accomplish great things, the same can be said of us, no matter how bad we may have messed up, God can still use us if we are willing. David did those things and more and yet the Bible says that David was a man after God’s own heart.
When David died, he was followed by his son Solomon, who was also a great king, but after him the throne kind of went downhill, each succeeding king was a little worse, until they sinned so badly and led the people so far astray that they were exiled from their land and their throne was destroyed. But even in the midst of such great turmoil God spoke through the prophets, particularly Isaiah, about a day when the people would have a new king that would sit upon David’s throne and he would be their savior.
Which brings us back to Joseph and his fiancé Mary and the angel Gabriel.
Luke says that “having come in” Gabriel begins to talk. This says to me that Gabriel actually walked into the house where Mary was, doesn’t magically appear out of nowhere but takes the time to walk inside a place. Gabriel tells Mary that she should rejoice because she is a favored woman, that God is with her and that she is blessed higher than all women. Mary, seeing Gabriel, is troubled at what he has said to her and wonders what kind of a greeting is this. This tells me that Mary is a glass half empty kind of girl, because here we have an angel who comes into her house or room and tells her that God is with her and that she is blessed over all other women and she is wondering, what’s the catch. If you knew Mary today she would be the one who is always telling you to go check Snopes whenever an email comes along telling you that you won a cruise or got a 50% off coupon from Target, and she is definitely not giving any Nigerian Princes all of her money.
“Ugh.”
“What?”
“Why do pastors think they’re funny?”
“Fair point.”
Anyway, Gabriel tells Mary she’s highly favored and Mary is confused. Gabriel throws out the “Do not be afraid” and then goes on to tell her that she has found favor in God and because of that she is going to become pregnant. [See, Mary was right, a virgin getting pregnant is a catch] Not only that, but her baby boy would be named Jesus and would be called the Son of the Most High, and he will be given the throne of David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob [i.e. Israel] forever and that his kingdom would have no end.
Mary’s come back with a question, much like her son will do again and again and again throughout the gospels, pointing out that she’s a virgin and virgins don’t get pregnant.
Gabriel tells her that she will become pregnant by the very Spirit of God, so that Jesus would not only be called the Son of the Most High but also the Son of God. Gabriel then tells her about Elizabeth’s pregnancy and points out that if God can make an old woman pregnant a virgin ain’t no big thing. At this news Mary is finely convinced and says that she is the servant of the Lord and that she is willing to do what the Lord wants of her. After She says that, Gabriel departs.
Sometime later Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Upon entering Zacharias and Elizabeth’s house Mary greeted her cousin and Elizabeth’s unborn baby, John, lept. The Holy Spirit came over Elizabeth and she told Mary that she was blessed above all women and that her baby was also blessed. Then she asks why she is so lucky that the mother of the savior would come visit her. Notice that Mary didn’t tell Elizabeth that she was pregnant, she didn’t tell her about Gabriel, she didn’t tell her what Gabriel said to her and yet Elizabeth knew.
“Because of the Holy Spirit?”
Exactly, one of the things that the Spirit does for us is grant us discernment and understanding that is beyond our own limited understanding and comprehension. The Spirit lets us in on the bigger picture, just a little bit mind you, because there is really only so much that we can comprehend in the here and now.
“What do you mean?”
Well, it’s kind of like when God appeared to Moses in Exodus 33, God had to come near and then cover Moses with his hand so that he wouldn’t get the full blast of God. A lot of commentators read it in such a way that Moses never really sees God, but only sees where he just was. In that way Moses is a lot like us, we can only ever truly be sure of what God is doing in our lives after he has already done it. Hindsight really is 20/20.
“I’m still not exactly sure what you mean.”
What I mean is that neither Elizabeth nor Mary understand the full picture of who Jesus will be or what he will do or what he will endure, that was too much for them, they could wrap their minds around a virgin giving birth to the Son of God but wouldn’t have been able to wrap their minds around the idea that the same Son of God would be betrayed and murdered by those he came to save until much later.
“Ok, I think I get it now, I can understand stuff on my own, I can understand more with the Holy
Spirit, but I still can’t understand everything.”
How does it take me three paragraphs to explain what you said in one sentence, you’re too smart for my own good.
“Haha”
So, anyway, Elizabeth asks how can she be so lucky that the mother of the Son of God can visit her and Mary responds with a song.
“She starts singing?”
Well, not exactly, or maybe, we don’t really know, all we do know is that the people who put the Bible together categorized it as such, maybe she literally sung, maybe she just spoke a praise to the Lord, either way it is beautiful.
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary is chosen to carry Jesus and she praises God for it, she may have questioned and sought clarity, but she didn’t laugh like Sarah and she didn’t scoff like Zacharias, she praised.
“So the Christmas story, the story of Advent begins with two birth announcements?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
I think it’s because at base Advent is literally a time of waiting, waiting on the arrival of Jesus, for the Jews, they waited hundreds of years, and we still need to remember that there was a time without a savior. Along with that pregnancy is a thing that almost all of us can relate to, either because you are a parent or a sibling or have been close to someone who was pregnant, and we understand everything that it entails. Especially for a first child there is a multitude of change and preparation that has to happen between the announcement of a baby and the arrival of that baby. There is a ton of things that need to be purchased or gifted, a crib a high chair a stroller, clothes, sheets, blankets, bath supplies, diapers, not to mention formula or stuff for nursing and then there is the matter of the baby’s nursery, there is a lot that goes into the arrival of a new person. Not only do you have to prepare stuff for the baby but you also have to prepare yourself for a new life.
It's the same way with Advent, we prepare the house and the church with decorations and trees we purchase presents we bake cookies, but we also need to be aware that we need to prepare ourselves for the arrival of Jesus, working on the things that we need to be better at, working to forgive others and to forgive ourselves, working to believe and accept the love of God.
“So Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus?”
“Yep.”
“Even all these years later?”
“Especially all these years later, because we all too often get caught up in everything else around us and forget the coming of and need of Jesus. Well, I think that is enough preaching for one Sunday, we should go back inside, I’m freezing.”
“It might be because you don’t have a hat and gloves, you’re always telling me to put on a hat and gloves when I go outside.”
“Yes, but I was only coming out here to tell you that you could change, wasn’t planning on preaching.”
“I thought you were always planning on preaching.”
“Now who thinks they’re funny?”
“Come on pal, let’s go get warm, maybe your mom will make us some hot chocolate.”
“Sounds like a plan dad.”
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