sermon excerpts: "Scared by an Angel"

It isn’t like that God is asking Mary's consent to agree to this venture. ... I emphatically believe that we all have free will, but it appears that Mary has little choice in this matter. So much of it was out of her hands already, her betrothal to Joseph who was of King David’s line, her own family relationships connecting to her cousin Elizabeth and Zechariah, a priest at the Temple in Jerusalem who were expecting their first child, to be John the Baptist.

It was a perfect opportunity of factors coming together. Who was she to stop it? It must have been a little bit terrifying.

Why is it that messages from God more often than not include the assurance, “do not be afraid?” I remember in Grade 7 my teacher trying to teach the point that the reason why people say “don’t panic” is because there is something worth panicking about. So God tells us to not be afraid, even though something very scary is happening.

For all of the cherubic, peaceful happy, glowing presentations of trumpets and light, the idea of an angel visiting is a bit unnerving. Never mind sitting on your own, minding your own business, when a glorious presence of power suddenly fills the room and overwhelms you, it is the notion of being presented with God’s own personal message that is a daunting and unnerving experience.

And I wonder, what if Mary said, “No. Not me. Somebody else can incubate the Saviour. I’d like to live an ordinary life and just fit in.” Would Gabriel accept that? Even though it reads like everything is in place and ready to go. Thankfully, we don’t have to wonder what if? Until we turn that critical lens upon ourselves. And how often is it that we get in the way of God’s work?

We are like Mary, given news that we are to give birth (figuratively) to a new expression of faith. We are facing the news that will change the way the world looks at faith. Mind you, the angel Gabriel didn’t arrive with news that we shouldn’t be afraid. The news comes to us in the grim financial reality of our times. When the expenses of our church outstrip its income by several hundred dollars every month, the message is clear. And frightening.

Where, then, is the accompanying promise of glory and success? As we have come to know, things are not as they seem. Our message seems to carry more doom and gloom than any promise of birth and new legacy. Our job is to craft our response, to chart our course of action, to make the preparations for the new arrival that is the United Church of Canada in southwest Middlesex in 2009.

Our inspiration comes from Mary, barely begun puberty, but called to develop and nurture the life within herself. Maybe she didn’t know any better, or maybe she knew better than to resist God’s plan. From this extraordinarily ordinary young woman, we find a response of faith and trust that inspires scripture and song.

Let her life be as an angel’s visit: a message of hope amid fear, of risk amid chaos, and life, light and love in our world.