2023 12 24 Sermon
Mary’s Faithfulness
Advent 4 B
2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:26-38
Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
52 years ago, when they were building our House of Prayer church building, a lot of thought went into the design. Being a mission start, the founders of our church didn’t have a lot of money, so they had to carefully consider their decisions about the building. One thing they knew they wanted were beautiful windows. And so you see our beautiful faceted glass—I’ve been told (and many of you know) that it is not stained glass, which is created by a different process, but faceted glass. And then there’s the unique shape of our sanctuary and roof, which were designed to evoke the 5 points of hands folded in prayer. Another thing they had to make decisions about was the exterior of the building.
So when they were covering the exterior walls with cedar siding, I wonder if they had 2 Samuel 7 in mind. There is tells of King David who, after many years and much difficulty, had “settled in his house.” David is quite content now that “the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies”. So David is considering what to do with his free time. He turns to the prophet Nathan and observes, “I am living in a house of cedar.” Cedar—a strong, dense, straight, aromatic, long-lasting wood—this was a fine choice to build a house fit for a king. And it occurs to David that surely God deserves something at least as good—“But”, David reminds Nathan, “the ark of God stays in a tent!” A lowly tent to house the ark holding the Ten Commandments; a tent tattered and frayed from 40 years of wandering in the wilderness with the strong wind and hot sun beating down on it. And they were still using that old tent even after David has established Jerusalem as his capital city.
You can practically see the wheels turning in David’s head: “Why, I should build a house of cedar for God! Of course, I should!” Nathan agrees at first but gets a message from God during the night: “Go and remind David that I have never lived in a house, ever since I brought my people out of Egypt. From that time on, I’ve been moving around with the tent. And because of that, I have been with you wherever you went! I never asked you to build me a house of cedar, and now you want to build me one? You don’t build me a house; I build you a house!”
David, like anyone of great accomplishments and talent, needed to be humbled from time to time; to be reminded that God is the one truly in charge. Yes, God had chosen David to be king, and God was at work through David, but David also needed to be reminded that he was part of something bigger than himself: he was part of the family of God. And being part of God’s family, God promised to build David a house—a house not made of cedar, but a “house” meaning a family lineage, through which God would carry out his purposes for the world. In David’s case, his “house”, his family line, would provide the kings of Israel—and ultimately the Messiah.
By the time we get to the gospel accounts many centuries later, the “house of David”, his family line, still exists but has not provided kings for hundreds of years. The “House of David” was just as humble as any other family living around Bethlehem, where David had been born and raised. Joseph, whom Mary had consented to be married to, and who was living and working in Nazareth up north as a regular old carpenter—Joseph was part of the house of David. And then anyone who became part of Joseph’s household would be considered as being from the House of David.
God’s promises don’t always seem to unfold in straightforward ways—but God always keeps his promises. And so, to keep a promise made long ago to David, that God would make him into a “house” that would last forever, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth with a message for the virgin Mary, a message we call The Annunciation: “God has chosen you, Mary, to deliver God’s Messiah into the world.” Note that Gabriel was not telling her “congratulations, Mary, you are already pregnant with the Messiah!” Gabriel is telling her, “God has chosen you for this important purpose—and you have the freedom to choose either ‘yes’ or ‘no’”.
Then Gabriel offers the sales pitch, offering (by my count) 11 awesome promises in just 5 verses of Luke chapter 1 before Mary can even get a word in. When she does, Mary hesitates to decide—and understandably so—I mean, how many of us would really want the responsibility of being mother of the Messiah?!
So she asks Gabriel a thoughtful follow-up: “How can this be since I am a virgin?” Gabriel explains that in this case, conceiving and bearing a son would be entirely the work of the Holy Spirit. But even this is not quite enough to persuade her. Then, finally, Gabriel tells Mary: “Behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son [whom we know as John the Baptist]; this is the sixth month of pregnancy for Elizabeth, who thought she could never have children.” As it turns out, that was the assurance Mary needed in order to give her consent. She only said “yes” to the angel after she knew that she would not be alone. Even if the townsfolk in Nazareth might shun her—or worse—for being pregnant before getting married to Joseph, Mary would still have Elizabeth to support her. That’s when Mary gives her consent: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.”
In contrast to King David who needed to be humbled in order to be reminded that God’s presence was with him all the time, this time God chose a humble peasant woman, the virgin Mary, to be the one who reminds us that God is always present in our human life experiences, through the promise of Christ coming into the world.
Not only was Mary humble, she was also faithful. And this faithfulness is the theological meaning of Gabriel’s Annunciation to the virgin Mary. Especially when you consider the Old Testament prophets who frequently criticized the Israelites when they did not live up to God’s calling to be a light to the world. When they fall away from their faith and from God’s purposes, the prophets frequently compared Israel to being an unfaithful spouse. Yet in Mary we find an Israelite who is faithful—both faithful to Joseph her betrothed, and faithful to the God who had found favor with her in her lowliness; this is the theological significance of Mary being a virgin.
Faithfulness comes down to being trustworthy. And because Mary was a faithful and trustworthy person, God knew she could be trusted to thoughtfully consider whether or not she was ready to take on this great responsibility.
In becoming the mother of Christ, Mary is also mother of the Church, because her Son has claimed us as his brothers and sisters through baptism, and called us to be people of God. To borrow a modern phrase, as the church we can be a “chosen family” or a “family of choice”, meaning that we are not necessarily from the same family of origin, but we find a support system with each other. Even amidst the challenges of life, we are not alone; we care about each other and we care for each other. We have people to lean on, who will walk with us and support us, like Elizabeth supported Mary. You also find this concept of a “chosen family” among other groups, such as people overcoming addiction together, or among veterans’ support groups, or among LGBTQ people whose families of origin have shunned them, or even among groups of friends who live far from home. And the church can also provide a “chosen family” to be a community of mutual support.
We can be relieved that the Messiah has already come into the world, and that Elizabeth supported Mary through it; none of us will ever have as great a responsibility in God’s purposes as Mary. But similar to her, when God does call you to take on some small (or even large) task to do God’s work in the world, God also allows you a choice to say “yes” or “no” to his call.
If you say “no”, you are still a beloved member of God’s family—and, God may still come and call you at another time in the future. If you say “yes”, then like Mary, you will have the Holy Spirit’s help in carrying a (small) part of God’s purposes into the world. Amen.