Nothing Will Be Impossible with God - Advent 4

Advent 4 - Nothing Will Be Impossible with God I like traditions. There is something about lighting candles on an advent wreath that gives me peace. This weekend, we light the fourth Advent candle. Some of us await anxiously for this lighting, others expectantly, others still may await in deep grief, awaiting bad medical news, or perhaps mourning a loved one. All of us are waiting with memories of Christmases past. Waiting expectantly for Christmas morning. The waiting is almost over. So as Mary sings her song of praise, she reminds us that nothing will be impossible with God. In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her. Luke 1:26-38 This is an expectant time for Mary and Elizabeth. We know that they both have said yes to the plan of God, which leads us to wonder what will be asked of us. Mary quickly clarifies that question as she sings that God is doing a new thing. God's Son is coming into the world and she is the bearer of God. This young Jewish girl not only accepts her calling but also sings praise to God for this amazing grace. For those who may not know Jesus, this virgin birth seems impossible. Yet, those of faith know that nothing is impossible with God. Mary continues, announcing how the wrongs of history will be made right. Mary is reaching out to you and me to be leaders in making changes that will make the world a much better place for us all. God's call to Mary was for a specific purpose, which her cousin Elizabeth affirmed. God's call to us on this fourth Sunday of Advent is coming to us through Mary's song. We need one another's affirmation, just as Mary needed Elizabeth's, to live into God's plan for the world. Just as we bring children into the world and we raise these children, nurture them in their faith. Just as we renew our faith through baptism, being born again, committing ourselves within our local church congregations, we commit and promise to support each other in our Christian faith. This affirmation enables our children, ourselves and the church to live into God's plan, just as Elizabeth's affirmation enabled Mary to do the same. It's through our relationships which Jesus, that we in fact do the impossible...we do the works God has entrusted us to do. We receive gifts allowing us to do things we'd never be able to do, without our relationship with God. Nothing will be impossible with God. Mary sings of the "yes" of God that she has learned through her faith. She knows God can be trusted, and she is therefore willing to say yes to God, even when she does not understand how a virgin like herself could bear God's Son. All of us, men and women, are included in Mary's and Elizabeth's times of expectancy, calling us together in partnership with God in God's plan for this world. This song addresses all the ways we set ourselves apart from one another, which is the excuse we need to set us over and against one another. We are all uniquely made in the image of God, meaning that we are to see God in one another and are called to say yes to justice for all. And it's through our works, guided by the hand of God, that we fulfill the plan he has in-store for each and everyone of us. These works, impossible, yet made possible with God. Mary celebrates the greatness of God, and then she proclaims God's liberating compassion for the poor. Mary sings the joy that she is feeling and sings blessing for the oppressed, whether that oppression comes from being underprivileged or overprivileged. So, for you and me, whatever our circumstances, Mary's new song announces the reality of "both/and." Just as she embodies the polarity of being virgin and mother, she shows us how we can be people both of the heart and of the head, both mystical and resistant, both contemplative and justice oriented, both spiritually alive and socially active. I like traditions. The lighting of the advent candles. The advent wreath, the circle of continuity. The circle reminds me that Christ will come into the broken places in us and into the world where healing is needed. The circle reminds me that we are all pregnant with the possibility of new life, becoming more than we are, for God is with us and God is in us. Because our memories can be very short, we need Mary's song to remind us of God's twofold promise to deliver God's people and to lift the poor. Mary's song reminds us that nothing will be impossible with God. Mary sings because she has new life in her. Are we ready to join in singing with her? O come, let us adore him and follow him into new life. * O God of Elizabeth and Mary, you visited your servants with news of the world's redemption in the coming of the Savior. Make our hearts leap with joy, and fill our mouths with songs of praise, that we may announce glad tidings of peace, and welcome the Christ in our midst. Amen.