Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Luke 1:46-56; John 8:31-42

Preached by Rev. Robert Matlack
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Mary knew the gift of Christmas, after the angel had visited her and shared the good news. Now remember, the news that the angel brought her was upsetting in that it certainly turned all of her plans for her life upside down, changing everything, and having the potential to undercut all of her hopes and dreams. It was news that was unexpected and caught her totally off guard. It was news that was a real mixed blessing, yet it was also news that she accepted and then celebrated.

We're told that she rushed off to visit her relative Elizabeth, for as you remember, part of the proof that the angel offered her was the message that Elizabeth, whom everyone knew could not have children, this Elizabeth was now pregnant. So Mary went to see Elizabeth, and immediately saw the truth of the angels words. Elizabeth was not only pregnant, but the child within her moved, acknowledging the lordship of the Christchild whom Mary carried inside of her.

Mary tried to absorb all of this that had happened to her so suddenly as she heard Elizabeth say, "You are the most blessed of all women, and blessed is the child you will bear!"

In all that had happened to her, and now in the action of the soon to be born baby John and the words of his mother Elizabeth, Mary saw that she indeed had much to celebrate, much to give thanks for. So she spoke the words that have become so famous, the words of the "Magnificat" or Mary's Song of Praise, in which she says, "My heart praises the Lord: my soul is glad because of God my Savior". She goes on to express her thanks to God on two levels - her personal thanks for what had happened to her. She is but a lowly handmaiden and will be called blessed by all generations. God has chosen her to work through, God has chosen her to be the mother of the Christ child, and she is honored and humbled by this choice.

But Mary is also giving thanks for the great things God has done for Israel and for all nations, by reaching out to people everywhere in love. As she says, "He has stretched out his mighty arm and scattered the proud with all their plans. He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has kept the promise he made to our ancestors and has come to the help of his servant Israel."

Mary knew and celebrated all that was to come. For though the Messiah could and would do great things, and while Mary certainly didn't know the details of all that would happen, she trusted that these things would be wonderful indeed, that the Messiah would change our lives and our world, forever.

In our text from the gospel of John, Jesus makes a profound statement when He says, "If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The truth Jesus is talking about is the truth that comes from God. Jesus knows that one of our limitations is that we only know part of the truth. However wise we might think we are, our understanding and our knowledge are only partial. That's why we're so often confused by the way things happen in life. We don't know it all - and we never will. Hopefully we grow in our wisdom and understanding as we journey through life, so that at 50 we're wiser than we were at 20, and at 80 we're wiser still. But there's no point at which we know it all or understand it all. We only grasp part of the truth.

If we want to talk about real truth, ultimate truth, the only one who knows that completely is God. That's what Jesus is talking about when He says that we will know the truth - the truth that comes from God, and it is that truth that will set us free.

In Mary's case the truth was difficult to hear. It meant that inspite of the traditions and customs of the day, she had become pregnant while still unmarried. This was difficult and awkward enough, but what made the problem really tough for not only Mary but other's to understand was that Mary was not pregnant by Joseph or by some other man. She was still a virgin - amazing and impossible as that seemed.

Mary's pregnancy not only ran counter to the traditions and customs of the day, but the way that she got pregnant has never happened before and may well never happen again. It was unique. It was beyond human experience and understanding.

This left Mary in an extremely difficult position. How was she to explain this miraculous occurrence in a way that her family and friends would understand, in a way that her fiancee Joseph would understand. We aren't told all of the words that she used, all of the anguish that she experienced. What we are told is that once she accepted God's will, once Mary knew the truth, she was freed by this experience.

To be the mother of God's child brought new meaning, new hope, new possibilities to Mary's life. We hear her words of thanks and praise for God, for Mary had been freed to love in new ways.

As Jesus said to the people, "If God really were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God". Once Mary accepted that Jesus came from God, she could not help but love Him. She could not help but rejoice in this wondrous, miraculous experience, that had freed her to love in new ways.

What then does this passage say to us? We are not like Mary, newly pregnant with the Christ child. We are here centuries later, celebrating this wondrous event, but also trying to sort out just what it is that it means to us, what it is that it has to say to us her in December of 2008.

We too experience some of Mary's uncomfortableness. We worship a God who is not bound by human understandings or norms, but still does things that are not only unexpected, but often beyond our ability to understand. While God has created the laws of science, God is not bound by them. God still breaks into our lives by doing the miraculous, the unexpected, and the unexplainable. Centuries later we still can not explain or even understand how Mary became pregnant. It was a miracle, plain and simple.

The truth that Mary rediscovered and that we are reminded of time after time, is that we belong to God. We are God's people. In knowing that truth, in knowing that God is the source of life and truth and so much more, we are freed like Mary to live fully, to love completely, to celebrate God's wondrous actions in our lives and our world.

There's a story about a father who took his son to the top of high hill and pointed northward over Scotland, southward over England, eastward over the ocean, westward over hill and valley, and then sweeping his arm around the whole circling horizon said, "Johnny, my boy, God's love is as big as all that." "Why, father," the boy replied with sparkling eyes, "then we must be right in the middle of it."

This boy received a priceless gift, the same gift that Mary received when the angel visited her. The wonderful, priceless gift of Advent, is that we are offered the chance for a new beginning in which God has freed us to love as we have been loved. Let us receive this gift and allow it to fill our lives this Advent season, so that we too can look around in wonder and know that we are right in the middle of God's love..

Amen.