Saint James UCC of Hamburg, NY

Genesis 18:1-15; Luke 1:26-38

Preached by Rev. Robert Matlack
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Abraham and Sarah desperately wanted a child. Of course many couples do - and that was particularly true in their culture, but Abraham and Sarah also had a special reason for their longing. You see God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a mighty nation, and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. That's a wonderful sounding promise, but it's one that seems far away when you don't have any children.

At one point Abraham and Sarah were so desperate that Sarah sent her servant Hagar to sleep with Abraham, thinking that this might be how God's promise would be fulfilled. Abraham and Hagar indeed had a son, but Ishmael was not the fulfillment of God's promise.

Now as we come to our text in Genesis chapter 18, Abraham and Sarah are both very old, and Sarah is well past the child bearing years. It's perhaps understandable that Sarah was skeptical when some messengers from God showed up with the message that Sarah would bear a son. She'd been through all of those hopes before, and in her heart she knew that she would never have a child, but her heart was wrong. Sarah indeed bore a son - Isaac, and God's messenger posed the question, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

That's a question that we struggle with as well. We see our own limits and limitations, and at times in frustration we face those things that we cannot do or cannot change. It's easy to assume that they are impossible, that since I can't, no one can, not even God. Into that sense of discouragement and despair comes a messenger from God reminding Abraham and Sarah that there is nothing that God cannot do.

Elizabeth and Zechariah had hoped to have children. However, it seemed that that was not to be. We're told near the beginning of the gospel of Luke that they were both very old, and then one day as Zechariah, who was a priest in the temple, was burning incense on the altar, an angel appeared and told him that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son.

The seemingly impossible was about to happen once again. Elizabeth became pregnant with a child who was to be known as John the Baptist, but that is not the end of the story.

Elizabeth had a relative by the name of Mary. Mary was a young woman who was promised in marriage to a man by the name of Joseph. She had never lain with a man, but in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she too would bear a child, and not just any child, for this was to be God's child.

Mary responded as you might expect. She said to the angel, "I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?"

Now scholars as well as many other Christians struggle with the concept of a virgin bearing a child. It is certainly outside of our experience, and outside of our understanding as to how the human body works.

As a result there are many who would argue that Mary was not truly a virgin, that there must be another explanation, while others argue just as passionately that the Bible is literally true, and that Mary was a virgin.

There's a very real danger here, and I see it happen often. We get so caught up in deciding that we need to understand exactly what happened, that we miss an important part of the message. Once again the Bible reminds us that there is nothing that God cannot do, and that is the overriding message of this passage.

God has power beyond any that we can imagine, and once again we are challenged to live out our faith and recognize that for God anything is possible. It seems to me that that is one of the powerful messages of advent.

This morning we lit the candle of hope on our Advent wreath. If our only source of hope lies in what we think life should be like, then to be honest, life is pretty hopeless, for our visions are short-sighted and often self-centered. When our only source of hope is in ourselves, in the way that we want to experience life and in those things that we'd like to be able to accomplish, then it is an empty source of hope indeed.

Advent reminds us of our place in the greater scheme of things. Advent reminds us that you and I are not in charge - and that that is very good thing - for God is. You and I don't set the rules or the boundaries for what is possible and what God can do, for with God nothing is impossible.

The message of Advent is a message filled with hope. It's a hope that is different than how we usually think of hope. You see, the hope of Advent is not so much that our circumstances will be changed, rather the real hope that permeates through this season of Advent is the hope that we will be changed by this amazing experience of God's love.

Let me share with you a reading titled "And God Said, ‘No'"

I asked God to take away my pride, and God said, "No."
God said it was not for God to take away, but for me to give up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole, and God said "No."
God said that her spirit is whole, and her body is only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience, and God said, "No."
God said that patience is a by-product of tribulation. It isn't granted, it's earned.

I asked God to give me happiness, and God said, "No."
God said that God gives blessings, happiness is up to me.

I asked God to spare me pain, and God said "No."
God said suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow, and God said, "No."
God said that I must grow on my own. But God will prune me to make me fruitful.

I asked God if He loved me, and God said, "Yes."
God gave me His only son who died for me, and I will be in heaven someday because I believe. I asked God to help me love others as much as God loves me, and God said, "Ah, finally, you have the idea."

This advent season, let us hope and pray that God will help us to love others as much as God loves us.

Amen.