Strength for the Journey: Mary of Nazareth

We are entering one of my favorite seasons of the year. When I was little, there were aspects of the holidays that captivated my attention – putting up the Christmas tree, unwrapping all of the decorations from the previous year and releasing their scent, being with family, the list goes on and on. But some of my most fond memories are within the church. Hanging ordainments on the Chrismon tree. Being asked as a family to light the Advent wreath. The Christmas pageant and brown bag dinner that preceded it. And holding my candle on Christmas eve.

But it wasn’t until much later that I actually understood what this season – the season of Advent was about. Advent is the season that calls us to wait and prepare for the coming of our Lord, Jesus. And on how my preparations reflected anything but a spirit of waiting. From wanting to get from one activity to the next, or attempting to fit Christmas preparations into my existing schedule, or wanting to play certain Advent and Christmas hymns on the hand bells as fast as I could, my actions reflected an attitude of haste – one of simply adding Advent on top of everything else – instead of one of waiting.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I really started to think about how Advent calls us to slow down as we prepare. A good friend of mine started a tradition in his apartment at college. He and his roommates would not use any overhead lighting during the season of Advent. At night they would gather around the advent wreath or additional candlelight for devotions. This was a bit of a disruption to their schedules, which were so busy during the day that they would study at night. They quickly found that certain activities including studying and cooking, by limited candlelight do not tend to go well, so they had to shift their priorities and rearrange their schedules – preparing – so they could actively wait for the coming of the Lord each evening.

As much as I admire my friend for this celebration of Advent that he has carried with him into his new life with his wife, I haven’t quite got to this point of preparing and waiting in my own life. But his dedication to preparing and waiting started to get me to think about Mary. Mary may be one of the best Biblical examples there is for preparing and waiting. Mary was probably thirteen years old when a messenger of the Lord named Gabrielle came to her to announce that she was pregnant. Mary’s life up to this point had been one of waiting – waiting to become a mother and a wife. Preparing herself to bring honor to her family in these roles by practicing household duties for many years. Because this was quite an educational undertaking in and of itself, she probably never had any education outside of the home.

Mary was now actively preparing for marriage. As was Jewish custom she would be engaged to her soon to be husband, Joseph, for a year. This would give him time to make the proper arrangements as well; carving out another room in his family’s dwelling for them to live in. It needed to be big enough to accommodate them, and the one child they expected to create each year of their marriage together. Mary was preparing herself not only to be a good wife to Joseph, providing for his needs, but a good mother to as many children as she could bear successful. Mary hoped and prayer that she would be able to provide Joseph with a male offspring and survive the multiple births.

Mary was preparing for the day, gathering water at the local citrine, probably not her first trip of the day, when this messenger appeared to her. Mary was going about her ordinary tasks of preparing when she was interrupted and told that another period, a new period, of waiting would begin. This one would last nine month – the time it would take to give birth to a baby boy. Mary knew how babies came to be and questioned the angel how she – one who had never known a man – would give birth. But the angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would bear a son, to be named Jesus, who would be the Son of God. For nothing is impossible with God.

Mary had to be thinking, why me? Why a common girl from a town so small and insignificant that it wasn’t even counted as being part of Galilee by her neighbors. Why not someone older? Or someone from Seppohris, the next town over, with so many thousands of people to choose from? Why someone from Nazareth – where everyone knew everyone and the total population could not be more then 400? Why her? Why here? Why now?

But despite all of Mary’s questions and her fear, she responded, yes, here I am a servant of the Lord. Let it be for me as you have described. Mary knew the consequences. She knew that if she was discovered to be pregnant while being engaged, but not married, to Joseph that the law said she was to be stoned to death. She knew that if she could not wrap her mind around being a pregnant virgin, then her family, Joseph, the town, would not understand it either. But something that this angel had said had caught her attention. The child she was carrying would be the son of God. Not a son of God, the son of God. Wasn’t this what her people had been waiting for? Isn’t this what her very town had been named for. Netzer – a branch or shoot. A new tree would grown from the stump of where another tree had died. Isn’t this what the prophets had predicted? That a shoot shall come up from the stump of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of its roots? She would be carrying the promise of hope within her womb, and that hope was greater then any of the consequences.

Friends, if Mary could say yes to such a great risk at the age of thirteen what are we willing to risk for Christ today? Is there room in our hurried schedules to actually prepare the way of the Lord, or is Advent and this holiday season more about preparing our homes for the holidays then preparing our hearts for the Lord?

When I was little and it came to be Christmas pageant time, there was never a shortage of little girls who wanted to be Mary. But Adam Hamilton, author of the book The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem, on which this sermon series is based, asks a thought-provoking question, would Mary want to be Mary? She had to give up so much and take on a burden that many cannot fathom, but she still clearly answered, “Here I am. A servant of the Lord’s.”

I firmly believe that waiting and preparing are paired with giving of ourselves, as Mary gave everything to give birth to baby for a world in need. I also believe that part of preparing and waiting is sacrificing. One of the most celebrated times of waiting in the life of a family is waiting for the birth of a baby. Yet, like Mary, there are many women living right here in Centre County, for whom this time of waiting is filled with great risk, uncertainty, and fear. I graduated college a semester early and had to decide how to best use my time for Spring semester and summer before I entered seminary. I found myself working for my church, and as part of that job, working for the local women’s shelter that the church wished to partner with. While working there, a woman, we will call her Mary, came into my life. Mary was having a child outside of wedlock. She had no idea how to care for a child, though the shelter was teaching her new skills each day for childcare. But Mary had nothing for her child, not a single blanket or bottle – she simply could not afford one. And without a supportive family, Mary had no one to help her prepare during this period of waiting for the baby to be born. I approached the Sister who ran the shelter and asked if I could throw a surprise baby shower for Mary. The Sister was astonished that I wanted to help her prepare for this child – a woman whom I did not know, and a baby whom I may never meet. What happened next was only through the grace of God. I took the list of supplies that Mary would need for her baby and gave it to my church. I explained what we were doing and how we only had about a month for collecting the items. The church not only collected enough items to get Mary and her child through the first year of their life together, but enough to help seven more women throughout the county who were in need of help preparing. Who are you willing to help prepare this season? Would you be willing to drop your spare change into these bottles for the Women’s Resource Center to help women prepare for their coming child? And as you put your change in, can you be reminded that Mary did not have the support that many of us experience today when she agreed to carry the Lord?

What are we willing to risk as we prepare and wait for the Lord this holiday season? Our preparations may not be as drastic as my friend spending four weeks in evenings by candlelight, but can we give something, anything, to women in our community who are in need? Can we make Advent not something that we simply add, but that which we focus our time on the birth of Christ and what that actually means to our lives? Are you in a place in your life where the Lord could speak to you? Where a messenger of the Lord could meet with you, or are you so busy that you wouldn’t even notice or have the opportunity to respond as Mary did? Can we offer ourselves to God this season, risking everything for an unrealized and unknown hope? And can we sing Mary’s song even in the midst of the risks that we are taking as we prepare and wait. May this season of waiting be filled with blessings for you as you place yourself in the position of Mary to listen and respond to the invitation of the Lord.