The Church of the Redeemer

December 22, 2002

The Third Sunday in Advent

“ Here I am this servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.” 

            Saying yes to God is what today’s Gospel is about.  Despite being part of a tradition that does not emphasize the life and example of the Virgin Mary, she is still viewed as an enviable example of obedience.   In today’s Gospel, Mary is caught off guard when the Angel Gabriel came to her.  Despite the risk of becoming pregnant out of wedlock, Mary willingly accepted God’s request to bear the Christ.  But then again, when God calls us into obedience the choice is rarely easy and often comes at a time when we are most unprepared to respond

            This leads us to the first lesson that is taught through Luke’s telling of the annunciation to Mary by the Angel Gabriel, God’s call to follow is often sudden and filled with surprises. If we looked closer at the story of Mary, we know it was not in her plans to become the mother of the Messiah.  It is hard to imagine Mary, or anyone else for that matter, campaigning before God to be chosen to bear God’s son.  Mary’s plan was to simply marry a carpenter from Nazareth and lead a quiet and unassuming life raising the children they would have together.  Saying yes to God, risked all of this.  As we know, Joseph planned to leave her quietly until the angel came in a dream and asked him not to.

            This leads us to the second lesson in today’s Gospel, God’s call is often contrary to what is logical, and often to what we believe we want for ourselves.  In the story of Abraham, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son to demonstrate his loyalty to God.  And, in the story of Jonah, God sends a very resistant Jonah to serve as his prophet in the contemptible City of Ninevah.

            Finally, the third lesson we learn from the life of Mary is that when we accept God’s will for us, things will work out and we will find peace.  Mary took the risk and bore her son without being disgraced or losing her betrothal to Joseph and upon accepting proclaimed her love of God in the words of the Magnificat, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”  God spared Isaac’s life and Abraham became the father of a proud and great nation. 

            But it is not just people named Mary, Abraham or Jonah who are called to serve God or to be, as Mary declares, “the handmaid of God.”  This request is made to each and every one of us daily.  And, if we open our eyes we will find ourselves meeting the handmaids of God throughout Boston.

 During one of my initial visits to Epiphany School two years ago, I met a couple that became the unlikely handmaids of God.  While living in the State of Washington, this couple had begun toying with the thought of retiring and doing something different with their lives.  What that would be, they had no idea until their daughter began teaching at Epiphany School.  Their call from God began with a simple phone call to help John Finley raise money for a new building, one phone call led to another until the husband decided he needed to fly out and be on site to better assist with the project.  Finally, the couple decided the Epiphany School project was something they wanted to devote themselves to full-time on the condition housing was found for them to live in.  Once housing was found, without looking back, they packed up their lives on the west coast and came east to assist the Epiphany School in building its home.  

            A school building is built on the East Coast because a couple from the West Coast out of the blue was called by God to serve and they said yes. The incarnation was brought into the world because a young woman was willing to take the risk and say yes to God!  A nation was born, because a man was willing to sacrifice his son.  What is it that God is asking you and me to do?  What is that yearning in your heart you keep repressing as irrational or impossible?  What area of your life are you struggling with or find yourself in constant battle?  These yearnings or battle zones in life are ways in which God speaks to us.  It is often when we are willing to give in to these yearning or let go of our battles that we find the peace that is only found when we say yes to God and with Mary are able to know God’s greatness first hand. 

            “Here I am,  the servant of the Lord, let it be according to your word.”

The Rev. Craig R. Swan

Return to Sermons Page