Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary Mother of God,
Prophet, Apostle, and Pastor,
pray with us now and at the hour of our death.

I have a special relationship with Mary.

I was baptized Roman Catholic at the age of 8, when my Dad married a Catholic.  So I attended remedial Catechism to learn the basics, like how to go to confession and learning the Hail Mary, prayer.

The language of the Hail Mary is from a Catholic translation of the Latin, or Vulgate version of Luke 1:28 – Gabriel’s greeting to Mary –  “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” Hail is an old English word that basically means, “Hey, Graceful Mary, God is with you!”

Then Luke 1:42, where Elizabeth (Zechariah’s wife) greets her cousin Mary as baby John leaps within her.  

42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

The usual version continues with,

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”

I’ve adapted this prayer of my childhood, adding, “Prophet, Apostle, and Pastor,”  because I’ve learned through more intensive Biblical study that Mary’s leadership in the church was edited out by men who were trying to stop women from being in leadership in the early church, in order to make Christianity more acceptable to the Patriarchal Roman culture.

And I’ve changed my petition to asking Mary to pray with us instead of for us, because as Protestants we don’t pray to Saints.  But really, Catholics don’t pray to Saints either – they just speak about Saints the same way the apostle Paul spoke about Abraham and Moses – as ones who are alive in God, even though they are not walking the earth anymore.  Catholics aren’t praying to the Saints instead of God.  Catholics are asking the Saints in Glory to pray for them, since the Saints are closer in proximity to God.  

Kinda like asking your DS to put a good word in to the Bishop for your housing project!

I have a special relationship with Mary:

• Because of my Catholic upbringing.
• Because Mary was a mother who began her ministry career when her children were grown
• Because Mary was a woman in church leadership

But most of all, I relate to Mary because she was not in control of her life, and yet, 

Mary wrestles back her right to consent, her bodily autonomy, and her right to her very self, by answering a question she wasn’t asked.

Gabriel didn’t ask Mary if she consented to being impregnated by Spirit.

Mary took back her life by saying yes to God.

Mary didn’t choose to be born into the reign of Herod the Great.

She didn’t choose to live under Roman occupation!

She didn’t choose to live in a time of political unrest with Judean rebels protesting in the streets and Roman troops dragging people from their homes and businesses on the suspicion of association with the rebellion.

Mary most likely didn’t choose to be engaged to Joseph – most marriages were arranged between families at the time.

Mary didn’t sign up on Match dot com with a profile stating:

“Jewish girl seeking spiritual relationship with potential for birthing the Messiah”

Mary didn’t ask to be a central character in interesting times!

I mean,  Mary had political opinions.  One might consider her a rebel, at least in her views – just read Luke 1:46-55, where Mary is all about casting down the mighty and feeding the hungry!

But, Mary was just living her life, when God sends a messenger — Messenger is the literal translation of the word, Angel, by the way…

God sent a messenger to Tell, not ask, Tell, Mary that Spirit was going to be messing with her life.

And Mary said yes.

Mary said yes to a question she wasn’t asked.

Mary is kind of the opposite of the prophet Jonah.

You remember Jonah and the whale?

God tells, not asks, tells, Jonah to go to Nineveh – the worst enemies of Israel at that time, and give those enemies a message a grace.  A warning that they could repent and be saved.

And Jonah said, no.  

• Jonah said, I hate the Ninevites, so no I’m not going.
• Also, the Nivevites hate me and they’ll probably just kill me!
• And also, all my own people hate the Nivevites too, so they will all hate me if I go, and I get enough hate as a prophet already, so I don’t need more.
• No. Just no.

And being a prophet, Jonah knew that it’s hard to say no to God, so Jonah booked himself passage on a ship going the opposite direction, to try to avoid Spirit hijacking his mouth in proximity to any Ninevites.

And well, then there was a storm at sea and Jonah got swallowed by a whale who coughed him up like a hairball on the shores of Nineveh.

Have you ever noticed that God doesn’t really take no for an answer?

God is kind of like google maps.  Bridget,  I call the female voice of google maps, Bridget.

Bridget is like turn right in 200 feet.

And I’m like, no, I do not want to take the freeway today.

And Bridget is like,  turn right at the next road.

And I talk back to Bridget, that’s why I had to give her a name — “No, Bridget I do not want to take the freeway today”

And Bridget be like,  make a U turn.

And I’m like, no,  I can drive all the way down Stark street from here, I do not need to take 84,  84 traffic is always terrible!

And then there’s road construction, or a flooded street, or something on that end of Stark and I’m back to following Bridget’s directions.

Occasionally, I do know the area better, but, usually Bridget wins.

God always wins.

God always knows better than I do.

God always has a bigger perspective on what will work in the future and how every little thing in our lives connects to something else and something else and something else, until: 

• because we said yes to offering Rahab’s Sisters an office here
• and then Rahab’s Sisters needed a different place to operate out of, and we said yes, even though it meant getting used to sharing our building 
• and we realized we were tired of spending so much time on the building 
• And Rahab’s was looking to buy a building 
• So we thought what if we sell them the building 
• And Hacienda heard about it and said what if we build a new building with housing above
• And Rahab’s, being a good ministry partner brought that offer back to us 
• And we prayed and talked and prayed and talked and you said yes
• And we waited almost 6 months for the Cabinet to say yes.
• And none of this was my idea, or your idea, God is just doing a new thing.

I relate to Mary, because I am not in control.

I didn’t choose to live in interesting times!

I didn’t really choose to build affordable housing!

None of this was my plan!

I just said yes to God, because I don’t want to get eaten by a whale!

But seriously — I say yes to God because not just the stories of our faith teach us that saying yes to God is exciting.

But my own experience with God has taught me that when I say yes to God, God always has a better plan than I do.

How do I tell if it’s God or just me, or some other influence?

Partly because, as Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep know my voice.”  The more you say yes to God, the more familiar you become with God’s voice.

Partly because God’s messages are always in alignment with the teachings of Jesus.  Jesus is never going to tell us to hate our neighbors.

And mostly because God loves a Hail Mary moment.

God loves to make the impossible possible.

God loves to make small things exponentially more successful than they should have been.

God loves to raise up the lowly and bring down the proud.

God loves to feed the hungry and send the rich away empty.

And If you think I’m being woke – go back and read Luke 1:46-55, and Mary will set you straight.

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary Mother of God,
Prophet, Apostle, and Pastor,
pray with us now and at the hour of our death.

Luke 1:5-13 NRSVUE

In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

8 Once when he was serving as priest before God during his section’s turn of duty, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to offer incense. 10 Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified, and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.

Herod the Great, King of Judea, was an insecure and fearful leader.

Herod came from an important Idumaen family – the Idumaeans said to the the descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob, the grandsons of Abraham, who converted to Judaism when the victory celebrated at Hanukkah, restored Judea as an independent kingdom in 164 BC.  You can find that story in the Books of Maccabees, in a Bible that has those extra books.

Herod’s dad was chief Minister of Judea Under King Hrycanus II, but Herod’s Dad, and Herod rebelled against the King.  Herod went to Rome to ask for help from Mark Antony (yes that Mark Antony, from Antony and Cleopatra!) and in exchange for Rome’s help, Judea became a Roman province and Herod was named King of the Jews around 37 BC.  But then the Romans killed Julius Caesar and Antony married Cleopatra, and everyone was taking sides between Octavian (who became Caesar Augustus) and Mark Antony.  Herod chose Mark Antony.  So when Antony and Cleopatra died and Caesar Augustus became the Emperor of Rome, Herod was eager to curry favor with Rome.

• Herod was also not popular with his Jewish subjects. 
  Herod’s ancestry was of Edomite converts so that’s one strike against Herod.
• Herod’s mother was Persian, and Jewishishness is determined through the maternal line – strike 2. 
• Herod had helped topple the King of an Independent Judea and brought in the Romans — that’s a huge strike 3.
• But, Herod finished the 2nd Temple, which might seem like a good thing, except Herod refused to listen to the Priests about how the Temple was to be built — strike 4, and…
• Herod raised taxes very, very high to not only finish the enlarged Temple, but also to build himself two palaces, help fund the Olympic Games of 14 BC, and send more money to Caesar Augustus to keep himself in power — strike 5 — and why there’s so much complaint about heavy taxation in the Christmas story.
• Also, Herod divorced is first wife and disinherited his son, to marry Mariamne, the granddaughter of King Hyrcaus II, whom he had rebelled against, which did not make the Jewish people like him any better.

(much of the  history about Herod  is from https://historycooperative.org/king-herod-of-judea/ )

Herod was a deeply insecure and deeply fearful king.

• Fearful because he backed the wrong Caesar – Mark Antony.
• Very Fearful because his own people did not accept him or Rome.  So fearful that according to Flavius Josephus, Herod had a personal guard of 2000 soldiers to protect him from the Judean Rebels.
• So very fearful, that Herod murdered many of his own sons.
• So while there is no historical evidence of the Biblical account that Herod ordered the killing of all the babies, when he heard about the birth of the new king from the Wise Men, it sounds like something Herod would do.

In that political climate,  Zechariah is called to take his turn serving at the Temple.   Zechariah was a nobody.  Just an ordinary priest, who married a bit above himself, but he had no children, so people would have talked that maybe God didn’t like Zechariah and Elizabeth that much.  Back then, they thought that poor health or infertility was probably because a person had offended God.

So Zechariah and Elizabeth would have been afraid to travel to Jerusalem for Zechariah’s week of service at the Temple with Judean rebels attacking travelers on the roads.

They would have been afraid of the politics among priests as Herod often tried to meddle in the appointment of the high priests.

With no sons to help them make their living, they would have been worried about the high taxes in Judea.

And they may have wondered what they had done to offend God, what sin they had unknowingly committed, that was causing God to withhold the blessing of a child.

They were afraid, but they showed up anyway.

Showed up to serve God and to serve the people who visited the Temple.

They were afraid, but they showed up anyway and God met them there with hope.

Hope for a son – proof that God wasn’t mad at them.

And hope for a messiah  — an anointed one who would proclaim the Year of the Lord’s Favor and tear down tyrants from their thrones.

And as is so often the case when God gives us hope, they had no idea what God was actually going to do!

Zechariah and Elizabeth didn’t ask to live through interesting times anymore than we did!

And yet…

There they were and here we are.

In fearful times, it can be so tempting to hide, to distract ourselves with pretty things and entertainment.  It can be so tempting to say, “nothing I do, makes a difference,” so why show up at all?

And sometimes we do need to rest!

We can’t do everything!  

Boundaries are Holy!  That’s why God told us to take a Sabbath every week!

But when it’s our turn, like Zechariah, we can show up.

We can show up even when we’re afraid.

And those are often the times that God surprises us with hope.