How can this be?

Luke 1:26-38

I sat down to write,
over the past couple of weeks.
In short, disconnected snippets.
I try not to talk about busyness,
because it’s basic, and boring,
and it’s a cultural disease.
But I was stretched the last last few days and weeks,
so my writing process wasn’t as cohesive as I like.
And I sat down on Monday,
and realized I had outlined,
drawing from this most famous of advent texts –
the annunciation to Mary –
point by point,
paragraph by paragraph,
exactly the same sermon,
I offered at Easter here,
some 7 months ago:
 
Again the angel comes,
saying “Don’t be afraid.”
Because that’s what angels always say.
 
again we have a model of discipleship,
in a female protagonist named Mary,
because – let’s be honest –
the women were the best disciples,

and they matter a lot to our Gospels,
we can be sure that women were in Jesus’ inner circle,
even has tradition and editing has attempted to limit them.
 
again,
we are sent out into the world,
with a simple story: Emmanuel, God is with us,
(4 words this time,
instead of Easter’s 6 – Jesus is risen from the dead)
a story to ponder,
as Mary does,
ponder not if we understand this mystery, of incarnation,
Not if we assent perfectly to the strangeness of virgin birth,
but rather to ponder if we love this story enough,
for it to change us.
 
Again, it’s meant to change us in a way that makes us publicly unafraid,
in a messy world,
which trades in our fear.
 
It’s a pretty good sermon, if I do say so myself.
I met a few of you that Sunday.
and they’re all going to be variations on a theme.
but I’d like to think I have more than one rattling around in my brain.
 
So, if you are looking for that sermon,
like I was, it would seem,
you can find it posted online.
Just  ‘Control R’ Advent for Easter,
and you’ll be all set.
 
But for today,
I’d like us to notice the pattern that unfolds in this text,
which I think Luke may want us to think of,
as the pattern of discipleship,
the pattern of living,
the pattern of being an advent people,
all year long.
 
And the first thing to notice,
is that Mary is favored, she is regarded,
preemptively.
A teenage girl,
in a backwater,
working class,
ordinary town.
She’s about to do some great stuff,
but she’s favored first.
She doesn’t ask for it,
she’s not ready for it,
she’s not out seeking God.
God comes to her and says,
“you’re pretty great.”
 
Grace always comes first.
 
And how does she respond?
She’s perplexed.
And she ponders what this could mean.
And this is before, even,
the big announcement that’s about to come.
She’s perplexed and pondering,
merely by virtue of God’s presence.
 
Which reminds us,
that God isn’t looking for fast, easy assent.
God is looking for thinkers,
for ponderers,
for people who live in the gray area.
Or, as my preaching professor once put it:
“God don’t want no yes woman!”
 
And then, then,
the angel gives her the big news,
And what does she do?
She questions,
“how can this be?”
Just like we should question.
This is a true act of faith,
which takes so seriously the realness,
 and mystery, and presence of God,
that we can’t help but pause once in a while,
and go, “Huh?”
“Are you serious?”
“How can that be?”
 
God is come to earth as human?
how can this be?
Just about the only thing we can agree on,
about God,
is that God is not human.
It’s worth some questions.
 
Do you ever walk out of a building here on campus,
in the early evening,
catch a glimpse of the horizon,
on fire with pink and orange,
and think,
how can this be?
 
Do you ever wonder,
that we’re called to set aside a full four years of our lives,
for learning and friendship,
and think,
how can this be?
 
But it doesn’t stop there, right?
The questions.
God, I wondered a few years ago,
you want me to be a chaplain?
How can this be?
Me who attended chapel but 2 times.
in my whole college experience?
Me, who squandered some of those years in dissolute living?
Me, who’s not sure I believe all this stuff yet?
You want me to do that? As my job?
How can that be?

God in the midst of this political mess,
you want us to pursue justice,
and love our enemies?
For real?
How can this be?
 
We’re to boost financial aid,
and lower our carbon footprint,
how can this be?
 
When God shows up,
or more,
when we notice that God is there beckoning us,
the questions show we’re paying attention.
 
And then,
after her questions,
Mary commits. 
She says, like a prophet of old,
“Here I am.” 
Here I am.
 
This is it, right:
We’re favored – before any of it.
We notice, we’re perplexed.
We question.
And then at some point.
We commit.
Indebted to Karoline Lewis for this construct
 
We say, okay.  That sounds wild.
Let’s give it a try.
Take the next step,
do the next right thing.
Here I am.  Send me.
 
Mary is, I think,
the real disciple. 
The one who shows us,
how to question and commit.
and she is beloved not because some quirk in her physiology,
but because she is faithful and thoughtful and serious in her discipleship.
 
And I like this,
because it makes Advent real,
all the time,
because we’re always in this state of being I think.
God isn’t asking us to be perfect,
but rather to be honest, and truthful, and to love.
 
But
you might have noticed,
at the end,
the angel goes away.
Nothing’s really happened yet –
it’s about to,
and Mary’s there for it.
But before the manger and the stable,
before the calling of disciples,
and turning of tables,
before trial and crucifixion, and resurrection.
before anything.
the angel departs,
and Mary’s left alone with her thoughts.
 
She’s noticed God’s grace,
been perplexed and amazed,
questioned and wondered,
and then assents,
and she’s sent back into the world,
for some hard work.
 
We’ve noticed God’s grace,
we’ve been perplexed and amazed,
we’ve questioned and wondered,
and finally we assent,
and walk through the door.
 
We’re back out in the cold.
Down from the mountain.
 
And we awake, in some profound sense,
the same world as Mary.
In which God is really, seriously present,
and which is deeply broken,
full of grief,
and with plenty of work to do.
 
And while we await the next great advent,
we are perplexed
and we ponder,
we question,
and say, simply, “Here I am.”
Here I am to show compassion to those who need
Here I am to offer encouragement to those who worry.
Here I am to Resist evil
Here I am to Accept all God’s people,
no matter their race or country of origin, or sex or gender identity or sexuality, or economic status or HIV status, or whatever else.
As WH Auden put it
Here “Remembering the stable where for once in our lives
Everything became a You and nothing was an It.”
 
 
Here I am to confront the principality of fear.
Here I am refusing to be divided,
here I am refusing to be distracted,
here I am to love.
 
 
Because while
God’s presence may evoke perplexion (is that a word?)
and questioning and pondering
it is, in the end, simply good news.
God is come to us, Emmanuel,
right here in the midst and muck of it.
Finals and travels,
hard decisions, divisive politics,
power and fear,
Brexits and Impeachment,
God is with us all the same.
God is not done,
and we are not yet who we will be.
But here we are – servants and disciples.
 
And while the angels may depart from us,
they are ever telling us,
even in the dark, long, cold nights,
not to be afraid.