Yes

St. Paul’s Church in Bergen, Jersey City NJ

December 21, 2014

Year B: The Fourth Sunday of Advent

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Canticle 15: The Song of Mary

Romans 16:25-27

Luke 1:26-38

Yes

            If you’ve been in church these past two Sundays, you know that we’ve been focused on one of the central characters of Advent, John the Baptist.

            John was a fiery and powerful prophet who called people to repent – to change their minds and hearts – to change their ways.

            In his day, John the Baptist was famous. We’re told that large crowds came to the River Jordan to be baptized. Some people even believed – hoped – that John might be the long-awaited messiah.

            But, John the Baptist declared that he was preparing the way for the even greater One to come – preparing the way for Jesus, whose birth, of course, we will celebrate in a really big way in just a few days.

            But, first, today we shift our focus from John the Baptist to that other central character of Advent, the Virgin Mary.

            It’s the Evangelist Luke who tells us most of what we know about Mary. Apparently, Luke had access to early Christian traditions and memories of Mary and included them in his gospel.

            So, thanks to Luke we have the story of the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary in Nazareth.

            We’re told that she’s a virgin and she’s engaged to Joseph of the House of David.

            The angel begins, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you” and then proceeds to tell Mary this most amazing, shocking news that she has been chosen to carry the Son of God into the world.

            John the Baptist was famous in his day.

            But, in the eyes of the world, Mary was ordinary.

            She was a teenage girl living in an unremarkable town out in the country. Really only her family and her neighbors would have known who she was. Maybe they thought she was special. Maybe not.

            But, God who knows us far better than we know ourselves, chooses seemingly ordinary Mary for this most important task of carrying Jesus into the world.

            In her day, Mary was seemingly ordinary but for almost two thousand years Christians have loved Mary. We have retold her story. We have depicted her in countless paintings and statues. We have given her many, many lofty titles like “Mother of God,” “Queen of Heaven,” and “Our Lady of Mercy, Victories, Sorrows…” and on and on.

            Why have we fallen in love with Mary?

            I think part of it is the beauty and charm of the story.

            But, more important than that, what draws us to her is the fact that seemingly ordinary Mary says yes to God.

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

            Mary says, yes.

            And that yes changes everything.

            In fact, the way Luke sees it, Mary’s “yes” to God sets off a revolution.

            The way Luke tells the story, Mary immediately sets off to be with her kinswoman Elizabeth who, despite her great age, is pregnant with John the Baptist.

            If you remember the story, as soon as Mary arrives, the unborn John the Baptist leaps in the womb, signaling to Elizabeth that Mary is pregnant with the Lord.

            Very charming.

            But then Mary breaks out into song, her song, what we call the Magnificat, which we said today in place of a psalm.

            Mary’s song been set to so much beautiful music there’s a danger that we miss the power and fire of her words.

            Mary’s yes has started a revolution.

            Mary says that God has scattered the proud, cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.

            Mary says that God has filled the hungry with good things and the rich have been sent away empty.

            Seemingly ordinary Mary said yes to God.

            And Mary’s yes has started a revolution.

            So, what about seemingly ordinary us?

            God is always asking us to take a chance – to reach out – to help God do God’s work in the world.

            What’s our answer?

            Like Mary, do we say, “yes” to God?

            I know for me - and I’m going to guess for most of us - the answer is, sometimes.

            This past Friday, there were at least two times that some of us said “yes” to God.

            First in the afternoon, a group of us from St. Paul’s participated in the Sixth Annual Hudson County Interfaith Homeless Memorial Service over at Old Bergen Church.

            We said “yes” to God, first of all by donating 260 pairs of socks that were distributed to homeless people after the service.

            Gail and along with her young singers, Eden and Andrew, said “yes” to God by offering music as fine as any music played and sung in church or a concert hall.

            All of us who were there said “yes” to God because at that service the people who the world considers not even ordinary – people the world looks at as “nobodies” – the people we see panhandling on Bergen Avenue or on 1&9 – the people we see curled up sleeping in doorways – those people were the most important people in the room.

            We said “yes” to God.

            And that yes changes everything.

            That yes can start a revolution.

            And then on Friday evening a bunch of us gathered at Journal Square to sing Christmas carols.

            It was cold. Man, was it cold.

            And even on a warm day, Journal Square today is a cold, hard place.

            It is often a place of despair – a place that we and most other people hurry through, our eyes cast down. We just try to get to the bus or the train – just try to get home - without incident.

            But, here in this bleak place, we said “yes” to God.

            For two hours we said yes to God by singing religious Christmas music and secular Christmas music – everything from “Go Tell It on the Mountain” to “Frosty the Snowman.”           

            We said yes to God and we sang and sang and some people stopped and looked and listened, blinking with surprise at this little island of joy and cheer in Journal Square.

            Some people joined in the singing, even for just a few minutes.

            Some people stopped and took our picture, as if the people at home wouldn’t believe the tale of these crazy people singing out in the cold.

            One guy even offered me money. (No, I didn’t take it!)

            We said “yes” to God.

            And that “yes” changes everything.

            That yes can start a revolution.

            It’s the Fourth Sunday of Advent. It’s almost Christmas.

            We shift our focus from the famous John the Baptist to seemingly ordinary Mary.

            Mary said yes to God.

            Mary’s yes changes everything.

            Mary’s yes started a revolution.

            God is always asking us – seemingly ordinary us - to take a chance – to reach out – to help God do God’s work in the world.

            So, what’s our answer?

            Amen.