New Love
Luke 1:26-38
December 16, 17, 2006

Last week, I bumped into someone I hadn't seen in a while. He asked me an innocent question: "What's new?" I said, "How much time do you have?" If you have been connected to Beargrass at all during the recent months, you know what I'm talking about! There are literally new things happening every day. And I'm not just talking about changes in the building and our exciting construction process. New mission frontiers are being explored.
New levels of generosity are being expressed. In recent weeks, I have received numerous notes and letters and cards that contain stories of transformation in people's lives. In the past couple of months, we have received more than the usual number of letters of appreciation for the ministries of the church.

And speaking of new, I hope that you will be able to join us next Sunday for the first services in the new sanctuary. Next Sunday, December 24, is Christmas Eve 2006. After Sunday School at 9:45 a.m., we will have ONE wonderful morning worship service at 11:00 a.m. We will gather in the current sanctuary. We will give thanks to God for the many sacred memories and experiences we have shared in this holy place. In some ways, it will be a bittersweet day for many of us-a mixture of sadness and gladness-a day of mixed emotions. But after some time in the current sanctuary, we will process to the new sanctuary.

And we process as the Apostle Paul suggests, "decently and in order." We will enter the new gates with thanksgiving and praise! An abundance of brass and majestic music will make our spirits soar! And Emmanuel, God will be with us, as we break bread together for the first time around a new Table. Sunday night, we will gather again for our Christmas Eve candlelight and communion services at 5, 8, and 11 p.m. These services are especially moving and meaningful. We will celebrate the birth of Christ, God's Light that has come to the world. I hope you will plan to be present. And I hope you will invite your family and friends to worship God with us during these inspiring services. "What's new?" "How much time do you have?" Well, I hope you have about ten more minutes, because that's the focus of today's sermon. Today we will think about God's gift of new love.

TODAY'S STORY FROM LUKE 1 DESCRIBES AN INCREDIBLE ENCOUNTER OF THE SPIRITUAL KIND FOR MARY. The story is often called "The Annunciation." We may have questions about some of the details. But the scripture text is one of the most significant and succinct statements in the Bible about the identity and nature of Jesus. The annunciation of Jesus' birth to Mary begins with a reference to the annunciation of the birth of his relative, John the Baptist. Last week, we spent some time thinking about the experiences that Mary and Elizabeth shared. In today's text, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary during the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy with John. Both of these accounts describe rather remarkable conceptions!
And it may be new for Mary and Elizabeth, but the holy history of God is full of extraordinary examples and similar stories-Abraham and Sarah, Samson's parents, Elkanah and Hannah, and others.

Elderly Elizabeth rejoices at the lifting of her lifelong barrenness! But, as you know, the news for Mary is a little more troubling. The fact that she is "with child" brings with it not only enormous embarrassment, but potentially catastrophic ramifications for her and her unborn child. If you have seen the movie The Nativity, the film does a pretty good job of depicting the possible social consequences of Mary's condition. Anyway, this is a common theme throughout the Bible-this reversal of the human order of affairs. And Luke incorporates it so well in his writing.

But Mary must have done her homework, because she seems to cope with this angelic announcement amazing well. Luke tells us that she is "much perplexed." Right? How would you react to something like this? I think I would be a bit more than perplexed! Gabriel greets her and calms her down and begins to explain what's about to happen. Naturally, Mary has a few other questions, some of them theological, some of them sociological, some of them biological. Some answers are provided, but there is still mystery, there are still loose ends, there is still a leap of faith. Mary could have said "no." She could have chosen not to cooperate. But after all of her pondering and wondering, she responds: "Let it be with me according to your word." "Here am I, servant of the Lord." Gabriel departs and the conversation ends for the time being.

But Mary displays faith in God's power that rests not on her own understanding. Her faith rests on her trust in God. Her faith is born out of her deep love for God. And it is into this heart of accepting trust that this unmarried, expectant "handmaiden" opens herself to receive this gift of new love from God. All the world's a stage-and the stage is set for the birth of the one who trusted ultimately in God.

MARY ACCEPTS THE GIFT-BUT IT IS ONE THING TO ACCEPT THE GIFT-IT IS QUITE ANOTHER TO LET THE GIFT CHANGE YOUR LIFE. I hope you have been able to read the daily devotionals in the 2006 Advent booklet. One of the authors is the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Sharon Watkins. Reflecting on these stories from Luke 1, Sharon writes:
"Mary believes. And what understanding she shows! 'The Mighty One will scatter the proud, bring down the powerful, lift up the lowly, fill the hungry, send the rich away empty.' It is hard to realize the magnitude of change that the birth of Jesus brings to the world! Only when the stores finally close and I cannot buy even one more present, or one last dozen eggs for Christmas baking, do I finally begin to completely focus on the enormity of what God is about to do through this human birth. Only now do I finally let the wonder of it all soak in, do I contemplate a world turned upside down by the birth of a baby who is God… Who will declare that the greatest commandment is to love God and neighbor… And who will expect us to live as though it were so."

It is one thing to accept the gift. It is quite another to let the gift change our lives. We were talking about this at the men's breakfast and Bible study on Saturday morning. One of our new members, Rick Beck, has been doing a super job of leading the group. We have been discussing what influences our lives. Saturday's topic was about the ways our jobs influence us. Rick had us do an exercise-basically to take a few moments to estimate the amount of time that we devoted to various activities in our lives. Obviously, for those of us who haven't retired yet, our jobs took the number one spot. Rick made the point that for many men, our work defines us. Many of us realized that our lives may be a bit out of balance-that we may need to spend more time with our family and friends. We were reminded that it is the love of God and the love that is shared between family and friends that should define us.

And this is one of the things I really appreciate about Rick. Because of his background as a principal and teacher and coach, there is always an "action" piece to his message. He'll say something like, "You've been given a new insight, a new perspective, some new information-a gift." "Now what will you do with it?" "Will it change the way you live your life?" Arthur McPhee expresses this idea eloquently: "The greatest proof of God's love is a life that needs God's love to explain it."

LAST WEEK SOMEONE ASKED ME HOW DORIS IS DOING. For those of you who haven't heard me talk about Doris, she is an employee at one of my favorite gourmet restaurants, Wendy's, on Breckenridge Lane. Basically, she is the greeter and hostess and housekeeper for the restaurant. And yet, even though this is a minimum-wage-paying job, she does it enthusiastically and energetically. Doris is a relatively tiny, African-American woman in her forties. The lines on her face tell stories about the challenging life she has had. But the gleam in her eyes, the warmth of her smile, the love in her heart-those are the qualities and characteristics that make her so remarkable. We became friends earlier this year. I noticed that Doris had a unique benediction for everyone who was finishing up their meal and preparing to leave the restaurant. She'd say, "Thank you for choosing Wendy's-and have a blessed day, baby." The "blessed day, baby" line caught my attention, as some of you will recall. I asked her about her faith and her church. Since that time, she has been to worship here and her Beargrass fan club has grown. Anyway, I hadn't seen Doris in a few weeks, so I stopped by last Monday. She saw me coming and met me at the door. She lit up like a Christmas tree and gave me a big hug. She was wearing a red Santa hat. She said, "Where've you been, baby? I've missed you!" Then she said, "Oh, I've got something for you and the church people." She turned around quickly and went over to a table where there were a couple of large paper bags. She brought this envelope back and said, "Here, this is for you. Now baby, you go order your food and I'll come talk to you later." I did; I sat down; I ate.

And again, I was amazed to watch Doris work the room. She didn't just give me a gift-she gave one to everybody. She was probably giving away more than she was making per hour. After I finished eating, I opened up my gift. It was this card. Inside the envelope was a candy cane. I read the card-and this message is from Doris to all of you too-"Peace on Earth. Peace is the healing and elevating influence in the world. Sending you warm wishes for a very special holiday season. Peace unto you." Beneath the printed message on the card was scrawled her name, "Doris."