Advent 4B						2 Samuel 7:1-11,16; Lk 1:26-38
December 22, 2002				Beth Ernest

"Nothing Will Be Impossible with God"

King David knew nothing about Christmas. He knew nothing about a messiah coming. He knew nothing about Jesus. He did know that God had been faithful to him through thick and thin. And he knew that God had blessed him despite David’s own occasional unfaithfulness and waywardness. And so, David wants to do the right thing; he wants to build God an appropriate house of worship, like other gods in other capital cities had. You may remember that up until this time, the worship of God happened in the tent of meeting. The ark of the covenant containing the Ten Commandments resided there along with all the holy vessels and utensils for sacrifice. David wanted to build a home for this ark as beautiful and as elaborate as the new palace he had recently built for himself. He wanted to build a temple fit for God.

A worthy goal. But not a goal that David would be allowed to carry out. The Lord visits the prophet Nathan in a dream. Nathan must tell the King David that he shall not build a temple—that was not the task given this shepherd boy turned warrior king. Instead, David’s son will build a house for God. And God will build David a house. David’s house will be of a different kind—the Lord will build of him a royal house, a dynasty. The Lord says, "Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever" (2 Kings 7:16).

We know the temple was later built by Solomon, David’s son. We know the temple was eventually destroyed. But the writers of scripture want us to know that the house of David continued to live on even after civil warfare divided the kingdom and separate royal houses continued. The powerful nation David built descended into obscurity by political standards. There wasn’t much to be king of anymore. Centuries of domination by other nations follow. But we are assured by both the writers of Luke and Matthew that the house and lineage of David continued through many generation, down to a man named Joseph, a man who also had a dream with a message from the Lord. A man who wanted to divorce his betrothed wife, Mary, because she was pregnant. Matthew’s gospel tells us, "But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20,21). By taking this child conceived by the Holy Spirit into his home and family, Joseph legitimately confers on Jesus the title, "Son of David."

The story of David and his desire to build a temple for God brings to light the theological truth of the Old Testament, namely: God shall work in history to save his people. This truth sets the stage for the birth of the Savior. The faithfulness God swore to David and his line was of a different kind than David could have foreseen. God’s promise was not to keep this shepherd king’s offspring in places of political prominence, but to do the impossible. God’s promise through David’s offspring was to save humanity from their sin. Had David been told that his royal line would bring to birth the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, he would have had no context for such a strange statement. A king with no palace? A king with no nation? Such things are impossible. But then, so was a shepherd boy with five smooth stones slaying the giant Goliath. God does specialize in the impossible.

Mary, the betrothed of Joseph, also receives a visit from a messenger of God. The angel, Gabriel, comes to tell her an impossible story. This chaste young woman, who probably visited her betrothed only on rare occasions and even then with a chaperone, was to have a child. Even more impossible, this child would be conceived by the Holy Spirit. To a faithful young Jewish woman, this would be blasphemy. Yet here is an angel saying just that. Mary is to be the Theotokos, the "God-bearer" who will allow the Holy Spirit to bring this child into the family of Joseph, son of David. A complicated story to continue God’s saving action in the world and to bring it to its full conclusion.

Not only shall Mary conceive, but her older, barren cousin shall have a child, a miracle straight out of Abraham and Sarah. Clearly, this barren womb is nothing for God! The impossible happens again. And we shall later see how this child who shall be known as John, shall be the announcer of Jesus Christ, yet another detail the writers of the gospels want us to know.

It is interesting that Luke and Matthew really want us to know how the birth of Jesus, Son of David, came about. John doesn’t seem to care. Mark doesn’t either, and Paul, in his many letters to the churches, doesn’t even mention it. The early church didn’t even celebrate the nativity until the 4^th century.

Clearly, the resurrection is the major story of the New Testament and of our faith. But we look with wide eyes and eager longing to these beautiful stories of the nativity, in which God took on flesh to save us from our sin. The storeis have taken on a life of their own, even outside those who call the infant child, "Lord."

What do these stories offer us today, three days before we officially celebrate the Feast of the Nativity? For one thing, they get us where God got David. In David’s eagerness to display his great religiosity and build God a temple, he lost sight of where God rightly dwells, among the hearts of the people. There may be some individuals here caught up in a huge whirlwind of activity to "get ready for Christmas" with all it’s hustle and bustle and money-spending and gift-wrapping and cookie baking and relative-visiting and tree-trimming…. God told David to STOP the elaborate planning he was doing. We might look at today’s texts and find we too are called to STOP! Where does God really want to live? In our fantastically decorated homes? Atop our picture perfect Christmas tree? Does he really want to sit at our elaborate Christmas smorgasbord? Is he seen in our perfectly chosen gifts? No, no, no and no. If we are doing all that, it’s not bad, but its not for God. And excessive activity can get in the way of how we meet God simply, in our hearts.

New Testament scholar and pastor, N.T. Wright talks about the Bible as being a family album. We open the pages and find people from our pasts who share a history and a story with us, our ancestors in the faith. Some characters we know real well, others are a bit hazy. The characters in the stories of the birth of Jesus Christ are well-known, well-loved character. We can point to their pictures and say, "Oh, yes, Mary, let me tell you about her…" These stories and these people connect us with a grand, great story of the Christian faith, namely the coming of Christ to save us all. Though we are not genetically in the line of David, we share this story as our family heritage, too. It shapes who we are and what we believe, namely, that God entered history, OUR HISTORY, and because of his coming, we are changed.

In the birth stories, we are also allowed to see these people from our faith past reacting to unexpected news and situations in honest, human ways. Joseph wants to divorce his betrothed. Mary wonders what in the world is going on. Elizabeth has been barren all her married life, a great sadness. When Zacharias learns they are to have a child he is so incredulous that he is dumbstruck. And it seems that everyone is afraid, Joseph, Zacharias, Mary, later the shepherds. The angels keep saying, "Don’t be afraid." If there is one thing we are today, it is afraid. Fear hangs over our world. Fear of war, fear of losing those we love, fear of terrorism, fear that we won’t be all we can be, fear for our kids, fear of change, fear of……, well, you fill in the blank. But the message of God’s messengers is, "DO NOT BE AFRAID!" Remember, God is working in history! God is with us, "Immanuel." There is no reason to fear.

Mary invites us to an even deeper level. For those of us who hear the promises of God and think, "yeah, right!" Mary is an inspiring model. She hears this impossible news, asks the logical, appropriate questions and then says, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (Lk 1:37b). Let’s not forget that the situation being described to Mary was not an easy one. She would, no doubt, be talked about, even maybe jeered at and shunned. Who would believe her incredible story? Can we respond to difficult news with the assurance that God does have our best interest at heart and is capable of life-saving actions even in the midst of our great doubts, fears and even disbelief? Can we be so convinced of God’s faithfulness that we can say in any situation, "Let it be with me according to your word?" When we can, we begin doing the impossible with God.

I mentioned that in theological terms, Mary is known as the theotokos, the God-bearer. Her response to the angel Gabriel challenges us to carry God within us. Hear this from Meister Eckhart, a medieval mystic and theologian: "We are all meant to be mothers of God," Meister Eckhart once wrote. "What good is it to me…if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and world? Let God be born again in us." Now, hold that thought…

I think this Advent has been the shortest I have ever experienced. With Advent beginning right after Thanksgiving this year, with the addition of the pageant, with the addition of a visit from a pastoral candidate and longer Sundays at church, wit00h a busier family schedule of children’s activities and sickness in our family as well as some out-of-state traveling, I don’t think I have ever been more up-in-the-air regarding the coming of Christmas Eve. Several of you have indicated similar thoughts to me. Is a meaningful Christmas impossible?

Having said that, let me repeat the words of Meister Eckhart: "We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and world? Let God be born again in us."

As we are reminded of the importance of Jesus Christ coming to fulfill God’s great plan of salvation, we are also reminded of our rightful response—willing acceptance of his place in our hearts. At the Christmas Eve service we will hear the prophecy and the fulfillment of the coming of the Messiah, foretold in scripture, actualized in the lives of Joseph and Mary, reaching out to the whole world.

This unlikely story of God made flesh seems…impossible.

Yet, with God, all things are possible.