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Sermons
"An Interesting Choice" December 21, 2008 Luke 1:47-55 Derek Starr Redwine
The show Heroes is one of my favorites on TV. For those who haven't seen it, the show's premise is that some human beings have evolved, at this point in history, to have special powers, super powers in fact. Some can fly. Others can heal. Some can read minds. A few can paint the future. And the lucky ones can even travel through time. As these individuals come to terms with their extraordinary powers, they learn that the world is in peril. Some of them have seen the future, and it is not a pretty one, and so they discover that it is up to them - these orindary people, with extraordinary powers - to save the world. It's a great premise for a television show in large part because it touches our deep human need for heroes. From Superman to Batman, Iron Man to Thor, David to Sampson, and Ulysses to Hercules, we've always wanted and needed our heroes to save us from ourselves. And we 21st century humans are no different. Reflecting at the enormity of the problems of our world, we too often wonder how on earth we can make a difference. After all, we're only human. And the problems of the world seem too big, complicated, and serious for us to solve alone. We want our heroes too! Well, fortunately for us, God is aware of our need for heroic figures. God knows we take inspiration from people who seem to have special powers, and so God provides. Throughout the story between God and God's people, people have been given extraordinary powers: David defeated Goliath. Moses parted the Red Sea. Daniel survived the Lion Den. And Noah built an Arc on dry land. But today, in our two New Testament readings, we encounter perhaps the greatest hero of them all - and no, it is not Jesus. Jesus doesn't count. You can't be part human and part God and call yourself a hero. It's just not fair. No, the hero before us today is Mary, the teenage mother of Jesus. And like every hero in history she is given a special power, a power that is meant to save the world. She is the Theotokos - the God bearer. From her virgin womb will come the Savior of the World. Quick question, while we're on this whole Mary thing, I have to ask: Do you believe the virgin birth really happened? Do you think that the baby conceived in Mary's womb was from God or is it just a really good story? The Hellenistic readers of Luke's story, the men and women alive during the time of Jesus, would have had no trouble with the idea that an extraordinary person - like Jesus - would have a miraculous birth. It was a common theme in the myths of that time. But what about you? Do you believe the virgin birth really happened? Last year, I taught an adult education class during advent that looked at the biblical stories of Christmas; you know the wise men, Jesus birth, the shepherds in the field keeping watch over they flock by night. Well, when we finally talked about the texts before us today, when we finally talked about Mary and the immaculate conception, I was surprised by people's response. You see, I argued that believing in the virgin birth was not essential for one to be a Christian - it might be true and it might not; it just really didn't matter. I made this point, assuming that most of the class would feel the same way. Boy, was I wrong. When I made my case a majority of the class disagreed -- strongly. It was difficult for them to articulate why, but they needed the virgin birth to be true, and I think I understand why now. It wasn't the miracle that those in the class were holding on to; it was what the miracle meant - about the nature of God In the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and his nemesis are both on the quest to find the cup Jesus used at the last supper. Believed by many to grant extra-long-life to those that drink from it, the Holy Grail is one of the lost artifacts of antiquity that has eluded men for generations. But not Indy. After overcoming difficult obstacles and challenges, Indy, with his pursuers hot on his heals, reaches The Grail. Standing in the treasure room where the cup of Christ has been hidden for nearly 1,000 years Indy and his nemesis are flabbergasted to discover that there are hundreds of cups to choose from - varying in size and shape and grandeur. The centuries-old knight guarding The Grail tells them that their final test is choosing the right one. Only after drinking from it will they know if they have chosen correctly. Indy's pursuer goes first. An ambitious man who longs for power and prestige, he chooses to drink from the most beautiful cup in the room that is covered with jewels and plated with gold...and when he drinks from it, he dies. Woops. Now it is Indy's turn, and he must choose quickly before his father, who is dying in a nearby room, is beyond even the healing powers of the grail. As Indy scans all the cups before him, he thinks about who Jesus was, about his friends, and about his profession, and then he sees it - the most homely cup in the room, the cup of the carpenter. You can learn a lot about someone, by the choices they make. When it comes to the Christmas story most of us have an easier time believing in the miracles than we do believing what the miracles mean for us. It is not surprising, really. In a recent survey 48% of Americans said that they believed in alien abductions. We don't have a hard to believing in extraordinary things...until...until they involve us. God chose Mary, to be the mother Jesus, and it wasn't because she stood out in a crowd. Mary was as ordinary as a person could be. In a world that values age, she was young; in a time ruled by men, she is a woman; in a stratified economy she is poor, and in a world that values the family over the individual, she has no husband to call her own. [1] Nothing about Mary is special, and yet God chose her...and in that choice lies the true miracle of Jesus' conception. In theological circles this is points to as the ‘scandal of particularity' - the idea that the God of the universe choose to dwell fully in one person. It is called a scandal because it means that the holy, mysterious, all powerful God of all Creation for a time was confined in one mortal's flesh. In Islam, for example, the fact that we call Jesus, God, is heresy. For them the holy and the human cannot be together. But as scandalous as God becoming one of us is, it is even more scandalous - or wonderful, depending on your point of view - whom God chose to enter the world through. God doesn't choose people because they are special. God chooses people because they are not. Too often in Christian theology Mary is exalted as ‘the' favored one, but when we do that we don't do ourselves any favors. The extraordinary thing about Mary is precisely her ordinariness. What is wonderful about her is that she is hero we can relate too. Back to my favorite television show. Besides tapping into our great need for super-heroes, the show Heroes is also successful, because it bucks a long standing tradition of super hero stories. In most super hero legends the heroes have extraordinary back stories. Green Lantern was a gifted fighter pilot who given his powers by an alien. Iron Man was a brilliant, and wealthy, engineer who was able to create his suit of armor. Batman was an eccentric businessman who had enough money to do anything. Superman was from another planet and Wonder Woman was an Amazon. In most super hero stories, the one chosen or given the superpower was already special in some way, but not in the show Heroes. The people who suddenly find themselves with hidden powers are every day folks, just like you and me. It is the office workers, clock makers, scientists, cops, and nurses are the ones called to save the world. They are the heroes, not some alien or Amazon or wealthy businessman who can afford to build an impenetrable suit of armor. It is the ordinary folks who are chosen to do amazing things...and the same is true for us. God chose Mary. Not a queen, not the wife of some spiritual leader or rabbi, not some woman with great beauty or power; God chose a scared, lonely, teenage girl, from the Podunk town of Nazareth to save the world. "You have found favor with God," the angel Gabriel tells Mary, and through Mary will be born a child who brings the same message to every person he meets. We have a hard time believing it, even though it is right there before our eyes, but God always chooses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. God doesn't choose those with power to save the world. God chooses those who are powerless, because God wants us to be the heroes - the ordinary people, with ordinary problems, and ordinary check books. I don't know about you, but when I look at all the problems of the world - or even the problems of my own life - I sometimes feel pretty powerless. I sometimes wonder what difference I can make. Then I hear the Christmas story, and I remember that it is in our powerlessness, our weakness, and our ordinariness, that we are chosen by the God to save the world. We are the ‘favored ones. Not because we are special, but because we are chosen - and that realization allows us to see the world (and our part in it) in a completely different way. Instead of being overwhelmed, when your realize God has chosen you (yes, even you), you will feel empowered, because if God is on your side, as Mary reminds us, anything is possible. When you take time to deliver food baskets to the poor...When you offer forgiveness to the one person who doesn't deserve it...When you give so much to others, that it limits what you can buy...When you take time to do something nice for someone in need...When you pray for healing, when it seems impossible...When you do little, ordinary things for others and believe that they can make a difference, you are a hero. Like Mary, all of us are pregnant with the possibility of new life. That is the great miracle of Christmas. Since the beginning of the story between God and God's people, God has continually chosen to come into our world through the meek and mild, through the weak and lowly. God has always chosen people like us. You are the heroes the world is waiting for God...God has chosen you. Believe it and change the world. [1] Feasting on the Word, pp. 44.
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