4th Sunday of Advent
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And, he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! God is with you.” But, she was much perplexed by the angel’s words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most-High, and God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most-High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of God; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Fear and Trembling
I have lived a privileged life. It hasn’t been perfect, by any means, and anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that there has been a lot to complain about. But, there have been very few times in my life when I can say that I was truly afraid. That’s just not part of our everyday, first-world existence. But, I can remember one time when I was truly afraid for my life.
On January 17, 1994, I was woken up at 4:30 a.m. by a 6.7 magnitude earthquake centered on Northridge, California, about 25 miles away from my parents’ house. I was 14 years-old, and it was the strongest earthquake I had ever felt in my entire life. People as far as Las Vegas, Nevada; Ensenada, Mexico; and Phoenix, Arizona, almost 400 miles away, felt the Northridge earthquake.
My brother James and I were sharing a bedroom, at the time, and we had bunkbeds. I was in the top bunk. The earthquake only lasted about fifteen seconds, but fifteen seconds is a really long time when the ground is shaking hard enough to topple buildings and freeway interchanges.
I must have gotten out of bed, because when the magnitude 6 aftershock hit one minute later, I was in the bottom bunk with James, as we held on to each other, scared for our lives. Without even thinking about it, I started saying the Lord’s Prayer, and James started saying it with me. And, we just kept saying it, over and over again, until the shaking stopped. 57 people died as a result of that earthquake, with over 9,000 people injured. The estimated property damage was between $13 and $50 billion, equal to about $25 to $100 billion today, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
There’s an interesting theme of fear that runs through our gospel reading today. It starts with the angel Gabriel visiting Mary. Angels are scary! Have you ever noticed how often angels have to start their pronouncements with “Do not fear!” There’s a reason for that. When we think of angels, we often think of figures like these (gesture to altar): beautiful women with long flowing robes and halos, smiling gently down on the people that are receiving their pronouncements. But, this isn’t how angels are described in the Bible. Most of the descriptions of angels in the Bible are otherworldly, monstrous, and absolutely terrifying! I mean, we’re talking multiple heads, not all of them human, wings and hands everywhere, metal cow legs. Some of them look like pillars of fire or metal hoops covered with eyes! Of course, the first thing they’re going to say is, “Do not be afraid!”
And then, Gabriel tells her that she is going to bear the Son of God. This poor, young woman, has just been told that she is going to give birth to God’s son! Can you imagine? But then, Gabriel tells her that her cousin Elizabeth, who everyone thought could not have children, was now pregnant in her old age. Her exact age is never mentioned in the Bible, but scholars think she was around seventy or eighty years-old. When Mary heard that Elizabeth was pregnant, she said, “Here am I, the servant of God; let it be with me according to your word.”
When Mary heard that she would not be going through this alone, that another woman, her cousin, would be making this journey with her, she accepted what was happening. “Here am I, the servant of God; let it be with me according to your word.”
There’s comfort in knowing that you are not going to endure hardship on your own. Things are always less scary when you have someone with you. This is why we come alongside each other in times of need. This is why we reach out to our neighbors when they need shelter, food, or clothing. This is why we have to always remind each other that no matter how difficult things get, no matter how scary or uncertain, we are never alone. Our Creator God will never abandon us. We have to remember that Jesus is alive inside of us, and that the Holy Spirit is always with us.
Jesus came into the world to tell us that we are not alone. Life is hard; the world is scary! But, we do not face the challenges of our lives on our own. That is why we set aside the four weeks of Advent as a time of waiting, why we wait with bated breath for Christmas, why we wait for the miracle. That is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.
The Northridge earthquake was one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced in my life. But, it was a little less scary because I had my brother with me. I wasn’t alone. Whatever happened, we would go through it together. And afterwards, I had someone who went through that experience with me that I could talk to, who understood exactly what it was like, because he was right there beside me when it happened.
We all have someone in our lives who is with us every single step of the way. God sees every single thing that we do, and when we suffer, God suffers. When we’re scared, the Holy Spirit comes alongside of us to comfort us and to give us courage. When we’re sad, the light of Jesus shines within us to let us know that we are not alone in our tears.
As the body of Christ, as God’s children, we can share that light with the people around us. There is no reason for anyone to ever be lonely. God works through us to bring healing and comfort into the world, just like we’ve been doing to help our unsheltered neighbors and the refugees in our midst over the last two years. As you look at some of the pictures of our unsheltered neighbors that are up in the Fireside Room right now, I invite you to really look at them. Think about what it must be like to live in their shoes, how scared they must be sometimes, and let God move you to compassion. Christmas is about helping others. Jesus came into the word to help us.
Of course, celebration is a wonderful and important part of the Christmas holiday. Festivity and joy are wonderful and important; all of that is part of what makes Christmas so special. But, remember why we celebrate. Remember what the festivals and the fun are for. Jesus didn’t come into the world to bring a party. He came into the world to bring truth, a truth that a lot of people didn’t want to hear. Jesus came into the world to bring justice, a message that he was ultimately crucified for. Jesus came into the world to bring a light that would banish the shadows. We celebrate every year because of these things. So, celebrate, enjoy the holidays with your families and friends, but remember the truth of it. Remember the sacrifice of it. And, come alongside your neighbors to make the world a little less scary.
Amen.
~ Rev. Charles Wei
