1
THE ANNUNCIATION: CELEBRATING OUR CALL
Bishop Laurie Haller - Iowa UMC Clergywomen’ Convocation - November 12, 2017 - First UMC, Ames - Luke 1:26-38
Good evening! Grace and peace to each one of you. As we gather tonight, we are keenly aware of the absence of our dear sister, Julie, who was so looking forward to this event. Thank you for your love and support for her over the time of her illness. I give thanks for the call that Julie felt so deeply in her life and for her willingness to say, “Yes. I am the Lord’s servant.” And what a servant she was. Thanks be to God for the goodness and gentleness of Julie’s life. Now hear these words from the gospel of Luke.
26When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee,27to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary.28When the angel came to her, he said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!”29She was confused by these words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.30The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. God is honoring you.31Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.32He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father.33He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”34Then Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen since I haven’t had sexual relations with a man?”35The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son.36Look, even in her old age, your relative Elizabeth has conceived a son. This woman who was labeled ‘unable to conceive’ is now six months pregnant.37Nothing is impossible for God.”38Then Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
Prayer Song
Mary, Mary, what you gonna name that baby? What you gonna call that holy baby? Hungry and poor, we need someone to save us; Why don’t you call him Savior? Sh! Let’s all call him Savior!
Have you heard the story about the clergywoman who was between churches and, while waiting for her new appointment to start, took a job at the local zoo? The gorilla had died, and since it had been the favorite animal of the children, the zoo officials decided to put someone in a gorilla costume until a real replacement could be found. It was the clergywoman’s job to put on the costume, hop around the cage, and entertain the kids. To her amazement, she loved it! She was getting more attention than she ever did in the pulpit. She had all she wanted to eat with no stress, no complaints, no committees, no deadlines, no pressure. She could take a nap in the sun whenever she wanted. It was all part of the act.
One day, as she hopped up and down and the children visiting the zoo cheered, she felt so affirmed and energized (unlike when she served a local church) that she decided to try the trapeze. But, as she swung high, she lost her grip, flew over the bars, and landed in the next cage. Stunned and dazed, she looked up and saw a ferocious lion charging right at her. In her panic, she forgot that she was supposed to be a gorilla and started screaming, “Help! Help!” to which the lion said, “Hey, be quiet. I’m a minister, too.”
Wouldn’t it be something if every disciple of Jesus Christ could say and mean it, “Hey, I’m a minister, too!”[i] For that’s who we are - all of us - you, me, and our laity. We may be the professional pastors. But all Christ-followers are ministers, and we’re all called. So consider and celebrate your call, my friends.
That’s exactly what Mary did, one night long ago, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her. Imagine Mary wrapping a shawl close around her body. It had been a chilly day. Mary had just gone outside after supper for a walk through the tiny town of Nazareth. When she returned, Mary began washing the dishes. That’s when she heard the voice, and it startled her. “Rejoice, favored one. The Lord is with you.” “Huh? What did you say?” Mary turned around, and there was a figure who seemed like a man but who really wasn’t a man at all.
All he said at first was, “The Lord is with you.” Mary was scared and confused, drawing her shawl even closer. “Who are you?” “I am Gabriel, a messenger from God. Don’t be afraid, Mary, for God is honoring you.”
“Me? God is honoring me?”Mary’s parents had taught her a little bit about the Jewish faith as a girl although, according to rabbinical literature, women were not to be instructed in the law. She knew that God had spoken to patriarchs and matriarchs and prophets in the past, but in the land of Israel, the voice of God had been silent for a very long time.
“Look! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.He will be great and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father.He will rule over Jacob’s house forever, and there will be no end to his kingdom.”
When the angel said that Mary would be the mother of the Messiah, the confusion became even worse. “Me?” Mary thought. She was just an ordinary teenage girl engaged to an ordinary young man named Joseph. There was nothing special about her. More than that, Mary knew that the idea of God being the Father of a human child was offensive to Jews. They served the one true God. There was no co-mingling between gods and humans in the Jewish religion.
But this is what really got Mary. Yes, she was engaged to Joseph, but she was a virgin. It was impossible for Mary to be pregnant. In her day, engagements were legal and binding and were usually arranged between families when the girl was quite young. Mary’s engagement to Joseph was set up by her father. She had no choice, but that was okay with her. That’s just how it was. I suspect she may have even thought that Joseph was kind of cute. Who knows? Mary believed that Joseph really did love her.
After they became engaged, according to custom, Mary lived at home for another year. That’s why she was washing dishes that night for her mother. After a year’s engagement, Joseph would take her to his home, and the wedding celebration would last for an entire week. If Joseph died before they were married, Mary would be considered a widow.
Since Joseph and Mary were not married yet, Mary asked the angel, “How will this happen since I haven’t had sexual relations with a man?” Gabriel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son.”
The invisible God of all creation was about to become visible through a human being - Mary! Did that clarify things? I don’t think so. It just perplexed her all the more. Gabriel knew that Mary was a bit skeptical, so he started talking about one of her relatives, Elizabeth, claiming that she was six months pregnant! Now that was a miracle. Elizabeth was old enough to be Mary’s grandmother. Well, at least her mother. Mary had heard about women in the history of her people who had babies when they were real old. But no one could ever have imagined that Elizabeth would be pregnant!
“Nothing is impossible with God.” Those words pierced through Mary’s heart like a knife. Could it actually be? If Elizabeth could bear a son, could Mary be the mother of God’s son, the Messiah? Before she knew it, Mary found herself saying, “Here I am. I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.”
After Gabriel left, I can just imagine Mary going into her bedroom, lying on her bed and gently placing her shawl over her like a blanket. “What just happened to me?” she thought. As if speaking to her best friends later in life, Mary considered her call. “I tell you, I was a young teenager. I wasn’t expecting anything like that. I thought I would simply marry Joseph, have lots of children, and take care of my husband. That was supposed to be my life. Little did I know that from a virgin could be born the son of God, and from a tomb could come resurrection. When the angel said I was favored by God, I accepted it because I trusted in God. I always had. Here I am, Lord.”
26Consider your own call, my sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.27But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;28God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are,29so that no onemight boast in the presence of God.30He is the source of your life in Christ - redemption,31in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast inthe Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NRSV)
God has chosen you and me. The invitation from Gabriel made all the difference in Mary’s life, didn’t it?Who encouraged you to consider your call? And whom are you encouraging to consider their call? Despite the fact that both women and men are now permitted to consider their call and be clergy in The United Methodist Church, we have a long way to go. It is still our reality that women and men who do not self-identify as heterosexual are not permitted to consider their call and be clergy in The United Methodist Church, according to our Book of Discipline. It is still our reality that clergywomen are not always treated in the same way as male clergy are. And it is still our reality that women around the world are often seen as second-class citizens, are objectified as sex symbols, and experience harassment and abuse on an unprecedented scale.
I am reminded of a couple that Gary and I met at breakfast in a hotel this past summer while we were vacationing. The woman noticed that Gary and I said a prayer before we started eating, so she came up to us and said, “Are you Christians?” “Yes,” we said. “So are we,” she replied enthusiastically. She went on to describe their journey through several denominations, including United Methodism, until landing in an independent church with a very charismatic pastor that she loves.
Then came the fateful question. “And where do you go to church?” When I said that Gary and I were both United Methodist clergy, she gave me a funny look, and the conversation came to a rather abrupt end. It was quite clear that since she did not approve of women clergy, there was really nothing more to talk about, and that was that.
My sisters, we still have work to do because there are millions of “Mary’s” in this world who are still not allowed to consider their call and have to keep their gorilla suits on, even if they have heard the call. Thereare Mary’s in this world who are still discounted and diminished and experience sexual abuse and harassment. There are Mary’s who are victims of human trafficking, are not allowed to pursue careers, and are struggling to raise children as single mothers. And there are untold Mary’s who have never heard these words from anyone, “Rejoice, favored one. The Lord is with you. You are a precious child of God.”
Indeed, we still have work to do. I’ve been keeping track over the past several months.Anthony Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in prison for sexting with a fifteen-year-old teenager. Because of his uncontrollable habit of exchanging lewd pictures and texts with underage girls, he lost his seat in Congress, the bid to resurrect his career as mayor of New York City, and his marriage. His wife at the time was a senior aide to Hillary Clinton.
Fox News CEO Roger Ailes resigned in July 2016 after Fox paid out more than $45 million in sexual harassment and discrimination charges over many years. Then Bill O’Reilly was fired from Fox news in April because of sexual harassment claims, after which Fox Sportsexecutive Jamie Horowitzwas firedon July 3, apparently the result of a sexual harassment investigation.
Harvey Weinstein was fired last month from The Weinstein Company, the mini-major film company that he co-founded, after allegations came to light of rampant sexual misconduct over many years. Then he was expelled from the Motion Picture Academy, which released a statement that included this, “We do so not simply to separate ourselves from someone who does not merit the respect of his colleagues but also to send a message that the era of willful ignorance andshamefulcomplicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over. What’s at issue here is a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society.”
Anti-abortion activist and Republican Tim Murphy from Pennsylvania was embroiled in scandal last month after reportedly encouraging a woman half his age with whom he was romantically involved to terminate a pregnancy. Murphy resigned his House of Representatives seat, effective October 21.
This past summer, James Damore, a senior engineer at Google, circulated a memo, lamenting that Google was focused too much on diversity and that women do not have the skills to be engineers. Damore was fired, and Google admitted that they still have work to do.
Data released a few months ago showed that women comprise only 31% of Google’s staff, only 2% of Google employees are identified as black and 4% are Hispanic. In tech positions, women make up only 20% of employees, with only1% black and 3% Hispanic tech employees.
Lest you think Iowa has escaped notice, consider these two high profile cases from this year. In late September, a $1.75 million settlement was reached in a lawsuit filed by Kirsten Anderson, former Iowa Senate GOP Communications Director. Anderson filed a lawsuit after being fired in May 2013, just hours after she filed a complaint about a toxic work environment, which included a “boys’ club” culture, taunts, comments about the sex lives of co-workers, nude pictures on a computer, and off-color jokes.
And then there was the University of Iowa. In May of this year, Jane Meyer, former University of Iowa associate athletic director from 2001-2014, was awarded $1.43 million in a wrongful termination suit. Meyer claimed that she experienced discrimination because of her gender and her sexual orientation and was retaliated against after going to the Iowa Board of Regents. All eight jurors in the Polk County courtroom sided with her. Even after Title IX was passed in 1972 and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program that receives federal funding, there is still a significant lack of women in both administration and coaching at the college level.
Now I need to let you know that this is where I stopped in my original sermon with all the examples of what has happened over the course of this year, knowing that it was in no way exhaustive. I stopped because I headed off to the Council of Bishops meeting at Lake Junaluska. I didn’t had much time last week to keep up with the news, yet I did know that the calling out of sexual harassment and abuse intensified. Five women accused the comedian Louis C.K. of sexual misconduct, and he admitted that it was all true. Other well-known men were called out for alleged sexual misconduct.
And then, to top it off, allegations were made last week that Roy Moore, who is running for the Senate in Alabama, made sexual advances toward a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 years old. Moore’s evangelical faith has played a central role in his election bid.Now I understand that these are just allegations. Yet this young woman wasn’t the only one.
Three days ago, Ed Setzer, who is the Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center and teaches at Wheaton College, wrote an article about Roy Moore that was published on the Christianity Today website. He writes that Alabama Marion County GOP chair David Hall told a reporter last week about the Moore allegations, “It was 40 years ago, I really don’t see the relevance of it. He was 32. She was supposedly 14. She’s not saying that anything happened other than they kissed… It wouldn’t affect whether or not I’d vote for him.” According to the young woman, a lot more than kissing took place.