VISITORS TO THE MANGER: THE MAIDEN
Rev. Karen Pidcock-Lester
First Presbyterian Church, Pottstown, Pa.
Advent IV 2009
Isaiah 9:2-7
Luke 1:26-38
John 1:1-5, 9-12, 14,16,18
(From top of steps)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,…
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, gloryas of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. …from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. …No one has ever seen God . It is God the only Son , who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
(with infant, at the bottom of the steps)
The Word became flesh …
in a baby.
The Infinite One bound himself in the confines of human body, entered the limits of time and space …
The force that created the universe took on skin and bones and hair…
The Almighty One, more powerful than anything or anyone in all creation,became a fragile, vulnerable, dependent, poor baby…
because in the irony and mystery of God’s ways
that is how Godcould make usrich, and powerful and free…
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us… (give infant back to his mother)
through me.
Another ‘visitor to the manger.’
Mary.
People have written a lot about me over the years.
They wrote unkind things about the innkeeper,
but about Mary, they have had only words of praise.
They say that I am pure…sinless…spotless…undefiled…
They paint pictures of me on walls and ceilings, and put halos on me as though I were not human, but divine.
Some say that I was chosen because I would teach Jesus how to love – but what could I teach him of love? He came from Love – capital L -- itself.
Some say I would teach Jesus about God – but he came from God, he was in the beginning with God… He was God. He is close to the Father’s heart. What could I teach him about God?! It was he who would make the Father known.
Some say I would teach the child kindness, gentleness. But he was the one who was full of grace; “From him we all receive grace upon grace.’
What could I teach this little one, this holy One? I could teach him only the things he did not already know, things the Father could not feel: fear and anxiety, temptation, pain – human things, What could he learn from me but what it means to live in flesh?This is what he received from me.
(W.H. Auden, “At the Manger”)
But the other things? No.
Scripture calls me blessed – and I am, indeed, blessed to be chosen by God to serve Him in this way. But scripture doesn’t say anything else about me.
Some people say that the scripture writes so little about me because all the writers were men, and those men don’t think very much of women. But the scriptures don’t tell us much about the others, either, about Joseph, or John the Baptist, or Matthew or Mark or John…
No, I think scripture doesn’t write much about me because it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what I looked like, what I did from day to day…I was a woman like other women; I was a human being, caught in the darkness, tired of darkness, appalled at the darkness – I sometimes wondered if the darkness would ever end – the suffering under Roman rule, the struggle to make a living, the fear for the our children and our children’s children…
I was waiting in the darkness. I was watching for the Lord to do the things He had promised. I never gave up believing that He would. Perhaps that is what matters. I kept believing, I was ready when God came to me. I was ready to receive.
The only thing that you really need to know about me is that I said “Yes.” I trusted Him and said “Let it be with me as you wish, my Lord.”
Then God could get to work. Once I said “Yes”, God could give me what He wanted me to have…his child, in my womb. And the Word could become flesh,
the Infinite One could funnel down into something, someone we could touch, feel, smell, hear, get close to. Then the changing could begin.
Beside the changes in my body, I could feel changes in my soul, as well. Something shifted. Here I was, in danger, not knowing what would happen to me, what my parents would say, what our village would do to me, and I felt like singing! I rejoiced in God my Savior! I seemed to stand taller, I spoke with more confidence; I moved with a firmer purpose, and looked to the future – not only my future, but Israel’s future, with an expectant heart.
A light had been struck in me. In all the turmoil and trouble that came upon us…when we had to leave our families, when our village looked at us with suspicion, when we had to flee our country and become refugees in Egypt – this light stayed with me…
And all thedarkness and dangerous happenings have never put it out.
When I said “Yes” to God, a freshkind of power came upon me: God was not living just in my womb, but in me, in my heart, and soul. “To all who believed, he gave power to become children of God.” This is what was happening! I was carrying his child, but I was becoming God’s child myself, cared for, and connected to God.
When I took the risk and turned my life over to him,
He gave a new kind of life back to me.
This power, it’s changing me, turning me into something, someone more than I was before.
In that fragile, vulnerable baby,
God emptied Himself of glory and might
so that a different kind of power could enter our world…
through him,
coming through me.
Now that the child is grown into a man,
not everyone likeswhat they see and hear in Jesus;
not everyone wants to receive him.
Even at his birth, people reacted and related differently to him.
How do you react to Jesus? What kind of relationship do you have with him?
Some people arelike the shepherds were at his birth. Some people are drawn to himand get excited when amazing things happen. As long as these peoplehear angels and see signs and wonders, they sing his praise. But when the wonders fade, and the angels are silent, we do not see or hear much from them. Their faith fades away too.
Yet he loves them.
Some people are like the magi: they are curious about Jesus, they investigate him, they ponder the mysteries and seek answers to their questions. Some love the search more than they love him, and so they also explore other teachers, prophets, leaders. They respect Jesus, even admire him, but theykeep searching, rather than casting their lot with him, and they never quite kneel and worship, as the wise men did.
But Jesus loves seekers too.
Some are like Herod: they do not want to acknowledge his rule, they do not like the demands he makes of them, they do not want him to change to way things are. So they cover their ears, turn their heads, harden their hearts – say things about him that are not true; they twist his words and distort his message to fit their own desires. Some, like Herod, even hate Jesus:
Jesus lovesenemies too.
Some, like the town of Bethlehem, are unaware of his coming, or too busy to notice. They may be curious; they may hear murmurs of good news about him, but they stand at a distance, and do not take the time or make the effort to find and meet, and stay with him, talk with him, listen and get to know him.
Jesus loves them still.
All these people are not ready to receive him – not ready to surrender to God’s impossible, and believe. So they cannot yet receive what he wants to give them: power to become children of God.
But there are others.
There are some, somewho are waiting for him.
They are like me: empty, longing to be filled.
Theyhave not forgotten or give up on the promises God has made, and they look and watch for him in the darkness;
theylisten for God, learn to hear his voice, and when they hear God speak, they trust him, they take a risk and open themselves, open their hearts and their minds,
and theyreceive him.
And heloves them too – not more than the others. But because they receive him, he is able to give them this power to become children of God –
power to become like him…
And the Changingcan begin: it is even now going on, in them.
They are growing into more than they were – more accepting, of themselves, and others, more gracious, more truthful; more generous, more hopeful, more wise, more joyful, more at peace. They stand taller, move with firmer purpose, look to the future with glad anticipation, trusting in God, who dwells among them – they know it to be true.
They live differently in this world.
They scatter into the dark world, infiltrating it…
They carry Love with them, Love with a capital L
They walk around with grace, and truth…
They bear into the world the very presence of God wherever life leads them,
even to the threshold of danger or death.
They can do this not because they are pure, or spotless, or undefiled – they have no halo on their heads;
they can do this because they believe,
And trust enough to say “Here am I. Do with me as you will.”
For thisis how the Wordbecomes flesh, now:
in people who bow their heads before him,
and say “Yes.”
“The true light which enlightens every person was coming into the world, and to those who received him, he gave power to become children of God.”