Special Delivery
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer."
"Special Delivery"
(Luke 1:26-55)
INTRODUCTION:
In an old Dennis the Menace cartoons, Mr. Wilson looks out the window, sees Dennis running down the street and then comments, "There's a Maalox moment waiting to happen."
I don't know whether it was from the food or from the stress of being with family all Thanksgiving weekend but it looks like a lot of us had one of those Maalox moments, recently. Monday I went to Hypermart. As a result of my overindulgence on Thanksgiving, I needed some Tums. When I got to that aisle and looked, I just started laughing. Apparently a lot of other folks needed same kind of relief. Weren't any Tums, Regular or Assorted Flavors, any Gas X, Mylanta Gel Caps, Extra-Strength Mylanta, Mylanta Tablets, Tums Ultra, or any Riopan Plus.
Our reading for today could be described as a Maalox moment for Mary and later for Joseph.
I. MARY WAS SPECIAL:
I would like to have known Mary. She had to have been a very special lady. She had to have special relationship with God. But even as special as she was, news of this delivery had to have caused her some real anxiety. Just put yourself in Mary's shoes. Just meeting the Angel Gabriel would have been stressful enough. And then the Special Delivery message he brought. This is how William Griffin tells the story in his book Jesus For Children:
"Stay where you are," said the young girl, "or I'll scream!" "My name is Gabriel," said the tall stranger.
"Are you an angel?" asked Mary.
"I have a message for you."
"You shouldn't go about surprising people," said Mary, closing her book.
"Angels are for surprises," said Gabriel.
"I didn't know that," said Mary.
"You are one of God's favorites," said Gabriel. "He wants you to know that!"
"Thank you for telling me," Mary replies.
"And he wants to ask you a favor. He wants you to be the mother of his child. The child the Scriptures speak of. The child that will save all the people of the world. Will you do God this favor?" "Does he have to ask?" Mary asks.
"God always asks." says Gabriel.
"He knows I read the Scriptures and will do what he asks," Mary replies.
"Blessed are you among women," said Gabriel, and the angel was gone. Yes, God did have to ask, thought Mary, as she returned to her book, and yes, she would never say no. (1)
Mary was a very special lady. We all would have responded like Mary did at first, "Stay where you are or I'll scream." Meeting an angel face to face would have been surprise enough. But meeting one with the kind of news Gabriel had for Mary would have caused a major Maalox moment, even if it was a special delivery message from God. The message had to have filled her with anxiety and dread. She wasn't even married yet. What would Joseph think. What would her neighbors, her parents or her friends think.
And nothing could have gotten rid of that anxiety, not Tums, not Maalox. Nothing could have gotten rid of it except THE HONOR of being chosen by God.
For Mary this would be a very Special Delivery.
II. JESUS WAS SPECIAL:
It was special because Jesus was special. As both Mary and Joseph would find out, this was no ordinary child. This was none other than God's own Son whom they had been asked to bear and raise as their own. Jesus was Special. God stooped down and put on flesh and blood and became one of us.
There was a group of first graders who decided to put on their very own Christmas program. It was an updated version of the Nativity story. The stable had been built out of four bales of hay stacked two deep and side by side. The lid of a banana box filled with hay sat center stage as the manger. All the characters were there and in costtume - Joseph, the Shepherds, the Angels, the Wise Men. All of them were there on stage, except Mary.
Shortly after the production began, from behind the bales of hay the audience could hear moaning and groaning. Mary was obviously in labor! Just then a doctor in a white coat and a black bag was ushered onto the stage and, along with Joseph, disappeared behind the bales of hay. After a few minutes the doctor emerged from behind the hay with a joyous smile on his face. He was holding a baby in his arms. With a loud voice he announced to the audience: "It's a GOD!"
III. THE SPECIAL DELIVERER:
A. Sometimes we forget that this birth is really what Christmas is all about. Jesus wasn't just another baby born to a poor homeless family. This baby Jesus was none other than God himself. And while we try to fill the emptiness and shallowness of our lives with piles and piles of things under the tree, this child, this infant born through a very Special Delivery was - is - and always will be none other than our Special Deliverer, our Savior. The only one who can fill that God sized hole in our hearts and lives.
No matter what we get for Christmas, there will never be anything as wonderful or as complete as this gift from God. Who would have thought it could be this wonderful? God stepped out of the heavens and into a manger and wrapped himself in the body of a helpless baby, making a place in every heart, just to show how much we are loved.
B. And because of this Special Delivery, everything is changed, nothing can ever be the same again. Especially how we relate to God and to each other. This infant who melts our hearts also challenges our hearts and souls and spirits to action. This child changes everything. We can't go about business as usual if we believe this unbelievable story that God became one of us. It calls for more than just a nod of the head. It challenges us to enter into the plight of the poor and the homeless.
Rev. Mary Claire Lowrance shared with me that last year at First UMC, families were involved in the Christmas program. One family had opportunity to tell the Christmas story. During practice, thhe little girl who was telling the story kept refering to Mary, not as the Virgin Mary but as the "Urchin Mary".
And how true. We know the details of the birth. There was no room in the Inn when Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem. Like homeless urchins, they were turned out in the cold. The same thing happens every night all over the world. But more importantly, it happens every night here in Arlington. For some, there is never any room in the Inn.
Michelle Freeman told the Thursday Bible Study about a mother and three children who almost got turned away from the NIght Shelter because there wasn't any more room. They had one bed and four people. Through Michelle's compassion and inventiveness, they were able to stay. However, there were 15 men who were fed but then were turned out into the night to fend for themselves because there was no room. What can we do? I'd like to change the world so that no one ever had to be turned out again. That might be unrealistic for this Christmas. And you might think, maybe there's not a whole lot we CAN do. But we could supply blankets to those who ARE turned away. I know it's only a little thing but it might keep one person a little warmer.
We could probably come up with 100 blankets in about 30 minutes. I'll bet, if we put our minds and our resources to it, though, we could come up with 500 blankets by Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Can you imagine that? Balnkets piled here at the altar and under the tree on the night we celebrate the birth of our Savior. What a wonderfully warm way to respond to others who have no room in the inn. What a gift to the Christ child those blankets would be.
CONCLUSION:
This infant Son of God changes everything. Everything about His birth was a special delivery.
Our Speical Deliverer invites us to feast at His table.
He invites us to share in a feast of Grace both in the giving of gifts for others and in the receiving of these elements.
This is the Word of the Lord for this day.
____________________________________________________