Sermon: A Foolish, Radical, Idealistic Vision

Luke 1:39-55

A Foolish, Radical, Idealistic Vision

James Sledge                                                               December 20, 2015 – Advent 4

Some of you may recall this line from Longfellow’s poem, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” better known to many as a Christmas carol.

            And in despair I bowed my head; “There is no peace on earth,” I said,

            “For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth good-will to men.”

When I was young, I loved the band, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. They had a Christmas song that U2 has covered in recent years, one that reminds me of that line from Longfellow.

They said there'll be snow at Christmas; They said there'll be peace on Earth;
But instead it just kept on raining, A veil of tears for the Virgin birth.

Looking at the world we live in, it is easy to be pessimistic and cynical. War, terror, shootings, hate, and  political discourse that sounds like middle schoolers trading insults on the playground. And that comparison may be an insult to middle schoolers.

Perhaps the most we can expect from Christmas is a warm moment, a upsurge in charity and goodwill, some gatherings with family or friends, and a bit of nostalgia. For hate is strong and does mock the angel song; and it’s more likely to rain than snow on Christmas.

A lot of people think that our world is in a horrible mess, that things are bad and getting worse. Many observers suggest that this presidential campaign looks different from some previous ones because so many voters are worried, anxious, and afraid. That’s why calls to “take our country back” or “make America great again” resonate.

Without minimizing the real difficulties facing our country and world, a lot of people in history would probably love to change places with us. Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah lived in a day when many children did not make it to adulthood, when disease often decimated whole communities, when most people lived in poverty while a handful lived in grandeur.

In Mary’s day the local governments was a puppet for Rome, and Rome dealt harshly with the slightest threat to Roman authority. Common criminals could be dispensed with the swing of a sword, but any who dared challenge Roman power would die an excruciating death on a cross situated in a very public place so everyone would get the message.

Our world has lots of problems, but the world Jesus was born into surely had at least as many. All those problems make Mary’s words sound naïve, hopelessly optimistic, or perhaps downright crazy.

When Mary launches into her song, she says that God has scattered the proud… brought down the powerful from their thrones, lifted up the lowly… filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.  Really, Mary? Have you looked around at the world?

We Protestants we have tended to ignore Mary in an overreaction to Catholic veneration of her. So we’ve sometimes missed the significant role she plays in Luke’s gospel. She’s not simply a vehicle for Jesus to be born. She is the ideal disciple who responds to the angel Gabriel, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” And in our reading today, she speaks as a prophet.

A lot of church folk are confused about prophets, thinking the job description mostly involves predicting the future. In reality, a prophet’s job is to see as God does. That sometimes involve speaking of the future, at times giving warning, other times hope, but forecasting events is never the main goal. It is calling people to live faithfully. In fact, prophets are happy if prophecies of destruction don’t happen because people listen and change their ways.

When Mary takes up the mantle of prophet, her message is one of hope. When God’s Spirit touches her, she glimpses a reality that cannot be seen simply by looking around. Mary sees God’s reality, and it begins to override hers. Things that are not, at least not yet, are real to her. And so she loses her place in terms of time and verb tense. God has scattered the proud, has brought down the powerful, and lifted up the lowly. God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. Not will but has.

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Because prophets see what most others cannot, they are often thought fools, naïve, idealists, or all three. They’re often treated as dangerous, radical troublemakers. Only later, when their visions are vindicated, do they get sanitized and labeled heroes or saints. Think of Martin Luther King, Jr.

But for some strange reason, at this time of year scores of people embrace the foolish, radical vison of prophets. We sing Mary’s song and echo the angels’ call of peace on earth. We remember promises of swords beaten into plowshares and the wolf living with the lamb. The world looks no more promising in December than the rest of the year, but somehow we become more foolish, naïve, and idealistic. For a brief moment, we can see as Mary sees.

As a pastor, I sometimes get annoyed at how much attention the Church pays to Christmas. I worry that we’ve gotten caught up in the consumerist idolatry that has coopted Christmas to create a frenzy of buying. I have good reason to worry, yet I wonder if I’m too dismissive of Christmas and its power to clear our sight, if only for a moment. What if our foolish, idealistic, naïveté could last a little longer?

A child has been born. The light does shine in the darkness. God has looked with favor on us. Christ has been raised, and he is calling us to follow him and show the world the light and hope and love that it cannot yet see.

All praise and glory to the God who love took on flesh at Christmas!