Sermon for December 1, 20204: Hope Foretold based upon Isaiah 43:1-7 and Luke 1:26-29

​Luke 1:26-29 The Birth of Jesus Foretold

     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! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Isaiah 43:1-7 Restoration and Protection Promised

     But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’, and to the south, ‘Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth-- everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.’

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     Promises have been made. Do not be afraid. This is how we begin Advent this year, with these two assurances: Promises have been made; do not be afraid. With Advent, the church worship calendar has begun anew. Our predecessors in the faith mirrored the cyclical nature of creation when developing our pattern of worship. Fall shifts to winter. Winter into spring. Spring into summer. Summer into fall. Fall, again, into winter. We shift from a reminder that Christ’s Kindom is just and loving into a season of waiting... waiting for redemption, waiting for protection, waiting to be gathered up from all the places we’ve been scatter into the arms of the One who formed us and knows us by name. We are given gifts to make the waiting manageable. This year, the first among them are these reminders: Promises have been made; do not be afraid.

     I learned in a book called All Through the Day, All Through the Year that Advent was first celebrated in Spain and France. The word “advent” has roots in in the Latin word “to come.” What are some things we might do to prepare for someone to come to our home? (responses: clean up, prepare where they will stay, make some food, snowplow) Over the course of the next four weeks, we as a church will be preparing for someone to come. We’ve begun our preparations. Our colors have shifted from green to purple. We have extra lights, on the tree and in our Advent wreath, to lead the way. Our musicians are polishing up music for the season. The kids are busily practicing the play that they wrote. We’re going to share a simple meal together to fortify us for this journey. In Advent, we are waiting on something important, but we can’t forget that the waiting is made easier by working and being together.

     Scholar Joseph Evans calls the biblical prophets “storytellers and holistic commentators on human conditions.” Prophets do not observe this world in disconnected, disinterested way. God has empowered them to see how we are a part of this place and a part of each other. God has tasked them with bringing reminders to humanity. In Isaiah, the prophet reminds people of the covenant... the promises the people made to God and the promises God made to the people. The prophecies recorded in Isaiah were shared under both the memory and threat of war. Chapter 43 is in the portion of the book, as Joseph Blenkinsopp points out in his notes on the text, that hopes to inspire the descendants of those kidnapped into exile in Babylon to return to Judah to rebuild.

     For those who yearn for a land they’ve never seen and for those who have made a home in a place that was never intended for them, the message is the same. God remembers you and is invested in your well-being. God has made promises to you and will keep them. It is possible to return to the land from which your ancestors were taken. Do not be afraid. The journey will be hard. Rebuilding will not be easy. But I will be with you.

     Dr. Wil Gafney describes the God we hear in Isaiah as one who, upon gathering her children from the whole earth, will “protect them in such a way as to violate the laws of nature to ensure their safety.” I bet Mary, Jesus’ mom, could tell us something about God and the laws of nature. Because, she clearly is meeting that God in our reading from Luke... or meeting God’s emissary. Notice that she is called “favored one.” This kind of language assumes a measure of intimacy with the Divine. God is invested in her well-being, as God was invested in the well-being of the exiled. Just as God offered them assurance for a hard journey, God is going to offer Mary assurance in the hard journey she will soon face.

     Mary... engaged but not yet married... teenager, but not yet adult... needs to know that she is not in this alone. Like the prophets who came to Isaiah to bring a reminder of God’s promise, the angel will assure Mary that God is with her. I do appreciate that Mary is described as being “perplexed.” I, too, would be perplexed if an angel showed up and called me favored one.

     Because I know that no one gets called “favored” in the Bible unless God is getting ready to ask them to do something hard. You know how in families that treat children unfairly, sometimes they will pick a favorite and that kid never has to do anything? That’s the opposite of what favored means in the Bible. To be beloved by God is to be invited to work alongside God for the good of the world. The first Sunday of Advent is a Sunday where we talk about Hope. Perhaps this is the hope we need today: to be reminded that we are beloved, that we can count on God to keep promises, and that we don’t have to be afraid. God loves us and that love comes with responsibilities. Thank goodness God is with us in all this. Scripture tells us that we’re going to need her.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:

David B. Batchelder, All Through the Day, All Through the Year: Family Prayers and Celebrations (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 2000)

Joseph Evans, "First Sunday after the Epiphany (Baptism of Jesus)," Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year C, Ronald J. Allen, Dale P. Andrews, and Dawn Ottoni- Wilhelm, eds. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012)

Joseph Blenkinsopp's notes on Isaiah in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)
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Wilda C. Gafney, "Third Sunday of Easter, " A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church: Year B (New York: Church Publishing, 2023)