Rev.
Debbie Cato
Isaiah
43:1-7 and Luke 1:26-38
Fairfield
Community Church
December
1, 2024
Affirming God. How often
do you speak to us, and how often do we miss it? How often do you whisper
blessings over us that we refuse to hear? Open our hearts. Create space in us to not only hear these
words, but to believe the good news tucked between them. We are hungry for your wisdom, so speak to us
now. With hope and curiosity, we
listen. With hope and curiosity, we dare
to begin again. Amen.[1]
You are a
Blessing
Explaining the
Advent theme of “Words for the Beginning.” Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity said this:
“Advent is a season of endings and beginnings. As the calendar year comes to a close, a new
church year begins. Christ’s birth
ushers us into new ways of living and loving; and yet, the world as we know it
spins madly on. In many ways, pregnant
Mary was surrounded by endings – large and small, personal and political. But Mary proclaimed hope in a God who was and
is making all things new. Christ’s birth
offered a beautiful new beginning for shepherds and Magi alike – all the while,
King Herod tried to bring Christ’s story to an end. When we ourselves navigate seasons filled
with endings and beginnings, we need reminders.
We need words that can feel like a steady ground, like a path for our
feet to find as we step forward into the unknown.”[2]
“A season of endings and beginnings.” When I looked at the Advent series that Sanctified Art was doing this year, it resonated with me. We are not only in the season of Advent – full of endings and beginnings, but we as a church are in a time of transition – full of endings and beginnings. I was drawn to this phrase “a season of endings and beginnings.” Notice that endings come first, and then beginnings. We have all experienced lots of endings. They are hard, they are scary, they are sad. When something ends, we often feel panicked because we cannot see a new beginning. Often, we cannot even grasp that there is a new beginning – and our new beginning will be good. But endings are always followed with beginnings.
When Gabrial tells
Mary she will conceive a child by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of
God, Mary’s dreams for the future died.
The life Mary had imagined with her fiancé, Joseph, was gone. Her dreams of a future with her husband and
eventually a family were gone. Instead,
she had to explain to Joseph that she was pregnant, and based on cultural
norms, she expected he would divorce her.
She knew she would be shamed and ostracized. She was merely a teenager. Now she was unmarried and pregnant. And
somehow carrying God’s son.
As Mary processed
this ending, God was already working on a new beginning. She would be the mother of God! God would send the same messenger to Joseph
and explain the pregnancy. They would still
have their life together. Yes, it would
be different than what she had planned.
Yes, that life with Joseph that Mary envisioned had ended. But a new life, a new way of being together,
a new beginning was being birthed. The
end of Mary ‘s expectation for her life became a new beginning. She was blessed in ways she never could have
imagined. God already knew what their future would be. A future with hope.
Maybe you are facing
an ending. Maybe your life is suddenly
taking a sharp turn; a road you hadn’t planned on traveling. Maybe you are scared; worried. But God already has a new beginning planned! A future with
hope!
We are facing an ending
too. An end to our ministry
together. An end to
our
relationships. An end to this chapter of
God’s church here in Fairfield. We know
in 5 ½ months we will be saying good-bye.
It will be a time filled with emotions -
denial, anger, bargaining, deep sadness and even, acceptance. Maybe I should add panic in there too. Some of you may feel
panicked about the
future of this church; scared. Endings are hard.
But God is already
working on your new beginning. God
already has a plan! This is God’s church,
and you are God’s beloved people. He
intends for you to be a blessing; for this church to be a blessing. God knows what you need. He knows what your new beginning will
be. A future with hope.
In her commentary
for today’s sermon prep, Kayla Craig says this:
“Mary is described as “blessed among women.” She is neither wealthy nor powerful, and yet
she is chosen to bear God’s child. Her
story begins with blessedness and so does ours.
About 700 years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah
proclaimed that we are claimed by a God who calls our name. We are a blessing because we belong to
God. When blessedness is our beginning,
we begin to see the world – and others – through the eyes of a God who says:
“You are precious in my sight.””[3]
Think about
that. You are blessed. YOU are blessed. You are precious in God’s sight. YOU are precious in God’s
sight.
With love like that;
with belonging like that; how can beginnings not be covered in God’s love and
grace? How can He not have good plans
for the people he loves so much? People
that are precious to him. How can He not
promise you a future with hope?!
Advent invites us to
reflect on how we, like Mary, are invited into God’s
redemptive narrative
– no matter how ordinary or small we might feel – for each one of us has the
potential to carry God’s love in a weary world.[4]
In the story of Mary
and the angel, Gabriel illustrates how God selects someone the world might
overlook to be part of something beautiful.
Gabriel’s message, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you,” isn’t merely a
formality but a declaration of Mary’s essential place in God’s divine plan.[5]
Mary’s encounter
with Gabriel, a pivotal moment in the Advent story, marks the unveiling of
God’s new beginning. It marks the
unveiling of a promise and a prophecy of a miraculous birth that subverted
every expectation of what a coming King’s arrival should look like.[6]
Mary had to say
good-bye to the life she planned. Her
dreams and ideas for the future ended with Gabriel’s visit. But the beginning that God planned, was so
much greater, so much more significant than anything she could see or
imagine.
Right now, you can’t
see what the future of this church will look like. You are still holding on to your dreams and
ideas of what we are as a community of followers of Jesus right now. Letting go is hard – it’s scary. But God already knows what the future holds
for you. He already has a plan. He’s not surprised I’m retiring. This is God’s church and God is and always
has been in control.
In the days and weeks and months ahead of us, remember what Isaiah said: “I have called you by name. You are mine.” “You are precious in my
sight, and honored,
and I love you.”
Rev. Sara Speed, in “Joy
and Celebration” wrote,
I knew it in my
bones,
the way my feet know the way home.
You are a blessing.
For our creating God
breathed life into your being.
And there is simply
no way that,
along with that life,
some of God’s goodness
didn’t slip right in.
Hear this: YOU are a blessing; YOU – known,
chosen, and called for a purpose. May
you boldly live into this truth, recognizing and cherishing your inherent worth
so that you may honor God’s image in others.
Trust your beloved-ness as you enter the redemptive work God has invited
you into.[7]
Amen.
[1] Sanctifiedart.com.
Advent Series 2024. First Sunday
of Advent. Prayer by Rev. Sara Speed.
[2] Sanctifiedart.com. Advent Series 2024. A Sermon Planning Guide. “About the Theme.” By Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity.
[3] Sanctifiedart.com.
Advent Series 2024. A Sermon
Planning Guide. The First Sunday of
Advent. Kayla Craig.
[4] Sanctifiedart.com.
Advent Series 2024. A Sermon
Planning Guide. The First Sunday of
Advent. Kayla Craig.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Sanctifiedart.com.
Advent Series 2024. A Sermon
Planning Guide. The First Sunday of
Advent. Kayla Craig.
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