December 21, 1997

During this Advent Season, there hangs a beautiful banner in the chapel of Candler School of Theology. The banner shows the profiles of two pregnant women facing each other, bellies almost touching. Its placed in such a way that light filters through the images of the women's bodies, producing a sense of mystery and power. Its almost as though God's light is flowing through these two women to others.

What an interesting image!

Today's Scripture reading contains the story-behind-the story of the banner hanging in Cannon Chapel. It’s the account of Mary, a young girl of perhaps fifteen or sixteen, and her cousin Elizabeth, a much older woman who, with her husband Zechariah, has never been able to conceive a child.

Now, through some quirk of nature - or something - both Elizabeth and Mary are pregnant.

Though the banner in the chapel may suggest two similar women in two similar circumstances, its important to note that their swollen bellies do not quite touch, suggesting some great difference between the two. Indeed, there is! I wonder, have you ever noted the sharp contrasts the Bible draws between Elizabeth and Mary?

Why, the older woman's pregnancy is an answer to prayer! In Elizabeth's day, the inability to bear a child was seen as something shameful, perhaps a sign of God's disfavor. From her husband Zechariah's point of view, not having a son to follow him into the priesthood was a major, emasculating disappointment. And they had tried everything to have a baby - went to fertility clinics, considered in vitro fertilization - all to no avail! But now, in one incredible and almost unbelievable moment, the doctor steps out of his office and says with a wink of his eye and a bright smile, "You're not going to believe this!"

Elizabeth is pregnant! An answer to prayer! A long-awaited miracle!

Not so for Mary.

She is a teenager.

Unmarried.

Pregnant.

Disgraced.

Alone.

Of the two pregnancies, which would you think would more likely be the setting for the birth of the Messiah?

Of the two women, which would you guess would be the God-chosen mother for the baby to be born Savior of the world?

Why, my choice - in both cases - would be Elizabeth! Which one would you choose?

The story of Mary and Elizabeth provides a provocative illustration of how God's ways are not our ways, and how God's thoughts are not our thoughts.

Why our expectations for Christmas are of a family gathered Norman Rockwell-style in a cozy house with blazing fire. Family members arrive from all over the country, like John-Boy coming home to the Waltons. The aroma of fresh-baked pies and perhaps a Christmas turkey wafts through the air, along with the strains of joyous carols playing in the background. The Christmas tree is ideally shaped and beautifully decorated, and under its boughs are exquisitely wrapped packages. As they are opened - at least in my concept of the perfect Christmas - each one is the perfect gift, the perfect size, the perfect style, the perfect color. There are no unwanted neckties to hang in the closet, no tacky nick-knacks to be placed in the pile downstairs for donations to the next Crafter's garage sale.

In every way, it’s the perfect Christmas.

Only trouble is, its not real.

For most of us at Christmas time, there is a strong sense of people missing from the picture - loved ones who've passed away, children who can't make it home, family members or friends whose relationship with us has been broken. For some of us, visions of sugarplums are not quite as large as the fearful images of an impending surgery or the ongoing process of chemotherapy. Depression reaches into some of our lives - especially at holiday time. And all of us realize that, after the Christmas moment, we will have to return to the same old same old.

The Christmas ideal we picture in our minds almost never materializes! Its just not real.

There was a time early in my pastorate when I thought that, at the very least, we ought to be able to sanctify Christmas and hold onto its spiritual center. You know - put Christ back into Christmas? That was dispelled the year a young family came through the line at the end of Advent church services. I had baptized their two-year old boy just a few months before, and as they approached in the line, they pointed me out to their son and said, "Billy do you remember this man?" hoping to remind him of the spiritually rich moment we had shared.

Billy stared at me for several long moments, looking me up and down. Then, all of a sudden, his eyes brightened and a smile of recognition spread across his face. Then the happy two-year old threw open his arms, pointed at my face and joyously blurted out, "Ho! Ho! Ho!

I guess it was the white beard that got him.

I wish Christmas could be about a perfectly spiritual moment, in a perfectly turning world. I wish Christmas could be like the story of Elizabeth.

But its not. Christmas flows through the life of Mary.

A teenager.

Unmarried.

Pregnant.

Disgraced.

Alone.

And in our heart of hearts, I think, most of us realize that Mary is closer to the truth of our humanity. She is the person suffering from AIDS. She is the unwanted child. She is the rebellious teenager. She is the lost gang member. She is the widow and the widower, the hungry man who lives on the street, the cancer patient, the battered woman, the person who has lost the will to live.

Mary is us in all our weeping, lostness, and pain.

And Christmas is God's declaration that we are not forgotten!

Can you hear the message of the angel Gabriel?

You are favored by God, Mary!

God is with you, Mary!

You are blessed, Mary, and through you, God will bless the world!

And this Scripture story ends with a challenging call to God's people everywhere:

As you prepare to celebrate Christmas, 1997, I wonder if you might look at yourself - with all your flaws, failures, flubs and foibles - and believe that God loves you, that God is with you, and that God has blessed you to be a blessing to others. Christmas is a time to let God step into your imperfections, your illnesses, your broken relationships, even your doubt.

And Christmas is a time to see other people differently too. God challenges us to take a new look at the Mary's we know - the ones who seem to be far removed from society's vision of life as it ought to be - and to believe in Christmas for them!

For its in the most unlikely places and among the most unlikely people that God is found.

Emmanuel.

God with us.