Pastor Linda Lagergren
December 23, 2007
Scripture Text:
Isaiah 7:10-16 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The greeting today comes right from our text, Romans 1:7.
God works in the most surprising ways. Would we have chosen Joseph and Mary, a carpenter and a young girl to be parents of the King, Jesus? But God uses the ordinary to do something extraordinary.
And the Ordinary responded in faithfulness to what God asked of them. Mary, not much more than a child herself became the mother of God. In her womb the baby Jesus grew. The carpenter, Joseph, when he found Mary pregnant, chose to put her aside quietly. In their time, a single
woman who was found to be pregnant, could be stoned. According to his culture, Joseph was expected to divorce her. But in a dream God revealed to Joseph that Mary was to become the mother of the Messiah and that Joseph should take her to be his wife.
Joseph intended to act with justice and love by setting aside Mary without public shame. God intended something else, something surprising - that Joseph take Mary as his wife. God opened to Joseph another way to be obedient to the will of God. Joseph thought that he only had two options, but God offered another - to take Mary as his wife and to name the son Jesus. Joseph obeyed.
Both Mary and Joseph responded in obedience to what God asked of them. I wonder what would I have done in this situation. Would I have been able to respond with such faith? And yet, God calls us every day to respond in faithfulness to His will and plans for us. God asks us to be obedient to what He desires and sometimes we need to be hit with a 2 x 4 or in my case a McDonald’s restaurant.
During my pregnancy with Tricia, who is now 19, a trip to my doctor meant lunch at the local Dairy Queen for a barbeque and a chocolate chip malt. But on one occasion my car somehow happened to park in the McDonald’s parking lot. Now you have to understand, at that time, I NEVER ate at McDonalds. And worse, I even went inside to place my order and found myself sitting alone at a table. This also was very much outside of my comfort zone, I did not like to eat in public alone. As I sat and ate my lunch, trying very hard to pay attention to my food, I happened to overhear the conversation of two women beside me. One was about my age, and the other, I presumed, was her mother. I tried very hard not to listen to them. But I heard this voice say, “Go over and talk to them”. “No way!” I responded. “I’m not going to talk to strangers”. “Get up, go over and talk to them,” said the voice. “You’ve got to be kidding,” I thought. “There’s no way I’m going to talk to them.” The voice continued: “Get up, go over and talk to them.” Once on my feet, I gently tapped the younger woman on the shoulder and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be eavesdropping, but I think we have something in common.”
It turned out, we did have something in common. She had just given birth to a son, born with Down’s Syndrome. My son, Andrew, also born with Down’s Syndrome, would have been about four at that time. I shared with them that our son, who had been born December 6th, died January 7th from complications of spinal meningitis. He was the light of our life, the child we had waited years to conceive. We were so excited to have him in our life, and now we were saddened that we would not be able to watch him grow and share his life. We missed him much, and missed the blessing we had hoped he would be. We shed many tears and prayed together and then I returned to work. I saw her one other time, and got to meet her precious boy, and then they were gone from my life.
What a blessing! It was a blessing to be able to share her pain and her joy. I felt blessed to be a part of her journey. I also felt blessed that God had chosen the ordinary to share in something so extraordinary. God, indeed, works in surprising ways.
All through the scriptures God has used ordinary people to further God’s kingdom. Look at Abraham and Sarah, Noah, Moses, Jacob and his twelve sons. They all responded in faithfulness to what God asked of them. They reacted in obedience leaving behind homeland, families, or facing ridicule for building a silly boat.
Sometimes, during the busy holiday season, we get so caught up in the busy-ness, that we forget to listen to what God asks of us. Sometimes God speaks through young children. For years we had chosen a child from the local giving tree, a child the same age as Andrew would have been. Soon the time came when there no longer were children his age on the tree. We needed a new idea. Our youngest son, Luke, about twelve at the time, came up with a solution. Every year since his birth, we have hung Andrew’s stocking on the mantle and Luke thought it would be a good idea to drop all of our loose change in it during the Advent and Christmas season and then could choose a charity to give the money. We went one step further: I agreed to match all the money in the stocking. Since then, we have used the money to donate to world hunger, local charities, and the Sunbeam Home in Jamaica. God blessed us, opening our hearts to missionary work for the sake of others.
All through the ages, God has used ordinary people, including us, to proclaim God’s kingdom. God uses the ordinary to do extraordinary things. As we celebrate Christmas, may we always be faithful to God’s surprising and unexpected call to proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom.
Amen.