December 15, 2024
• Rev. Mindie Moore
Advent Week 3: Nazareth—A Place of Simplicity
Experiential Worship Service in Three Movements
Luke 1:26-28
Movement 1: Loved and Liked by God (Ornament in bags in manger at front)
Today as we continue in our Advent Series, On the Way to Bethlehem, as we typically do for this third week of Advent, we are going to have a more interactive worship experience. We’re going to break this up into three movements where we can experience the story of Mary’s encounter with the Angel in a few different ways. You’ll have the opportunity to move a bit, to participate in some different ways, and to have some quiet reflection in the middle of a busy season.
We find this encounter that we’re exploring today in the first chapter of Luke, when an unsuspecting young person has her world completely shifted by the news that she will not only have a baby—a baby she wasn’t planning for, under circumstances that were not quite ideal—but that the baby she would have would be the fulfillment of an entire people-group's hopes and expectations. The baby she would have would be the answers to the prayers that she had prayed, that her parents had prayed, that THEIR parents had prayed...generations and generations had waited on God to do something...and now here’s Mary, getting to play a part in what God is doing that I am sure she would never have expected.
As this part of her story begins, the angel has a word for her. Before he gives her this big news, before he lays out this new chapter in her life, he has a message from God to her, about her. A reminder, an assurance. This is what Luke 1:26-28 says:
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
And I want to read to you the same thing, but from The Message:
Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:
Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.
We talked about angelic encounters last week, and I joked that when a person encounters and angel, usually the first thing out of their mouth is, “don’t be afraid!” But not here. Not with this one. With this moment, the very first thing the angel tells Mary is that she is so deeply loved and cherished by God. It’s the most important thing he could have her know as he starts to tell her this big, life-changing news.
You are loved.
You are treasured.
God has so much kindness for you.
Think about how it would impact Mary to hear these words. Think about how it would color her connection to her creator. To a God who, probably up until that point, has seemed distant and someone to be feared. It would have changed things for her. She would have had her mind opened to a completely different way of encountering God. It might have been confusing and overwhelming, but comforting and encouraging too.
And think about what it can do in us when we experience this kind of overflowing, unconditional kindness. My mother-in-law and I once got our nails done when we were on vacation. We were in an unfamiliar town and so we asked someone at one of the local spots we visited where they would recommend. Their face LIT UP as they told us about a place. They said...it’s not any place fancy, there is no website, in fact when you get there you’re going to be underwhelmed and wonder why I told you to go there. But when you go in, you’re going to meet Tom, the owner. And you, and everyone else in there, are going to feel SO at home, SO welcomed, SO loved. You have to go there.
So we took their advice. And they were right. It was in a strip mall. It was not fancy or special, I was kind of hoping that this person hadn’t led us astray by sending us here. But they were completely right. Inside, it was the warmest, happiest, KINDEST environment. We VERY quickly met Tom, because a) the place was teeny tiny so you couldn’t exactly miss him, but b) his spirit was so big it could have filled this whole room.
And as we got our pedicures, we started to notice something that Tom was doing. As each person left the salon, he would tell them, in a loud, genuine, really mean it voice:
“GOODBYE! I LOVE YOU!”
He said this to every single person. And you know what every single person said back? “I LOVE YOU TOO!”
It was this constant refrain, this back and forth, that no matter who you were, no matter why you were there, no matter what your story was: you are a person who is deeply loved and valued.
I really think we forget that sometimes, especially when we’re talking about us and God. That God sees us, and says I LOVE YOU. Maybe even more striking than that, God sees us and says I LIKE YOU. That can be a really different way of hearing from God. Maybe our experiences with how we believe God sees us have been a little bit negative. Maybe we’ve felt a lot of fear or distance or like we are hard to love or like.
But the truth is...God sees Good things when God sees us. And in God’s eyes, You matter. You are beautiful, inside and out. You, in your ordinary life, whatever it looks like, YOU are seen and known and cherished. Not because you’ve done anything to earn that favor. Not because you’ve been good or faithful or done anything right at all. Just because that’s God’s heart toward us. A heart of love and grace and hope. And I really believe that’s what God would have you know.
During this song, we’re going to engage in a practice that will help us remember this, and really hear what God might want to say to us in order to remind us. Anytime during this song, you can come up to the manger, and pick up one of these bags and a marker. And if you’re not able to come up, just raise your hand and I’ll bring you one to your seat. Once you’re back to your seat, you can open the bag and find an ornament to write on.
During this song, on one side of the ornament, we want to invite you to write what words of kindness God might want to speak over you. (SLIDE: What kindness is God speaking over you?) It might be one word...it might be a phrase. Whatever the spirit speaks to you, write that down.
So before we move, before we let our bodies and pens go into action mode, I want to give us just a minute to prayerfully listen to the voice of God, speaking to us. And then, when you’re ready, you can come forward and grab your supplies.
(SILENCE)
Musical Interlude: God Really Loves Us
Movement 2: Your yes and no
As the story continues, Mary finds herself trying to process all of this news. It’s confusing and unexpected, and how she of all people found herself in these circumstances is just out of reach for what any reasonable person would think. After all, Mary is a simple, ordinary person. She is from a simple, ordinary town. She hasn’t been set up for her life to contain anything grand or exciting.
The town she came from, Nazareth, was incredibly insignificant. There were probably only a couple hundred people living there during this time, it wasn’t where anything important was happening, it wasn’t even near a major water source. No one set Nazareth as their destination...people weren’t going there for a long weekend away. It was just kind of a place, where people were from...a place that most people probably forgot about or didn’t think really mattered. In fact, once Jesus is an adult and is starting his ministry, when word gets out that he is FROM Nazareth, people understandably ask, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” It just didn’t make sense that THIS was the place that God would choose to pay attention to or act from.
Now, for us encountering the story today, when we hear that question, if anything good could possibly come from this very insignificant place...we know the answer is yes. Because we know the story of Jesus. And some of us have even BEEN to Nazareth, we’ve been to what are incredibly holy and over-visited sites.
But back then...that good was still just something that was waiting to happen, waiting to be fulfilled. And all the good that happens in this story starts with a different yes...a yes from Mary.
When I think about the way that Mary says yes, I imagine it to be with a bit of a nervous sounding voice. You’d probably recognize that in your own voice. Maybe you’ve sounded like that when you’ve had to do public speaking...and you really don’t like talking in front of people. Maybe you felt that nervousness when you asked your partner to marry you. Maybe you felt that shakiness when you had to speak and important but scary truth. We don’t have to fully understand or be sure of ourselves to say those types of yesses.
That’s what is so powerful about how Mary responds to this news. She DOES have uncertainty. She DOES fully admit what she doesn’t understand here. She DOES feel some trepidation and like things are more than a bit outside of her control.
But even with a shaky voice and a whole bunch of questions, she still says yes. She still says: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
It’s this idea of: I’m here, I’m open, God what you are doing, I may not fully “get” it...but I’m here for what you might do and how I might be a part of it.
And in Mary’s story, we see this growth in her. We see her grow into joy and delight and confidence. And I think that’s because there is real joy attached to saying yes to the right things. There’s an invitation to trust and to follow and to let God do surprising work in our lives.
AND...saying yes can feel risky. I’m sure it was for Mary. Because “yes” is not a one-dimensional answer. It’s a simple word, but it can lead to a million other things that we might not anticipate or expect. One of my favorite authors, Emily P Freeman, says that “every yes has a no automatically attached to it.” Basically...when you say yes, you’re saying no to something else. In Mary’s case, saying yes to what God wanted to do through her meant saying no to the ordinary life she had expected for herself.
Yes and no go hand in hand. Both are so important. Because, as Emily P Freeman goes on to say about yesses and nos...they shape our lives:
“It is possible to get stuck in the no’s, to be afraid of yes because of failure or embarrassment or worry or whatever. Or saying no to hard things just because they’re hard...What we say yes and no to shape our stories, for better or worse. Are you aware of your yes’s and your no’s?”
As Beck and Todd lead us in this next song, this is what I want you to consider. (SLIDE): What is God inviting you to say yes to right now...and what might that mean you say no to in return?
You’ll recognize this next song...Angels We Have Heard on High. And, yes, you can sing along, if you can write and sing and are a good multitasker like that. And as you hear these words, words that you have likely heard a million times, whether it was in church or on the speakers at a Target...I want you to pay attention to the yesses here. Who is saying yes? What happens because they do it? Why does it matter? And how does this simple practice of saying yes and being open to God’s presence with us make an impact on our lives?
Musical Interlude: Angels We Have Heard on High
Movement 3: Let One Thing Go
A final thought and invitation from the story of Mary in Nazareth.
We’re invited to say our yesses and say our nos. And we’re invited to one other powerful practice as we follow where God wants to take us. We’re invited to let something go.
Now, this feels like an exceptionally ironic thing to talk about in December. A month where everything seems full to the brim. There are Christmas events and things you really want to do...there are things you really DON’T want to do, but you have to. There are traditions and pressure and this weird vibe in the air that everything has to be magical and just so or we’re kind of failing at Christmas.
I love this time of year. And I also feel it deeply that it can be a lot. So what if we made the choice to just let something go? Not all of it, I’m not asking you to give up on things you love or do anything that doesn’t feel geniune to you. But what if there was something simple that we could set down so that we could be more fully present with our people and the God who loves us.
Because here’s the truth: You don’t have a single thing to prove. Not this Advent...not on Christmas day...not any single day of your life. God loves you SO much. And honestly, if you got one single message from the story of Jesus being born in a manger and coming to this earth, I hope it’s that.
God loves you.
God loves you.
God loves you.
I know sometimes we’re told something really different than that. I believe that Mary was probably told some pretty rough stuff as she grew with this baby and tried to live into the truth that she knew about who she was and how God was working in her. I would guess that there were moments that she had to hold on with all her might to the message of love and favor that the angel brought to her that first day.
Look at your ornament, at the very first thing you wrote. What would our lives look like if we held on so tightly to that message? What if, like our yesses lead to nos, what if holding on tightly to THAT...allowed us to LET GO of something else?
That sounds freeing, but it’s also a little scary, if we really examine it. Normally the things we need to let go of are things that we’ve been clutching on to because they help shield us from something. Maybe it’s a fear, or a wound, or an insecurity.
You know, for me, the work that God is doing on me is that I don’t have to always be the one who is responsible for everyone else. To make sure everyone is happy, or taken care of, or that things are going smoothly and no one is too sad or uncomfortable. And I have to make sure all of these things are happening just so, because if not...I might find myself rejected or on the outside of things. I might be lonely. People might be upset.
Friends, this is called a defense mechanism. And it’s not serving me as well as I want it to most of the time.
And it’s something that God continues to invite me to let go of. Because there are so many better, truer things to hold on to. Those fears, that insecurity...those things might be loud, but it doesn’t mean they come from God. But things like belovedness, things like hope, things like knowing that Jesus is present with us and the Spirit is at work even in the simplest moments of our lives...those things are absolutely the heart of God.
So what do we need to let go of in order to hold on to those things?
So the final thing I’m going to invite you to do. On that paper wrapper you have, I want you to write (SLIDE) ONE THING that you could let go of this Advent. It can be an obligation or a feeling or a fear...whatever the Spirit leads you to, that’s the right thing to put down.
And after you write it...crumple it up. You can be as dainty or aggressive with your crumpling as you want. But write it down then get rid of it.
Simplify what you’re carrying. Let something go. And see how letting whatever that is go...can help you hold on more tightly to what God really wants for you.
Musical Interlude: God Really Loves Us (Instrumental and then sung chorus)
Close with Benediction