Courtenay Evans - Christmas Eve Advent 4 Sermon
There was a famous violinist, and when he was young, he had a bout of polio leaving him crippled. One evening while performing a concert on a very prominent stage with thousands of people in the audience, a loud, large snap echoed throughout the theater- only two minutes into the song. One of his strings had broken. The audience looked on with anticipation. Would the violinist get a new violin? Would he get the string replaced?
Today’s Gospel reading is the Annunciation, the announcement of the incarnation by the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. Angel Gabriel said: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Mary, has a very appropriate response: “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Or in other words, Angel Gabriel, isn’t this impossible?
Two other prominent women figures in the bible gave birth to what seemed like an impossible possibility. In Genesis, Sarah, Abraham’s wife, bore Issac at a very old age. And how did Sarah respond when she heard God’s promise that she would bear a son? Sarah laughed! And how did God respond? God said to Abraham: “Why did Sarah laugh and say: “Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord?” And a year later, Sarah bore Issac, affirming God’s promise to Abraham that God would make Abraham the father of all nations.
Another example is Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin. The Angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah, Elizabeth’s husband, that Elizabeth would bear a son and they were to name their son, John. Zechariah responded by asking Gabrielle: “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.” In other words, this sounds impossible, Angel Gabrielle! We are too old! And Elizabeth, thought to be barren, gave birth to John, John the Baptist, the Prophet of the Most High; John who went before Jesus to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.
And how does Gabrielle respond to Mary when she says: “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Angel Gabrielle responds: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Nothing will be impossible.
These birth stories, what became possible out of the impossible, speak to the larger truth of new life amid the bareness, amid the lifeless places that we all experience in our daily lives. Maybe we disappoint a friend, and we don’t know how we will make it up to them; maybe we lose our job, and we do not know how we will make ends meet. How will I support my family? How will I find a new job? Maybe you find yourself in the throes of depression and you wonder: how will I see the light again? Maybe you or a loved one had a recent diagnosis, and you think, how will we get through this? Or maybe it is something else in your life and you ask the question: How did I get myself here, and how will I find my way out?
There is a story of a farmer and his son who were both very poor. The only asset they owned was one horse and on one day, the horse escaped. The farmer’s neighbor said: I am so sorry to hear about your escaped horse. And the farmer responded: “This is neither good nor bad.” And days later the horse came back with 10 more horses, and the family’s wealth increased exponentially. The farmer’s son then began training the new horses and he fell from one and broke his leg. The neighbor said to the farmer: “I am so sorry your son broke his leg.” And the farmer said: “This is neither good nor bad.” And then a war erupted in the land and the army came to recruit young soldiers and because the Farmer’s son had broken his leg, he could not fight. And in this war, many, many people died.
In both these situations, the escaped horse and the broken leg, I immediately think “BAD!” What terrible occurrences. And indeed, they were. Yet, in what seemed like dire situations; financial collapse and a broken limb, births occurred: Possibility emerged out of the impossible: financial abundance after collapse; and a spared life from the brokenness and destruction of war. As the wise farmer alluded too, through the workings of our faithful God, we do not know the life-giving fruits that will arise in the barrenness of our lives. We do not know the life-giving fruits that will arise out of the places where birth and new life seem impossible. Sarah, Elizabeth and Mary certainly did not, and in fact, each response to Angel Gabrielle’s news was disbelief. And yet, even amid their questioning, look what happened?
In the case of Mary, following Gabrielle’s announcement that she will give birth, Mary finds new life emerging in many ways: From Girl to Mother, from milking goats and hauling water to speaking with angels, from shivering in the cold to being wrapped in the loving-kindness of God, from lowly peasant to Mother of God. And from what seemed like an impossibility, a virgin birth, Jesus, the Messiah was born. Our Savior, the light of all nations, the light of the world.
Then thirty years later, Jesus died on the cross for us. And what seemed like death, became a new birth; and what seemed like an impossibility, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, occurred: death was destroyed and life prevailed. Jesus, of the lineage of Sarah and Abraham, Jesus, cousin of John, John, the one who prepared the way for Jesus, the prophet declaring Jesus to be our salvation. All three seemingly impossible births, yet God was at work to make the impossible, possible. And what happened? These three births ultimately paved the path for our ultimate salvation through Jesus Christ with the forgiveness of all our sins and the promise of eternal life. Nothing is impossible with God.
So what did the violinist do after his strings had snapped? He looked at the conductor and nodded, as if to say, let’s start again. So the conductor restarted the composition and the violinist adapted the music to the strings that he had left. At the end of the piece, the audience launched up onto their feet, erupting into a large roar as they had just witnessed the violinist turn what could have been a disaster, birth into one of the most beautiful musical experiences ever. In the same way, God is with us, working in ways we do not know, making all things new amid the impossibility; amid the lifeless areas of our lives, stirring new birth, and new life. And now as we begin to celebrate the birth of Jesus on this Christmas Eve, may we find great comfort in this promise. Amen.