Called By God and Nowhere To Go!
Luke 1:26-38
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

Here we are on the Eve of Christmas, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, celebrating what is undoubtedly one of the biggest reasons to celebrate in the Christian faith tradition: the incarnation of God into human form.

But as cozy it may be in this sanctuary tonight, the one human person who was closest to the incarnation event, Mary, was probably feeling anything but comfortable. Tonight I want to pay tribute not only to God, but also to Mary, mother of Jesus. Let's take a look at Christmas from Mary's perspective

Our Scripture passage starts with an empirical decree. Everybody in the entire Roman Empire, including members of Judea had to travel back to their birth place to be registered for a census. Can you imagine what it must have been like for Mary to be traveling when she was about to give birth to her first baby? I know we're all familiar with pictures and film clips portraying Mary riding on a donkey. However, we don't find a reference to that in the Scriptures; and honestly, I don't know what is worse when you're pregnant: walking or being shaken on the back of a donkey.

But consider the other circumstances: they finally arrive in Bethlehem--Joseph's birth town--only to find out that there is not a single room to be had anywhere. How terrible must Mary have felt especially since she had to have known that the baby was on the way. She was tired, dirty from the road, probably in pain or discomfort from contractions, scared and confused. And all they could find for shelter was a stable….a stable!

Just a few months earlier she had experienced the most incredible calling by God, an event we also refer to as the “Annunciation.” The famous angel Gabriel himself, chief of the divine messengers, came to visit Mary to announce that she was the woman favored by God to bring forth the Messiah of the world. What a tremendous honor and what a remarkable calling!

Now contrast that calling with the situation Mary found herself in on the Eve of the Savior's birth. You would think that when God calls you, things would just fall into place.

But they really didn't, did they? Far from it. Even leading up to this point, Mary had to deal with a fiancé' who initially wouldn't believe her (and who could blame him?) and was about to break off the engagement. It took a divine intervention to bring him around. I'm sure that many people in Mary's community, including family and friends, doubted her story. Word was out in Nazareth and perhaps even in Bethlehem, that she was carrying the child of a man other than Joseph.

I wonder if this was also the reason why Mary and Joseph weren't married. Perhaps no rabbi or officiate was willing to provide a marriage ceremony for them. We actually don't know if Mary and Joseph were ever properly married. And Mary's child was probably known to be a “bastard” child.

Not so by Luke, the evangelist. Not only does Luke describe the child as conceived from the Holy Spirit of God, in his writing he also treats Mary and Joseph as married in God's eyes. After all, Mary travels with Joseph to be registered in his town of birth—which was customary only for legally married couples.

Mary wouldn't be human if she hadn't been been affected by all of this. She must have felt abandoned by God. She must have felt like she was called by God and had nowhere to go--no room in the inn, and worse, nowhere to go from here, no bright future for her or her child. She must have felt like her son Jesus years later when he prayed in the garden: “let this cup pass by me.” Or perhaps she felt abandoned by God as Jesus did on the cross when he exclaimed: “My God, my God , have you forsaken me?

Having a call from God—even an extraordinary call—does not mean that things will just fall into place; often times God's call on a persons life is followed by a time of trials and testing. Take Jesus himself, for instance: following his baptism and calling by God (“he is my beloved son”), he was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the Satan. Saul-turned-Paul on the Damascus Road had to endure a temporary blindness and all kinds of persecution.

Perhaps you feel like you're in a similar spot right now. Perhaps you feel like God has abandoned you, perhaps you feel as though your desperate prayers aren't heard. And, like Mary, you are doing the right thing, you are trying to be the best believer you can be. Why does God allow bad things to happen to his children?

Take heart and hear the good news: you are not alone; God is with you even in the trials you experience--especially in the trials! You're also in good company with Mary.

For God has sent his only begotten Son into the darkness of this world; and the darkness, as terrifying and powerful it may be, has not overcome the light (John 1:2).

God was in the midst of Mary's terrifying circumstances. That's just the point. God entered the darkness of this world, into the most desperate of circumstances, into the most impoverished conditions, and turned on a light. This light shines brighter and brighter illuminating the world and casting out the darkness one evil at a time.

Because Jesus Christ is the light of the world, he is also in your darkest circumstances, whether you feel it right now or not! So lift up your hearts this evening and light a candle symbolizing that Christ is indeed the light of the world and that He is the light that will cast out all darkness from your life as well. Amen