Sermon:
December 22, 2002
Sunday Night Alive!  

Scripture:
Luke 1:39-55        
I John 4:9-10       
I John 4:16

A long time ago, on a playground far, far away, a fifth grade boy was kissed for the very first time. I remember watching the spectacle with fascination. After all, these kinds of things might happen all the time to sixth graders, but in the fifth grade world, this was a major happening. A fifth grade country girl, being a little adventurous, grabbed a boy by the hand and ducked behind a tree (because, of course, all their friends were watching). And she kissed him. Not counting what must have been days of forethought and the time it took to generate that kind of courage, the whole event took only five seconds, tops. 

But then the truly interesting part began: the realization. The boy looked around, seemed a bit confused, then smiled and giggled as he ran back to join his friends on the swings. For the rest of the day, it was the talk of the school. Ah, fifth grade—the first fumbles with love lavished on the unsuspecting. 

Maybe you too have experienced being the recipient—the target—of something so fantastic, so unexpected, you just didn’t know how to respond, what to say, or how to put your feelings into words. It’s in those times that I realize just how much I need poets and songs, bands and singers, to put words and tunes to the emotions we all have within us. 

Take a moment. Guys, I want you to think of a girlfriend from high school. Girls, think of the guys you dated. I can just imagine the conversations that this is going to start tonight. “You’re thinking about her again.” “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?” “But, honey, the preacher told me to!” Yes, I’m inviting you to, for just a moment. 

Whether the memories are good, bad or indifferent, what was “your song?” What is the tune that, when you hear it today, hooks something inside? Maybe you danced to it. Maybe you found yourself holding hands at the concert. Maybe its words held all the feelings that, on our own, just never seemed to come out right. But somehow the song brought it all together. 

For us guys, that’s really important. Everyone knows John Grey. He wrote the book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Sometimes he’s a little goofy, but I think he’s right on the money in understanding communication and how we relate with one another. He says that when it comes to our relationships, we guys, especially, connect through what we can give or offer. If we go out to dinner with someone, we ask, “Did you like the meal?”  If our date answers “Yes,” in our minds we’re thinking, “Well, I chose the menu, I cooked this for you.” If we go to a movie, “I made it happen. I made this film for you.” It’s not arrogance, as much as the feeling that in providing something of enjoyment, we are the ones who made that happen. The same is true when we connect with a song. “I’m singing this for you. It’s my heart that’s speaking.” And we feel great joy inside. 

Our reading from Luke this evening is the text of a song by Mary, Mother of Jesus, celebrating the joy of a coming baby and who this child is going to be. It’s like the songs that Mary would have known, a very Jewish song. Yet now, 2000 years later, we have this little lesson in Biblical theology. For it begins and ends not in the exaltation of Mary—the singer, the performer—but of the Good News of what God has done and is doing. It’s a song we all can sing. 

As Christians, we are part of a great worshiping tradition spanning thousands of years. From where we have come may not always be where we feel comfortable. Like leaving home and venturing out into the world, we continually need to be exploring what it means to be authentic in who we are as we worship. But the tree of Christian faith has deep roots. For centuries, Christians have sung this song as part of worship. The earliest records show that as early as 502 A.D., it was regularly used.  Bruce, I have no idea what they used for their trap set. Scott, Mark, Steve, I suspect strings have long been used to praise God. (Bruce Gallant is the drummer and musical director for Sunday Night Alive. Scott Wilkinson and Mark Lachowicz play guitar. Steve Backus plays bass.) 

Some know Mary’s song by the name “Magnificat.” It comes from the first word in Latin: Megalynie, “to tell out!” Literally to “enlarge…the greatness of the Lord.” And that’s what Mary does. It’s a song pulsing with joy and expectation. A New Age has come. God’s kingdom is dawning. God is remembering his covenant with Israel! 

“It’s exactly what he promised,” says Mary, “beginning with Abraham right up to now.” Do we believe that? Do we believe that God will follow through on his promise? Is Christmas that kind of revelation for us? 

A few weeks ago (December 1, “What Are We Looking For?”), I asked what it was we are looking for this Advent season. I shared how, as a boy, I sent away for “Sea-monkeys” through a comic book. Remember Sea-monkeys, the little underwater colonies that you could grow in a fishbowl? I saved my quarters and mailed in the order—and waited. And waited and waited, just anticipating how exciting it was going to be. 

Surely you’ve waited for something to come. You dreamed of what it was going to be like. Certainly the prophet Isaiah did. I told all my friends about it. The bowl was all ready. And—and—and—nothing came. Weeks went by. A month. A summer. And nothing. Until finally, I just gave up. Moved on. Those Sea-monkeys were my last order from a comic book. That’s where the story ended. 

Maybe that’s the way it’s been in some ways for all of us. Along the line we’ve been burned and  felt like we’ve been set up. Maybe it was a stranger you hardly knew. Maybe it was a friend you trusted completely. Maybe it was a God who seemed silent.  

Let me continue the Sea-monkey story with an epilogue. I think Isaiah would understand. It happened last Sunday night. The youth had a Christmas party. Gifts were exchanged. And from someone who had never heard of Sea-monkeys—who thought they were simply a goofy gag gift—I found myself holding in my hands the very thing that I had looked for, dreamed of, and given up on so long ago. 

What do you say when that happens? It was as though God had reached right out, from out of the blue, and given a kiss. It came true. The dream was real! 

In a few days, we are going to celebrate something else that came true, something much more profound that Sea-monkeys. Literally, God reaching out and kissing the world, letting us know that he is going to do exactly what he promised. His complete, unreserved love is available to each and every person, beginning way back with Abraham and, working through ways both big and small, all the way up to now. 

The gospel writer John, in his first traveling letter to the church (I John), put it like this:

God’s love was revealed among us in that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him… In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us… 

Ah, such affection lavished on the unsuspecting. It’s enough to make you giggle. To sing out a song and “Magnificat”—“Tell-out the greatness of the Lord.” 

Thanks be to God. Amen.