“Expect the Unexpected”

Luke 1:26-38

December 11^th and 14th, 2003

St. Paul United Methodist Church

Rev. John Fleming

There are a lot of stories, oral traditions really, that used to go around about Noah Webster, the man for whom the dictionary was named, and the one who might be called the father of our country’s language. He was a wordsmith, of course, and a stickler and fanatic for the proper definition of words. It used to be that there were a lot of stories circulating about him. Some of these stories were true. Others probably were not true.

I do not know if the one that I found on a web site is true or not, it may be just a legend. As the story goes, there was, among several of the servants in the New Haven home of Maria and Noah Webster, a very pretty maid who worked upstairs. One day, Maria was searching for this particular maid. She wanted to give her particular instructions for a cleaning project. But, Mrs. Webster could not find the young maid anywhere. She had searched the house high and low. She had been in every room of the house with the exception of one. She had not been in her husband’s study. Now Maria knew better than to interrupt her husband’s work. His work was very important and significant. And besides that, he did not like to be interrupted. But finally, and as a last resort, Maria Webster decided that she would see if the maid happened to be in her husband’s study. She was as quiet as she could be. She thought that maybe a quick glance would be all that she would be required, and perhaps her husband would not realize that his door had been opened. So, she quietly opened the door. She found the beautiful maid, all right. She found her in the arms of her husband in what appeared to be a passionate kiss. You can imagine what Maria Webster did. She gasped when she saw what she saw. Her husband looked up and saw his wife standing there. The maid had a look of panic on her face. When Mrs. Webster had composed herself enough to say something, she exclaimed (and this might be the legend part of the story, I do not know), “Why Noah, I am surprised!” Now I told you that Noah Webster was a stickler for the right definition of words. It might not have been the best time to correct his wife. There was a better time. You would think that he would use the occasion to offer some sort of an excuse, flimsy or otherwise. But instead he said, “I beg to differ with you, my dear. I am surprised. You are astonished!” I wonder what happened after he said that.

You might say that there is a difference, even if it is a slight one, between being surprised and astonished. A surprise refers to the unexpected, like a surprise party, something that you were not expected. Being astounded is different from that. Being astounded means being flabbergasted, bewildered, and stunned by what you see and by what has happened. The experience of being astonished often leaves you speechless.

Here is the truth. Both words, surprised and astounded, are appropriate ones to describe what Mary was feeling when the angel, Gabriel, appeared to her. The happening of that, of course, is our scripture lesson for this morning, a story that is often called the announcement or the annunciation. I would like for us to look at this story and the one that immediately follows it, as we get ready to head toward the cradle and Bethlehem.

We know what this story is about. The angel, Gabriel, comes to Mary, announcing the news that she, above all the other women in the world, is to be the one to be the mother of the Messiah. Why wouldn’t she be surprised? Why wouldn’t she be astounded? Why wouldn’t she be amazed? After all, who would have ever imagined that Gabriel, or any angel for that matter, would appear to someone like Mary, a young peasant girl from a place like Nazareth? Later in the story, in John’s Gospel, Nathaniel will ask Philip, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

So, you see, Nazareth was not a highly regarded place. I do not know what you would compare Nazareth to these days. I could venture a guess or two, but one of you might be from there, so I won’t do that. This, of course, is not Gabriel’s first time making an announcement like this one. Flip back a few pages in your Bible and you will discover the first time that Gabriel, or at least an angel like him, made such an announcement. I would have liked to have been there, that day, outside the tent, when an angel appeared to Abraham. Abraham was an old man then. Some commentators guess that he was close to one hundred years old when the angel appeared and told him that come spring, his wife would have a baby. Sarah, too, was up in years. Their story is a great one and I love to tell it. Sarah’s ear was perched near the opening of the tent. She heard the words that the angel said to Abraham and then she laughed. The angel heard the laugh and wanted to know why she was laughing. He asks, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” The Bible says that when she was confronted about it, Sarah was afraid, and denied laughing. I love what the angel said. I love the biblical line that has the angel saying, “Oh yes, you did laugh.” She had to laugh. We all have to laugh at the promises of God when they seem so crazy, incredible, and contrary to what we have come to expect. We laugh when the promises seem so improbably, given the disappointments that we have all learned to expect in the real world that we live in.

Mary, of course, would have heard Abraham and Sarah’s story. Most likely, she knew the story by heart. She may have heard it a hundred different times in Vacation Bible School when she was a little younger. She may have known that God does things like this from time to time. Then there is another story, maybe even more compelling than Abraham and Sarah’s story. In fact, it is the story that begins the gospel of Luke. After a few introductory words, Luke tells the story of another old man, Zechariah, and his equally old wife, Elizabeth. I want you to understand this. The announcement to Zechariah will not go as well as the one given to Mary. In Zechariah’s story, Gabriel comes down and tells him that his wife is going to have a baby. She does, of course, and they name him John. But there is something inside of Zechariah. In Sarah it is doubt in the form of laughter. In Zechariah it was amazement mixed in with a touch of doubt. We know this because before the angel can leave, Zechariah asks, “How will I know that this is so, for I am an old man and my wife is getting up there in years.” I imagine that Gabriel puffed out his chest when he heard that question. You can sense that in his voice. Listen to his words, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.” Which seems to me to be a pretty rotten trick. Here was Zechariah who has been waiting a lifetime to tell someone that his wife is pregnant. To be fathers like to do that, you know. And now that the baby is on the way, he cannot tell anyone. In fact, he cannot even talk. Did I mention that he was a priest? Now how would you explain your inability to speak to your congregation come Sunday?

I think that Mary knows that first story and hears that her older cousin is pregnant. Maybe she makes the connection between the two. Luke tells us that Mary was filled with fear. Filled with fear is the biblical way of saying that she was astounded, which means that she was speechless. Don’t you know that the question entered her mind?: “What is God up to?” Mary, you see, is not like all of the others who have been told of their pregnancies. Luke points this out for us when he says that Mary was a virgin. His saying that is supposed to tell you more about her age than her sexual status. That is the surprise. Mary is young, just a girl, really, and an adolescent. All of the others, who have been promised miraculous births, have been old. This is something new. You are supposed to read the story that way. It is told that way to get your attention. Not only is she young, she is also from Nazareth, a nowhere little town. All of this, by the way, is just like Luke. His gospel is for everyone. He is the gospel writer who has angels appearing to shepherds instead of kings, announcing the birth. This entire story is characteristic of Luke. This is something new and this something new is that the same promise that had been given to Abraham was now being given to all of us, through Mary. Here is the promise: God will be with us and will never leave us.

I want you to see this. The announcement to Mary goes better than the one given to Zechariah. Zechariah shows a little doubt, and his speech is taken away. For some reason the angel went easier on Mary when she asked: “How can this be since I am a virgin?” What she was really wanting to know was, “How can this be, since I am not old?” “How can this be since I am from a place like Nazareth?” “How can this be since my parents are not prominent?” “How can this be?”

Listen to Gabriel’s answer, because it will be significant for the rest of our sermon. After giving Mary the details of the Holy Spirit, Gabriel says, “For nothing will be impossible with God”

That kind of line is throughout the Bible. When Jesus’ disciples ask who can be saved after a tough line about discipleship, the Master says, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible” And if that is the case, then you should never be caught saying something crazy like, “Well, you know I am just not the right person for that!” Or, “Well, this just is not the right time” I think that God just loves it when we say, “It is never going to happen!” Or, “It has never happened before!” Could it be that God takes on these challenges, personally? Why do we say things like that? All of these things seem to dismiss the occasion of God’s entering our worlds.

Here is what I think. I think that we have come to expect too little of our Savior. You can see that through the eyes of the Christmas season. The season arrives every year. Surprises are supposed to be all around us. I do not know who first said it. I am saying it today, “Most years we plan for a holiday and not a Holy day.” We call the things that we plan “traditions.” Do not get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with traditions. I love traditions. I like the fact that every year of my growing up years, my dad would look into our living room and say, “I believe that Santa Claus has been here.” I like that. I hold on to that and things like that. I love the fact that at Christmas I am with my family and away from all the pressures. Sometimes the season yields few surprises. My family, this year, is operating from lists. A list of the things I want and a list of the things that I am giving, can be easily found. There probably won’t be many surprises at our house come Christmas morning. I think that that is fine with a holiday, but not with a holy day, not with the appearance of a savior. His coming again must not be business as usual.

Please, go home with this. Expect great things from God this year. Have high hopes for Jesus this year. After all, hope is what we’re after. Be like the little boy that I heard of who went to church with his parents one Christmas eve. It was his earliest memory of a Christmas eve service. The church was full of people, first milling around, and then finding their places in pews. The boy and his parents found a place to sit. Then the organ began and the choir began processing down the center aisle, with the two preachers pulling up the rear. The congregation, full, started singing, “O come, O come, Emmanuel.” The little boy motioned for his mother to hear one of his whispers. He said this, “Mom, I think that something great is about to happen!” Friends, that is how I feel about this season. This year, more than any other year, that is how I feel. Something great is about to happen. Let us pray.

(Special thanks to www.curbstone.org for the opening story about Noah Webster. I discovered the story with a www.google.com search. Special thanks to the traditions that my parents have given me during the holiday season. Thanks is due to God, more than anyone, for the great surprises up His sleeve. I pray that God will surprise us this Holy season).