"One Holy Mess"

Sermon 12.20.09
One Holy Mess

An elderly woman named Elizabeth who had tried for many years to become pregnant finds herself suddenly with child. Her husband, Zechariah, is now mute, having been struck dumb by the angel Gabriel when he did not believe this possible. Mary, a poor teenager, who is Elizabeth’s cousin, has been told by the same angel that she will bear the Son of God and has conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit even though she is a virgin. Her fiancée, Joseph, is confused and upset and ready to call off the engagement. It may sound like a daytime soap opera or a nighttime reality tv show. Maybe it was Gabrial’s night out for mischief. What I call it is one holy mess.

And now these two women have come together in today’s gospel text to compare their obstetrical conditions. One would expect that there would be great amounts of anxiety and worry. Elizabeth had every right to be concerned about motherhood at such an advanced age. What 50 or 60 year old woman wants to deal with the terrible two’s after years of peaceful quietude? Who wants to be washing out diapers during one’s golden years? What unwed teenage mother hasn’t wrung her hands at her fate? How many have had to explain the situation to boyfriends who then dumped them and ran in the other directions.

Yet, curiously, in the midst of all of this fretfulness and apprehension, there is a calmness. There’s not pity party, no complaining, commiserating or even mild whining. The attitude of these woman is “the pull up your big girl panties and deal with it” practical thinking. And it’s even more.

Instead, there is the sense of joyful anticipation, rather than dread of the circumstances. Mary and Elizabeth have dared to call themselves blessed, rejoicing in the miracles that have taken place. Their worlds are about to be turned upside down, the unthinkable is happening to them, they are in utterly unstable places in their lives, It’s one holy mess and you’d think that eventually one of them would realize this fact.

But they get it in a different way, and at first they are so happy that you have to wonder which of the two is crazier. Even the baby in Elizabeth’s womb is rejoicing. They are looking at the good portions of their lives and praising God for their good fortunes. Mary’s song, called the Magnificat, is bursting with energy and passion. She was an average girl with an average life, who has come from lowliness and elevated to the status as the mother of our Savior. Elizabeth cries out, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” And how wonderful it is that you, the mother of my Lord, has come to see me.”

Both Mary and Elizabeth have opened themselves up to the unexpected presence of the divine in their lives. The pattern of their lives has been interrupted with the unfolding of a miracle. God has come in, scrambled up everything, and turned their worlds on end, and Mary says, “The Mighty One has done great things for me.. Wow – talk about positivity in the face of calamity. We have so much to learn from their example.

Lots of us have holy messes as part of our lives. Right now there’s a great deal of Christmas chaos going on, with only four full shopping days left. For many folks, Christmas is not merry and bright. People worry about getting the right gift, folks fret over not sending cards to people because it’s gotten so expensive. Some family dread the forced-togetherness of the holidays because cousins Sue and Bob can’t be seated next to each other at the dinner table. There will be too many parties with too much fattening food or the parties won’t be as festive because of a separation, a divorce, a death. Unemployment takes the fun out of falalalala.

And yet God continues to draw near. There is no place in our lives that is so messy that God can’t seek us out and find us. There is no situation in our lives that does not contain a blessing or a reason for rejoicing. That is the good news that we need to hear this morning. As they say in the African American churches, “God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.”

But our human tendency is such that when the problems of our lives get too difficult, too overwhelming, too big, we get the sense that God has abandoned us. We shake our fist at heaven and ask, “God, where are you when I’m in such a mess?”

When our lives seem especially frantic…and this is the perfect week to be in this spot, Jesus will still find a way to speak out to us and remind us of his grace and his glory. Even in our busy-ness and even in our Christmas clutter, the Spirit will hover over wrapping paper and arguments with in-laws. In a season of chaos, God is still in control, and you can run, but you can’t hide. Your mess will still contain an element of holiness. God draws near to you, even if you can’t draw near to God. For that alone, we give thanks and praise to the Almighty.

Mary and Elizabeth were bright enough to understand that their predicaments still had profound possibilities. They were willing to look past the negatives and be receptive to God’s plans for their lives. They rejoiced and exalted and magnified the Lord. They did not shake their fists, but talked of promises fulfilled, mercy restored from one generation to another, and being looked upon with favor. Both, at the same time, however, realize their limitations as human mothers.

Rearing kids is like holding a wet bar of soap. Too firm a grasp and it shoots from your hand. Too loose a grasp and it slides away. A gentle but firm grasp keeps it in your control.

Kahil Gibran, in The Prophet, expresses well the hard task of a mother to love completely and deeply and yet always with the task of letting go. You may give them your love, but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies, but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow; which you cannot visit. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you, for life does not go backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the books from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
May we find time this season, as we consider our holy messes, to give way to rejoicing, for we know that God is at work in our lives somewhere and somehow. May we be open to finding the blessedness rather than the wretchedness. May we allow the spirit of God to lift us up when we are lowly and fill us with good things when we are hungry. May we see the riches of the our lives against the pain. The Spanish have a proverb that says that an ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy, so think hard on the blessings of Elizabeth and Mary.
Let us rejoice and be glad and allow the spirit of God to do great things for us, so that we, too, may magnify the Lord. Amen.