Pastor Alan Sherouse writes a story about preparing for Christmas with his children. He wanted his kids to understand the real meaning of Christmas. So, one night, in the middle of December, he sat down at the kitchen table with his youngest child, and they began to assemble a cardboard cutout nativity scene: a stable, a manger, Mary and Joseph, sheep, cows, shepherds and of course: The baby Jesus.
“Fold on the dotted line,” the instructions said. And “Place tab A into slot B…tab C into D…cut here…glue here…and so on.
Within just a few minutes, well…it was a disaster. Nothing worked as intended. Nothing looked like the picture on the box. The kitchen table was littered with torn, bent, spineless figures just wilting over. The baby Jesus was attached to Mary’s foot, there was a sheep stuck to Joseph’s head, and a shepherd had been torn in two, the long way. The father, in his frustration was close to just clearing the table and trashing the whole thing.
The four-year-old, who was supposed to be learning the real meaning of Christmas, looked over the table, and said, “So, Daddy, is God anywhere in all this mess?”
“Where exactly, is God in all this mess?” This is actually a powerful, and an important question. It is a question that over the years, I have heard so many people…so many of you…ask, as you’ve experienced all the unexpected curveballs that life can throw at you.
Just think about it for a moment:
- Somewhere last night, maybe right here in Owatonna, someone sat up half the night worrying because they were laid off from their job…they have been a longtime, dedicated employee, but now, they are full of anxiety…for their family…for their future. And they wonder: “Where is God, in this mess?
- Somewhere in the world, right now, maybe right here in Owatonna, a spouse is gripping the hand of their husband, or wife, awaiting news of a diagnosis: “Where is God,” they wonder, “in the uncertainty?”
- Somewhere, a family gathers around a bed to say goodbye to a loved one. “Where is God,” they wonder, “in our loss? In our grief?”
- Somewhere, someone pulls out their phone, or opens the paper to read the news headlines…and they wonder, “Where is God in all of this chaos?”
“Where is God, in this mess?” When have you asked this question? We all have experienced these moments of pain, and challenge, and fear, and grief…and we have found ourselves asking…wondering… ”God, where are you?”
My friends, welcome to the season of Advent. And while at first glance this might just seem like another day on the calendar… another four weeks to go on the countdown to Christmas…it is much, much more.
Because in the season of Advent, we can find an answer to our question… ”where is God, in the midst of the mess?”
In this season of Advent, we can discover, the very same thing that Mary learned, when the angel Gabriel visited her, 9 months before Jesus was born; that God is right here, in the midst of the mess with us.
Our Gospel story tells us that when Gabriel came to Mary, the very first thing, that the Angel said to that young, anxious woman, is “The Lord is with you.” And then he says, “Do not be afraid.” This is really important.
Mary, you see, would have good reason to be anxious and afraid.
First, of course, is the fact that she was visited in the middle of the night by an angel at all. That, by itself, should freak anyone out.
But then, there was what the angel shared with her: That she would have a child…that she would give birth to the Son of God…to the Messiah. Now, that’s good news. But Mary knew right away that there would be a ton of baggage that went with that Good News.
That Mary would be pregnant before she was married, and that Joseph was not the father? That was a huge deal. People would assume, of course, that Mary had been unfaithful to Joseph. And because of this unfaithfulness, Joseph would have been in his rights to break their engagement. And to be accused of unfaithfulness… well, historically, women had been stoned to death because of this.
At best, Mary and her child, without the attachment to a husband and father, would have been rejected… shunned…discarded by polite society.
Yes, Mary had good, good reason to be anxious.
Have you ever worried about being rejected or discarded? Have you felt this kind of fear? Many of you have…I’ve heard your stories. I’ve heard stories of being ignored…or set aside…or estranged from family, or friends, or employers, or teammates.
The author, Ralph Ellison, in his novel, The Invisible Man, wrote that:
“To be rejected is to be thrown away like a used-up thing, as if one were not a human being at all”
Discarded, like a used up thing…like a scrap.
I’ve spoken here before about my connection with Westhaven Children’s Home in the town of Copse, in Jamaica. It is a place of safety and hope for about 80 beautiful children, who are developmentally disabled and who do not have parents, or a family. I’ve been there many times.
Omar was a young child I met who came to live at Westhaven when he was 3. We don’t know his story…all we know is that he was found, by himself, on a bus that had just arrived in Montego Bay from Kingston. All we can presume is that his parents could not provide care for him. So, they put him on this bus, hoping that someone on the other end of the line would find him and provide the care he needed. Omar had been literally discarded. The police found him…and he was sent to live at Westhaven.
Many of the children at Westhaven are there because there is no other place for them. Some were sent there by the courts. Some by parents who could not take care of them. Some were abandoned… They were discarded…scraps.
But something amazing…something driven by God’s Spirit takes place at Westhaven. Together, these children, and the house mothers who care for them, have formed a community. And they love each other.
When Omar showed up there, the other kids, each of whom have their own cognitive or physical disabilities, took him in…accepted him…and he belongs. The children of Westhaven take care of each other. And because of that, Westhaven is this beautiful place of love and hope. This community of discarded people, this island of misfit toys, have woven something beautiful together.
Theologian Kayla Craig compares our lives to a well-worn quilt. I love this imagery. Quilts are made up of these smaller pieces of cloth…these small pieces…many of which are simply scraps…pieces cut away from other pieces of cloth…small pieces that just as well could have been discarded. But through care, and skill, and patience, and love…along with needle and thread…these pieces are sewn together…sewn together into something beautiful…and blessed; something that brings warmth, and comfort.
This Advent season reminds us that what some may see as discarded scraps, the Maker of heaven and earth calls beautiful and blessed.
This was true for Mary. While this young woman knew what might happen…knew that she and her baby might wind up as human discards…she trusted that God had other plans for her. And God was faithful.
Unto her, a child was born…unto her, a son was given…the baby Jesus, who grew up, and brought love, hope and salvation to the world…who brought love, hope and salvation to you.
There are three things that I’d like you to remember today:
First: though we live in a world that can feel like a mess…and sometimes it is difficult to see where God is in the midst of it…the angel Gabriel’s words to Mary are also his words to us: “Do not be afraid…the God who loves you, doesn’t leave you.
Second, you are a blessing. You may not always feel that way…but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. You are not a scrap, or a discard…you are a blessing. You are a blessing because the one from whom all blessings flow sees you, knows you and calls you by name.
And finally, at some point in our lives, we have all experienced brokenness. We have all experienced separation. We have all experienced rejection. We have all felt discarded.
But like a quilt, the scraps that are our lives have been knit together by God. And like these little pieces of cloth…we have been formed into something beautiful…something holy…together.
Mary is described as “blessed among women.” She was neither wealthy nor powerful. Yet, she was chosen to bear God’s child.
Her story is one not of brokenness, but of blessedness. So is yours.
Like Mary, you are a blessing, because you belong to God. And together we are woven into something beautiful.
When you see blessedness as your beginning, you begin to see the world, and each other, through the eyes of a God who says, “I have called you by name. You are mine. And you are precious in my sight.”
Thanks be to God!
Amen.
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