December 9, 2012
Worry
- Luke 1:46-55
- Dr. Teri Thomas
That passage is called the Magnificat.
It is the song Mary sang to her cousin Elizabeth
A song of feeling blessed
A song of joyful anticipation
A song of promise
A song of trust
But if we back up in the story just a few lines
Mary was a 13 year old girl
Living at home with her parents
Minding her own business
Waiting to be married off to some old carpenter named Joseph
And out of the blue an angel appears
telling her she is going to have a child
And the scripture says she was perplexed
Perplexed?
How about troubled?
Astonished
Astounded
Baffled
Bewildered
Anxious
Scared spitless
How about worried?
She is not married.
She has not slept with Joseph.
Now she is pregnant.
And God made it happen.
People will talk
What if no one believes me?
Of my gosh, what will my parents do?
What if they disown me?
What if Joseph doesn’t understand?
What if he cancels the wedding?
Oh my goodness gracious, what am I going to do?
And the angel said to Mary
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God…and nothing will be impossible with God.”
Don’t worry.
This is God’s favor?????
Do not worry??
You've got to be kidding.
You can imagine how she felt.
Many days, life feels like one worry strung after another
like lights on a morbid Christmas tree.
we worry about our mother who is lonely,
our friend who is ill,
our son who has turned away from his faith,
we worry about our to-do list at work,
how to pay the mortgage,
or whether we can stay in our home as we age,
we worry about… well, you name it…
Struggles with your family?
Conflict in a relationship?
A decision you must make?
An uncertain future?
It seems the mind never lacks for something to worry about.
And the angel says, “Do not worry.”
Surely he’s not serious?
Oh, but he was.
So Mary decides-
It is what it is.
Here I am, unwed and pregnant and scared.
Can’t do anything to change that.
But hey, if God is part of it- things must be OK.
Gee, God selected me for this.
Wow, this could really be an awesome experience.
God’s been so good to others through history.
God can be just as good to me.
Mary did exactly what God had hoped.
She took a step back from the situation.
Stopped obsessing.
She thought it through
She shut off her worry and trusted God.
God has given us what we need to live faithfully –
the grace of God,
the peace of Christ,
the gift of the Spirit.
To live this life without worry
We need to have trust.
To have faith.
To have confidence.
And to let God be God.
And I doubt that a less anxious life is beyond our reach.
God is not in the habit of commanding what is unattainable,
nor does God ignore the realities of the world we live in.
And God doesn’t promise that we will face no suffering or have no struggle.
Rather, it’s that within this broken world
we remain connected to a different set of values and resources,
and, because of that, we are able to overcome whatever life may throw at us.
The world may remain broken, and we may still be wounded by it,
but we have a God who promises comfort and presence even in the worst of it.
Mary sang it very well for us-
Our souls magnify the Lord,
and our spirits rejoice in God our Savior,
for God has looked with favor on us,
from now on all generations will call us blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for us.”
Thanks be to God.
Amen.