Advent is like a Beatles song....

Advent is like a Beatles song....
Sermon for Year B Advent 4 2011

Today we celebrate the fourth Sunday of Advent.
Today sets us on the home stretch towards Christmas.
Christ’s- mass.

On Advent 1
I said that Advent is like an alarm clock.
And thanks to Michael Rhodes and a very loud drum,
we all WOKE UP (at least for a few moments).

On Advent 2
I said that Advent is like chocolate.
And thanks to Hershey’s and the story of St. Nicholas
we all got a TASTE of Advent.

On Advent 3, just last week,
I said that Advent is like a joy ride.
And a number of you have told me this week
that you needed to be reminded
that God wants us to en-JOY life--
in Advent-- and beyond Advent.

So...I have to continue the tradition, right?
Today I would like to say
that Advent 4 is like a Beatles song.
That’s right.
A Beatles song...this is a pretty obvious one---
think Let it be.

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom,
let it be.

You see Mary, the mother-to-be of Jesus,
certainly knew a thing or two about times of trouble.

From the moment the angel Gabriel shows up on her doorstep
the times of trouble have begun.
Pregnant before married?
Trouble!
Having to face her family, the neighbors--AND tell Joseph!?
Trouble!
Exposing herself to the disapproval--or worse---
of the society in which she lived?
She finds herself
in times of trouble-- indeed!!

And yet, and yet...
there is something different about Mary.
She does have a wisdom that seems beyond her years.
She does have a willingness to be vulnerable
that seems to come right from her heart.

Mary is not without her fears--
remember, the angel says to her almost immediately,
Do not be afraid.

Her face, her eyes, her body posture must have told the angel Gabriel
that she is terrified.
Which also leads us to believe that having an angel show up
and speak to you
was not a common every day occurrence
even in the first century.

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

You have found favor with God.
Well, that sounds a little better doesn’t it?
What might Mary first imagine though?
Oh, maybe God is going to give Joseph and I a fine house to live in
after we are married.
Maybe God is going to bless us with flocks of sheep and herds of cattle!
Perhaps the angel has come to tell me
that God is going to bless all our days together
so that we will live to a healthy, happy old old age.

Favor with God! This is great!
Hmmm...be careful about trying to fit God into the box
of your own imagination.

And then the angel hits her with the real news.
You’re going to have a baby, Mary.
A really really special baby.

I think Mary blanks out right after she hears that she is to bear a son.
Right after she gets the instruction to name this baby Jesus.
I don’t think she even hears--at least not initially--
all those things
about how great this baby will be
and how this son of hers
is really the Son of God
and as great their ancestor King David.

I think Mary stops breathing or hearing anything
right after the angel says...
...you will conceive in your womb...

What!!!? How can that be?
I’m so young. I’m a virgin. What are you saying?!!!
(News like this might have been the beginning
of people posting NO SOLICITORS (OR ANGELS)
next to their front doors!)

But Mary does not slam the door on the angel
or push him out into the street
or run and hide under her bed.

She is shocked.
She is stunned.
But she keeps listening.
Let all those who have ears hear.

She starts to turn those words over in her head and in her heart..

...you have found favor with God
...The Lord is with you
...The Holy Spirit will come upon you
...the child to be born will be holy
...For nothing will be impossible with God.

She stops jumping to conclusions.
and listens.

NOTHING will be impossible with God.

Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be...”

Let it be.

Not "let it be" as in let it go;
but "let it be" as in let it become.

Let all you have told me happen.
Let everything God has promised become possible.
Let it be.
Yes,

Advent is like a Beatles song...

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.
There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.


I cannot in any way confirm
that Paul McCartney
wrote this song thinking about the Annunciation.

But I can confirm that when the night is cloudy
when our lives seem lost in darkness
God is with us
and there is a light that tries to break through--
even against what may seem impossible odds.
There will be an answer.
It may not be the answer we expect,
but there will be an answer.


Remember how we started this season?
With me telling you that the word “advent”
is from the Latin word adventus
which means “come” or “coming”?

We are coming to the end of Advent.
We are coming to Christmas.
Mary has said YES!

The light of the world is breaking through the darkness.
The Word is about to be made flesh
and come.

And our response?

Let it be.
Let it be.
Let it be.