Sermon – Luke 1:46-55 Mary's Song

 Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon – Luke 1:46-55 Mary's Song
December 26, 2021

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This is the First Sunday of Christmas.   Zechariah and Elizabeth are still celebrating the birth of the child that they had prayed for, for so long.  And the birth of Mary's son was celebrated just yesterday, on Christmas.  

As Mary pondered about what had happened to her, the visit of the angel, the conversation with cousin Elizabeth, and her nine months of carrying God's son, the visit of shepherds and the birth of her son,  she has had time to reflect.  And she discovered that she is a part of a plan, God's plan, which began generations before her and will continue for generations after her. As she thought about all that was happening to her she began to sing.   And her song has been sung by the church ever since.  We call it the Magnificat.  We will get to this glorious work, but first let's pray.

God of grace, you chose the Virgin Mary, full of grace, to be the mother of our Lord and Savior.  Now fill us with your grace, that with her, we may rejoice in your salvation, and in all things, embrace your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.  (Book of Common Worship p.176)

As Mary thought about all that was happening to her she sang this song.   Mary began her song by rejoicing for all that had happened to her.  Let’s look closely at Mary’s song.

46 … “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

In the midst of her unplanned pregnancy, Mary experienced great joy.  At a time like this she should have been experiencing fear, fear for her and her son’s future.    She doesn’t know for sure what reaction her family and fiance will have when she returns from her cousin’s house, six months pregnant, and still unmarried.  But she remembered from whom she received her joy.   Her joy came from God Almighty.  And this made all the difference.

48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

    Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

    and holy is his name.

So Mary, rather than fearing for her future, praised  God Almighty.   She realized how blessed she was to carry God’s own son.   And Mary knew that the joy she was experiencing was available to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ.

50 His mercy is for those who fear him

    from generation to generation.

Mary realized that the name she was told to give her son, “Jesus”,  means “God Saves”.  And she knew that all who placed their faith in her son would be blessed with salvation, the forgiveness of sin and promise of eternal life.   Mary then sang about the great benefit we receive from faith in our savior.

51 He has shown strength with his arm;

    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

    and lifted up the lowly;

53 he has filled the hungry with good things,

    and sent the rich away empty.

Here, we see a great reversal.  Those who hoard God’s gifts will see them be taken away.   But those who are needy will be blessed.   Mary knows all this because she knows what God has done in the history of her people.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

    in remembrance of his mercy,

55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

    to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

In this song Mary did what we often do whenever we face important events.  At the birth of her son, Mary was thinking about generations, both the generations before that led to the birth of son and the generations after that will be affected by the birth of Jesus.  

Mary remembered the birth of her ancestor Isaac who was born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age.  He was the beginning of a promise to Abraham and Sarah that their descendants would number more than all the grains of sand on the seashore, more than all the stars in heaven.  And Mary knew that her own son, Jesus would fulfill God's promise to Abraham and Sarah that their family would bless all the families of the world.

Mary also remembered the birth of Obed, whose father had married a young Moabite widow named Ruth.  Obed was the grandfather of King David to whom God promised that his descendants would reign as kings forever.  Mary knew that her own son was a descendant of David, and would fulfill this promise of God by reigning in the Kingdom of God for eternity.

Mary also remembered the birth of the great prophet Samuel whose mother, Hannah, had prayed for a son for so long.  Hannah promised God that her son would be dedicated to God's work if she was blessed with a pregnancy.  When God fulfilled his promise and gave her a son, Hannah fulfilled her promise.   She dedicated her son’s life to the service of the Lord.   He became the great prophet Samuel.     And like Samuel, Mary's son will also become a great prophet.  

Mary also thought about future generations, people who would be adopted into Abraham and Sarah's family and be participants in his covenant.  She thought about generations who would live under the sovereignty of her son and who would be guided by his teaching.  In other words Mary was thinking about all of us.

This Christmas we too are thinking about generations.  We remember those who nurtured us in the faith.  And we think about future generations whom we can influence by our words and actions now.  

I can remember my grandfather.  When I was little, he didn't go to church, but he drove my grandmother there every Sunday morning.  One day he asked my grandmother if he could go to church with her.  This surprised her, and she said “yes”.  The next Sunday they went to church together for the first time.  My grandfather was surprised.  He had grown up in a harsh church that would rap his knuckles if he did anything wrong.  But in my grandmother's Presbyterian church everyone was so friendly.  He joined the church and attended worship for as long as he could until he became sick and died.

I also remember my grandmother.  Her father died when she was 21 and she had to live with her brother Harry who managed a store in a coal mining town called Butte, Pennsylvania.  As she was leaving her home to live with her brother, a friend gave her a beautiful print.  On it was the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments.  She hung this print in her bedroom and used it in her daily morning and evening prayers.  When my mother was born the print went into her bedroom so my mother would be reminded of the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments every day.  I found the print in my grandmother's attic one day, and told my grandmother that it was so beautiful it should be displayed.  She put it up in the hallway.  And a few years later she gave it to me.  And this beautiful print now hangs in the pastor's office here at Presbyterian Church of Easton.  It reminds me, every day, of the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments and of my grandmother who prayed for me every day.

I have no children of my own to nurture in the faith.  A few years ago I would talk about faith with my young nieces and nephews.  I would bring Christian Christmas presents to their houses on Christmas day.  And I would invite them to come to special events at the church.  But then I moved far away to attend seminary, and the churches I have served since then have been far from their homes.  So I have very little influence over their faith now.  I pray that somehow they will come to faith.  

Now I have two wonderful stepsons and my hope is that their faith will grow.   I pray for the faith of their wife and girlfriend.  And I also hope to have the opportunity to nurture grandchildren in the faith someday.

I know that all of you have rich memories of faithful people in your lives.  I have heard some of your stories of how you grew up in the faith and have nurtured your own children and grandchildren. 

The Bible shows the importance of generations in its genealogies.  The Gospel of Matthew begins with a “record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.”   Matthew connects Jesus, generation by generation, to God's covenant with Abraham and Sarah.    In the Gospel of Luke a genealogy of Jesus is used to set the context for his earthly ministry.  This genealogy connects Jesus to Adam and Eve and the creation of the world.

As Mary thought about her history and her future she realized something vitally important.  The God she worshiped was a champion of the poor, the weak and the insignificant.  Here she is a poor insignificant young woman with whom God has chosen to bear a son.  God could have chosen one of the King's daughters.  But he didn't.  He chose the lowest of people for the highest of calling.  Sarah and Abraham were Bedouin herdsmen, and they were chosen to start a great nation.  Ruth was an alien widow, and she was chosen to bear the grandfather of King David.  Hannah was a simple farmer's wife, and she was chosen to bear the great prophet Samuel.  Zechariah was a simple country priest and his wife, Elizabeth, bore a son who proclaimed the coming of a Messiah.  And Mary was just a poor unmarried girl living in a tiny village in the region of Galilee during Roman occupation and she was chosen to bear the savior of the world.

God chooses the lowly for great things.  And this is really good news for us at Christmas.  God chooses us, not the sons and daughters of presidents and corporate leaders, but us to do extraordinary things.  And what are the extraordinary things we are chosen for?  We are chosen to nurture future generations in the faithfulness and love of Jesus Christ.  This is your calling this Christmas.   Let's pray.

Almighty God, Christ your Word became flesh and dwelt among us, born in Bethlehem. May we receive Christ into our lives and become, through him, your blessed children who walk in the light you have sent into our world. Through Christ we pray. Amen. (Feasting on the Word Worship Companion C1 p. 26.)

Sermon Luke 2:1-21 “God’s Son and God’s Song”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon Luke 2:1-21 “God’s Son and God’s Song”
December 24, 2021

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  This is the eve of Christmas.   This is the day each year when we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   And we remember that God came into the world to be with us.   We know that God arrived because of a proclamation of the angels to a group of ordinary shepherds saying, ““Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”"  We will get to this extraordinary event on an ordinary day to ordinary people, but first let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Throughout the Advent season we have been looking at the sons and songs of Christmas.   We met Zachariah and Elizabeth who were looking for a son in their old age.   And when the miraculous event happened they began to praise God in song.   Then we watched as a young woman was told that her son would be the Son of God.  And this Sunday we will hear the wonderful song she sang.   But tonight is a time for God’s son and God’s song.

We last saw Mary as she was going home to tell her parents and her fiance that even though she was pregnant, now six months, she is still a virgin because the baby is God’s son.   We don’t know the reaction of her parents when they heard this news.   But we do know something about the reaction of her fiancé, Joseph.    

Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 

So Joseph has decided that he will not publicly humiliate Mary or subject her to stoning.   But he is going to break off the relationship, as any man would,  if he thought that his fiance had been unfaithful to him.  But this was not part of God’s plan, so once again the angel Gabriel was dispatched.

20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

So what is Joseph to do?   Does he base his whole life on a dream?  Does he take on the responsibility of raising this child?  Yes, he does.

24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Mary and Joseph are in this together.   And they are ready to make a family to nurture God’s son.  When suddenly, by government order, they are forced to make the long difficult journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Luke 2:1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

So the couple, together with their extended family and most of the community, went on a week’s journey on foot.  Hopefully someone offered pregnant Mary a donkey or a cart to ride in.  When they arrived in Bethlehem they found the village crowded and there was no place for them to stay.   They were offered a place to stay underneath the house, where the animals were kept.   It was there that Mary had her baby and placed him in a stone feeding trough, a manger.

6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

With the birth of his son, God was ready to celebrate.   And God knew exactly where to go to get a party started.   He dispatched the angel Gabriel again to speak to some bedouin shepherds and give them an invitation to his son’s birth party.

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

This is quite an invitation, good news! great joy!  It must be a spectacular party.  And it is nearby in the village of Bethlehem.  But shepherds needed to know where the party was going to take place.   Where in Bethlehem is the celebration?  And Gabriel told them.

12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” … 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

And with that the shepherds went off looking for a great celebration for the birth party of the Messiah.    They went into nearby Bethlehem and found the newly born baby in a manger just as the angel had said.

16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 

So the shepherds showed up to the party God had planned for the birth of his son.   The Son of God had been born and was lying there in a feeding trough just as the angel had said.   The shepherds were joyful.  But what about Mary?  She is the mother.  How does she feel?  What did she do?

19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds have found the great celebration of the birth of the Messiah, the Son of God.   And they just can’t wait to tell others about the good news and the great joy.  

  20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The good news of great joy is that God’s son has been born in Bethlehem.  The shepherds have started a great celebration.   And it is time for God’s song to be sung.

 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

 

In our Christmas story we have some shepherds.   They were doing very ordinary things.   They were doing what shepherds do, “living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.” It must be summertime and hot for them to be in the fields.   Otherwise they would be huddled caves with the animals for warmth in the winter.   Shepherds have done this for thousands of years since we began raising animals.   A young David had lived in this field a thousand years before his descendant Jesus was born.   For ordinary shepherds, it was just another ordinary day.

Also in our Christmas story we have a young couple with a newly born baby.  They too were doing very ordinary things.  The mother “gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”   There were no maternity hospitals two thousand years ago.   Women had babies wherever they happened to be.  They might have a baby out in the field, or maybe in a barn with animals.   They might even use a feeding trough or manger as a makeshift cradle for the baby.    Giving birth this way was very ordinary, nothing special.  

We all know what it is like to live an ordinary day.  Every day I wake up around 7.   I have breakfast.  At 8 Grace and I come to the church to sing, read the Bible together, and pray.   Then I go to my office to read and write.   I visit people and go to meetings.   Along the way I eat lunch.   I usually go home for dinner, and then either rest or come back to the church for a meeting, or prayer service or GriefShare.   I live many ordinary days just like this.  

But some days are extraordinary.    We remember the days when we got married or when a child was born.   We remember graduations and first jobs.   And we celebrate the anniversary of our birthday every year.   We have many ordinary days and a few extraordinary days now and then.

We would expect that God would do something extraordinary for the birth of his son.  God might glorify himself with an extraordinary display of power.   Maybe a savior would come leading an army of angel warriors to bring the Kingdom of God from heaven to earth.  An extraordinary event like that would certainly bring great glory to God.  God too would receive fame, recognition, honor and prestige. But that is not what God did.  Rather than sending a mighty warrior leading the angelic hosts God did something very ordinary.   God was the father of a newborn baby and God asked the angel choir to sing, "Glory to God in the highest.”

This is good news for us.   We will experience the Glory of God during the ordinary moments in our lives.   God will come to us in our ordinary daily prayers.   God will come to us in our ordinary Sunday worship.   God will enter into our ordinary lives with an extraordinary gift.   The Christmas gift we receive from God is nothing less than, “on earth peace among those whom he favors!"   

And this is my hope for you this day:  That the Glory of God would come into your ordinary lives and, like Mary, you will remember and ponder what happens.   Christmas is not an ordinary day.  Christmas is an extraordinary day when God himself decided to come here to be with us.   

So the Glory of God came on an ordinary day to ordinary shepherds, an ordinary man just doing what he was supposed to do, and an ordinary mother giving birth.   Everything seems pretty ordinary in this story.   But there is one very extraordinary character in the Christmas story.  His name was Jesus.  This extraordinary baby came to bring the Glory of God to all people on earth.   He came to save us from the evil one, forgive our sin, and promise us eternal life.    This baby is the anointed one, the descendant of King David of whom the prophets had foretold.  And he was the son of the living God.   The Glory of God came as an extraordinary baby into a very ordinary world.     

Angels announced his birth.  Shepherds spread the good news.   Joseph did what he was supposed to do.   Mary pondered all this in her heart.   And Jesus, the Glory of God, was born.   Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, prepare our hearts for the coming of a savior this Christmas.    Let your glory come into our ordinary lives.   And lead us to proclaim the extraordinary good news of your coming to an ordinary world.   This we pray in the name of your newborn son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Grace and Peace Episode 63

 Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Grace and Peace Episode 63
Presbyterian Church of Easton
December 12, 2021

Watch Episode 63

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2

Heidelberg Catechism

127 Q.  What does the sixth petition mean?

A. “And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one” means:  By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment.  And our sworn enemies— the devil,  the world,  and our own flesh— never stop attacking us.  And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory.

128 Q.  What does your conclusion to this prayer mean?

A.“For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours forever” means: We have made all these petitions of you because, as our all-powerful king, you are both willing and able to give us all that is good; and because your holy name, and not we ourselves, should receive all the praise, forever.

129 Q.  What does that little word “Amen” express?

A. “Amen” means:   This shall truly and surely be! It is even more sure that God listens to my prayer than that I really desire what I pray for.

Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  11Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

Usually our prayers end with “Amen”.  We conclude prayer that way because we can have confidence that our prayers are heard by God and God will act upon them for our benefit.   Because God has infinite knowledge he can make far better decisions for us than we can make for ourselves.  

But is there anything that comes after “Amen”?   What’s next when we open our eyes, unclasp our hands and stand up from kneeling?  Well, two things happen when our prayers end.   First, we are called to live lives of service in the kingdom of God.   Second, we are called to engage in spiritual warfare against the devil and the forces of evil here on earth.   After praying, God equips us with everything we need to follow Christ in a fallen and evil world.  In the Lord’s prayer we pray for nothing less than the Kingdom of God to replace the world as we know it.

Father in heaven, we pray that you give us what we need to serve others as your ambassadors and fight evil as your soldiers.  Equip up and protect us as we advance your kingdom here on earth.   We pray this in our Lord Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Sermon – Luke 1:26-45, 56 Mary’s Son

 Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon – Luke 1:26-45, 56  Mary’s Son
December 12, 2021

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This is the third Sunday in the season of Advent.  So far we have accompanied a priest named Zachariah into the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem temple.  There he saw the angel Gabriel who gave him extraordinary news.  The son he and his wife had prayed for for so many years would be born.  And he would be a prophet who would proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sin and the coming of the messiah.  Zachariah was so overjoyed with this experience of an immanent God. he burst out into song celebrating:  God with us. 

Today we will hear about a second visit of the angel Gabriel, this time to a young unmarried woman named Mary.  Emmanuel, God with us, is about to do another extraordinary thing.  We will get to this, but first let's pray, using the Angelus, borrowed from our Roman Catholic friends.

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Imagine that you are in the checkout line of a grocery store.  There, next to the register are the supermarket tabloids.  Their headlines are a mixture of sex, politics and religion.  You might see something like this, “Catholic Nun has President's Love Child”.  This may or may not grab your attention.  But what if you read, “Pregnant Teenager Claims to Still Be a Virgin.  God is the Father.  Child is the King of the World.  Read All About It!”  Would that grab your attention?  If so, listen up.

Luke 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, 

“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 

29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 

30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 

Pretend for a moment that you are a 13 year-old girl living in a small village.  Your future is secure because your family has already found a husband who will take care of you.  All you have to do is produce sons and you will have a wonderful life all of your days.  But then one night an angel comes with an amazing offer.  You will bear God's son and he will be the messiah who will restore the Davidic kingdom.  How would you react if that was God's plan for your life?  Let's see how young Mary responded.

34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 

Good question!  Mary is obviously a good girl.  She obeys all the rules.  She knows what is expected of her.  She wants to do the right thing.  And at this point she is probably scared to death.  This might be the time to scream for her mother.  But Mary keeps under control and wants to know how all this is going to happen.  Let's hear Gabriel's reply.

35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 

So there is nothing that Mary needs to do.  All that is required is for her to remain faithful and open to whatever God has planned.  This is what election is all about.  God created each of us for a specific purpose.  All we have to do is remain faithful and willing to follow God wherever he might take you.

When I was Mary's age I loved going to church, and I loved public speaking.  I was on my school's debate team and went to church every Sunday with my family.   People saw me and said that one day I would be a pastor.    But I enjoy mathematics and science.  I went to college and majored in physics.  While at Dickinson College I ran into a Philosophy professor named Frederick Ferre.  He encouraged me to study both physics and philosophy.  I ended up with a double major in both.

But what I really wanted was to run my own business.  So when I graduated from college,  I took over my father's Baskin Robbins franchise and started working on a Master of Business Administration at George Mason University.  I eventually started a chain of wicker furniture stores and later sold computer systems to retail stores.  I was good at business, but I realized that I wasn't satisfied with this kind of work.

What did satisfy me was teaching Bible studies at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington DC.  While I did this I kept having a nagging feeling that maybe I should be a pastor.  And so in 2004 I went to Fuller Seminary.  Finally, I was on the path that God had created for me to walk.

Mary didn't wait three decades to begin following God's plan for her life.  Even as a young teenager she knew what to do when God called.  Let's listen.

 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

And so Mary obediently accepted God's plan for her life.  But her parents are about to read some headlines in the supermarket tabloid.   “Pregnant Teenager Claims to Still Be a Virgin.  God is the Father.  Child is the King of the World.”  Before her parents get the news, Mary figures that it is time to visit an older cousin, Elizabeth, to receive some words of wisdom.  

39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 

Elizabeth knows what it is like to receive some good news from God.  God had finally blessed her with a pregnancy after so many years of prayer.  She recognizes that Mary has received some really good news.   Elizabeth is overjoyed and wants to celebrate.

And that's when Mary can ask the question on her mind, Why me?  This is often the question we ask when we realize God's purpose in our lives.  We spend our time trying to achieve our own purposes for our lives.  We get education and experience to do what we want to do.  And we don't want to give all that up.  But sometimes to do what God wants you to do you have to give up what you want to do.

That's what happened to me.  I resisted God's call on my life for decades.  I prayed over and over that God would bless what I wanted.  I prayed that my business would be more successful.  Those prayers were granted to an extent.  But what I know now is that God had something else in mind for me.  God wanted me to surrender to his will.  Which I finally did at age 47.

It doesn't matter when you start to follow God's plan for your life.   You can start as a teenager like Mary.  You can start in middle age like me.  I even have a friend who started seminary in his 70s.  You are never too old to begin following what God is calling you to do.  And you are never too young either.  John the Baptist wasn't even born yet when he started proclaiming the coming of the messiah.

43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

56 And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

Mary, filled with God's blessings and following God's plan for her life, stayed with Elizabeth until John was born.  Then she returned to her family and her fiance with the following news, “Pregnant Teenager Claims to Still Be a Virgin.  God is the Father.  Child is the King of the World.”  The Bible leaves the  conversation between Mary and her parents and Joseph to our imaginations.  How would we react if a young daughter or fiance came to us with news like this?  Hopefully we would see it for what it is.  God has a plan for Mary's life, and this is it.  She is to bear God's son the Messiah.

Each of us was born with a purpose given to us by God.  As an act of faith we are to discern God's plan on our lives and do what God wants done.  Do this and you will live with the satisfaction of being a part of God's plan for creation.  Let's pray.

Emmanuel, God with us, we thank you for choosing us to be part of your plan.  We thank you for giving our lives a purpose.  We pray for your Spirit to help us surrender to your will so we may follow you all the days of our lives.  In your son's name we pray.  Amen.

Grace and Peace Episode 62

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Grace and Peace Episode 62
Presbyterian Church of Easton
December 5, 2021

Watch Episode 62

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2

Heidelberg Catechism

126 Q.  What does the fifth petition mean?

A. “Forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors” means:  Because of Christ’s blood,  do not hold against us, poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us.  Forgive us just as we are fully determined, as evidence of your grace in us, to forgive our neighbors.

Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray:  “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  11 Give us today our daily bread.  12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

We know that we have been forgiven by God.   All of our sins have been washed away.   Our sins were paid for by Jesus’ blood on the cross.  All of this comes to us by the grace of God.  But as forgiven sinners we now have a very important task.    We are to forgive those who have sinned against us.  

Of course from time to time we Christains do forgive those who have harmed us.   But notice that the command to forgive comes just after our request for daily bread.   These two things are linked.   Just as we have to eat every day so too must we forgive every day.  Just as daily bread satisfies our hunger, daily forgiveness reduces our anger and allows us to maintain and restore relationships.   

Every day we sit down for three meals.   And we pray, thanking God for the blessing of a world filled with such delicious food.  What if we prayed for this and prayed for forgiveness for ourselves and others.   Tying together our thanks for daily bread and forgiveness with the word “and”  is precisely what Jesus is teaching us to do in the Lord’s Prayer.  Maybe we could say at each meal,  “Lord, thank you for our food and thank you for forgiving us.”  Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the beautiful world that provided the delicious food you have blessed us with today.   And, we thank you for forgiving our disobedience. Help us, Lord, to forgive others.   This we pray in your glorious name.   Amen.

Sermon – Luke 1:68-79 Zechariah’s Song

 Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon – Luke 1:68-79 Zechariah’s Song
December 5, 2021

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I once heard a testimony given by a Navy chaplain speaking at Fuller Seminary.  In her ministry she had made a practice of just walking around the ship asking sailors how they were doing.  One day a sailor came to see her.  She had noticed him walking around the ship and thought, maybe, she could help.  The first thing he told her was that he was an atheist.  In their conservation this atheist talked about his desire to kill himself.  As an athesist, suicide seemed the only possible way to deal with his trouble.  The chaplain prayed with him and told him that God loved him, wanted to bless him, and would be with him.  This helped the sailor tremendously.  And he told the chaplain that she could pray for him whenever she wanted.

The atheist had a hard time believing in a transcendent God.  He just couldn’t buy the idea of a God in heaven sitting on a throne in charge of the world.  How could this be, given that the world seems to be so out of control?  But he could believe in God who was with him, loves him and could be counted on to save him when trouble seems insurmountable.  

This is the God, an immanent God, whom we worship at Christians.  We believe in a God who left heaven and came to earth to be with us and love us.  God once lived in a garden with Adam and Eve, and he came back to earth to be with us with the birth of Jesus, whom the prophets called Emmanuel, God with us.  The heart of our faith is our experience of God in the world around us and in our lives.  This experience is confirmed by our reading of scripture.  And that's why we enjoy Advent and Christmas so much.  This is a time when we celebrate and worship a God who is with us. 

When I pastored the church in Ocean City,  I used to experience God in the sunrise over the ocean.  It is a beautiful sight when the sun peers over the boundary between sky and sea.  At that moment, when the day ahead is filled with possibilities, God seems to me to be very near.  

Another person who experienced God in the sunrise was a country priest named Zechariah.   He sang about this, God with us, in a song he wrote to celebrate his son's birth.  We will get to this song, but first let's pray.

“Merciful God, you sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation. Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” (BCW p. 174.)

When John the Baptist was just eight days old his parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah, took him to be circumcised.  During this ceremony Zechariah began to sing a song.   Here is the beginning of the song he sang.   

Luke 1:67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

    for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.

69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us

    in the house of his servant David,

70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

71     that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.

72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,

    and has remembered his holy covenant,

73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,

    to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,

might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness

    before him all our days.

Zechariah was singing about the covenant between God and Abraham which was symbolically recognized in the circumcision of his son.  Let's listen to the terms of this covenant from Genesis chapter 17.

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.”

9 God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

So, the covenant was between God and Abraham and included all of Abraham's descendants.  God promised Abraham descendants numerous enough to form a nation, in fact many nations.  He promised them land to farm.  And he promised to be their God.   Abraham and his descendants promised to be obedient to God's law.  Circumcision was required of all of Abraham's male descendants as a sign and seal of this covenant.  

On the occasion of his own son's circumcision, Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and he praised God for the fulfillment of this covenant.  God was faithful.  He did provide to Abraham descendants numerous enough to form nations.  He did provide land for them to farm.  But the people had come up short in their obligations under the contract.  They were to faithfully obey God's commandments, but they didn't.  

Zechariah was overjoyed because he was the first to know the good news.  God had decided, in his mercy, to forgive this disobedience.    All that was required was repentance.  If we now turn to God and live lives of obedience our past disobedience will be forgiven and we will have fulfilled our end of the covenant.  And Zechariah was overjoyed that his own son would make this proclamation.  John would be the prophet sent by God to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sin.  Let's return to Zechariah's song and listen as he sings about his newly born son.

Luke 1:76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people

    by the forgiveness of their sins.

78 By the tender mercy of our God,

    the dawn from on high will break upon us,

79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

John the Baptist will proclaim the good news of salvation through the forgiveness of sin.  And he will proclaim that a savior is coming. God himself will be with us to forgive us.  Zechariah described this experience of God with us, as a rising sun shining on a people living in darkness.

This is good news for us.  We have been adopted into Abraham's family.  The promises of God’s blessings are offered to us through repentance, leading to the forgiveness of sin.  If we do this, God will do something amazing.  He will be our God.  He will be with us, Emmanuel.

Circumcision was the sign and seal of the original covenant.  The sign and seal of the covenant offered to us is the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.  As we gather around this table we experience God with us in the bread and juice.  As we commune together we are the sign to the world that God is with us.  As we eat this bread and drink from this cup the promise of forgiveness is sealed upon us.  And so just as we experience the presence of God with us in a beautiful sunrise on the beach, so too do we experience Emmanuel, God with us, here in the sacrament of communion.  Let's pray.

“God of our salvation, you straighten the winding ways of our hearts and smooth the paths made rough by sin. Keep our conduct blameless, keep our hearts watchful in holiness, and bring to perfection the good you have begun in us. We ask this through him whose coming is certain, whose day draws near; your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.”  (Book of Common Worship p.174)

Grace and Peace Episode 61

 Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Grace and Peace Episode 61
Presbyterian Church of Easton
November 28, 2021

Watch Episode 61

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2

Heidelberg Catechism

125 Q.  What does the fourth petition mean?

A. “Give us this day our daily bread” means:  Do take care of all our physical needs so that we come to know that you are the only source of everything good, and that neither our work and worry nor your gifts can do us any good without your blessing.  And so help us to give up our trust in creatures and trust in you alone.

Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,  10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  11 Give us today our daily bread.

Our  request for “daily bread”   shows the close intimate relationship we have with our God.   The God we worship provides for us all we need for daily living.  John Calvin told us to pray for everything we need everyday.  But notice that the Lord’s prayer does not start with our petitions for our own needs.   It starts by praising God and praying for God’s kingdom on earth.   This is how our prayer should begin.   Focus first on who God is and what God does.   Then ask God for what you need. 

The reason we do this is because if we start with our own needs first we are selfish, thinking only of ourselves.   But if we put our needs in the context of the needs of God’s kingdom on earth then any “need” we think we have that is contrary to God’s will for his kingdom falls away forgotten.  We pray for those things that we need and will advance God’s kingdom on earth.

Today, very few of us in North America need daily bread.   We are blessed with refrigerators filled with yesterday’s leftovers.  And many of us eat more than we should.  But there are people in the world who don’t know if they will eat today or not.  And we should do whatever we can do to ensure that everyone in the world has nutritious meals to eat everyday.    So for us, a request for daily bread creates attitudes of generosity and thoughtfulness.  

Lord, bless us today with everything we need, and help us to know how to bless others by satisfying their needs thus advancing your kingdom on earth.   This we pray in our Lord Jesus’ glorious name.   Amen.