When Heaven & Earth Embrace: The Annunciation (Lk 1.26-38)

7/21/2019 When Heaven & Earth Embrace: The Annunciation (Lk 1.26-38)

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Paul Burkhart

Sermon: Luke 1:26-38

Advent: When Heaven & Earth Embrace

Text: LUKE 1:26-38

26In 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

virgins 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.34

Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I am a

virgin?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.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.

Leader:The is the gospel of the lord

People:Praise to you O Christ

Prayer for Illumination:

Father God, we all come to this service today from many places. Some of come full of faith and

excitement to hear your word and meditate on you in this season. Others are in deep pain and

depression over memories of loss and dysfunction during this time of year. And others dont

even know why theyre here or whether they believe. O Lord, open our eyes, and our mouths

shall proclaim your praise. Amen.


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SERMON

Intro: The Nacirema

In June 1956, the journalAmerican Anthropologistpublished an article by Horace Miner called,

Body Rituals Among the Nacirema. He then begins to describe the customs and superstitions

of this North American tribe, the Nacimera. He describes the inordinate attention that they put

on the appearance and health of their bodies. He says that their superstition seems to be that

the body is naturally ugly and will tend towards sickness and disease. The only way to avert this

is through ritual and ceremony. The cituals all occur around elaborate shrines that each house

has. In these shrines are fountains and potions and charms that have been given to them by

their witch doctors. He describes the demons they feel they need to exorcise from their mouths

and eyes and hair and minds.

He goes on and on, describing the oddity of these customs. And its not until the end, that thereader begins to catch on to the joke hes telling. You see, the tribal name Nacirema is the

word American backwards. He writes this whole article as if he is approaching our own

culture with the eye of a foreign anthropologist in order to remind us of how we forget how

weird our actions and beliefs are when were so familiar with them

Sometimes, when were too familiar with something, we can forget how odd it really is. And

sometimes, the oddness is the point; so to miss that, is to miss the whole crux of the matter.

Never underestimate the power of the obvious.

Exegesis

This is a weird story. At this time, Mary is probably around 14 years old. Shes engaged to a man

over twice her age. Shes living in Nazareth, a blue collar, backwater town that struggled

economically. It would be like Philadelphias Allentown.This is such an odd account that

happens, and yet, in the Christian family it is sucha big deal.

This story in the Church Calendar is an entire holiday. This event is called The Annunciationor,

The Announcing, referring to Gabriel announcing Jesus coming. This is also the beginning of

the Christian idea called The Incarnation. That word is Latin literally meaning, inmeat, and it

refers to God coming into the meat of humanityits flesh and blood.

Apologetic #1: The Problems are the Point

Maybe you dont buy this virgin birth stuff. And as Christians, we need to be willing to

acknowledge the oddness of this moment and the difficulty of it: Its not mentioned in half our

Gospels. Its not mentioned by Paul or the rest of the NT. Other faiths have divine virgin birth

narratives told in a similar way. There was noanticipation on the part of the Jews that their


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Messiah and King would trough a Virgin. Theres no theological necessity of it. No attempt is

made to interpret it in the rest of the NT or explain why it happened this way.

There was literally no reasonto include this in an otherwise serious, historical endeavor like the

Gospel of Luke. But, in my opinion, this I precisely why it can be believed. There was no reason

put it in there unless it actually happened.

But theres another reason why I believe this. And its because it fits in line with the way God

has done everything else in the history of his engagement with the world. In this moment, the

story of the cosmos, reality itself, atoms, quarks, you, me, Mary, Jesus, everythingis found. In

this moment, the story of everything that has been, is, and ever will be is brought together and

squeezed into a concentrated, potent form for us to look at today.

And so were going to spend some time in that story. Were going to talk about its Past,

Present, and Future. And when we get to the Present, well sit therefor a little bit to see what it

looks like for us today.

The Past

Our story starts where all good stories start: over beer. Getting drinks with Pete Enns,

discussing where everything became fractured in the world, he said, Paul! Its so clear, its

crazy that weve missed it! Its in the first verse! Before there was a tree, a fruit, a serpent, or

humanity, we have those words [recite in Hebrew?], In the beginning, God created the

heavens, and the earth. Heavens. Earth. From the beginning, they were two separate things,

and the rest of the Bible is about bringing those two things together as one.

And indeed, this is what we see play out in the Scriptures. God uses architectural language todescribe him creating this worldthe same language we see used to describe the building of

Gods temple and the tabernacle. Our King-God has built this world as a Temple-Palace in which

he wants to dwell.

And this is the rhythm of the story: God creates a place in which to be among his people, they

rebel and experience an exile from the place where God is. And yet, God still intends bring

heaven and earth together, to establish his heavenly Kingdom among us.

And so he repeatedly finds place to start laying the foundation for his temple again. He chooses

on old Babylonian named Abraham and tells him, Through you all the nations of the world willbe blessed. He chooses a people through whom his rule and reign would be known in the

world.

His grandson Jacob, the one mentioned in our text, becomes the father of twelve children who

become the nation of Israel. And they get a King. The best of these was David, also mentioned

in our text today. He stands in Israelite history as the closest theyve ever come to Gods reign

actually being fully realized in this world. In the political structures of his day, God made himself


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known in the world. Davids son also built the Jerusalem temple, which became home base

Gods presence in the worldthe place where the curtain between heaven and earth was

thinnest.

And yet, by the time Davids grandchildren come on the scene, Gods nation splits in a brutal

Civil War. In subsequent years, both the north and south parts of Gods nation would be takenfrom the land where God used to dwell. Once again, his dwelling place was spoiled. Once again,

violence, disobedience, injustice, and suffering and torn down the walls of Gods home.

His people grew in their longing for God to come, subvert all the evil in the world, and restore

the rightful place of his rule and reign. They longed for Gods heavenly Kingdom to be made

known on Earthfor Heaven and Earth embrace and become one.

This was their angst and hope. This was Marys angst and hope. This is our angst and hope.

The Present (Marys and ours)

And that brings us to the present. Marys present and ours. Though different parts of the

Christian Church family have given different levels of importance to Mary, one thing has stayed

consistent: she is our model for what it looks like for Gods people to experience Gods Kingdom

breaking into the world and for us to obediently respond. So lets spend some time looking at

Marys experience and pulling some lessons out about what it means for Heaven to break into

the world.

Sacramental

The first thing I want to point out is that when God comes to announce the greatest and fullestbreaking in of his Kingdom into the history of the world. He himself doesnt come. This isnt God

in his full God-ness coming up to Mary to tell her about this. This is an angel. A messenger.

Something elsethrough which God makes his presence, his promise, and his intention known.

The first thing we need to see is that the way heaven comes to earth is through tangible things.

Its not in mystical feelings or abstract experiences. Its in the nitty-gritty of life. Its in Scripture.

Its in a church service. Its the bread and wine. Its in passing of the peace. Its in your hard

relationships in your life. When Gods Kingdom breaks into the earth, it doesnt break in in spite

of the world, but rather throughit.

To experience life with God means as his people in this world is to press all the more deeply into

the world, not escape it.

Doubt

The next thing we see is that even though an angelbreaks into Marys room and more or less

tells her Nows the time! All your waiting and struggle and tension has ended!, her response


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is to be perplexed and ask how can this be?

She hears the promise of God. She hears these amazing things about what God is doing in and

through her. And yet, she looks at the world inside of her and the world around her, and she

doubts. She struggles. She has questions. She has fear.

Thats the first thing I want us to see. When Gods rule and reign begins breaking into our world

and our lives, it doesnt necessarily calm all our questions, but rather gives rise to more. You

see all the more clearly how the world and yourself fall far short of the reality of Gods reign.

Its messy. Its not clean. It brings to mind all the pain, suffering, and evil that brought us all to

this point.

Theres an amazing podcast out right now called Serialthat follows this journalist looking into a

fifteen-year old murder case in Baltimore. The journalist is trying to see if she can find an alibi

for the man that was convicted of the murder, and comes across on old schoolmate who says

she can remember talking to this young man in the school library around the time he was

supposedly committing the murder. The problem was, out of fear, this old schoolmate had

refused to testify at the young mans appeal, and then she got out of touch.

The journalist excitedly tells the convicted man that she had found this classmate, and the

classmate had confirmed that she could, in fact, supply an alibi for him.

Except hes not excited. Hes a little sad about it, in fact. He tells the journalist that its great

and all that someone else believes he didnt commit the murder, but why didnt this classmate

testify before? Its too little, too late. Why should he be excited that, after going through all this

pain and injustice, someone else out there is saying what he wants to hear? It doesnt actually

changethe story.

A similar thing is found in Friedrich Nietzsche philosophical novelThus Spake Zorathustra. He

says: To redeem the pastthat alone do I call redemption!

I was thinking of this when I was reading what my favorite theologian, Karl Barth had to say

about this text. When Gabriel talks about the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary, that is the

language of the original creation story. Reflecting on this, Barth writes this:

Jesus Christ's Incarnation is a parallel of creation. Once more, God acts as the Creator.... God

enters the field and creates within creation a new beginning, a new beginning in history andmoreover in the history of Israel. In the continuity of human history this point becomes

visible where God Himself hastens to humanity's aid and becomes one with them. God

becomes human. In this way, the story begins. (Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline)

Notice that he doesnt say that the Incarnation is a changein the story. Our God breaking into

the middle of the story. Its the beginning of the story.


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What this means is that, in a really odd sense, the plan for God coming among us in Jesus was

the beginning of the whole thing. Every bit of pain and suffering that came after it is actually

part of moving the story along. It is not a shock. It is not a deviation from the story or Gods

intention. It is the reality of living right smack dab in the middle of Gods presence in this world.

When Heaven and Earth Embrace, we experience doubt.

Bottom-Out

Next, the most important thing I want to point out is that this momentthe fullness of every

promise of God; the fullest expression of Gods intention for the entire cosmos, happensfrom

the bottom up.

Gods Kingdom does not break in through power and privilege. It doesnt go to the halls of

power, to the rich and the rulers, in order to make itself known. It goes to a poor young girl in a

poor rural town and says trough youGod will make his home on earth.

Like I said, Gods Heavenly Kingdom doesnt come through power and privilege. In fact,

throughout the story of Scripture the history of Gods people, it seems that power and privilege

actually takes awayfrom Gods Kingdom here on earth. It keeps it from manifesting and us and

experiencing it most fully.

I look around this room, and I see a lotof power and privilege. Economic privilege. Cultural

privilege. White privilege. Male privilege. If youve been around this church for any length of

time, you know that we stress that Gods Kingdom is one in which we are all meant to serve the

world and love it well.

And yet, those of us that have been bestowed with power and privilege can often fall into

thinking that the way we do this is by leveragingor usingour privilege for the sake of others.

Thats not what Mary did. Its not what God did throughMary. His call is not for us to useour

privilege, but to reject it altogether. It is not a basis on which any people relate to one another

in the Kingdom of God.

A top-down Kingdom says that we can determine what is best for those in need around us. A

top-down Kingdom says that we have the right to critique those suffering under systems and

structures of injustice, racism, abuse, and patriarchy. A top-down Kingdom says well just send a

check, get on that mailing list, orin my casewrite a blog post, and think our work is done. Atop-down kingdom acts like our service is to people that are fundamentally other than us,

who we can subtly exploit to make our reputations and our egos large.

A top-down kingdom is not Gods Kingdom at all. If your experience of Gods presence and rule

in this world, in your heart, and in society, is not arising from the depths of the lowest places of

this world, your heart, and society, then I fear youre living under a different kingdom with a

different king altogether.


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And this Kingdom that comes into our midst from the Bottom, then goes Out. Yes, I didnt say,

bottom-up, but bottom-out, and that was on purpose.

And thats what we need to see. The Kingdom of God is not simply aboutpolitical structures or

personal responsibility. When Heaven and Earth come together, it is a radicallypublicvision forthe whole of society. If your engagement with God doesnt extend outside of your own head

and feelings, than youre missing something.

For example, Ferguson, Cleveland, Staten Island, and the cries of pain from our Black brothers

and sisters remind us that even if you arent necessarily a racist, you can still play an

unconscious part in perpetuating and continuing structures and forms of public racism. And so,

when we seek to show solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters who have watched their

sons and daughters suffering and dying under systems of injustice and institutional racism, our

efforts are to cry out for and bring change and growth to the entire fabric of society as a public

institution, not trying to change the experience or opinions of individuals.

Now, the Future

The picture painted here so far in the sermon is a little hard and painful. Its not very

Christmas-y, I know. Thats because the story isnt over.

God intends one day to do away with all the evil and all the exile and alienation we experience.

The end of the Bible gives glorious imagery for the absolute completion of his Kingdom

breaking into our midst. But we dont just have these words to rely on. We have Jesus.

Jesus is Gods future in our present. As the people of God, we are joined to Jesus, and so wemystically live in the future. We are to bring our outer lives into more and more line with that

future. Gods glorious future is flooding the present at every moment of every day. We are to

rejoice to see Gods Eternity kissing our world.

How?

How do we live in this tension, the angst, and the hope of Gods Kingdom in this world? Well

the Bible only uses two words to describe how we are meant to relate to this Kingdom. Were

not supposed to build it, or expand it, or grow it. Rather, we are simply meant to Receive

it, and Enter it. Lets look again at Mary to see how she does it.

Receive

Mystically

Throughout our text, we see that the Holy Spirit is all in this story. Christianity isnt just a bunch

of tings to believe and a way to live, it is a dynamic, intimate, emotional, experience with the


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living, personal God. In order to receive Gods Kingdom on Earth, we take on ancient practices

that help cultivate that sense of connection with God through his Spirit.

Communally

When Mary faced the doubts and difficulties of joining into the breaking in of Gods Kingdom inthis world, what did Gabriel say? He told her about her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth was barren.

Technically, she had no more reason to think she could be pregnant than Mary did! And yet, to

encourage Mary on this hard road, she hears the good story of Gods work in others and in the

worlds. By living in community and seeing God move throughout our life together, we receive

his Kingdom here on earth.

Enter

Prophetically

Prophecy isnt telling the future. It simply means speaking Gods words to those places in

this world where his Kingdom rule isnt a reality. This is what Mary did. She literally received

Gods message in Jesus anddelivered it to the world. We do the same. We receive Gods

word to this world and we boldly and prophetically speak it to the places of darkness, power,

and injustice in the world.

Missionally

Lastly, we enter into Heavens embrace of Earth by joining God on his mission in this world.We

are not building Gods Kingdom. God Himself is on mission in this world to make all things new.

We stay on the lookout for the places where God is moving and we run after them. We findthose mundane, broken, doubting, unjust places in the world and we move headlong into them,

to join God on his mission in this world to make Heaven and Earth one.

So Liberti Church

Taking Mary as your guide, may you Enter and Receive Gods loving and glorious Kingdom

Rule in this world. And may you be swept up in the embrace of Heaven and Earth. In the

name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Documents

When Heaven & Earth Embrace: The Annunciation (Lk 1.26-38)