Sermon December 12, 2010

A Child Who Turns the World Upside-down

Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ December 12, 2010

Third Sunday of Advent – Children’s Choir and dedication of white gifts

Scripture Psalm 146:5-10 and Luke 1:46-55

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
Psalm 146 is the first of the five great Hallel or praise Psalms that conclude the book of Psalms.
All five of these psalms begin and conclude with the refrain, "Praise the LORD!" The psalmist exhorts us to make praise of the Lord an act for every day of one's life. In the season of Advent we give praise for God’s gift of salvation found in the birth of the Messiah. With the psalmist, we too live out our lives continually in the presence of the God who has given us the gift of life and salvation. So let us praise the Lord together!
1Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
3Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.
5Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God,
6who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;
7who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.
9The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD!
Luke 1:46-55
The Magnificat or Mary’s song gives voice to her blessedness and at the same time reconnects the personal event of her pregnancy and the birth of Jesus to the wider vision which will challenge powers that oppress. Note the connections as we move through the song: a personal sense of joy, call and blessedness from a very personal divine encounter with the Holy One connects to the divine compassion for all who fear God and divine transformation on a wider scope, deposing the powers and lifting the fallen. The story of Jesus begins with his mother’s vision of change and transformation.

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

SERMON
All children come into this world with great expectations. Children bring delight to our present and hope better things to come. Jesus’ mother says he is the long awaited Messiah and he will turn things upside down.

Now the natural order of things is that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. We have seen a recent rise in this activity here in this country. Figures released by the Census Bureau show that poverty is the highest it's been since 1994 - and for working-age people 18 to 65 years old, it's the highest since 1965, when President Johnson declared a war on poverty. For millions of low- and middle-income Americans, the economic ladder has gone only down... The richest 1 percent of Americans account for 24 percent of the nation's total income, the highest share since 1928, right before the Great Depression.

From scripture God seems to side with those on the bottom, those who are excluded, those left out. Yet, God does not triumph over their oppressors in a vindictive act, but rather a loving one. God wants them to change and join the mission of the kingdom… This is how God triumphs--not through violence, the customary pattern of the powers of this world, but through compassion and love.

When we listen to the children of the church sing, we hear the voice of every child and see how precious each child is through them. We need contact with new life in order to appreciate our lives. Children are amazingly present in the here and now and because they hold so much promise they pull us into the future. In my “Transforming Thoughts” for the December newsletter I asked, “Where do you see the face of God?” I often see God in the face of children because they are so open and able still to wonder. When news or personal worries make me feel discouraged and tired, I just have to spend some time with a young child my whole attitude changes! But youth and young adults challenge my think and turn my world upside down, too. R&B is hardly my fist choice in music, but on Facebook this week Shannon Johnson introduced me to a wonderful singer called Jill Scott who sings a song called “Golden,” in which she sings that she is living her life like it is golden. Her music and the lyrics really touched and lifted my spirit. The truth is some days I live my life like its aluminum, ready for recycling. When I see the face of God in one of our children, or they introduce me to new ideas and music, I remember how precious life is and how precious they are. I wonder what the world will be like when these children of ours go out into it.

Our small group is watching the Rob Bell videos. Our first one is called “Rich” and takes place in a garage as he waits for his car to be repaired. He reports that roughly 7% of the world’s population owns cars. So even if it is an old car that makes him rich in the eyes of 93% of the world. Guess how many of our children will expect to own a car? Most of them probably. But what if this next generation looks at transportation in a whole new way and starts shared car ownership or renting a zip car as needed. Bicycles might become more prevalent. Just these changes would turn our world upside down. What will it mean for the church, if our children became the new leaders? They can only turn the church upside down if they are in it. Our job as the previous generations is to make sure they are welcome in church and find meaning and purpose for their lives in relationship with Jesus Christ.

Ray Prichard writes: “that historically most of the great revivals of church history started first with the young people. Often the Holy Spirit begins with the next generation when He wants to wake up this generation.” I pray that the Holy Spirit will bless our children with an awareness of the wonder of our lives right now and a vision for the future with Jesus central to their lives.

Here this Advent season we recall Mary’s words, “The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name!” Amen!

Resources:
From the Census Bureau Posted Friday, September 17, 2010

John Petty, Progressive Involvement, 2009.see: http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com/progressive_involvement/2009/12/lectionary-blogging-luke-1-3956.html