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A Season Of Wonder
Open Your Heart’s Door To Friends & Strangers
Luke 1:39-45, 56
Introduction:
The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
The familiar song made famously familiar by Andy Williams reminds us
that this is the most wonderful time of the year. I’m not
so sure that the words to that classic Christmas song are
the words all of you would use to describe how you feel this
morning. In fact, I’m pretty sure there are some here who
would say all this season of the year does is remind you that
there is a lot of pain, confusion and uncertainty that comes
with life. That’s why we need to let the light of Christmas
shine. If we ever needed a Christmas season of wonder, it’s
this year. Wouldn’t you agree?
Do you read a newspaper anymore? If you do, maybe you saw this.
Dear Abby,
I feel like ending my life! What seemed like the ideal
dream has become an unending nightmare. Only a few weeks ago
everything seemed perfect. I had just graduated from school
with honors. My girlfriend and I got engaged the same day
my father made me a full partner in his construction business.
I was so pumped . . . and definitely in love. Life seemed
complete. Even my faith was at an all-time high.
It all started falling apart one Friday when my fiancé
met me after work. She looked like something was wrong . .
. but I couldn't get her to talk about it. So we went to a
basketball game that evening, but my head wasn't in it. My
imagination was running wild. Didn't she love me anymore?
Did she want to call off the wedding? Did she have cancer?
The questions kept coming. I was a nervous wreck. Afterward,
we went out for dessert. She didn't say anything for a long
time. Finally, she whispered the words I hadn't even dared
to think. "I'm pregnant!"
Then she burst into tears. I was stunned. "You? But
we haven't even . . ." A wave of nausea hit me as I realized
the horrible truth: Since it wasn't me, it had to be someone
else. "Who was he?" I forced myself to ask. I couldn't
decide if I really wanted to know.
She looked down. "I can't tell you," she said.
"You wouldn't understand. I just want you to know I still
love you and want to be your wife!"
"If you loved me you wouldn't be in the condition
you're in," I snapped. But I couldn't help seeing the
love in that face I had come to cherish. Abby, I knew I still
loved her with all my heart and that was why I hurt so much.
But how could I continue to love someone who slept around?
I was too shocked to say anything the rest of the evening.
I paid the bill, took her home, and drove away.
Although I've never been very emotional, I cried myself
to sleep. I woke up early the next morning angry and full
of questions. How could she do this to me? Didn't she love
me? Hadn't we promised to save ourselves for each other? Who
was he? How long had they been sleeping together? How could
they manage to see each other without me even suspecting?
Didn't she believe in the standard God had set for relationships?
I went all week without seeing or calling her. I just couldn't.
My heart ached. My stomach burned. My head pounded nonstop.
Then she showed up today just as I was closing shop. "I've
made arrangements to leave town for awhile," she said.
"I think it's best for you and me and for our families.
I'll be staying at my cousin's place downstate." I must
have been frowning because she added, "Don't worry, my
love, I'll be in good hands." She handed me a piece of
paper with a phone number where I could reach her and then
left. I haven't heard from her since, and that was three months
ago.
Abby, what should I do now? I can't imagine going ahead
with the engagement. My trust in her has been destroyed. Still,
the thought of walking away leaves me even more confused.
The shame and embarrassment of being pregnant and not married
in our small town would make her the target of endless harassment.
On the other hand, if I stand by her and pretend that the
child is mine, I'd destroy my reputation . . . something I
don't think I'm willing to risk to cover her selfish mistake.
A close friend in whom I've confided says she should have
an abortion.
My gut feeling is to break off the engagement and try to
forget what happened. But I care too much for her to make
an ugly scene. Maybe I could tell our friends that it was
my idea to break up and she had to get out of town to escape
the pain of my decision.
Abby, I want to do the right thing. But I just can't decide.
Should I stay with her regardless of what others think? Or
should I quietly break off the engagement and try to get on
with my life?
Signed,
A Devastated Boyfriend
And then came the reply:
Dear Devastated Boyfriend,
Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For what is
conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. Christ is in her.
You'll see. Just open the door of your heart to Mary, and
you'll begin to experience the wonder of Christ's presence
firsthand.
It's amazing, isn't it? How easy it is to gloss over the human dimension
of the biblical account of Christmas! When you contemporize
the context just a touch, you begin to appreciate the dizzying
dilemma in which Joseph found himself. He was really put in
a tough spot. He considered some pretty radical options. However,
instead of quietly divorcing Mary and getting on with his
life, he opened his heart to her. He was willing to believe
the angel's words that said God's Son was in her. And Joseph
entered into the wonder of that incredible, mind-boggling,
never-to-be-repeated miracle. My key truth for this message
is this:
We
cross the threshold to a season of wonder when we open our
hearts to friends and strangers.
A Christmas
Example
The Biblical accounts about Christmas provide us with a perfect example
of a heart that is open to people in Elizabeth, the cousin
of Mary. Mary's trip to her home was more than a face-saving
disappearance from a home town where unplanned pregnancies
kept the rumor mills operational 24 hours a day. Mary was
in a tough spot. With no advance warning, her life and future
were suddenly more complicated than she was accustomed to.
She couldn't explain her circumstances. Her dilemma was not
the result of poor choices on her part. The challenges she
now faced were in fact the result of being in the decreed
will of God. Her plight was not a sign of God's punishment
but rather an indication of His blessing. Still, Mary was
in need of being understood and accepted.
When Mary passed through the door into Elizabeth's home, she entered
a place where she knew she was loved and belonged. Elizabeth
was family! Elizabeth was also "in the family way,"
just like Mary, with an uncommon pregnancy at that. They had
much to talk about. That door to Elizabeth's home represented
an entryway into a sanctuary of hospitality, safety, and empathetic
friendship.
We benefit from lessons learned in observing Elizabeth.
Elizabeth
Welcomed Mary Without Questions
Having said that, there actually was one question Elizabeth asked.
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill
country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted
Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby
leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why
am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to
me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has
believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" Luke 1:39-45 NIV
Did you hear the question on Elizabeth's lips? "Why am I so favored?"
she asked. Last Sunday we considered the greeting from God
that the angel Gabriel brought to Mary. He said, "Greetings,
Mary, you are highly favored." We suggested that in a
myriad of ways God knocks at the front door of our lives to
remind us how much we are loved.
And now, this week, Elizabeth uses the same word: Favored! (Blessed,
Chosen, Honored) Favored! Only this time God didn’t send an
angel to tell her. Elizabeth didn't need an angel. She discovered
it all by herself. She was overwhelmed with the joyful wonder
that came with opening her home to someone in need. Her baby
jumped! Her spirit was quickened by the Holy Spirit of God.
Talk about a season of wonder! She was participating in God's
plan. Even though her own life was full and complicated by
an unexpected pregnancy, she had opened her heart and her
home to another. And it felt good!
Elizabeth
Demonstrated The Grace She Had Experienced
Elizabeth opened her heart and her home because she knew firsthand the
incredible, indescribable wonder of being on the receiving
end of God's mercy. After a lifetime of hoping to have a child,
she had resigned herself to the reality of childlessness.
And just then, the life-giving God opened her withered, lifeless
womb. In response to God's activity in her life, she was only
too willing to welcome Mary, who likewise had been mysteriously
touched by the Almighty. She was blessed to be used by the
Lord as an extension of His grace.
Elizabeth modeled something significant for us here. Even though it wasn’t a convenient time for
Elizabeth to entertain guests as a middle-aged woman unexpectedly
pregnant and understandably weary, Elizabeth had a most hospitable
heart—a heart energized with the oxygen of gratitude.
Here was a woman deeply thankful for what the Lord had done
for her—ready to be a channel through whom God’s favor could
flow to someone else.
A Biblical
Exhortation
As those for whom God has also thrown open the door to His storehouse
of mercy and provision, we need to heed seriously the Biblical
exhortation to be a blessing to others. We often repeat Jesus’
words at Christmas: It is better to give
than to receive. The problem is that we often use
them as an excuse for not giving gifts to others because,
after all, it really is more blessed to give than it is to
receive so you should not be expecting me to give you a gift.
The truth is: God really does
want us to express His love, grace and mercy to others.
The writer of Hebrews presents four different groups of people
we are to love.
Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain
strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels
without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were
their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if
you yourselves were suffering.
Hebrews 13:1-3 NIV
Group
1: People we already know and love
Group
2: People we don’t know who may be very special guests
Group
3: People who may be hard to love
Group
4: People who may desperately need love
The words used for love in this passage emphasize the need for an open
heart. Philadelphia communicates
the brotherly love we are to express. Philozenia stresses
the need to love those who are strangers. Both types of love
spring from a heart that is open to others because of the
love that has been experienced.
Our Personal
Expression
We have the example of Elizabeth and the exhortation of Scripture. Neither
of those mean much if those of us who are the people of God
aren’t open to the exciting wonder of having God love others
through us. When we come to terms with what our faithful God
has been about in our lives, we are motivated to go and do
likewise. Our God is incredibly hospitable. When we see this, we open our hearts to those
in need. And when we do, we discover, as Elizabeth did, what
it means to feel favored. When we act in keeping with the
way God has acted toward us, we sense His smile. We feel His
favor. We cross the threshold to a season of wonder.
I want to invite you to open your hearts and your homes to those who
are at awkward passages in their lives.
What
are the names of those the Lord has been bringing to your
mind?
How
many people are struggling with issues they can't fully explain?
Who
will be alone this Christmas because circumstances have separated
them from their families?
Do
you know someone who is struggling with an unplanned pregnancy?
(Maybe that person you know is a young girl who has decided
to go full term even though the boy who promised love in a
passionate embrace dropped out at the midterm break.)
Do
you know a couple on the verge of divorce?
Do
you know someone who's "going south" financially?
Can you open the door of your heart and your home for a simple meal sometime
this month? A cup of
hot cocoa and an hour of conversation? An
evening of caroling, sharing, and prayer? How
about just being there? The
wonder of Christmas is realized when we open our homes to
those in the family of God who are lonely or who have special
needs.
Let me share my key thought one more time:
We
cross the threshold to a season of wonder when we open our
hearts to friends and strangers.
The reason is pretty clear. There
is nothing quite so wonderful as welcoming people into your
life and acknowledging your common fears and anxieties as
well as your hopes and dreams. We don't feel so lonely
when we make time for others. We feel cared for. We feel loved.
We feel wonder-full!
This month is a great time to get to know people in your neighborhood,
too. So many of us don't know those we live around. Our society
is increasingly cocooning. But our neighbors have fears and
stresses and heartaches just like we do. This is the perfect
time of the year to plant seeds of friendship and outreach.
At this time of the year, people are more open to invitations
to church. They are also more apt to accept an invitation
to drop by your home for a cup of cocoa and Christmas goodies.
Why not see your place as a lighthouse on your block or in
your apartment complex? Begin to think in terms of strategizing
ways that the light of Christ beaming from your home might
be detected by your neighbors. Strategize ways you can open
your heart and home to friends and strangers.
Conclusion:
Hospitality Always Comes From Love and Leads To Wonder
John Sumwalt is a pastor who is a master storyteller. In
one of those stories he tells about some men at the Y who
were talking about "manly" things—athletes' salaries,
families, local events, and so on. At one point, one of the
men said, "When it comes right down to it, we are all
basically selfish. Take care of number one and forget about
everyone else."
Another man quietly responded, "I don't agree with
you that we are all that way, and I'll tell you why. I stopped
recently to get my paper at a convenience store, just like
I do every day. I have known the man who sold me that paper
for years, but one day he had tears in his eyes.
"The store owner said, 'Do you see that bus bench
over there? There's a woman who comes there every day around
this time. She sits there for about an hour, knitting and
waiting. Buses come and go, but she never gets on and no one
ever comes off for her to meet. The other day, I carried her
a cup of coffee and sat with her for a while.'
"He went on: 'Her only son lives a long way away.
She last saw him two years ago, when he boarded one of the
buses right there. He is married now, and she has never met
her daughter-in-law or seen their new child. She told me,
"It helps to come here and wait. I pray for them as I
knit little things for the baby, and I imagine them in their
tiny apartment, saving money to come home. I can't wait to
see them."'"
The man at the Y told the others, "My friend at the
store took a deep breath and told me that he had looked out
just now, and there they were, getting off the bus. The look
on her face when they fell into her arms and when she saw
that grandchild for the first time was the nearest thing to
pure joy he had ever seen. He said, 'I'll never forget that
look as long as I live.'"
Then the man continued. "The next day, when I returned
to the store, my friend was behind the counter. Before he
could say or do anything, I asked, 'You sent her son the money
for the bus tickets, didn't you?'
"The store owner looked back with eyes full of love
and a smile that was the nearest thing to pure joy that I
have ever seen. He replied, 'Yes, I sent him the money.' I'll
never forget that look as long as I live."
Hospitality
comes in many shapes and sizes. But it always comes from love
and leads to wonder. We are all capable of opening the doors of our hearts and homes. Even
Dear Abby would be quick to say that the difference between
houses and homes is the presence of people caring for other
people. Why? You know what I'm going to say—at least I hope
you do. It’s because we cross the threshold to a season of
wonder when we open our hearts to friends and strangers.
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