In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 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. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 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. 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. For nothing will be impossible with God.” 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.
I
like presents. No…that’s an understatement…I love getting presents. In fact, I
don’t just celebrate the day of my birthday; I celebrate the entire month of my
birthday. And for me, the Christmas season is the epitome of a surprise
birthday party. The anticipation of putting up the Christmas tree in my living
room; shopping for presents for my family and loved ones; wrapping each gift
and envisioning the look on its future owner’s face as it is opened. Now I admit,
while I love giving presents…it really is so very exciting to get them. I mean,
really, we all can be a little self-indulgent sometimes! 
I
will never forget Christmas morning as a child. I loved it. I would sneak out
of bed on Christmas Eve night and sit in front of the Christmas tree, watching
the lights twinkle and…count my presents under the tree. But I didn’t just count my presents, I
counted everyone’s presents. One particular Christmas Eve, I was around 10
years old; I counted all of my siblings’ gifts. I went as far as putting
everyone’s presents in little piles on the living room floor…and counted every
one of them. One particular Christmas Eve I discovered an upsetting surprise.
All of my brothers and sisters each had eleven gifts…except for me. I only had
ten.
Now
even as I retell this story, I feel a bit guilty. Not because I counted them,
but because of what I did that next morning. I certainly expected after
everyone had opened their presents, my eleventh present was hidden somewhere,
either in a closet, or out in the garage. And just at the right moment, when
all of the gifts had been unwrapped…Dad would emerge from his bedroom with my
amazing, exciting, exhilarating…and very expensive, eleventh gift. I was just
sure of it. And I just knew that this eleventh gift was a bright, shiny new
bicycle. Not one of those little tike bikes that was no taller than my waist,
but an adult sized bike. This was my year. I was ready for that bike. 
I
waited with anticipation…unwrapping each of my gifts…still thinking of what lay
beyond my pile of presents. And yet when all was said and done, the living room
floor full of wrapping paper and toys and gifts scattered about…there was no
surprise eleventh gift for me. I sat there in the middle of the floor, a bit
stunned and anxious. But wait, something’s wrong I thought. I went over to the
tree, surveyed underneath its tinsel covered branches, looked behind the couch,
peered into the closet, searched through my own collection of gifts…perhaps I
had missed it. I couldn’t hold my grief and disappointment any longer. “Mom” I
exclaimed, “Is that all there is? I only have 10 gifts and everyone else has 11
gifts each!” Why, I thought I was making
a fair claim. Something was not right. I had been wronged. Surely things were
not as they seemed. I demanded an explanation!
Well,
our gospel text today suggests that there was someone else that really needed
an explanation, probably more than me. Can you imagine what was going through
Mary’s mind when she got this strange news from the angel Gabriel? Right from
the start it seemed like an odd kind of salutation. “Greetings, favored one!
The Lord is with you! Do not be afraid for you have found favor with God. And
now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him
Jesus.” Found favor? Are you kidding me? Getting pregnant by someone other than
the man she was engaged to was a death sentence for the likes of Mary. In
ancient Palestine the amount of an engaged woman’s dowry was based on
maintaining celibacy before the wedding. She could have been stoned to death as
punishment for being unfaithful. But what is even more shocking than that? Even
knowing all of these potential consequences, Mary said yes to the angel. She
said yes to bearing the child that would reign over the house of Jacob; the one
who would become the long awaited King of Israel. Mary did two important things
in this text that is relevant for us today; she believed and she chose. She
believed in the good news she was given by the angel in spite of the desperate
situation it would put her in. And she chose to respond to what was being asked
of her. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord;” Mary said. “Let it be with me
according to your word.”
Belief
and choice are the two most powerful gifts we have been given as creations in
God’s image. In fact, some progressive theologians suggest that being made in
the “imago dei,” or in “the image of God” means we have the same creative
ability as God does. We are “co-creators” with God of our lives and our reality.
This ancient formula for creation was that God thought it, then God said it,
and it was became reality. Belief + Choice = Creation.Now believing in something might seem easy to do, but you really don’t know what you believe until you choose to act in accordance with that belief. Most of us recognize the importance that belief makes in the successful accomplishment of any endeavor. Whether you believe you can or can’t, you will probably be right. Mary teaches us in this text that developing a self-image based on positive expectancy and positive belief cannot be left to chance. Too many of us have been conditioned to believe in fear, shame, guilt, and scarcity.
We’ve heard so many negative messages and learned from negative experiences that belief doesn’t make much of a difference anymore. We only believe what we can see. Most churches are dwindling in attendance because there is fear that the good old days of overflowing sanctuaries, generous giving and magnificent mission work are over for good. The messages have even been ingrained in us. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew,” “Don’t try to be somebody you’re not,” “Don’t risk too much, you might lose,” or “This is too good to last.” We are conditioned in so many instances to look to our weaknesses than to our strengths—to look at problems rather than opportunities. But positive belief and positive expectancy can be developed by choice, and once developed; they will lead you to whatever you want.
(Excerpts from Terry McBride’s DVD course, “Everybody Wins” at www.terrymcbride.info)
Now
hear me clearly about this. I am not talking about some new age concept like “The
Secret” or a motivational seminar on the power of positive thinking. These
popular self-improvement movements are secular versions of this Gospel truth. This
is about acknowledging and using a gift that God has given to each of us; being
created in God’s image. And that image is co-creator of our life and our world.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 21:22 “And if you believe, you will receive whatever
you ask for in prayer.” The season of Advent is about positive expectancy;
expecting that we can have power over our lives and we can change our world. We
are changed by first believing in the simple self-emptying gift that God gave
to us, and then choosing to give ourselves wholly and completely back to God.
Belief + choice = creation.
During
the past four weeks we’ve been unpacking the significance of the Gospel symbols
of Christmas. From the hope of new life symbolized by the greenery hanging in
our church and homes; to remembering our baptism through the new falling snow
of Winter; followed by the twinkle bulbs and candles representing the light of
awareness that shines brightly in our hearts and minds; and landing today at
the base of our Christmas tree, cluttered with gifts and presents we’ve offered
to each other and to this community. The Christmas tree comes from an old
Germanic custom where bringing a tree into the house was like bringing God into
the house. Offerings to God were adorned on the branches as ornaments. This
custom evolved into putting wrapped gifts under the tree that are intended for
those that we love. These are gifts that draw our attention to who and what is
really important in our lives. Our connection to everyone around us is the gift
we celebrate. And it is simply called ‘presence.’I never did get an eleventh gift on that Christmas day 38 years ago. As you can imagine, my parents were not too happy with me. After all, they had given me more than they could really afford. And of course the uneven number of presents wasn’t intentional. What was intentional was their love for me even in the midst of my self-centeredness. I learned a valuable lesson then…that has hopefully stuck with me now.
It’s not what you get…but what you give that blesses you.
What
priceless gift do you possess that may seem worthless on the outside? What can
you give as an expression of your love for the Christ-child? It may be a positive
word or smile for that depressed or grouchy person in your life. I could be a warm
embrace for the unlovable relative, or a kind word for the sarcastic or hateful
comment thrown in your direction. It may simply be believing in the potential
of a wayward child, grandchild or sibling, even when they can’t believe it
themselves. It could even be a church believing they have the ability to do
great things for their community in their hometown, even when the future is
uncertain. Saying yes with these seemingly valueless gifts can miraculously
transform any situation or relationship this Christmas.
There
is one present that I got that Christmas morning that I still have today. It’s
these old cowboy boots. Boot that I’ve worn since I was 
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