As both Elizabeth and Mary anticipate the literal birth of the coming promises, the excitement is palpable. We too await something that we know is going to happen, for one day, we too will see Jesus; it's just a matter of time.
Crosswalk Sermons - Portland
The Wonder of Anticipation (Wk3)_Paddy McCoy
Mary, almost Christmas crosswalk, wasn't that incredible, just beautiful praise God. Amen. Thank you to our band and our production, because everybody that works so hard each week to bring this together. It's such an honor. I'd love to be in the back corner here for that last song because I get to hear your voices in a way. I don't get to hear it when I'm in the audience. It was just so beautiful and it reminds us of what this season is all about. It's about community, about love, about light, and about wonder, and so we're going to continue that series today. If you're visiting with us for the first time here at Crosswalk Portland, we are so excited to have you. Thank you, all of you, for trusting us with your time today and spending part of your Christmas with us. This is something we take very seriously, Christmas, Easter, really every week here at Crosswalk Portland, and so we hope that if you are here for the first time, whether you're visiting from out of town or you're checking us out, that you would sense grace here, you would sense a community of belonging here, and you would sense love here, and so we're so excited to have you and to the rest of our family and friends that are here with us. Welcome. My name is Patty McCoy, I'm the lead pastor of this fine community, and I mean fine in all the ways you can say fine, fine community. We had our Christmas party this last weekend, which was super fun for those who were able to make it. We had a little extra, nobody fell or harmed themselves in the white elephant, so it was a little boring. Not that I was praying for that, but it's always an added bonus, and there were no last year somebody brought one of those spiders in a box where you pull the lid and then the spider jumps out. That was the gift that just kept giving, but no one brought one of those this year, but we had a good time. I learned in the quiz show that several sites, if you look at the best Christmas movie, the highest rated Christmas movie, number one is often the Grinch, the 2018 cartoon animated version of that. It's the highest grossing one. Number two, die hard. I know, right? What in the world is wrong with us people? Die hard, not it's a wonderful life, or a white Christmas, or a Christmas care, die hard. Anyway, so those of you that have already, and let me just bite, all right, now I'm curious by your response. If you have already, as part of your Christmas tradition, watch Die Hard Clap. Okay, okay, not as much as you were, like, you were more excited about it. Are you going to, anybody that plans on watching it next week? Okay, you people need help. I am excited to continue to dig into our sermon series called Wonder, which has really been how we've been looking at the Christmas story through the eyes of Wonder, often something we associate with children that look at things with just magic and awe in a sense of almost speechlessness of how big God is and how small we are and how yet surrounded by God we are. So we are taking one step closer this week to the birth of Jesus. We'll get to that next week, next week. If you're still in town, we're going to have a great service. There's this guy named, well, Siri on my phone calls him, Josie. I think his name is Josue. He'll be leading out in worship next week. And Kira will be joining, I believe, and so a little old school with the youngens, so we're excited about that and make sure you come back. But as we get started this week and the anticipation of that part of the story and our theme for today, let us listen to young Theo as he shares our scripture reading for today. Our only small village, but all of the people who, yeah, we remember friends, we are, it's all the distant past, we'll come from your mighty house, like a 52, that lies meant as where's the newborn care of judges, I've come to, we saw stars across, we have came to worship them. Matthew 2-2. Yay, Theo, I did a great job, I love those so much you guys. I might be making this a part of every week, I don't know, if we can get enough kids that want to read. What was fun about this week, you didn't get to hear at the very beginning, I repented of my sin of giving a five-year-old the words Bethlehem Afratha to read, that wasn't kind on my part. But he did a great job and then when you put the subtitles in, then the subtitles that the computer tries to figure out what's being said. And the subtitles were Bathroom Afsati. So it was a good one, it was a good one. But here's a quick recap to our journey thus far, we began our journey by exploring the wonder of a promise, the promise of a God to his creation, that a Savior was coming so that darkness wouldn't reign forever. Last week we looked at the wonder of possible impossibilities with the appearance of angels, as well as the miracle of an elderly, barren woman and a young virgin girl becoming pregnant, all because nothing is impossible with God, with our faithful God who fulfills all of his promises. This week we'll spend time reflecting on a common feeling that children have at this time of year. This year, this week, it's the wonder of anticipation, the wonder of anticipation. I sat down this week to write and my thoughts drifted back to the stories of my childhood, my Christmas experiences, and I couldn't help but think of one story that was read to me regularly that simply dripped with anticipation. Here's how it goes, 'Twas the night, oh, no, wait, where are we going? Come back, 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, the stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. How many pastors do you know are going to start their sermon this morning with that?' You're welcome. No. I heard this and I got excited, of course, my parents are reading to this to me at night, which is the worst time to be reading a story like this to a child because you can't think about anything else, but St. Nicholas coming with all those gifts and what those gifts could be and you're so excited, I can't wait, then the story continues and says, "Ma and her kerchief and I in my cap had just settled down to a long winter's nap. Went out on the lawn there, rose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a miniature sleigh, an eight tiny reindeer. I'd say awake as long as I could that night, listening for the sounds of those tiny little reindeer and wondering why they're tiny. I didn't know, but my curiosity and my anticipation was palpable in those moments. This is the magic of the Christmas season." And though the Christmas story we're focusing on today comes from Scripture with a few differences like camels instead of reindeer, the anticipation is similar. In fact, in our story, as we've been reading and talking about, the people that were waiting for the promise to be fulfilled were waiting more than just a night or more than just a season, they were waiting 600 years for the promise to be fulfilled. And during those 600 years, they had faced captivity and struggle and darkness and pain and oppression, it was truly a time of deep darkness. And during this time, year after year after year, they would share the words from the old prophet Isaiah that said, "Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine." As we begin our journey today, it's important for us to recognize what today is. Today is the winter solstice, the day on which the North Pole tips the farthest away from the sun, giving those of us in the Northern Hemisphere the shortest day and the longest night. Many Christians hold services on this day, either referred to as the longest night or blue Christmas. These services focus on loved ones that we've lost this past year and acknowledge anyone we may miss during the holiday season and often times during these services and ceremonies, they light candles to represent those that we have lost. And if this is your first season without a loved one, it can be really tough. But the holidays are often times when it may not be our first season, but it's always a season where we miss them. We miss them around our tables. We miss them around the tree. And we long for that day to come when the darkness will be no more. Those candles are lit to represent all those who have died and the light that they're lives brought into the world. So if this is you this season, if you're missing that special someone, we encourage you to sit in the pain for a time. It's okay to honor loss or illness or doubt or fear. There are others sitting beside you today in the darkness. For in community, we are not alone. And there is a God who understands our suffering and even promises us that it won't go on forever. So as we talk about darkness and light, it's so important, especially for those that are very reminded of right now the darkness, that this isn't going to last forever. Death isn't going to last forever. A day is coming. A day we anticipate greatly when we will be reunited with those that we have lost, with those that we love, and we can't wait for that day. And so until that day comes, we sit with each other, we hold each other up, we cry with each other, and we walk with each other through these seasons. If you are here today and you're needing someone to talk to a shoulder, a listening ear, please reach out to us or pastoral staff leaders, we want to be here for you. Let us know. So with that, let's focus in on anticipation. In the English language, the word anticipation is defined as waiting excitement, waiting eagerly for something you know is going to happen. I think about anticipation when I think about that feeling I had on the night, I knew I was going to ask Tricia to marry me. I mean, I was 99.9% sure she was going to say yes, but I'm still scared. I'm still nervous, palms sweating, and I thought through every little piece of what I was going to do that evening, and as it came to the night, everything went perfect. We drove into this place where we often went for walks, and it was a park where I had the perfect spot to ask her to marry me, but we pulled up part, got out of the car, and there was some group of jerks in our spot. I don't know who they were, but did they not have any idea of how important this night was to me? So then I had to stall, and I was like, well, hey, let's just walk, and she said why don't we go to our place? I don't know. Yeah. We'll go. Just hold on. So we walked and we stalled, and my heart is leaping out of my chest, and then finally those people left. We went up, I got down and let me, and I asked her to marry me, a question that would change our lives forever, and of course she answered with a resounding yes without any force. We all know anticipation, right? A first kiss, a job offer, a graduation, a vacation, a retirement, and for those of us parents in the room, we know what it's like to get the news that, you know, well, we always say we're pregnant. That's just the guy's way of trying to include themselves, you know? Yeah, you know, we're pregnant. She's like, we're not, we're not, you're not pregnant, but we still say it. So, you know, but you get that news and you're so excited, and then it's hurry up and wait, right? Because you just got to wait nine months to meet the little kiddo. So anticipation is something that we're all familiar with, and it's this part of the story that we jump into today, because last week we left things off with Mary having found out that she as a virgin would give birth to a child, not just any child, but the promised Messiah. She was told by the angel Gabriel that she wouldn't have to go through this journey alone because her cousin Elizabeth was also pregnant, even at her old age, and that she too was a part of the promise. So what does Mary do after the encounter with the angel? She goes running to see Elizabeth. Says this. Took them a few days later, Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea to the town where Zachariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. They're not only family, they have a shared experience to discuss. Mary may have wondered if what happened with the angel was real or if it was all a dream. Either way, she needs confirmation. She needs support. She needs family at this time, and she needs someone who isn't going to think she's crazy. Or lying. If she goes to her parents, how is she going to explain that she's pregnant? I don't know if you've ever imagined this conversation, sitting down across from the parents. So mom and dad, I have some news. Good news first, still a virgin. Bad news second, I'm pregnant. I mean, how do you think you'd respond to that moment? And in this time, this culture, when this happened, this kind of news could actually get her killed. So what are you going to do except run to someone else who also has a story to tell? So Mary goes running to what she thinks is a safe place. And you would too if you were her. Now I often get asked, ever since we started to plant this church in Portland, I've been asked by people since they heard of it, I've been asked is crosswalk Portland a safe space? And I want to answer yes, 1000%, whatever your experience or your background, whatever happens to you. I want to say yes, but the truth of the matter is I can't guarantee safe space because I can never guarantee you who is going to walk in the door one day. But what I can guarantee you is that crosswalk has loads of safe people. I'm looking at them right now. There are people no matter your background or what you've been through or the hurt you've experienced or the trauma. There are people here who will love you, who will accept you, embrace you and help you see Jesus. So are we a safe space? We strive to be. Do we have a lot of safe people? Absolutely 1000%. We're here loving well isn't just a statement we use, it's not just a combination of words, it is a way of life. So Mary goes running to Elizabeth to safety to help and she has a surprising encounter. It says at the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Now I can remember when Tricia was pregnant and she would talk about feeling the baby move inside, right? You've been there over the times when the baby had hiccups or was kicking and you put your hand on her belly and you could feel that and then as you got closer to the birth you could see a hand sometimes go across or a foot poking out and if you are young you're grossed out right now but it's super cool to watch that stuff happen. But I can't imagine what leaping was, right? Like did her belly just jump like this, did she stumble and fall back? And what happened when the baby leaped, whatever it was, Elizabeth knew exactly why it happened. So Luke goes on and tells us, Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, God has blessed you above all women and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said. This is amazing, right? I mean how did Elizabeth know about Mary and her situation? How did the baby in her womb know? These are miracles. We talked on our Sacred Echo Podcast this week about where Luke got his information for the story. Luke, out of all the gospel writers, shares more of the birth story than any other gospel writer and we know it didn't come from Elizabeth or Zechariah because they probably didn't even live to see their son start his ministry. We think that Luke was sitting across the table from Mary herself, listening to Mary reminisce and tell the story and I often imagine a table in the corner of a house with a candle on it, a candle lighting up Mary's face. Mary reminiscing with smiles, occasionally looking up towards the ceiling. We know that Mary, by this time, had been through more than any of us could probably ever imagine but she's remembering and telling the story now about the beginning, about the wonder of a miracle, about all the things that God was doing, had promised to do. And so when he sees Elizabeth, when they have this encounter, she realized it wasn't all a dream. An angel actually had visited her. The Holy Spirit actually had come upon her. She actually was pregnant with the Messiah. As it all settled in, Mary couldn't help but sing. And maybe, just maybe, she actually sang to Luke in that room, sitting across the table. Here are some of those words. She said, "Oh, how my soul praises the Lord, how my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. For he took notice of his lowly servant girl and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the mighty one is holy and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. The song goes on and finishes with these words. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever. Though many at this time had wondered if God had forgotten about them, if his promise was just a bunch of empty words, Mary and Elizabeth knew better. They knew what was coming and that help was on the way. It was confirmation that God was merciful, that he fulfills his promises and that he will continue to do so forever even when we doubt, even when we don't believe. And they were wild with anticipation to share that news with the whole world. And for Mary to be chosen for the most important task since time began, it was beyond humbling. She sang in that song for God had taken notice of his lowly servant girl. I know this feeling, I mean I may not have been asked to bring Jesus into the world the same way that Mary was, although we are all asked to bring Jesus into the world in one way or another. But I have many times uttered those words like, "Who am I? Who am I God that you would partner with me to do such wonderful things?" Right? Truly, I am always stunned by what God chooses to do in me and through me for my first call to serve Christ, to introducing me to my wife and my partner in ministry, descending me into hospital rooms with those who are grieving and baptisteries, with those who are celebrating and pulpits, with those who are getting married and stages, with those who are dedicating their children to Christ. Of course, let's never forget how God chose to partner with us in this room to plan a church in Portland, Oregon, in a pandemic. God has and continues to remember and partner with us lowly servants, praise Him from whom all blessing flows. These words also remind me of something I say every time before I step on a stage, before every room I go into to represent Jesus, because I am often overwhelmed by the idea. So I pray a prayer each time and the prayer are words that were spoken by John the Baptist, the baby in the womb of Elizabeth. John the Baptist was quite a personality. He gained quite a following so that people often wondered if he was the Messiah that people had been waiting for, but John knew his role and he stayed in his lane. His job was to point the way to the Messiah to Jesus. And when his disciples began to see that John's influence was waning while Jesus' was starting to grow and people were leaving John to go to Jesus, his disciples became jealous. When they brought their questions and complaints to John, John said, "Jesus must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less." This is something I have said ever since the beginning of my ministry. It's on the wall and my office as a reminder of different versions made Jesus increase while we decrease. And apparently I say it enough that one time when I was a chaplain and I had a student giving a week of prayer, the student stood up in front of everybody and said, "You know, it's like Pastor Patty always says, 'May Jesus increase while we decrease.'" And I want to say actually it was John the Baptist that comes from Scripture. I just quoted a lot, that's all. But may we remain humble enough to always pray those words every time we are asked to step into a room and represent Jesus. Whether it's a hospital room, a living room, a worship room, or wherever, Jesus must become greater. We must become less. We must increase. We must decrease. Back to our story. After Mary's song, she stays with Elizabeth as they both wait with anticipation for their promised babies to be born. Luke goes on and says, "Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home." The next verses talk about the birth of Elizabeth and Zachariah's baby and Mary isn't mentioned again. However, according to Luke, Mary showed up at the six months. We see here that she stayed for three more months. Now, I'm no math wizard. In fact, I took theology in college, so I only had one math class to take, amen? Amen? Just the one that I was done. But three, six, nine months seems like Mary was there for the birth of John, which would have been something amazing to watch and to witness, especially as she waits for her baby. Luke goes on and then says, "When it was time for Elizabeth's baby to be born, she gave birth to a son, and when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her." Now, they rejoiced for a couple of reasons. One, they rejoiced because he had a son at this time, of course, if they were only going to have one child, that was what they were hoping for. But bigger than that, I think, is the fact that everyone knew she was going to have a baby. So it wasn't the fact that she had a baby that was amazing, but the fact that the baby survived. You're talking about an infant mortality rate at that time, about one in four babies that died. And Elizabeth was high risk because she was old. So the fact that the baby even survived was a miracle. So then, as everyone's rejoicing, it was the custom to name the child, well, to circumcise the child and then to name the child, we won't get into all of those details. But when the baby was eight days old, they all came up for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zachariah after his father, but Elizabeth said, "No, his name is John." Now, it was typically the job of the father to name the child, but remember Zachariah can't speak. So Elizabeth speaks up and shares the name given to Zachariah by the angel, the name John. But the people were confused because it was customary for the children to be named after family members, and since they were older and they were only going to have one and it was a son, then it was a no-brainer to name him Zachariah. So the legacy of Zachariah would continue. I remember talking over baby names with Tricia, and though she and I both shared in those, in that experience, I felt that as the father, it was my job to figure out all the ways that the names we thought about could be made fun of. I felt like that was my job because I've said this before. You know my name is Patty, and I'm a guy who lives in America with an Irish name. So growing up, I got them all, veggie patty, rice patty, fatty patty, daddy patty, peppermint patty, pattington bear, I got them all. So of course, I spent time thinking about how could this name be messed up? What could happen? Okay, so when we landed on the name for Aiden, then the only thing that I could think of was, and I thought I had a, I'm gonna skip ahead, I thought I had this on it, yeah, it's the next one, I had Aiden in a bedding from Aiden in a bedding a criminal. And I figured, like, Aiden's gonna be old enough by the time kids get smart enough to figure this out, so he's gonna be fine, right, so we named him Aiden, and no kid I don't think has ever used the Aiden in a bedding joke, but it's fine. Elizabeth knew they were supposed to call their baby John, and they were going to remain faithful. The people can't believe it, so they turned to Zachariah, and asked him the baby's name Zachariah, gets a tablet, and he writes down the name John. Turns out Elizabeth was right, then we read, as soon as he wrote that and shared that with the people, instantly Zachariah could speak again, and he began praising God. After months of not speaking, Zachariah's first words are praise to God, which makes sense, right? Zachariah and Elizabeth had waited a long time for this to happen. They had prayed for years to have a son, they probably gave up on that prayer and thought it wouldn't happen, and yet they remained faithful to God, even in their disappointment, and now here they are holding their beautiful baby boy, because God doesn't forget about anyone. He hears every prayer, sees every tear, receives every note, sung in praise, as well as every word uttered in anger. He is the God of all, the ever faithful, ever present, forever loving God who loves each of us more than we can ever imagine, and never ever gives up on us, even when we have given up on him. So like Zachariah and Elizabeth, when we're reminded of these things, we can't help but praise. Then look what happened to their neighbors. It says, "Ah, fell upon the whole neighborhood," and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean Hills. Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, "What will this child turn out to be?" For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way. Genuine praise spills over to those around you. You can't help it. It's contagious. It's like what happens in their room. I always encourage you not because of, I mean, I like to see your faces, but to come forward and praise as we worship together, because then you're not worried about who's around you, you don't see everybody, and sometimes just close your eyes so that you can praise and respond to God in the way that you feel called to do. But when you are around somebody that is doing that, it is hard not to join in. Genuine worship is contagious. Then next, Zachariah shares a prophecy, but what's interesting is that he doesn't start with his own child rather, he begins with Mary's child about to be born. Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited and redeemed his people. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of the servant David just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago. Now we will be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us. He has been merciful to our ancestors by remembering his sacred covenant, the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor, Abraham. We have been rescued from our enemies so we can serve God without fear and holiness and righteousness for as long as we live. It starts with Jesus as all things should, and maybe it was this attitude from his father that helped the son, John, grow up to put Jesus first always. But then Zachariah does spend a little bit of time doting on his beautiful baby boy. And he says, "And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High because you will prepare the way for the Lord. You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins." Yes, he'll tell us how to find salvation. He'll encourage us to repent, which means to turn from one thing to something else, to turn from our sins, our weaknesses, our self-reliance, and turn to Jesus. I actually think you can sum up John's ministry with one word, but it's not the word you're thinking, which is repents. When John saw Jesus on the banks of the Jordan River, he said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." I would say the word "behold" wraps up his ministry nicely, because "behold" means to look upon or to experience. But what's interesting about this is that the name the Israelites had for Yahweh, for their God was Yahweh, which can be translated, "I will be what I will be. I am what I am," and sometimes, "I am," and even the word "be." So John's ministry was to look to Jesus and say, "Behold, behold, be." What a bad way to remember someone, their legacy of their ministry. Then Zachariah's prophecy ends with these words. Oh, go through all that. Zachariah's prophecy ends with these words, "Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace." And this brings us back to the longest night. He's on friends. The morning light from heaven is about to break upon us. It's almost here. Death is almost over. Jesus is on his way. We can sit in the wonder of anticipation of that, which we already know is going to happen. It's just a matter of time. So behold, Jesus, each and every day, as we wait to see Him face to face. And until then, we think on that night, oh, so long ago, that silent night, that holy night, and we behold our King who is Christ the Lord, let us join and sing as we praise His name forevermore. Would you pray with me? Jesus, I know next week we're going to get into the actual incarnation, the birth of you into this world where you became one of us. But the whole story is filled with hope, it is filled with promise, it is filled with light and joy and we celebrate and sing because you were faithful, you didn't abandon us, you chased after us at every moment of our lives. And our call today is to behold you, to hold on to you with our every breath and our every step. And today, Lord, I also want to think about those that are missing loved ones this holiday and those that are grieving. And Father, I pray that as you meet them in their grief, just whisper in their ear, the morning light is coming, the darkness is almost over, Jesus is almost here. So let us rejoice, let us hold each other up, let us comfort one another on our shortest days and our longest nights, and may we keep holding on to you together as a community of faith so that we are ready to see you come in those clouds on your day of glory. And we are reunited with our loved ones and things are all made right. We pray these things in the precious and holy and beautiful and powerful name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, amen.