Luke 1:26-56

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.

 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” 

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowly state 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;
indeed, 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 imagination 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 come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

For the Word of God in scripture,
For the Word of God among us,
For the Word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.

***

So last month in our adult education forum, we discussed protest songs. We listened to jazz, blues, country, rock and roll, rap, pop, and more. Artists such as Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Bob Dylan, Peter Tosh, Pete Seeger, Cat Stevens, U2, Tracy Chapman, Suzanne Vega, Public Enemy, The Chicks, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé with Kendrick Lamar—protesting things such as war, racism, sexism, greed, commercialism, and more.

Some of these songs are very controversial. They’ve been banned. Some of the older ones, which were banned once upon a time, seem relatively tame by today’s standards. But some are still surprisingly edgy.

Debie Thomas suggests that Mary’s song from Luke could easily take its place among all of these. She writes, “Mary’s song is so subversive in its cultural, socioeconomic, and political implications, it has been banned many times in modern history.”

I didn’t know this—did you?  She writes, “When the British ruled India, the Magnificat was prohibited from being sung in churches. And similarly, during the Dirty War in Argentina, after the mothers of the disappeared children postered the capitol with the words of the Magnificat, the military banned all public displays of the Magnificat. Too much hope, they decided, is a dangerous thing.”

This Advent, we’ve been paying attention to the particular voices of Advent—voices such as John the Baptist and Zechariah. And next week, Special Music Sunday, we’ll put a nice capstone on all of these as we review all the voices that we’ve heard—and add in those angels. I’m not just talking about the choir.

This Sunday, though, we listen to one of the most important voices of them all: Mary’s, the mother of Jesus.

We know remarkably little about Mary. She was a young woman, engaged to be married to Joseph. In Mark and Matthew, she’s not given a voice and really is actually barely mentioned. In John’s gospel, John only refers to her as “the mother of Jesus.” But Luke’s version not only features her, but her cousin Elizabeth.

Judith Jones points out that “women—so often overlooked or ignored in both society at large and in biblical narratives—have the only speaking roles in this vignette.” Remember, Zechariah was mute, right? It’s Elizabeth and Mary going back and forth. Zechariah’s not allowed to talk. And Joseph… just doesn’t.

But you see, the thing, though, is this isn’t new. This isn’t a fresh approach on God’s part. God’s been working this way for a long, long time. We get that sense when we notice that Mary’s song echoes that of Hannah, who we heard earlier in the fall.

Matthew Skinner writes, “Mary’s song invites us to consider how Jesus’ coming reiterates God’s commitment to seek justice, to sustain the world. She’s clear that God is the one who is going to make it happen. The arrival of Christ means change—but it’s change that God has been talking about and working toward already for a very long time.”

God didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to care about justice. From Hannah to Ruth to Michal to Elizabeth and Mary, God has been using the voices of those on the fringes to call to account the rest of us—to remember who God has created us to be: people of justice and joy.

Diana Butler Bass writes, “Why had I never known Advent was a season of justice and joy?” She continues, “You see, justice is not vindictiveness or revenge. In general, justice just means uprightness, equity, fairness. In the Bible, justice refers to the making right of all things. It’s a relational term about living rightly with others and with creation.”

Perhaps we find it too hard to believe that the God of the universe would use a young unwed woman to carry not only the message of salvation but the very life that would make it possible. Why would God choose that particular time and place? Not a king or queen. Not a president or prime minister. Just an ordinary couple in a backwards, forgotten corner of the world. No prestige. No platform. No wealth. Very little power.

But you see, that—according to Luke—is precisely the point. Because God’s coming isn’t once and done. It started long before Mary and Joseph, and it continues to this day.

Notice all the verb tenses in Mary’s song. They’re all in the past tense. And not just the past tense, but it’s a deep past tense that conveys that it’s not just that it has happened but has been happening for a very long time.

Skinner writes, “The story of Jesus’ birth remains a story of divine initiative, but Mary’s consent reminds us that human contributions also play a part.”

You see, this isn’t a story about human accomplishment, nor is it a story of divine takeover because we’ve messed it up so badly. It’s the story of God’s initiative—and our response. God telling us once again how God intends us to live, and reminding us how much we are loved and valued.

But we keep looking to the wrong people, wrong places, for salvation. We keep looking to celebrities and politicians to fix our world, to fix our country, to fix ourselves. We look to the palaces and the halls of power.

Meanwhile, in a small village in Central America, someone just shared their dinner with their neighbor. Or a nurse who just worked a ten-hour shift goes straight home to care for his ailing spouse. Or the young, unwed, pregnant woman checking herself in to the hospital while her fiancé parks the car.

I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that Mary delivers a song and not a speech.

It is Paul, who would come along a few years later, who would write to the church in Corinth: “Each and every one of you has a song.”

There’s Mary’s song, Elizabeth’s song, Zechariah’s and Joseph’s, Hannah’s, yours, and mine.

“So find your voice,” writes Debie Thomas, “and sing your song. And share it with the world.”

What does your Magnificat sound like?
How is God glorified through your own unique perspective and vision?
And what words have you found to express the radical, revolutionary hope of the Messiah you carry?

Friends, we need voices—voices of justice and joy. Voices of Advent. Voices of hope. Audacious hope. Too much hope—the kind of hope that gets you banned.

So what do you say?
Will you share your voice with me?
Will you sing with me?

Not a Christmas carol just yet.
But an Advent tune—the kind that you sing when you begin to sense that God is up to something new…

And has been, for a very long time.

Amen.

The post Voices of Advent: Mary appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Discussion Questions:

1. Mary’s Voice and Divine Calling

• In Luke 1, Mary responds to God’s call with humility and courage. What stands out to you about her response: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord”?
• How do you think God still calls people today through unexpected or marginalized voices?

2. The Magnificat as Protest and Praise

• The sermon compares Mary’s song to protest music across history. In what ways is the Magnificat a revolutionary or political song?
• How does Mary’s praise of God challenge systems of power and privilege? What might it be saying to us today?

3. God’s Justice and Joy

• Diana Butler Bass writes that Advent is a season of “justice and joy.” How does this contrast with how we usually experience or understand Advent?
• What does biblical justice mean to you? How is it different from revenge or punishment?

4. Human Response to Divine Initiative

• The sermon emphasizes that God’s action and our response go hand in hand. What does that balance of divine initiative and human participation look like in your own life?
• Have you ever experienced a moment where you sensed God was “up to something new”? What was your response?

5. Singing Your Own Song

• Pastor Mark said that “each and every one of you has a song.” What might your Magnificat sound like?
• What hopes, longings, or convictions might God be inviting you to share with the world right now?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: Voices of Advent: Mary appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

We continue with our Advent sermon series on the Voices of Advent, using the book by the same name by Matthew Skinner.

I am going a little rogue this morning. The voice that we are listening to is that of Zechariah. And in Dr. Skinner’s book, he talks primarily about the song that Zechariah sings. But I’m choosing today instead to focus on what came before the song, because I think that that is instructive for us in this Advent season. So we will be reading a portion of Zechariah’s story from the Gospel according to Luke.

And one of the things that I want us to pay attention to, to notice, is the way that the Bible comments on itself.

In this story of Zechariah and his wife, we are going to hear echoes of another familiar story from Genesis. So I’ll just leave that with you so that you listen carefully for that reference.

Let us listen for God’s Word to us today from:  

Luke 1:5-23 

In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. 

Once when he was serving as priest before God during his section’s turn of duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to offer incense. Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified, and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that this will happen? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.” The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.” 

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering at his delay in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service was ended, he returned to his home.

For the Word of God in scripture,
For the Word of God among us,
For the Word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.

***

“When I decided to speak, I had a lot to say and in which to say what I had to say.”

These are the words of Maya Angelou in her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. For five whole years as a child, Maya didn’t speak a word. It all started when she was seven. Her mother’s boyfriend—he was arrested, but they released him after only four days. And shortly thereafter, he turned up dead. It was believed that Maya’s uncles were responsible.

“I thought I had caused the man’s death,” she writes, “because I had spoken his name. That was my seven-and-a-half-year-old logic. So I stopped talking for five years.”

Later she writes, “Now, to show you how out of evil there can come good—in those five years I read every book in the Black school library. Out of this evil, which is a dire kind of evil in my case, I was saved by my muteness. I was able to draw from human thought, human disappointments, enough to triumph myself.”

Now, unlike Angelou’s muteness, Zechariah’s inability to speak is not voluntary.

Having been told by an angel that his wife Elizabeth will have a son who is great in the sight of the Lord, Zechariah finds it hard to believe. His doubts have less to do with the abilities of the Almighty and more to do with the fact that, like Abraham and Sarah before them, they’re just past that point in their life.

The angel doesn’t seem to take kindly to Zechariah’s questioning and so strikes him mute until the child is born.

Now as I mentioned, in his book Voices of Advent, Skinner identifies Zechariah as one of the biblical voices of Advent—not for his muteness, but for the song that he sings upon his son’s birth. A song which heralds a Savior—not his son John, but Mary’s child, Jesus.

Skinner writes: “Zechariah shows his awareness of the larger story that is moving forward here. It’s a story about a God who keeps showing up to redeem and deliver.”

It’s fair to wonder whether Zechariah being struck mute is punishment—or something else.

One of my seminary professors, Robert Dykstra, gestures toward some possibilities when he writes:

“Maybe Zechariah’s silence was not so much an imposition of God’s judgment, but of God’s severe mercy. A poignant pause in the cynicism and tragedy and traumas of this world, in which gestates our prayer of wonder and thanksgiving and gratitude in the miracle of new birth.

A son named John.
A son named Jesus.
A redemption, and refreshment, and restoration of hope and life.
A severe mercy.
A healing silence.”

But of course, not all silences are healing.

Psychologist Michelle Leno writes, “In our fast-paced, hyper-connected world, silence can feel unnatural. Whether we’re scrolling through social media or engaged in a conversation, we’re used to constant stimulation. Quiet moments interrupt the rhythm, leaving us face to face with our thoughts—and sometimes, that’s the last place we want to be.”

It’s true, though. Some silences can be quite disturbing.

The silence of the home after a loved one dies, for example. Or that of an empty home after a divorce, or a child goes off to college.

In fact, many of us prefer white noise to drown out the silence—because of all the silence might say to us.

In her book When God Is Silent, Barbara Brown Taylor writes:

“Many words—silence affects people who are no longer affected by sound. Plenty of us who are defended against sound have no defense against silence.”

But Zechariah’s silence isn’t just a personal crisis. Lest we forget, Zechariah is a priest. It is literally his job to speak for God.

His silence could lead to a crisis of faith in the community. Is God angry at the people? Why is God giving them the silent treatment? What might the silence be saying?

French philosopher Max Picard says that “silence is the central place of faith—where we give the word back to the God from whom we first received it. Surrendering the word, we surrender the medium of our creation. We unsay ourselves, voluntarily returning to the source of our being, where we must trust God to say us once again.”

And so it just may be that of all the voices that we hear during Advent, silence says the most.

It lays us utterly bare before God and one another. It reveals our fears and insecurities and sends us inward to reflect and repair.

Michelle Leno writes: “While silence may be uncomfortable, it doesn’t have to be negative. In fact, those quiet pauses can offer valuable opportunities—if we’re willing to embrace them.”

When Zechariah finally spoke again, he had many things to say and many ways in which to say them.

In his first words, a song of peace and blessing, proclaiming God’s love for the whole world.

Friends, as we sit at this table today, let us embrace the opportunity to quiet our hearts and minds so that we may hear what God is saying to us.

The song that is welling up inside of each and every one of us.

The song of a Savior’s love.
A song about a God who keeps showing up to redeem and deliver.
A song of a world made new.

Amen.

The post Voices of Advent: Zechariah appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Discussion Questions:

1. Silence and Spiritual Growth

• Zechariah is struck mute after expressing doubt. How do you interpret the role of silence in his story? Was it a punishment, or something more?
• Have you ever experienced a time when silence—chosen or imposed—deepened your faith or changed your perspective?

2. Doubt and Divine Encounter

• Zechariah questions the angel’s message due to his and Elizabeth’s age. What does this reveal about the human response to divine promises?
• How do you navigate doubt in your own faith journey? What does this passage teach us about God’s response to doubt?

3. Reflection on God’s “Severe Mercy”

• Pastor Mark referenced Robert Dykstra’s phrase “God’s severe mercy” to describe Zechariah’s silence. What might this mean in the context of Advent and waiting?
• Can you think of a time when something difficult or unexpected in your life became a space for spiritual growth or clarity?

4. Listening for God

• Silence can be unsettling, yet it may also make room to hear God more clearly. In what ways might our noisy lives be drowning out the voice of God?
• What practices help you listen for God during this Advent season?

5. A Community of Waiting and Witness

• Zechariah’s muteness may have impacted the whole community. How do our personal experiences of faith affect those around us?
• How can we, as a church, embrace both silence and speech in ways that prepare us for Christ’s coming?

6. Applying the Sermon

• What is one concrete way you can create space for silence or reflection this week?
• How might your story—like Zechariah’s—shift from doubt to declaration as you prepare for Christmas?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: Voices of Advent: Zechariah appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, 

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight,’ ”

 so John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And the whole Judean region and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him and were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

For the Word of God in scripture,
For the Word of God among us,
For the Word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.

***

With Thanksgiving and the start of Advent being back-to-back this year, it occurred to me that Advent is like the morning before the big Thanksgiving meal: you don’t just go about your normal routine, it is all about how you prepare yourself. In his book Voices of Advent, Matthew Skinner reminds us that Christian holidays are also called “feast days” in the church. He writes, “Feasts usually need to be preceded by an extended period of fasting…For one…, it takes work to prepare a feast and moderation to save the food you need for a supersized party. That was especially true for people in medieval Europe, because food was relatively scarce in December. Another reason is less practical and more spiritual: Abstaining from food—either entirely or in moderation—is considered by many an exercise in religious devotion meant to deepen a person’s sense of reliance on God alone. Fasting was not viewed as punishment but as something that can benefit your spiritual vitality and help prepare you for all that Christmas declares about God’s reliability and generosity.”

In Advent we prepare for Christmas. Not preparation as in shopping, decorating and cooking, but as in anticipation, longing and introspection—deepening our sense of reliance on God alone. The call of Advent is to pay attention to where it hurts, where the world is not right, and where we need healing, even dare we say, saving. Because before we celebrate the birth of our savior, it’s important to remember that we need one.

Which is why one of the first voices we hear during Advent is that of John the Baptist. Skinner calls John “one of the most peculiar figures in the Bible, and that’s saying something.” He appears in all four Gospels, as a herald and precursor for Jesus. We read Mark’s version today, which is the simplest. Luke gives us the fullest account. Matthew and John are somewhere in between but add their own unique flare.

Mark’s “Gospel gets right to the point,” writes Skinner, “beginning the whole story of Jesus with a short description of John…drawing from the Old Testament to give us a sense of [his] significance…John’s voice in Mark, along with John’s wardrobe and location, declares that a time of disruption is coming. John characterizes the public arrival of Jesus as an occasion marked by a divine intrusion and expression of God’s power.”

“Since we now live in a society—and a world—that is fitfully drifting toward fascism, the breaking of silence is altogether urgent,” writes Walter Brueggeman. “In the institutional life of the church, moreover, the breaking of silence by the testimony of the gospel often means breaking the silence among those who have a determined stake in maintaining the status quo.” In other words, those who have a voice have a responsibility to use it. But too often we stay silent!

“We need John’s voice in Advent,” writes Skinner. “As the Gospels tell their stories, John is also vital for setting Jesus in the context of agitation and protest. John expresses dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs. He’s eager for God to inject new life and forgotten convictions into the world. John leads us to reflect on our own expectations and frustrations. John urges us to get ready.”

The getting ready of Advent, the fasting before the feast, is removal of all the ways we deny, pretend, or otherwise ignore the state of affairs around us and within us. Before German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was martyred by the Nazi regime, he wrote, “The coming of God is truly not only a joyous message, but is, first, frightful news for anyone who has a conscience … God comes in the midst of evil, in the midst of death, and judges the evil in us and in the world.”

***

              A friend of mine is going through some things. The specifics don’t matter, because we’ve all been there. There are just times in life that are like that. It isn’t a matter of blame or guilt. Whether you are in control of the circumstances or not isn’t really important either. All that matters is that things aren’t right.

Of course, this is the very same time that everyone asks, “Are you alright?” or simply states, “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.” To the first, you want to say “No, of course I am not alright.” To the second, you want to shout, “You don’t know that everything will be okay.”

Advent is the Christian calendars way of saying, “It’s okay not to be okay.” To my friend going through some things I said, “Of course you are not alright right now. No one would be in your circumstances.” Sometimes all we can do is acknowledge that things are not alright at the moment and might not be for some time. As Christians we can do this, without losing hope in God’s future and God’s promises. Rather Advent reminds us just how deep our hope runs.

The Right Rev. Maryanne Budde, the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of DC, who famously pleaded with President Trump in her homily at his inauguration, recently traveled to Europe. The trip was part personal, to take her mother’s remains to be buried with her parents and part professional; she was giving a book talk in Sweden.

About her time oversees she writes, “The people I met in Europe wanted to talk about life in the United States, and I was moved by the depth of their concern. The question I was most frequently asked was some variation of “What is life like for you in America now?” While I didn’t presume to speak for all Americans, I tried to describe the fullness of our life, alongside the sober realities that make international headlines…The second most frequent question I was asked in Europe was “Where do you find your hope?” That was easier to answer. My hope is in Jesus, crucified and risen. No matter how I feel on a given day, Jesus has given me a path to walk and his light to see by. It is the way of love.” Then she wrote this, “When I falter and lose hope, others walking the path beside me become my hope bearers. I look to the example of those wondrous human beings across our world whose sacrificial love is like light shining in darkness.”

That’s it! Advent calls us to be hope bearers. To use our voice to tell the truth. We are not okay. Our world is broken and so are we. We have not loved God with our whole heart. We have not loved one another as God has loved us. We have done that which we should not and left undone that which we should have done. But we do not lose hope because God is not done with us yet! Before every feast, there’s a famine. So we pray, may the full feast of God’s justice come and come soon. While we wait Lord, come. Amen.

The post Voices of Advent: John the Baptist appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.

Discussion Questions:

1. Preparing the Way

• In what ways is Advent like the quiet morning before a great feast? How might slowing down and reflecting help prepare your heart for the coming of Christ?
• What practices—spiritual or otherwise—help you enter into the kind of preparation John the Baptist calls for?

2. John’s Voice in the Wilderness

• John the Baptist is described as a disruptive voice calling people to honesty and change. Where do you hear modern echoes of that prophetic voice?
• What voices today are calling attention to injustice or spiritual complacency? How might God be calling you to be a truth-teller?

3. Hope and Honesty

• The sermon reminds us that Advent allows space to say, “It’s okay not to be okay.” What does that mean for your life right now?
• Who are the “hope bearers” in your life—those who carry light in dark times? How can you become a hope bearer for someone else this season?

4. Repentance as Readiness

• John’s message of repentance isn’t about shame but about readiness. How do confession and truth-telling make space for grace and growth?
• What is one small step you can take this week to “make straight” a path for God in your life?

5. Being Voices of Advent

• The Advent season reminds us to use our voices rather than remain silent. What truth do you feel called to speak right now?
• As a church community, how can we be a prophetic voice—like John—helping prepare the world for love, justice, and the coming of Christ?

The post Sermon Discussion Guide: Voices of Advent: John the Baptist appeared first on Roland Park Presbyterian Church.