Let It Be

Sermon for SMHP:  Year C, Advent II, Luke 1 Series, Dec. 9, 2018

Luke 1:1-21                   

               ²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. ²²When he did come out, he could not 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. ²³When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

               ²⁴After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, ²⁵‘This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.’

               ²⁶In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.’

               ²⁹But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³²He 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. ³³He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 

               ³⁴Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 

               ³⁵The 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. ³⁶And 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. ³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 

               ³⁸Then 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.

          Feel free to join me.

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

          Let it be.  Paul McCartney wrote those words in the Fall of 1968.  It was a difficult time, just prior to the Beatles breaking up, and Paul was soothing himself with alcohol and drugs and struggling to sleep at night.  I’ll let him pick up the story:

Then one night, somewhere between deep sleep and insomnia, I had the most comforting dream about my mother, who died when I was only 14. She had been a nurse, my mum, and very hardworking, because she wanted the best for us. At night when she came home, she would cook, so we didn’t have a lot of time with each other. But she was just a very comforting presence in my life. And when she died, one of the difficulties I had, as the years went by, was that I couldn’t recall her face so easily.

So in this dream twelve years later, my mother appeared, and there was her face, completely clear, particularly her eyes, and she said to me very gently, very reassuringly: “Let it be.”

It was lovely. I woke up with a great feeling. It was really like she had visited me at this very difficult point in my life and gave me this message: Be gentle, don’t fight things, just try and go with the flow and it will all work out.

          The notoriously anti-religion John Lennon hated Paul’s song, because like so many of us, he heard the echo of another Mary’s words in it.  He was sure that “Let it be” was a reference to Luke’s telling of the annunciation—Gabriel’s announcement and Mary’s response.  At first, Paul McCartney denied the connection, but in later years, he told people they should hear what they hear.

          I hear the annunciation.  In the song and in his explanation.  “Be gentle, don’t fight things, just try and go with the flow and it will all work out.”

          Perhaps one of the reasons for great popularity and lasting success of “Let It Be” is that we aren’t very good at “letting it be,” are we? 

          I don’t know about you, but the statement of Mary’s with which I resonate isn’t “let it be.”  It’s the earlier “be” statement… “how can this be?”

          I think questioning comes more naturally to us than obedience.  That may be because I live with a two-year-old, but honestly, it’s my experience with most adults as well.  We live in a time of lots of questioning.  A sixty year old Christmas song can’t get a break in our world today.  And maybe it shouldn’t.  But maybe it should.

          Of course not everyone is questioning.  Some folks believe whatever they’re told these days, no matter how absurd it appears when reason and evidence are applied.

          Which is why we must think very carefully about faith and doubt and just what Mary’s “Let It Be” means. 

          The great twentieth century theologian Paul Tillich famously said, “doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.”  When Mary says “How can this be?”…and for that matter when Moses says, “Oh Lord, it can’t be me, because I am ‘slow of speech and slow of tongue,’ or when Sarah laughs at the idea that God can give her a son…

          …they are all participating in a dance of faith which God has allowed since the Creation.  They are showing that they understand the gravity of what God is asking.  In fact, if you sketch out these sorts of call stories in scripture, “the query” is an essential element of many of them. 

          God wants us to know what we’re getting ourselves into, folks.  People who shout out “let it be” without stopping to ask “how can this be?” make lousy apostles. 

          Think about Mary.  She’s young.  Marrying age, but in her culture you could be betrothed at twelve.  She was probably a young teenager.

          So there you are, young teenager.  Betrothed to an older man, but not yet married, and this angel comes, like Ed McMahon with a bunch of balloons, and says “Congratulations!  You are going to bear the son of God!”

          If your next words aren’t “how can this be?”…you might be the wrong person for the job.  You might be one of those people who will go along with anything you’re told.  Politicians will love you.

          Mary had questions.  She had a little doubt, even.  And it was okay.  How do we know?  Because Law of Consequences.  Gabriel will let you know when it’s not okay.  You could get struck mute for nine months, even—rough duty for a priest.

          What happens when Mary questions?  Gabriel answers her question. 

          Her doubt is faithful. Her questions are faithful.  And faithful doubt and faithful questions are an element of her faith which then enable her, upon hearing all the facts—and facts are important, y’all—to say “let it be with me according to your word.

         

          You have doubts.  I try not to tell you how you feel, because that is wrong, but I feel very confident in saying of each of you here, it is very likely that you have doubts.  You know what God is calling you to do, and the story that God has invited you to enter.           And you have doubts. 

          Or at least questions.

          Hear this:  “Yeah, that’s okay.”  Don’t hear it from me.  Hear it from Gabriel.  Or from God, who listened to old slow speaking Moses and said, “Good point.  Let’s have Aaron speak for you.”

          Your doubts are not just okay.  They are faithful.  They are the bridge that enables you to say with all confidence and honesty, “Let it be.”

          And let me tell you, my friends…at this time, in this place, “let it be” is where we want to be.  Paul’s mum’s “let it be,”—that sense of “be gentle, don’t fight, it will work out.”  And Mary’s “let it be,” which is something more.

          “Let it be with me…according to your Word.”

          Mary wasn’t just waiting for stuff to “work out.”  She was waiting for the fulfillment of God’s word, which she knew to be the coming of the promised Messiah.  When she asked “how will this be,” Gabriel told her:  this child will sit upon the throne of David, and reign over the house of Jacob forever.”

          She wasn’t just “letting anything be.”  She was “letting it be”…and IT was the promise of God!  She was taking the information she had been given from the angel of God, integrating it into her reality with impressive speed, and then agreeing to be part of the plan.

          That’s faithful, y’all!  That’s what faithful looks like.  Hear, wonder, maybe even doubt.  Get more information.  Review what you know of God’s plan and God’s promise.

          And then…and only then, can you say, “Yeah, sure, let it be with me…according to your Word.”

          Go ahead and doubt…faithfully.

          Go ahead and question…faithfully.

          Go ahead and agree…also faithfully.

          We have to do these things.  Even when it seems that our questions will not be answered, our doubts will not be assuaged.  We need to do it on our own and do it together.  Together, as we struggle and question and work our way toward assent, we begin to live into the promise of God.  We can all get there.  Together.  Or, in the words of Paul McCartney,

When the broken hearted people living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be.
          Let it be, people of God.  Let it be.