Amos 3:1-8
Psalm 139:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Matthew 4: 12-23
The baby whose birth we celebrated just over a month ago is all grown up. He's been to Egypt and back; he scared his parents half out of their wits by staying and talking with the priests and scribes in the Temple in Jerusalem when he was supposed to be returning to Galilee with them; he's been baptized in the river Jordan; God has declared him to be his own beloved son with whom he is well pleased; he's been tempted and refused Satan; and his cousin John who proclaimed his coming and prepared the way for him has been arrested. Now it's time... Time to begin his own journey. A journey that will eventually take him back to Jerusalem.
He doesn't start out with a lot of fanfare. There are no processions, parades, or cheering crowds as he passes through towns and villages on his way to Galilee. There's no entourage of devoted friends and followers. He leaves quietly and alone when he goes back to his hometown; attracting no particular attention - just another traveler on the road... going to some backwater, farming town up north - Nazareth - a town most people of that day had never even heard of. Hundreds of people pass him on the road and notice nothing different or unusual. Most probably don't really even see him. You know the way we pass people at the mall at Crossroads - and don't really see them. No doubt he arrives home hot and dusty and dirty. He's been on the road at least three days or more and most likely he's ready for a bath and a good home cooked meal.
His mother is overjoyed to see him. She can't stop looking at him. She needs to keep reassuring herself that he really is home at last.
We can almost see her. With a smile as big as her face, humming a tune while she's fixing all those foods that are Jesus' favorites - making sure his room is clean and ‘just so' - giving him clean clothes and scrubbing his dirty ones while he bathes and relaxes. The questions are almost bursting out of her mouth - but she restrains herself, not wanting to hover too closely or to begin asking questions too quickly..
She's been waiting so long for him to come back home and start up his father's carpentry business again. Oh, not that she's minded, but it's been hard to be alone while Jesus was off wandering around .... the way young men often do before they're ready to settle down.
Friends and relatives made sure that she had plenty to eat, and that she lacked for nothing. But she's been lonely since Joseph died. But now that Jesus is home, he must be ready to settle down and marry and fill the house with grandchildren. Her heart is singing with thanksgiving to the Holy One of Israel - to the King of the Universe. As she bustles about she quickly pushes away certain...disturbing thoughts - what did that old man in the temple say when they'd taken Jesus to be circumcised? Something about Jesus being a light for the Gentiles - and that something would hurt her.
And then all those shepherds traipsing in when he was born talking about angels saying that Jesus was the Savior.. And the three pagan kings with their extravagant gifts - which she still had tucked away somewhere. It had all been so confusing and unsettling. She'd tried not to think about those things much over the years. Though it had always been difficult to forget the amazing circumstances of his conception.
Jesus sits down to the feast she's prepared for him and listens as she begins to tell him all about what's been happening in town since he left - who's died, who's married, who's been arrested - the hardships caused by the ever-increasing Roman taxes. A smile hovers about Jesus' lips, but he remains quiet, eating and listening to his mother.
As Mary begins to talk about her dreams for the future - with a daughter-in-law in the home and rambunctious grandchildren to tend - the smile recedes and Jesus looks up to his mother, his eyes filled with a great sadness. How painful and unfair it seems to dash all of her hopes and dreams..
Isn't there some other way? And then he hears the words that will come to him so many times over the next three years - whenever he's tempted to resist his Father's call... "Not my will, but yours be done."
It's as though Mary hears the words as well, and she becomes silent, the joy fading from her eyes. She can no longer ignore and push away all those things she'd been told when Jesus was conceived and born. It's time... time for him to fulfill his mission on this earth. The pain in her heart is like that of a sword piercing her breast - and she knows he'll never come home to start up the family business again, to give her a daughter-in-law or to fill her house with grandchildren. She knows he will be leaving again - perhaps never to return.
She sits down with a sigh and takes Jesus' hands in her own. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. It's not only time for Jesus to begin his ministry; it's time for her to begin hers as well - a ministry of letting go: letting go of expectations letting go of dreams and hopes that have provided reassurance at times of loneliness and despair over the years letting go of how things "should be." letting go of trying to be in charge letting go of all that has been most precious to her
She and Jesus sit together in the silence. Very slowly they become aware of a soft light that shimmers and glows as it fills the room. And as they surrender to the will of the Father - the light shines more and more brightly. It fills them and overflows in the joy that reappears in their eyes and the smiles that return to their faces. A brilliant celestial light shines through them - and something ...something has changed forever.
2000 years ago, the Holy One of Israel, the King of the Universe called a young girl named Mary to be the very first follower of Jesus. It meant that she had to let go of all that was most precious to her...and in exchange she received the light of the world that set her free.
Today God continues to call each one of us to follow Jesus. What is it that we still refuse to let go of that keeps us from receiving the light of the world that would set us free?
AMEN.