We are encouraged to be afraid of some things, like flood waters, fire, driving without headlights or taking drugs, or drinking alcohol.

Most of the time, our fear has to do with our survival.

It is a known fact that no human, who is thinking clearly, can bravely say to God, "I'm not afraid of you. You cannot do anything so awesome or unusual that will surprise me, or alarm me."

We all have this fear of God.
We understand ourselves as finite, that is, we have a beginning and an end. Although we did not get to choose when we began, none of us want to end our lives by foolishly facing something or someone stronger than our ability to defend ourselves.

When it comes to facing God, none of us has any defense that will really stand up against the holiness of God. We understand that God knows everything. We cannot plead our case or claim innocence because God sees the facts and knows that we are not guiltless.

It doesn't matter who you are and how pure of a life you have lived, when it comes to an opportunity to come up against the holiness of God, we all shrink back in fear.

Even as pure as the Roman Catholic Church tries to paint Mary, still they agree that her encounter with the Arch Angel Gabriel would have been frightening.

The Angel had a big job to do. Gabriel had to try to tell a human that God was going to fulfill the promise of sending a Messiah through her.
Gabriel may have felt the task was a big as trying to explain the chemical composition of rocket fuel to a carrot.
A carrot, while a wonderful vegetable, just doesn't have the capacity to understand such a thing.

Mary was human. Did humans really ever understand or even care about what God wanted? Some of them didn't even believe in God.
Mary, a human, a young girl; which meant she was not educated in matters of religion as a boy would have been.
Mary, a human, a young girl, unmarried; which meant she would have, most likely been without experience in matters of conception and birth.

Mary was a human, a young girl, unmarried, in a culture that stoned women who were pregnant with no husband. That meant that even if she understood what was going to happen, she would have refused for fear of death by stoning.

Gabriel did as he was commanded. He, no doubt, tried to put on his most un-awesome, un-scary kind of self and went to Mary.

Our Children's Choir and our Chancel Choir sang beautiful songs about Mary's compliance with the Angel's message. Christmas music is so wonderful.
In our culture we can compress things together so we can get the job done hurrying off to the time when we open our presents and have the day to eat all the chocolate we can hold.

On this second Sunday of Advent, let's pause a moment to catch a glimpse of what a big job the Angel Gabriel had, and what a dilemma Mary faced if she accepted the invitation to be the mother of God's Son.

If you did not know how the story would turn out; if you did not know the story of the Baby Jesus being born in Bethlehem, and all the romantic add -ons Hollywood has provided, given what you know about the situation of Mary's life, if you had been in her shoes would you have found it easy to say, "Yes".

Did those words, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me as you have said," just pop into her head and out her mouth? Were they just words of a statement of faith, or would she have pondered the situation and carefully considered her answer?

First of all, Mary had to be a person of deep faith. The Angel told her that she had found favor with the Lord. That meant she was in touch with spiritual matters. She believed God would keep the promise to send a Messiah.

It is from Mary's faith that she made a decision that would have been against all human advice.
She did not go and ask her parent's advice on what she should say. She did not go consult with the Rabbi.
She did not go and tell her friends, and let them tell her all the reasons she should not. She did not let her friends try to tell her what they saw and what was going to happen if she did not refuse.

This decision was a personal matter between Mary and God.
No one else could make this decision for her.

She was to consider, not what her mother expected her to do, or that her friends would no longer want to be associated with someone who was unmarried and going to have a baby.

She was not to consider what her friends would say when she assembled with other believers to worship God and there would be a vote to stone her to death.
She did not call in consultants or run surveys and conduct polls.

Friends, you and are visited by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is alive in the world today appearing to us, inviting us into God's plan to reveal his Son, Jesus.

Each of us either refuses or complies with God sending his love to the world through the Christ-child.

If the Christ-child is going to be born in the year 2007 it is up to us to say, "Yes".
This is a personal decision between each of us and God.

We won't be running a poll among our friends, "Do you think I should be careful what I do about Christmas this year and try to show everyone I know that I believe in the Christ God has provided?"

"Do you think it would hurt my popularity at school if I didn't go to the Christmas kegger?"

"Mom, I think this Jesus is real and I want to dedicate my life to him? Would you support me in my decision to pursue a career in whatever field God calls me, even if it is one that would not make me rich and famous?"

The Holy Spirit calls each of us, where we are, into the place God wants us to be. Mary was being called to an adventure not experienced by any human before her, or since. No one could have given her advice from their experience.

The Holy Spirit is calling you and me to an adventure tailor-made for each one of us.
Accepting the call, doing our part is part of God's plan to share his love with the world in which each of us lives.

None of us can ask a parent or friends at work or at school if they think we should say, "Yes". What God has in mind for you, is between God and you.

Before Mary said, "Yes" to God's invitation, she heard these words from the Angel, "For with God all things are possible."

I want to tell you that even though you may have all kinds of doubts, all kinds of "what-ifs" flooding your mind, for the job God has chosen you to do, those words still stand today; "For with God all things are possible."

That means when we say, "Yes", all the doors that need to open will open.
When we comply with what God wants us to do, God will take care of all the obstacles that may threaten us.

When we are living in tune with God, as Mary had been, we find favor with God and when we find favor with God we will be invited to join God in bringing his love into the world where we live.

"Fear not, Mary"
"But I am unmarried. I have no husband. This will disappoint my parents. My friends will think I am crazy. I will be killed."

Mary had plenty of reasons to be afraid!
Were the Angel's words true? "With God, all things are possible"?

Is God calling you to do something to move God's kingdom forward that may be against the better judgment of those you usually rely on for advice?

When you know in your heart that what you are doing is God's call, then you too have the calm assurance of the Angel's words, "Fear Not. With God, all things are possible." Amen.

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