I just finished my sermon for Sunday. It focuses on Mary. Do you know how many times I've preached on Mary over the past 22 years? I don't know, either, but it has been a bunch. What surprises me each time is that there is something new to say. There is always some angle or some word or some emotion or some nuance in the text that I've never seen before that leaps off the page.
I think the biggest factor in this is that earlier on in my ministry, it was more academic. I reviewed what I learned about Mary at seminary and then summed it up in a sermon. Now it is more transforming. Going beyond facts and figures and theological definition, now it is more of bringing the Word of God alive to intersect in real life issues.
This coming Sunday is about fear. Imagine the fear of Mary--the fear of encountering an angel, the fear of being a pregnant virgin, the fear of explaining this pregnancy to Joseph, the fear of wondering if she would be able to be the mother of the Messiah. The whole story is shrouded in fear.
As you come on Sunday, try to name the fear that makes your heart race. And then come with that fear to hear the words that the angel pronounced to Mary, "Fear not; for you have found favor with God."
See you on Sunday.
Pastor Scott
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