Laura Trent
McFarland UMC
Rossville, GA
laura@VOL.COM

<sing first stanza "My Soul Gives Glory to My God">

It's that night again. The night my jesus was born.
every year i set aside some time on this night
to put the hubbub of the season aside
and thank god, and just remember.
and oh, how well i remember this night!
It seems like only yesterday - and yet, at the same time,
Like so long ago.
I don't quite understand how it can be both near and far,
So recent, so now, and yet so distant, too.
But it is. It is.
How was i to know what it all meant?!
I was so young!
i didn't know much of anything then!
When the angel came to me,
i was completely surprised!
I was sewing, working on some mending for my mother,
wishing i could be working on my wedding dress instead,
when all at once the room was full of light
and a voice spoke almost out of thin air!
"rejoice, you who enjoy god's favor!"
I looked up to see what was happening,
And i saw him, i saw the angel!
But i was so frightened! So confused!
Was he talking to me?
he went on, "the lord is with you."
I couldn't imagine what was going on!
But then he said, "don't be afraid, mary,
For god has blessed you."
And i somehow felt this sense of peace wash over me.
All of a sudden i wasn't afraid anymore!
Not at all!
And the angel told me i would have a child,
a holy child, god's child,
and that i should name him jesus.
He said this child would be great
And would come to be an eternal king.
I remember thinking, "who, me? I'm not married yet;
I've never slept with a man;
i'm not of royal blood;
This doesn't make any sense," -
And before i realized it, i blurted outto this very imposing
Figure of light, god's own messenger, -
"but how can this be?"
And the angel told me that god would make it so
that nothing will be impossible with god.
So i said, "here am i, lord. Let it be so."

Even now, so many years later,
I'm still always a little amazed when i remember
That whole interchange.
How i dared to talk back -
how i dared to take that risk.
How impertinent the question was!
How dangerous it was to be pregnant and unmarried;
Why, the penalty was stoning! Death!
Maybe i had more chutzpah than i knew
or maybe i was just a silly child still,
i don't know,
But the answer the angel gave me has been like a rock
For me to cling to all these years,
a rock that has given me both shelter and sustenance
In some painfully barren deserts.
"nothing will be impossible with god."

Elizabeth, my cousin - the angel told me about her, too,
so i went immediately to visit her.
True, she had been married for many years,
but had never had a child,
so we learned about it together,
And prepared for the births together.
I'll never understand how,
But she knew all about me and my baby before i told her.
Somehow by her knowing, i knew, too, in a new way,
That god would keep the promises god has made
And that my child, our child,
Would be the way god did that.
And i sang a song like hannah sang when she gave samuel
Over to god, the song i was just singing,
It's a song that praises god for, in effect,
Turning the world upside down,
for giving children to barren women -
and to virgins,
For feeding those who are hungry and
Lifting up those who are lowly,
For re-ordering things in god's way.
I still love to sing it.

Joseph was wonderful!
This whole thing turned his world upside down, too -
And yet he never complained,
And after the dream,
When god sent the angel to explainthat it was alright,
that this pregnancy really was of god,
he never doubted, either.
He just stuck by me,
took care of me and our children for so many years.
He was such a good husband -
a good friend, really!
And such a wonderful father!
You could tell it when you watched any of the children.
You could tell he was a good father.
i knew why god had chosen him to be jesus' father.

My son, jesus, came into the world
In such a surprising way.
There we were in bethlehem,
far away from the beautiful crib joseph had made,
With such wonderful carving
And the inlay of the rainbow
As a reminder of god's promise.
Far away from the blankets and wraps
My mother and i had made,
>From the things elizabeth had sent after john was born,
>From the midwife who had helped deliver me
And was to help with my baby -
All that was in nazareth.

We thought we had time to get to bethlehem,
Get the census thing done.
and get back,
But oh, my! How god constantly surprises!
and so jesus was born there in that stable,
And the manger served as his crib.

And there were more surprises!
shepherds came to see the baby,
saying they had heard of his birth from angels,
Who said he was the christ, the messiah!
And then, when we took him to the temple to be circumcised
and offered to god as the law required,
simeon and anna there both called him
"the salvation of god,"
"the one who would redeem jerusalem."
And over a year later, a whole caravan of strangers came
>From far away in the east,
astrologers who said they had seen his birth in the stars,
And brought expensive gifts, gifts fit for a real king.
Not that any mother or father wouldn't want to hear
how special their child was,
But what wondrous things these people we didn't know
Said about our baby jesus!
And that was part of god's surprise:
Jesus wasn't a real king or the mighty warrior
Redeemer we expected;
Just a very human baby born to parents who loved him,
a baby who needed his tummy filled with my milk,
Who needed his diapers changed
And his bottom cleaned,
who needed help learning to roll over and crawl and
Walk and talk.
Just a baby, from my body and my blood -
But with the spirit of god in him.

I remember when we went to the temple for passover
The year he was 12.
Joseph and i were about halfway back before we realized
Jesus wasn't with the other boys as we had thought.
We were in a panic!
We had heard the stories of what could happen
To children left unattended,
Especially someone as bright and beautiful and as
Unafraid of strangers as he was!
Already everyone was a friend to jesus!
Well, we hurried back to jerusalem
And frantically searched for him for 3 long days!
When we finally found him in the temple,
Involved in a deep discussion with the teachers there,
He was totally oblivious to the fact that
He had caused us great anxiety!
"why were you worried?
Didn't you know where i would be?" He asked.
I was stung that he had such little understanding
Of our concern.
But i realized that he was truly surprised that we,
Who knew him best, he thought,
had such little understanding of what he was about.

How difficult it has been, being jesus' mother.
In a way it's kind of been like growing up again, with him.
Over the years i've grown from being just his mother
To being also his disciple
And a leader in the new church,
But like growing up, it's not been easy.

It was so painful to see him rejected at home by those who
knew him growing up,
As he risked everything to follow god's call.
And for a while i thought he had truly gone mad,
And i took some of his brothers once to bring him home
Where he could be cared for safely.
But he wouldn't even see us!
He sent word that his true family
Were those who hear the word of god and do it.
That really stung,
but i had to admit it was true -
and that it fit with all that i had heard
and experienced of this child of mine
who was not just my child.

In my jesus god does wonderful things!
Jesus did turn the world upside down!
He acknowledged and brought in to the center of things
those who were poor and disregarded.
He healed the sick and helped the lame to walk, even run.
He gave sight to the blind
And voices to those who had none,
He fed those who were hungry - in many ways.
And it was so wonderful to see the compassionate way
He related to all he met.
It was as if he truly knew each of them,
was a true friend to every one of them,
regardless of what kind of life they had lived
Or what social or religious class they were from
or whether they were stranger or kin or foreigner
Or even enemy.
With jesus,
Everyone knew they were accepted and valued -
And loved -
The way god accepts and values and loves us.
In him family became more than just genealogy;
in him god made family out of all people
Who hear the word of god,
who believe in god's promises,
and do god's word,
Just as jesus had said.

Of course,
I know that he treated me in the same loving way.
He knew me better than i knew myself.
`and i guess that's always been true.
He knew i'd never leave him,
even when he was dying there on the cross.
He knew i'd never go away -
that staying near him was worth any risk.
Oh, dear god, how that hurt!
i almost died from the pain, too.
In those horrible days i had nothing to rely on
But the words of the angel.
"nothing will be impossible with god"
Became a kind of mantra that i repeated over and over,
desperately trying to keep the faith
that god was working for good
Even in that horrid event.
And of course it was true.
"nothing will be impossible with god."
And my jesus died and rose and still lives.
This i know both as his mother
and as his disciple.
And nothing will ever be the same again.

Every year it's as though it all happens
all over again.
this incredible gift, my baby,
is born again.
That's what this night is,
the night all god's promises,
all god's grace, all god's love,
become once again flesh of my flesh,
blood of my blood.

As i sing my thanks again to god who turns
the world upside down in jesus,
i pray for you, that you, too, will receive
This incredible gift of god's own self
in this very human baby,
A child that is of us and for us.
It's a tiny new beginning,
but the most important and lasting
things always start small
And in surprising ways.
For "nothing will ever be impossible with god."

Thanks be to god!
thanks be to god!

<sing last stanza "My Soul Gives Glory to My God">