Sermon: “Mary’s Gift”, Christmas Eve Message (December 24, 2024)

During the past four weeks of Advent, we’ve been learning about the four women that Matthew includes in his version of Jesus’ genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Since the Christian tradition has historically privileged the actions and perspectives of men, it’s important for us to remember that Jesus’ life and ministry would not have been possible without these women. Not only literally, in that their bodies gave life to the ancestors that make up the line of David, but also through their gifts of tenacity, perception, companionship, and strength – a heritage that shaped God’s people and set the stage for everything that Jesus would be and do during his earthly life.

Of course, tonight, the “woman of the hour” (and technically the fifth one mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy) is Mary. While Jesus is, indeed, “the reason for the season,” I don’t think he’d mind us taking a moment to appreciate his mother. She was willing to give of herself, not for glory or accolades or status, but for the sake of God’s kindom. Hers is a gift of intentional self-offering: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word,” she says. Under the best of circumstances, motherhood involves huge sacrifices – and Mary’s situation was far from ideal. Yet she was willing to take on countless challenges, many of which she couldn’t have even imagined, so that Godself might be born into the world.

While Mary’s particular role was obviously unique, the experience of self-offering for the sake of Christ is one that many women can relate to. The Church is what it is today in no small part thanks to the often unseen and unappreciated contributions of women: followers of Jesus who go unnamed in Scripture because of their gender; early Church leaders who ARE named but aren’t widely celebrated or taught in Sunday school; groups like Presbyterian Women that were originally formed so that women could contribute to their beloved Church even though it refused to recognize them as official leaders; “Pastor’s wives” who perform unpaid labor for the sake of the gospel; and so many more. These women, like Mary, were willing to give of themselves out of nothing more and nothing less than a fierce love of God.

In honor of these women, I asked the Boone community to write down some of the gifts that they’ve received from the women in THEIR lives. So many beautiful, transformative gifts were lifted up: unconditional love, tradition, compassion, love for the Church, knowledge of Scripture, conversations, understanding, and many, many more. Over the past four weeks, I’ve been promising that we’d use these papers tonight – and thanks to the kids who helped decorate the tree at the beginning of worship, we already have. Each one of the ornaments they hung contains a cherished gift that someone wrote about during Advent. And there are a few blank ones up there, too, to represent gifts that go unrecognized, but are offered, nonetheless.

Now, the ornaments are lovely enough, but rather pointless by themselves. They weren’t all that impressive sitting in my office waiting for worship. 

It’s only once they’re hung that they fulfill their purpose: to draw our attention not to themselves, but to the tree – to enhance ITS beauty. The tree itself is the rightful centerpiece of our Christmas decorations, but the ornaments help us to truly appreciate it. Without them, our eyes would probably glide right past, as they do with pine trees every other time of year, instead of stopping to really SEE how beautiful it is.

This is what makes the gifts of women so special – and so crucial. Whereas the institutional Church has so often tried to bully people into following Jesus, women like Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, Mary, and so many others have used THEIR gifts to point towards God’s kindom, showing the world that Christ’s way – the way of humility, mercy, service, and justice – is far more beautiful. As another woman, author Madeleine L’Engle, puts it, “We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.” These women don’t use their gifts to make a name for themselves, but to draw our attention to what matters – to help us “notice the tree”.

Because this is the truth of the matter: the purpose of ALL of our gifts, not just those of women, is to proclaim the Good News that we celebrate on Christmas – Love is born this night for the salvation of all genders, all religions, all nations …ALL humanity. This message is what matters most of all, and our purpose as God’s people is to help everyone see and understand its absolute beauty – not the beauty of strength and dominion that we might expect, but the beauty of self-offering that Jesus has been born through and for. The moment we forget that is the moment that the world forgets Christ. So as a reminder of this responsibility, you’re welcome to take one of the ornaments containing a piece of paper home with you after worship, or I encourage you to make one of your own – maybe even one to keep up all year.

Christ is born today, and it’s a truly beautiful thing…one that we see most clearly when we share our God-given gifts. As we celebrate the Messiah and remember the women who made his birth possible, let’s follow their example – just as they pointed to Christ through their gifts, let us give of ourselves to draw the world closer to its savior. This Christmas, let your life be the reason that someone else is finally able to understand the beauty of God’s love – I can’t think of a better way to celebrate love’s birth. Amen.