Rev. Tom Hathaway - November 23, 2025
Herod, Mary, and the Cost of Courage
When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, it wasn’t a fairy tale moment. It was a summons issued into a world ruled by a tyrant who executed wives, sons, and anyone who threatened his throne. This sermon explores what it meant for a teenage girl to say yes to bearing a king in a landscape shaped by violence, fear, and the easy cruelty of the powerful. And from Mary’s brave yes, we look at our own world — where harm still comes cheaply for those who hold the levers — and we consider what it means to say yes to the dangerous, costly work of love. Mary’s story becomes our invitation to courage.
Scripture References: Luke 1:26-38
From Series: "The Characters of Christmas"
As we enter the holiday season, we're spending time with the ones who first felt the shockwave of Jesus’ birth. A teenage girl brave enough to say yes. A bewildered carpenter learning to trust what made no earthly sense. Shepherds who lived on the edges of everyone’s attention. Magi who followed a strange star beyond the borders of their own traditions. Each one found the same truth rising in their lives like early light creeping over a horizon: this good news of great joy is meant for all of us.
