Advent 4 Year C

Micah 5:2-5a, Canticle 15 (Song of Mary), Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45

I am going to start this sermon a little differently this morning.  We now have one and a half days left until Christmas.  The last month of preparing and waiting is now about to come to a head, with all its joys and excitement.  I don’t know about you, but for me these last fews days that lead up to Christmas can get a little overwhelming.  

So I want to take a moment and invite everyone get comfortable.  Take long deep breaths and slowly let them out.  I invite you to close your eyes and focus on your breathing.  Breath in...let it out slowly.  Let your mind wander from all that concerns you right now.  Breath in...breath out slowly. Let your mind be free of all the last minute things that must be done in these final days before Christmas.  Breath in...breath out slowly.  Continue focusing on your breathing in the silence for a few moments.

**wait for what feels like a long time, then sing**
 

My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great,  
And my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait.  
You fixed your sight on your servant's plight, and my weakness you did not spurn, 
So from east to west shall my name be blest. Could the world be about to turn?

My heart shall sing of the day you bring.  
Let the fires of your justice burn.  
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,  
and the world is about to turn!

The words that I offer to you this morning are from a hymn that is a paraphrase of the Magnificat, the canticle we will hear during the offertory in a few minutes.  These words evoke imagery of joy, of promise, of being chosen regardless of stature.  In this morning’s gospel we find the story that led to these words being pronounced by Mary and later put into song for worship.  

In today’s gospel Mary has traveled to visit her relative Elizabeth to share with her the good news of her pregnancy.  Both women are pregnant with significance, for between them they bear the messenger and the message.  Over the past three weeks we have heard how John the Baptist was born to be the voice crying in the wilderness, making way for the Lord.  The lives of John the Baptist and Jesus have been intertwined from the very beginning.  So it is no surprise that when the two expectant mothers meet the children jumped in their wombs and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  What follows next is an affirmation to Mary about the fulfillment of God’s divine plan and it comes in the form of a blessing.  

Elizabeth’s words to Mary are more than just a familiar greeting amongst cousins, Elizabeth speaks prophetically to Mary. The Holy Spirit fills Elizabeth and tells her what to say “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” and “blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." These words from Elizabeth come before Mary even has a chance to tell Elizabeth about her visit from the angel Gabriel.

This story is an intimate narrative about the meeting between Elizabeth and Mary.  The scale of this story hardly seems large enough for the fourth week of Advent.  Many of us have come this morning having spent the last two months bombarded by the holidays.  In an increasingly secular celebration of the holidays our focus is drawn towards material or temporal issues.  There is an inordinate amount of stress for a day that is supposed to be joyful.  Those who grieve or doubt or question find little support or patience for their concerns as everyone must get into the holiday spirit.  Emotions are raw and the societal expectations of the season often push out the Gospel as people look away, rather than towards God for inspiration.

Today Luke offers us a pre-Christmas gift, a small story about a genuine connection between two pregnant women of different generations.  God gives Mary and Elizabeth two things they each lacked, community and connection.  God removes them from isolation and helps them to understand themselves more fully as part of something larger than their own individual destinies.  This is an Advent message.  A message of hope and understanding that starts out slowly and quietly.  We anticipate its growth and fulfillment, but it has not happened yet.  It is the promise that God has made to God’s people throughout history.  From Abraham and Sarah to Mary and Joseph, God has entered into our lives and fulfilled promises because of God’s love for us.  

Today’s gospel points to God’s most precious gift to us, Jesus.  It is through Jesus and our faith in him that brings us back to God.  It allows our stories, the narratives of our lives to be brought into the larger story God’s relationship with humanity.  It allows us to be a part of the same story we heard today.

           Though Advent is nearly over, Mary’s song can still be our song. As we have prepared for the coming of Jesus, now we too can sing in thanksgiving, in celebration, in remembrance, and in proclamation of the promise made to our ancestors. Like Mary and Elizabeth, this is the time for us to indulge in unadulterated, celebratory joy in the promises that come to us in Jesus.