Let us Pray - Creator and maker of us all - bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - grow thou in us and show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth. Amen
Christmas is a wonderful time of year, many good things happen - family gatherings
- baking
- candy treats
- rich food (am I dwelling on the tummy?)
- also music that lifts our hearts (carols, anthems)
- people dress up as well as they can
- visiting, sleigh rides, many other things,
it is a great time - a wonderful time, a time of promise,
But there is more than this to Christmas
There is a serious side
- the side that makes it all meaningful
- the side that was promised thousands of years ago...to Adam and Eve, to David the King, and to the prophets
The promise of God about this season came long before Jesus was born, it was a promise that evil would be defeated, a promise of a lasting peace, of lasting hope, of lasting joy and of lasting love. It was a promise that a king would be born... an everlasting king, who would rule his people with justice and truth, a king like David, but greater yet. A king whose reign would never end, a king who would look after the poor and give justice to the widow and orphan
And all of this goodness, all of this hope, rested one day, upon a young girl, barely a woman, who was engaged to a simple carpenter in the Land of Israel.
Imagine her with me... imagine yourself in her place...
Mary visited by an angel
- perhaps in a dream in a hot summer night...
- perhaps while carrying water from the village well...
And she is told by this angel that she is loved by God, that she is favoured by Him, and when she reacts with fear, and who could not be afraid of such a divine messenger, she is told to not be afraid, but to listen, and to understand that God was going to do something special to her, and through her, that God was going to cause her to become pregnant and to give birth to a son - a son who would become the promised king, the Messiah.
Mary's response was very predictable, it was like ours, HOW CAN THIS BE - SHE SAID - SINCE I AM A VIRGIN
How indeed can God work through us?
- We are nothing
- We are inadequate
- God is spirit, but we are flesh
- We are not important people,
- God would not use us,
- God could not use us,
except perhaps in very small things, like loving our neighbours, or helping the poor and the lonely during a difficult time, AND THESE OF COURSE ARE REALLY OUR ACTIONS, God does not actually direct them, or cause them, does he?
HOW CAN THIS BE - HOW CAN I GIVE BIRTH TO THE MESSIAH, I AM A VIRGIN?
But the angel persisted saying that the power of God would come over her - that she would conceive a son and that she should call him Jesus - which means "The Lord Saves"
And Mary replied - I AM THE LORD'S SERVANT, MAY IT BE TO ME AS YOU HAVE SAID."
Mary agreed to what God asked. Mary obeyed the Lord.
And a wonderful thing happened - she became pregnant.
BUT CONSIDER MORE Once Mary obeyed the Lord, once she accepted his word, there were imaginable difficulties, for after all - she was a single woman - who was pregnant - she had a fiance who was troubled, and did not know what to do for quite a while. Although there were difficulties, once she accepted God's message, once she really believed it, incredible Joy came.
In the words of day's canticle which we just said, Mary's soul magnified the Lord.
- She realized in way she could not before that God was in fact real
- that his promises to Israel, to Abraham and his children would come true
- that the world was save, for the saviour was coming.
Mary's soul magnified the Lord - it exalted the Lord - and God filled her, and gave her the joy and the peace and the hope and the love that our toys, our gifts, our carols, and our gatherings can only at best hinted at.
Our Souls too - we when we accept God's word and when we obey his commands, will realize great joy. God will expand in us, and use us - and give us the joy, peace, hope and love we need for ourselves and that which we need to be a light to the world around us.
The hope of Israel and the hope of the world rested on Mary, and she obeyed and Jesus was born.
The hope of our world rests today on us - will we be like her? Will we give birth to God in our actions and thoughts. Will we obey the Lord, and walk in his ways?
John's call to the people of Israel was Prepare Ye The Way of The Lord.
Advent and Christmas - a time of goodness - a goodness that can last and spread throughout the world - if we indeed do prepare ourselves, if we hope and obey like Mary - for with God nothing is impossible.
When we accept God's message to us through the angels, through the prophets, and through Jesus, not only our souls will magnify the Lord, but the souls of every man, woman and child who encounters us, for they will see the promise of God coming true in our lives. Thanks be to God for the gift of his word - Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
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