Year C Fourth Sunday of Advent 23 December 2012
Michah 5:2-5a Luke 1:47-55 Hebrews 10:5-10 Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)
I wrote a Christmas song some years ago with the words; “I could wish you joy and peace and love eternally, but don’t you realize what a futile wish that would be? Joy and peace and love is there, has been and will be… what I wish, my prayer for you is your eyes opened to see….”
We’ve reached the fourth Sunday in Advent and hopefully we are all prepared to celebrate the incarnation, where God became flesh. I say this with a grin, because I suspect many of you are like me and so busy with the organizational that you probably just wish you could go on a nice quiet retreat and reflect on this truth.
We’ve heard the story each year. We know the readings of Advent. We know what it has meant in our lives in the past, but what does it mean for us right now? How does it impact our lives today?
Micah 5:4-5a “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace…”
Many times we’ve heard that God’s care for his people is like a shepherd with his flock. It isn’t like in modern Australian sheep farming, this kind of shepherd knew their flock and bonded with their flock in a way such that the shepherd could say, “my sheep know my voice…”
First question: Are we so bonded with our shepherd that we recognize his voice?
Mary was a young lady who knew the voice of God. We realize this by her declarations about God. She rejoiced in God and acknowledged him as her saviour. She knew that he is mindful of the humble, that he feeds the hungry, and that his mercy extends from generation to generations of those who fear him. She declared that he keeps his promises.
It must have been a frightening and exciting thing for Mary to realize that she had a part in the promise keeping of God. There would have been so many challenges for her as an expectant mother whose child didn’t belong to the man to which she was betrothed. I honestly don’t think I could have said, “yes” to the will of God as she did. But then again, sometimes it isn’t until we are placed in certain positions that we realize the strength with which God has gifted us.
What does it mean for us, that God keeps his promises? He has promised to come again. Do we acknowledge this reality and live our lives accordingly? All of our lives are a testimony to our beliefs….. or our doubts.
One of the gifts that God had given to Mary was a cousin who was also carrying a child whose conception was due to miraculous circumstances. The confirmation of Mary’s role in the salvation of humanity was declared by Elizabeth.
Luke 1:41-45 “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Once again we are reminded that there was a sure promise to be fulfilled and an exhortation that there is a blessing for those who believe.
Which begs the question; What does it mean to believe?
After researching a little I discovered that the Greek word which is translated as “believe” in the Bible is a verb. This implies that to believe is an action, as opposed to a passive mental agreement.
The implication for us is that if we believe the message of Christ then our whole lives should be a testament to our belief.
To believe in the message of Jesus means that we adhere to his words, we trust in him, cling to him and rely on him. Mary, who believed that God would fulfill his promise, would surely have experience great anguish, in the many different times and with all the consequences of the promise. There was an escape to Egypt that happened in the night to escape Herod’s decree to kill all the baby boys and who knows how many other trials in the explaining to Joseph and her family about the circumstances of her condition. Yet Mary clung to, trusted in and relied on God…. She believed…. What else could she do?
But why do we believe? What is the purpose of our belief?
In our culture we often miss the message of salvation. We live with so many privileges and with so many good things. We have our faith in doctors to heal us, our government to provide for us, our legal system to keep us safe etc… we live in the here and now and rarely think about eternity unless we experience death and even then we mourn our loss and rarely think beyond to discover the complete salvation of God.
We are not the hungry or the humble in need of lifting up. We are all pretty well taught in self-promotion and probably generation x and y better than any previous generations.
Every now and then amidst the lavishness of our lives we spot our inability to control our lives and an inability to achieve and succeed and these things are a blessing in disguise, because then we just may turn our thoughts to God.
We might often feel that we are good enough for our friends and family, but in a time of failure we will realize that we are not really that good after all. And if we aren’t good enough for family and friends, how can we possibly be good enough to be accepted by God?
A barren woman, Elizabeth, felt the rejection of a society that valued mother-hood. She knew that she found acceptance by God, not because of any goodness in her – she was like a blemished lamb – not fit for the sacrifice offered to God. But Elizabeth experienced the mercy and grace of God.
We too, all have our imperfections. Though our society strives to justify our imperfections and normalize sin, the Israelites in the time of Mary and Elizabeth, were surrounded by rejection that reminded them of their fallen state. Certain places in the temple were for men only… how could a woman find the love and acceptance of God.
Those who can acknowledge their failure are those who can acknowledge their need for a saviour. The Israelites had a way of acknowledging their failure and finding acceptance by God. In many ways it mirrored the religions of those around them and required animal sacrifices to take away sin and make them acceptable to God. Modern people reading about this system find it quite crazy, but that is the system understood by the people. God used this understanding and then brought about a revelation that changed history.
Hebrews 10:8-10 “First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Jesus completely and perfectly fulfilled the will of God and he sets aside the system of sacrifices for the atonement for sin, because he completed it…. He finished it. He makes it very clear that his one sacrifice of himself was once for all.
But what does it mean for us? We know that Christ died for our sins once and for all, but how does it affect us now? Do we believe it, and is our life a testament to the amazing Good News that so few seem to fully grasp?
We have been made holy.
Ah… so you see, each time we realize our failure and we realize that we do not deserve the love and acceptance of God we can stop right there and thank God. REMEMBER this little phrase, “We have been made holy”.
Here is true freedom. What are the implications of this fact?
We have been made holy. What a celebration of life to know that we have unconditional acceptance and approval by God. I know that some have stopped me in the past because this unconditional acceptance and approval by God just seems too good to be true. But from all that I read and understand of God, this is the message I find loud and clear….
This holiness is not conditional on anything that we do, but only on what Christ did.
So…. I could wish you joy and peace and love eternally, but don’t you realize what a futile wish that would be? Joy and peace and love is there, has been and will be… what I wish, my prayer for you is your eyes opened to see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FXQPRLc40o
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