From little things... Reflection for 4th Sunday of Advent

Year C   Fourth Sunday of Advent   20 December 2015

Michah 5:2-5a   Psalm 80: 1-7 OR Luke 1:47-55     Hebrews 10:5-10    Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

From Psalm 80 we hear a cry that might resonate with many of us:

Psalm 80:4 -7 “O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?   You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us the scorn of our neighbours; our enemies laugh among themselves.  Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.”
 

It’s been quite a while since I last wrote a reflection.  Advent began and, to me, it is like a New Year’s Day and time for re-commitment – and getting back into writing.  However, I had a school Christmas concert to organise and so many other things.

Many times throughout 2015 I could relate to these words from Psalm 80.  It seemed like so many were against me, and being human, I wondered if I was being punished and sometimes, with my music and difficulty in getting gigs after being told I was one of the best that the venues had, I wondered if some of it was because I was out there on the streets of Mackay as a Street Chaplain and openly associated with church.

Sadly, as I’m sure you can imagine, rejection doesn’t just come from the secular community.  It has been there in the church also.  What I’ve discovered is that it doesn’t matter what you do to be accepted, some people will simply not accept you.  However, this is only the beginning of our readings for this weekend.  This is the reality that we start with.  Like the psalmist, we bring our feelings of inadequacy, rejection and hurt and we call out to God and say, “How long?”

Like the Psalmist, we may be at the end of our ability to press on, but here we are calling out to God for His intervention.  And there is hope…..

The first reading comes from the prophet Micah and offers a prophecy of hope:  Micah 5:3-6 “Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labour has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.  And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.”

The prophecy is about the coming of Jesus.  He was to come from Bethlehem, which is described as one of the little clans of Judah.  In fact there is a theme running through the readings about the small, the poor, the little, the overlooked, the rejected…. This is how God shows that He is concerned about all.  He doesn’t chose the by the worlds standard.  In the world, it seems that the most influential are those who make the most noise, have money or fame and somehow seem to fit right in as everyone’s ideal person.  They are the kind that you can imagine on the talk back shows where everyone is nodding and laughing. 

From the Gospel of Luke we notice that God’s way of choosing is different.

Luke1:46- 55 “And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.   He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."”

The fact of the matter is that right here and now we may have a reality that is far from what we would like and we may feel that, being just one person, we are completely unable to affect any change or to have any influence, but this is the very circumstances where God likes to show up.

God delights in comforting His people and causing those that are of seemingly no significance to become incredibly significant.  This is part of our message for Advent as we prepare for Christmas.  Of course the other part of the message is that “God is on His way”.

How do we make sense of the fact that God has already been here and yet is on his way? 

By His Holy Spirit God is always with his people.  Just as the unborn child within Elizabeth leapt for joy at the sound of Mary’s greeting, acknowledging Jesus within her, so too there are those who will notice something within them and others and respond to the Holy Spirit of Jesus within us, and within circumstances.

Why do I tell you all this?  In our readings there is a thread that ties them all together and it is about little things that become big things.  We, like the rest of humanity, tend to overlook the subtlety of God’s presence.  It was certain characters like Elizabeth that recognized God without any announcement from Mary.  How can we be also be attuned to the presence of God?

There have been many wonderful people who genuinely sought to be in tune with God and got it wrong.  The reading from the letter to the Hebrews tells us the truth about this change from operating under a system of sacrifice and offerings to the New Covenant of living in grateful acceptance.

Hebrews 10:8-10   “When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law) then he added, "See, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.  And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

This reading speaks about the Old Covenant which prescribed certain sacrifices and offerings be made in order to come into God’s grace and presence.  But what does this reading tell us? 

Firstly and most importantly is states that all have been made holy through the offering of Christ… ONCE AND FOR ALL.  God does not require any other offering or sacrifice.  The reality that we fail to Grasp is that God IS present!  To the early Christians this concept sounded like Heresy. 

Many of the early followers of Jesus were “followers of the law”.   They kept the law of God to the best of their ability and they comprehended that Jesus was God incarnate who died because they couldn’t perfectly keep the Holy law of God, but what were they to do now? 

Surely it is for such people that this letter is written with the words, “He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.” 

Jesus put in place a New Covenant.  What are the terms of this covenant?  What sacrifices are we to make?  There is none…  Christ was offered once and for all.  What offering are we to make?   There is none…. Christ was offered once and for all.  So what are we to do?

Ever heard the phrase, “Good News”?  This New Covenant is Good News! How we will respond to the Good News is as individual as each person is, but generally there will be some degree of firstly acceptance or rejection of the gift that is given.  If acceptance, then we are to enjoy the unhindered gift of God’s eternal presence.   God is always there, and with our thanks to God for His presence comes the awareness. 

From little things, big things grow.  A tiny bit of trust that God is there.  A hope that this Good News is real.  A tiny step of faith and suddenly the world becomes four dimensional and joy can be found in the knowing that there is a greater purpose and plan for our existence.