Fourth Sunday in Advent: December 24, 2006.

Micah 5:2-5a

Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80:1-7

Hebrews 10:5-10

Luke 1:39-45 [46-55]

First Reading

The lessons for Advent 4 deal more closely with Christmas than the other Advent lessons. Here we have Mary's journey to visit Elizabeth and her response in song to what God is doing, the prophecy of the Messiah, who, like David, will come out of Bethlehem, and the text from Hebrews, which talks about the coming of the Christ, the Messiah, as turning religion upside down. In fact, this reversal seems to be a common theme in all of the texts for the day.

The difficulty is that we are so used to these texts that we may not hear them challenging us. Especially pastors and established congregations and religious authorities ought to take note that these texts are, by and large, critical of us. God does not choose those in the religious establishment. Rather, a young woman from an obscure place becomes the "God bearer" into the world. God does not choose Jerusalem, or the current ruling family, but rather returns to Bethlehem, to the line of David (though this is no surprise; it is a challenge to the Herods). God does not strengthen the sacrificial practices of the Temple but in Christ will establish something new (though we should be careful to associate ourselves with the new rather than what is abolished).

For religious and political leaders, those in power mentioned so prominently as Luke places his Gospel firmly within the political realities of the day, the news was not good. Their power is exposed as inadequate, self-serving, opposed to the "reign of God." Those who imagine themselves at the center of the world and its prestige will find themselves on the margins. Those who are in the margins will be given new positions in the reign of God. Notice that they are not given central place; that is reserved for God alone.

Too often this reversal has meant a replacement of the leaders but not a change in the way the world works. God does not replace one set of oppressors with another; God turns the whole system on its ears. God is not simply lifting up the lowly in order that they might take a turn at the top, but instead the whole system of top and bottom is set aside. What God is about is the return of the cosmos to the harmony of creation. If we simply focus on the social reversals we may miss this key concern.

So what is God up to, finally? God is returning to the creation, to the chosen people Israel, as part of an abiding commitment to that creation, and doing it in a way that raises the lowly and humbles the proud as a way of shattering the systems of hierarchy in the world. God intends to do this from within, by joining us. God is not interested in a quick fix but comes to us the way we come into the world--through a pregnancy and a birth, through a life and a death. God's commitment to us is total, and lasting.

The response, for those who catch on, is exuberant joy! John leaps in the womb; Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit and exclaims blessings for God and for Mary! And, of course, Mary breaks out in song, perhaps the most loved and well-known song of the Christian church's liturgy.

Pastoral Reflection

Those of you who have read this far for these texts might well be among the few who have not decided to forego the last Sunday in Advent and jumped right to Christmas Eve. Others may cancel morning services or may just celebrate Christmas on this day. But you are likely to want to do something meaningful with these texts. Bless you!

George Orwell's book Animal Farm will inform my preaching of these texts, providing a chilling reminder that the world does reversals of fortune differently than God. You may remember that the animals take over from the oppressive farmer, only to find that the pigs become even more oppressive masters. How many "revolutions" of the last century have ended the same way: new leaders, same old oppressions. The systems were not as easily replaced. For those who hope in these revolutions, Mary's song is about the distant future, not what God is doing in the here and now.

So the first task of the preacher of this text, the last in Advent, is to see for ourselves what God is doing, in Christ, to break down the social strata and the systems that cause there to be "lowly" and "mighty" in our world. We need to see ourselves, especially in North America, as the mighty, and ask how God will bring us low. We need to know how God is calling us out of our very lives and way of living. In these systems we are all caught in the oppression. We can learn from the "truth and reconciliation" efforts in South Africa over the last decade. They teach that both oppressors and oppressed are trapped and need to be released. They have refused to blame but instead told their stories and forgiven. Especially in the post--9/11 world in the U.S., these lessons are needed.

Second, we need to see, and to help our people to see, that God is at work in our world. God in our midst means a change in the way we see ourselves and others. The Word made flesh and dwelling among us means something for humanity. It means that all humanity is hallowed by our God who joins us. We are all lifted and raised up by God's choice to join us. No human being is ever to be seen as lowly again since God put on a human face. Nothing is so mighty as the act of becoming a helpless child. The world and its systems indeed are changed.

Third, we must unleash our own exuberant joy! Confronted by a God who prepares us for a birth and for life in the midst of a world of deepening darkness is unexpected grace that leads to abundant praise. Preaching that expresses this joy will lead to people who are able to celebrate the mystery of the incarnation that evening with a deeper sense of what God is doing. Our celebrations need this text, this message, as our final preparation for the joy of Christmas.

I remember the day my wife and I learned we were expecting our only child. After years of trying, frustration, and doctors, we had given up--only to find that a child was on the way. The joy and release were overwhelming, and we both cried, and sang, and were stunned, and got busy preparing. Our world was turned upside down. It will never be the same. In Jesus, God has entered our world and turned it upside down. God is among us still. Our world will never be the same. LLB