Advent 4 - The Song of mary

Throughout Advent the prevailing theme is preparing for the coming King. Luke establishes John the Baptist as the one who heralds and prepares the way of the coming Lord and today, we jump back in time a little to Elizabeth’s pregnant encounter with Mary.

We’ve all gone on a journey of preparation, and now is the quiet anticipation of the arrival of Christ in a few days’ time.

When a couple find out they are going to become parents, one imagines that there are a number of things that go through their mind. But, for the sake of my sermon, and the fact that I myself have not gone through it, let’s take the Hollywood approach.

In the typical romcom when a couple finds out that they are pregnant, there’s this sense of unpreparedness, so they read all the books, baby proof the house, buy the right cot and a pram and all the other million and one things parents need for their children, and this anxious anticipation around the 2 thirds mark becomes excitement, a desire to meet their child and this feeling grows and grows, up until the final couple of days where this quiet anxiousness returns, the final moments leading up to a life changing event leaving mum and dad feeling a little nervous.

There are other ways we could view this season of preparation. In my experience ordination was a season of preparation. You go through years of preparation and questioning and theological reflection, but those days leading up to the moment are nerve-racking mixture of anxious worry and uncontainable excitement. The doubts you thought you had put to bed resurface, questions abound, and a sleepless night precedes a life changing event.

In either of these scenario’s or any of other ones we could come up with, it’s not necessarily a fear of failure that creates that quiet anxious anticipation but a realisation of the importance of the event to come. 

Advent is a time of preparation, as we know, not for the coming of the incarnate Christ 2000 years or so ago, but for the His glorious return when He will gather His children to Himself and usher in the new age to come. That preparation we go through is not a beating ourselves up, but rather a recognition of the importance of that coming event. Not only do we prepare ourselves, but we rejoice in that day to come, because while entirely life changing and unknown, we know and trust in the God that has declared it to be.

And so, we return to this moment in time, a moment that on the face of it should have been an entirely normal encounter, two pregnant mothers coming together to spend time with one another.

Only it’s not a normal encounter is it.

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb.”

What strikes me is that use of the word Lord. “And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me.” This understanding Elizabeth had that Mary’s unborn child would be the coming Messiah and the lack of jealousy in Elizabeth’s response is an acknowledgement of the greater blessing. Elizabeth’s pregnancy is a miracle, but Mary’s pregnancy one that will not only bring joy to an expectant mother but literally change the course of human history. It is also part of the fulfilment of the word given to Zachariah from Gabriel, in Luke 1:15 Gabriel tells Zachariah that John “will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” John points towards the coming Messiah even before his own birth.

And it’s at this personal realisation of Elizabeth’s that Mary’s song breaks out. Not only a song of praise and thanksgiving but it shows us that Mary knew what was to come. Amongst this great blessing, this being chosen to carry the Christ child, is this humility which is truly inspiring. How many of us, if we knew we were carrying the Christ child, the literal Incarnate God of the universe would be able to keep humble? Would we not want to boast and shout from the mountains how great it is to be chosen by God?

Much thought has gone into understanding the Song of Mary, the Magnificat. There is speculation that Mary on the journey to Elizabeth might have been thinking over the song of Hannah.

Hannah’s song begins, “My heart exults in the Lord, my horn is exalted in the Lord.” Both songs have much in common. The songs speak of God bringing down the mighty and elevating the lowly. Hannah’s song has this beautiful phrase, “the bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength.” Yet, there is a significance difference between the songs. Hannah’s is a song of triumph, a taunt to her enemies that God has done great things. Mary’s is a contemplation on the mercies of God. The tone is different.

The mercy of God, that he would step down into our broken and hurting world. A world in need of a saviour. That he would walk as one of us and take to the cross the sin and shame we should bear.

And the truth of it is that we still live in a world that is need of a saviour. Every day the news is littered with new miseries, we witness humanity being harmful to itself. We see corrupt governments do atrocious things, we see people fleeing from their homes in search of safety, on our streets there are people sleeping in shop fronts because they can’t afford a safe and warm place to live.

The world has not changed much in this regard to the time of Jesus. The difference is that on this side of the birth of Christ we should know better. It is as if we have totally ignored Paul’s words to the Romans, “should we continue to sin in order that grace may abound? By no means.”

And when I look at the world and the sorry state we are in these words bounce around my mind with ever increasing volume. Because the grace we receive when in a state of sin only benefits us as the individual. It does not negate the effects of our sin on others. That’s a different form of healing and forgiveness amongst the sinner and sinned against. When I hear of what the Church has covered up, what is has neglected to deal with, when I hear of the utter failure of our clergy and others to protect the vulnerable and hurting, yes, I believe there is forgiveness for these things, but that forgiveness does not undo the effects of the wrong done.

We have these seasons in the Church calendar to help us on our Christian journey to think through and process what is means to follow Christ. The year is like a diamond, it has many facets, it’s hard to take it all in at once, so we focus on one bit at a time.  And while this is helpful, truth of the matter is that we should live in this quiet anticipation of the arrival of Jesus every day of our lives. Because when we examine ourselves, can we truly say we are ready, if the heavens were to part this very minute and the trumpets sounded and heralded the imminent arrival of Jesus, could we confidently say that we are ready?

If we placed our lives within the context that the second coming of Jesus could come at any moment, if we lived as the early Church did, believing He was coming very soon, how would that change the way we live and treat another? Would instead of sinning so that grace may abound, would we possibly sin less? Would those moments where we thoughtlessly say or do something that hurts another reduce because our actions would be more measured, more thought out?

Mary brought Jesus into the world, chosen by God to carry this great and wonderful gift to humanity. We carry Jesus as well. Galatians tells us that “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” We are no longer ourselves but bought with the most precious price, the blood of the Incarnate God who came to dwell amongst His creation.

So let me end with this question to ponder over these last few days of Advent.

As we go out into the world this Christmas, how do we bring Jesus in the world we inhabit. How do we imitate Christ in our lives when it comes to our relationships, our actions, our future planning. How are we living as His hands and feet as we step into this next season?

Amen.