Rev. Molly F. James, PhD
Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, CT
Advent IV, December 24, 2017
2 Samuel 7:1-11,16; Canticle 15; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word, who is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
When I was a kid I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s farm house. One of our favorite evening activities was to watch old films, and yes I do mean films- the kind that required a projector. Of course, she had family ones from when she or my dad were young, but our favorites were the Charlie Chaplin ones. We thought they were so funny, especially when we got to watch them go backwards. When the ice cream magically went up out of the women’s dress and back up on to Charlie’s cone on the balcony above. We also thought it was really funny when the projector was set too fast and everything happened in double or triple time. Today might feel a little bit as though someone set the projector on high speed and is running it backwards and forwards on us.
Here we are on the fourth Sunday in Advent, at least for a few more hours. In our Gospel reading today we hear of the Angel Gabriel telling Mary that she will be Jesus’ mother. But before we even heard that Gospel, in the place of the psalm, we said the Magnificat, that wonderful passage from Luke that is Mary’s song when she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth during the sixth month of her pregnancy. For those of who return in about 12 or 14 hours, we will be celebrating the birth of Jesus. Feel like you have liturgical whiplash yet? Exhausted yet?
I don’t know about you, but I find myself wanting to know where the pause button is. Wait, I cry. How is it already the fourth Sunday of Advent. It feels like we have barely started. How can we possibly go from a not yet pregnant Mary to the birth of Jesus in a 24 hour period. Isn’t Advent supposed to be about contemplation and preparation? I find myself wanting to protest and argue with the lectionary committee and with our calendar. Why did we have to have two Sundays of John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus’ ministry and then only get to hear about Mary and the Angel Gabriel the morning before we celebrate the birth of Jesus? But then I stop and take a breath, and I laugh. I laugh because it is like real life. How often have we had days or weeks or even months in our lives where things felt backwards and upside down or like they were moving too fast? Turns out it is far more like real life to have things a bit mixed up and out of order as they are today.
Ultimately, I find it comforting. If we are feeling as though life is mixed up or out of order or things are not at all going the way we planned, we are not alone. In fact we are in remarkable company. Do you think Mary was planning on having a baby that year? Considering she and Joseph weren’t even married yet, it is not likely. She had not expected an Angel to appear to her and inform that she was going to have a baby, and not just any baby, God’s Son. And she certainly wasn’t planning on giving birth in a stable miles and miles from her family.
We are in good company when things are not going as we had hoped. And there is an invitation here, today, in our story of Mary and the Angel Gabriel. It is an invitation of acceptance. Invitation to be alert to the ways God shows up unexpectedly in our lives, and to pay attention when that happens. An invitation to go with the flow and trust that there is more at work than we can know. An invitation to believe the Angels who show up in our lives and invite us to follow God on paths that seem far different from what we had planned. Today we are invited to be like Mary, and to say “Yes” to God. It is an invitation to take a deep breath and to be present in the moment. An invitation to pay attention.
There is another invitation in our texts today. It is an invitation to action. It is an invitation to be about living out lives that reflect the desires of God. It is the invitation to bring the world and our own lives more in line with the Magnificat. A world where the proud are scattered, where the mighty are cast down, and the rich sent away empty. A world where the lowly are lifted up, the hungry are filled and the mercy of God is known everywhere.
I don’t know how many of you regularly pray the Daily Office or have the privilege of regularly attending Evening Prayer or Evensong services, but if you do, you will notice that the Magnificat shows up with great regularity. I don’t think that is an accident. Hearing, praying, saying, singing the Magnificat is always a good idea. We need it to be a centerpiece in our lives and in our faith. We need to always be reminded of God’s desires for the world and for those of us who follow Jesus. We need to be reminded that filling the hungry, lifting up our neighbors in need and promoting the mercy of God are what we are to be about each and every day.
As this day reminds us, things will not always happen the way we would like or in the particular order we would like. Sometimes it will feel as though things are moving far too fast or far too slow. Sometimes it will seem as though things are all mixed up. But that is okay. We are not alone. Some of the best stories started out in confusing and unexpected ways. Today’s readings are a prime example of that. And so we are invited to be like Mary, and to trust in the workings of the Holy Spirit. Even when we feel scared or uncertain. God is present. God is at work. The question for us is, will we be able to live more fully in the present moment, so that we might join with God in that holy work? I sure hope so.
AMEN.
