Readings:
Sermon:
‘Are we nearly there yet?’ – words that will be asked on many a journey over the next few weeks. We find ourselves here on the fourth Sunday of advent, which of course is also Christmas Eve this year. Some churches will be leaping straight into Christmas Eve and others will hover between the two, both with the sense of being ‘almost there.’
Our gospel reading invites us back to angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary, when she received greetings and reassurance that the Lord was with her. She is told not to fear before learning of the part that she is to play in the unfolding of God’s plan in the birth of Jesus.
Having heard and begun to take on board the news we see Mary responding with the incredible words ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ It has difficult to comprehend what Mary’s would have felt and thought on receiving this news, but where a canticle is used in worship this Sunday it will be the Magnificat, sometimes called ‘the Song of Mary,’ where we see her declaration of praise.
There was of course a long way to go and those who have experienced or journeyed with someone who is pregnant and has given birth will have seen another version of ‘are we nearly there yet?’. Mary had a long journey ahead of her, in many ways!
The collect for today invites us to pray ‘Eternal God, as Mary waited for the birth of your Son, so we wait for his coming in glory’ and then asks God to ‘bring us through the birth pangs of this present age to see, with her, our great salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.’
The sense of not quite being there is of course not just about journeys we might make during this season or the final moments of the journey to Christmas Day, but the wider journey to the day when Christ returns and all things are reconciled.
As we look around us and within us we are all too aware of the hurt, suffering and division that is so often present. I am so aware of the many ways in which I fall short of how God would have me live and love within his world. I am thankful for the opportunity and reminder that advent gives us of God’s mercy and grace and the invitation to turn our full selves to him once more in preparation for Jesus’ coming.
This Christmas may people will sing or hear the well-known line from the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem, ‘O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray, cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today.’ We only need to look at all that is taking place in the Holy Land as one reminder there is still such brokenness in our world.
We hear again in our gospel reading today that Mary was had found favour with God, which is why she was chosen as the one who would give birth to the baby, who would be named Jesus, the one who would be great and be called the Son of the Most High.
As we live in the ‘not there yet’ of both this day and this time in history God calls us to receive the gift of salvation that is offered to each of us, but also to be those who share the message of the angel that Lord is with us and we have no need to fear.
Our call to be God’s faithful servants will lead us all in different directions and will influence the way in which we live our lives. When we feel the pangs of pain and suffering that can so often be part of our individual journey, as well as the experience of communities or nations, we are urged to remember that we are ‘not there yet,’ but that God is still with us.
Advent gives way to Christmastide and will be quickly followed by Epiphany and so the journey continues. We are not there yet, but the path we travel leads us in the way of peace. In time we believe that we will see the fullness of the great salvation prepared for us in Jesus.
I pray that like Mary we may hear God’s word to us and recognise and receive the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ once more. He is the one who was sent to this much-loved world, by the God with has promised never to leave us or forsake us.
May you know that the Lord is with you and may that calm your fears and renew you in hope this advent, this Christmas and forevermore.
Questions:
- Mary responded saying ‘Let it be with me according to your word.’ Perhaps we might like to take a moment in prayer to respond to God’s call to each of us to follow his Word in our lives. What might this look like for you over these coming days?
- Is there anyone that you know who may be feeling alone at this time? How might you express God’s love to them and perhaps reassure them that God is with them?
- Mary also responded in praise. How might you express your praise and thanksgiving to God? (A quiet moment of prayer, a song or an action).