Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
December 21, 2003

Scripture:

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent, and the theme of the day is joy. A few minutes ago we lit the fourth Advent candle, the candle of joy. It burns among us now, bringing us the light of the joy of Christ. It is, I think, most appropriate that the theme of joy is reserved for the last Sunday of Advent. In the first three weeks of Advent we marked the themes of hope, peace, and love. At the beginning we hope for the coming of Christ. Because of that hope, and because we know that our hope will be fulfilled, we can have peace. Because of that hope and its coming fulfillment we can love. But what exactly should our response to the coming of Christ be? Hope, peace, and love of course. And yet that response remains incomplete if we are not moved by the coming of Christ into the world to elation, to celebration, to joy.

Our Gospel lesson this morning, that Heidi read for us so beautifully, conveys to us the message, that is so central in the Gospel of Luke, that our appropriate response to God’s great acts of mercy in the world is precisely joy. In that lesson, the angel Gabriel has just recently visited Mary of Nazareth. Now, that in itself is something truly remarkable. Gabriel is God’s messenger. He comes directly from God. What business does God’s legate have coming to Mary of Nazareth? Who is she? Nobody! A young woman, indeed a girl by our standards. A woman of no particular account in a sleepy backwater town that is itself of no account in the larger scheme of things. Yet our Gospel story tells us that God chose her to be the mother of God’s own son. Gabriel has just told her this shocking, indeed scandalous news. Mary at first had her doubts: "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" Still, she let herself be convinced, and in the end she consented: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." She then went to visit her relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself is miraculously pregnant in her old age, in her case with a child whom we know as John the Baptist. Elizabeth tells Mary that she is "blessed," presumably because God has chosen her to be the mother of the one the angels would later tell the shepherds is "Christ the Lord." Mary, the story tells us, has received a great blessing from God, has been the beneficiary of God’s great act of mercy.

So Mary sings a magnificent song of praise to God. We know it as the Magnificat, from its first phrase in the Latin translation: Magnificat anima mea Dominum. Her song begins: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.... Her spirit "rejoices." In other words, she is filled with joy. Her action is to praise God. That’s the "my soul magnifies the Lord" part. What she feels, though, is pure, unmitigated joy.

And why not? What, after all, has happened here? God has sent word to Mary that God’s own Son is coming to her, in the flesh, to be part of her life, that she has been chosen to bring God Incarnate into the world, to be the means by which God comes to all the people of the world in person, in human form. What could possibly be greater news than this? God is coming into the world! Even God, the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of all that is, is coming to be among us, to be with us, to share our life and to redeem it. Mary is the first to know. More than that, she is to play a central role in the great miracle. She is the one God has chosen to bring Christ into the world, and she has given God her "yes" in response to God’s yes to her. God is coming to be with people, and she has a central, indispensable role to play in that blessed event. Just think of it! What could her response be but joy! Joy unbounded. Joy unheard of. God, her Lord and Redeemer, has chosen her and is coming to her, is coming into the world through her. Greater news than that is simply not possible. Nothing could possibly cause greater joy because nothing in her life could possibly be better than that. And so she sings: "My spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

And here’s the thing: God was coming not just to her. God would be incarnate in her son, but she brought that son into the world not for herself alone but for all people. She was chosen to bring him into the world not for herself alone, and not even just for everyone then living, but for everyone. And that, my friends, means that she was chosen to bring him into the world for you and for me. She was God’s instrument. She was the recipient of God’s great grace. But so are we! That’s the great Good News of Christmas. And so how can we not react as she did? How can we not rejoice? How can we not say with Mary: My spirit rejoices!

This Advent we have learned that our hope comes from God alone, that peace comes from God alone, and that God is self-giving love. Now we hear that God is coming to us in person. The source of our hope and of our peace, love incarnate, is coming to us. What joy! What bliss! We should celebrate it, revel in it, proclaim it from the rooftops! Christ is coming! Emmanuel is coming! God Incarnate is coming to us! Hallelujah! Our joy knows no end!

Now, some of you more skeptical types, like me, may be saying: Well, yes. That’s all very fine and good for Mary. After all, God specially chose her to bring Christ into the world; but that’s her, not us. We aren’t Mary. We aren’t the Mother of God, as our tradition has long called her. It’s a whole lot easier for her to rejoice than for us. She had a special role to play. We don’t. But see, if that is what you’re thinking, that’s where you’re wrong. Let me give you an image that perhaps isn’t traditional but which I think makes a lot of sense. The church is often called the Body of Christ. It is, supposedly, Christ present in the world. Well, maybe, but think about this for a minute: Doesn’t it make more sense to say that the church is Mary in the world? Mary’s role was to bring Jesus into the world, to nurture him, love him, and equip him for the world-changing mission to which God called him. Through her faithfulness, her labor (in a couple of different senses), her love, and her devotion Jesus came into the world and transformed it. Isn’t that what we’re called to do? To bring Christ to the world, to love Him, to be devoted and faithful to Him, so that his saving work may continue among God’s people, so that God’s love for all people that was incarnate in him may still be present in the world? I think it is. I’ve never seen anyone describe the church as Mary, but I think that image works, maybe even better than the image of the church as the Body of Christ. And Mary’s response to God’s great blessing, to God’s call to her to bring the Christ into the world was joy. "My spirit rejoices in God my Savior." How can our response not be the same? So let’s sing it out loud and strong. Joy to the World! Joy that God is coming to us in Christ Jesus, and that we are blessed by His presence and by God’s call to us to bring Him ever anew into a longing and hurting world. Amen.