Advent 4
Donna Joy

Luke 1:26-38

Some of you may know that before I was an adult child drawn to the Gospel, I was, very much, a child of the 60’s. So, early this past week when I was reminded that the theme for the lighting of the advent wreath this Sunday is ‘love’, this Beatle’s song popped into my head, and it kept rolling around in my head over and over again. So, rather than continuing with the futile attempt to remove it from my head, I decided to work with it. And in so doing, I was reminded that when love is at the very heart of our existence, remarkable things are possible. And, today, on this fourth Sunday of Advent, we are very close to celebrating, once again, God’s most extraordinary expression of love; a love that, when rooted in each of us, makes remarkable things possible. (We’ll get to this piece in a minute, but I need to highlight something that precedes this, first…)

As I’ve mentioned on occasion during the past few months, we are minimizing our readings as long as we’re worshipping within this Zoom context because studies have shown that with Zoom brevity is best. But IF we had included the first reading in our lectionary, it would have been from the 2nd Book of Samuel chapter 7 (1-11, 16), where King David is desperately wanting to build a magnificent temple in which God would dwell. As I read and reflected on this during this past week, I concluded that, within these COVID times when we find ourselves removed from worshipping in a church building, I had to at the very least give this passage a passing mention.

I had to do this, because in this text, David is saying that he must build a temple in which God may dwell, while God is saying, “Did I ever ask for a temple?” And God reminds David, “I never lived in a house… I took you, David, from the pasture, from following the sheep to be a prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went…” You see, it is not primarily about containing God in a building. It is about God’s purpose being accomplished, God’s presence always there, guiding God’s people into becoming who and what they were created to be. God is saying, “David, you aren’t thinking big enough; you’re thinking about a temple that is going to last what, a few hundred years? I – God – am dealing with (preparing for) the whole of human history. Through you, David, I am in the process of building a house; not a building, but a line of generations, that will last forever. Christmas – the birth of the Christ child, the Prince of sacrificial Love and Peace – is to become that home, where that purpose is coming to fruition.

While God’s presence is, indeed, found in our church buildings, speaking to and feeding us, throughout the liturgical year – year after year after year – as well as a whole host of other sacred celebrations… we have discovered during the past year that God is not confined to that building. Yes, we long to return to that sacred space, and you will, but the Good News, as we have been reminded repeatedly over the past year, is that God is not confined to that or any building. This is the signature thing about God: that is, God is bigger than David had imagined. Bigger, I think, than many of us often imagine.

David wanted to build a house; God insisted on creating everything and binding together God’s people in love; and in time, through the birth of Christ. We think the past 10 months have felt like an eternity (and they certainly have), but to put that wait into perspective, God continued to work with this plan for about another 1,000 years (after King David) until the fulfillment of this plan was to arrive. That is, the birth of His only Son, born into the most humble of circumstances, born of a young, vulnerable, unmarried woman named Mary.

In a few days we will be focusing on the birth in particular, but for now, as we continue to wait and prepare, our focus needs to be on Mary. While God may not (is not) confined to a building, a significant piece of God’s unfolding plan involves a vulnerable young woman, chosen to be the ‘home’ in which God’s own Son is to become ready to enter the world. A Son who embodies Love and Peace in a new way, is to grow in her womb. In Mary, God chooses humility and love-infused obedience to give birth to One who WILL embody all this in a new way. And what does Mary say? She says, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to YOUR word." She agrees to become part of God’s purpose, whatever that purpose will be. And she can do that because she believes, “Nothing is impossible for God.” Because she believes that, she can say with her whole life, “Here I am, Lord.”

The temple David wanted did get built by his son Solomon. It lasted about 400 years and was destroyed by the Babylonians. A century later, a new one was built. That one lasted about 400 years; the Romans destroyed it about 35 years after Jesus. David kept pushing but what he was pushing wasn’t – essentially - God’s purpose. God’s purpose, on the other hand, did get fulfilled and it came about when a young woman said, “Here I am, Lord.” When a young, vulnerable woman, with seemingly everything to lose, said, “Yes.”

Each of us, throughout our lives, and perhaps particularly during this COVID time, knows what Mary may have felt: that is, small, humble, insignificant, broken, vulnerable… But this is the very stuff through which God works in magnificent ways. Mary embodies love, faith and obedience, and she gives birth to the One who embodies all this as God’s long awaited Son.

As we prepare to celebrate this birth, we are called to do the same. Preparing for Christmas requires taking the time to say, “Here I am, Lord.” I invite you to come to Christmas saying with Mary, with the angels, with all creation, “Here I am, Lord…” and become – ourselves – the ones who give birth to this child of Love and Peace. As we ‘give birth’ to this remarkable brand of Love, the world will catch a glimpse, and may in some small way become transformed through our expressions of it: spending our money to support struggling local merchants; transforming hatred with forgiveness and love; offering the hope that comes with this birth in a world that is often full of despair; sharing generously from our abundance so that others may have enough (supporting organizations such as SMMCM, P.W.R.D.F…). This is the brand of love that Mary represents (try reading the Magnificat through this lens); this is the brand of love that Jesus embodies; this is the brand of love to which we are called.

Turns out, that the Beatles were on to something when they wrote and sang: All You Need Is Love. This piece was recorded in 1967. Fifty three years later, I would simply add to this, to say that Mary represents, and Jesus embodies a particular brand of love to which we are called.