22 December 2024 - Advent 4, Year C

Theme

This week’s lectionary readings provide a final foretelling of the coming Messiah, Jesus. The prophet Micah predicts a coming leader who will rule over God’s people with strength and peace; our Luke passage recounts the events that transpired between Mary and her sister Elizabeth. Mary declares a song of praise and thanksgiving where the author of Luke’s gospel gives us a taste of the type of leader Jesus will become: Scattering the proud, dethroning the powerful, sending the rich away empty, lifting up the lowly, and filling the hungry. The Psalm is a cry to God to hear the Israelite’s cries and save them from their troubles. The Hebrews passage is a theological statement of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Scriptures

Micah 5:2-5a - A prophecy of a coming leader from Bethlehem who will rule over all Israel. He will be the one of peace and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord.

Psalm 80:1-7 - A cry to God for help. The Psalmist asks God how long will God be angry at their prayers and expresses their devastation and helplessness. He/she asks God to restore them and save them.

Hebrews 10:5-10 - Jesus offered up his body as an offering to sanctify us.

Luke 1:39-55 - Mary visits Elizabeth and the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy at Mary’s greeting. Mary expresses how blessed she is to be chosen for this sacred task. She then declares praise to God for scattering the proud, dethroning the powerful, sending the rich away empty, lifting up the lowly, and filling the hungry.

The Context

We should remember that most of the biblical texts were written many years after the recorded events took place. Each author also had their own purpose for writing the stories that they did in the manner that they did. For example, the author of Luke’s gospel wrote these words years after Jesus had lived and died. He had an overarching view of Jesus’ entire life and ministry. He knew how Jesus’ story transpired. He knew that Jesus stood up for the poor and the vulnerable throughout his life. Therefore, even when Luke wrote about these events that transpired before Jesus’ birth, he was laying down the foundation for Jesus’ upcoming story. This is possibly why Mary’s song speaks about how, through Jesus’ birth and life, God will be turning the world upside down - the rich will be made low and the poor and hungry will be fed with living bread and water.

Personal Application

As we prepare for our Christmas celebrations in a few days time, what does Jesus’ imminent birth mean to us? For Mary, it was a moment of being grateful for God’s salvation of God’s people.

Perhaps like the Psalmist, you find yourself in a situation of extreme turmoil, crying out to God to save you.

As we consider the meaning of Jesus’ birth, that God chose to enter into the full messiness of humanity, to ultimately save us and offer us renewed, abundant life, we can rejoice that God has heard (and continues to hear) the cries of God’s people.

Even though we are reflecting on the beginning of Jesus’ story here on Earth, like the author of Luke’s gospel, we are aware of the end of that story, that Jesus offered up his body as an offering to declare and claim victory over sin and death.

With less than a week to go to Christmas, how has this Advent season reminded you of the true Christ? How will this reminder change the way that you celebrate Christmas this year?

Communal Application

As a church, we are faced with the stark reminder that Jesus entered our world to bring the rich to their knees and exalt the lowly. Let us consider what we as the church are doing to further this cause of Jesus in our local communities?

So often, around Christmas, we reenact the story of Jesus’ birth with a beautiful nativity scene. Everyone laughs and claps at the cute children acting as shepherds, angels and farm animals. But we tend to forget that these people in the story: Mary, Joseph and the like were poor, vulnerable folk who were forced to give birth to their child in a dirty stable.

In a poetic turn of events, these are the exact people that Jesus came to care for and offer peace.

What are we as a church doing to care for similar folk today? If Mary and Joseph arrived at our church on Christmas Eve, dirty and smelly from hours of travelling, would we care for them as much as we currently care for those who give generously to our church coffers?