ST ANDREW HOLBORN
ADVENT BOOK 2016
“Making ready for God”
ADVENT REFLECTIONS 2016
Introduction The following reflections from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke invite you walk with the family of Jesus through the months leading up to his birth. Perhaps strangely, this is not a typical Advent theme. The Church’s lectionary during this season which begins the Church year emphasises prophecy from the Old Testament, as well as New Testament exhortations to be watchful and prepared. But like the people we will read about on these pages, we can all feel a sense of making ready for what God is doing in our lives. We know of at least four members of Jesus’ family who were also told to prepare for life-changing events. And they responded with some of the most beautiful and treasured poetry and prophecy in the gospels, indeed the whole of Scripture. In Luke 1, not only do we find the Biblical basis of the Angelus and the Hail Mary, there is also the Benedictus of Zechariah and Mary’s glorious Magnifcat. All these words came from people who were getting ready for what God would do. Likewise, our willingness to prepare for God’s action will be revealed in what we say. There is a longstanding tradition in churches and homes of reading the story of the Nativity from Luke 2 on Christmas Eve, where we also find the amazing opening words of the Gloria. Today we can honour this tradition of contemplating the Nativity, and prepare for this world-altering event by reading and reflecting on the drama that leads up to it. Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is an anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, meaning "coming". Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. For Christians, the season of Advent anticipates the coming of Christ from two different perspectives. The season offers the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming.
Advent is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew's Day (30 November), in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Anglican calendar. In the Ambrosian Rite (used in the Archdiocese of Milan) Advent begins on the Sixth Sunday before Christmas, the Sunday after St Martin’s Day (11 November). Acknowledgements: Our thanks go to Margaret Glover, Chris Exeter, Alice Christofi, Jane Franklin, John McWhinney, Erik Cannell, Sue Johns and Fr Mark Young for their contributions to this series of reflections.
Advent Sunday 27 November Luke 1:1-3 ...just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word... One of the most basic, fundamental needs for human beings is the need to belong. We have a desire to feel connected to other people. When we speak of our culture or identity, we are really speaking of where we derive this sense of belonging, the feeling of being at home. In many cultures, the telling of stories is a key way of sharing or passing on that sense of belonging. In our modern world where a sense of shared identity is so often jettisoned in favour of being a ‘lone wolf’ or trying to find one’s own edge, ‘tradition’ – the passing on of practices, beliefs or stories - is sometimes seen as a negative thing. What might we be losing out on in the desire to stand alone? In the opening of Luke’s Gospel, the writer places great emphasis on where the stories he tells are coming from, emphasizing not only his conviction of their truth, but also drawing heavily on his own Jewish roots and those of Jesus. Furthermore, he places himself in a long line of people passing on the word down generations of the faithful. This opening also serves another purpose. In highlighting the chain of where this Truth has come from, we too are placed in the line. As we receive the words of this gospel, we too are witnesses and servants of the word. The charge is laid out to us as we enter more deeply into Luke’s narrative – that we too are to pass on what has been shared with us. As we draw near to Christ at the celebration of his birth, we will again become witnesses to his entry into the world. As we prepare to welcome in the Christ child this Christmas, let us also consider how we pass on the message to those around us, both directly and indirectly.
Monday 28 November Luke 1:4 ... So that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed. It has been said a lot recently that we are living in a post-truth society. Perhaps that has become somewhat blatant of late, but certainly it is nothing new. Pilate asked “what is truth?” and he made a very fair, if rhetorical, point. Trying to define truth is like trying to define love, and from a faith perspective, both are essentially mysterious. Straight away, we could make a distinction between facts/knowledge, which both hold and are historically perishable, and truthfulness more generally. Both are ontological- they are concerned with the way things really are. Of the biblical “I am” sayings, perhaps the best known is “I am the way, the truth and the life.” This is the explanation laid out in the simplest possible terms. Truth, like love, is a defining characteristic of God’s identity. By Jesus’ saying “I am the truth”, we see that truth is the full (self-) expression of God. Everything that truth is must be defined by what God is. Love is truth. If something has nothing to do with God, then either it has no truth, or, more likely, we simply fail to perceive that God is there. Dangerously, we tend to imagine God in places where God is not, according to what we like to believe is true. When we do this, we effectively create God in our own image. When we see through the lies we tell ourselves about ourselves and about God, we will see surprising and challenging truths, and these truths will set us free.
Tuesday 29 November Luke 1 v6-7 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. Luke is setting the scene for the extraordinary events that are to come by echoing the storytellers of the Old Testament. This is to be no fantasy even though it will sound fantastic. Luke uses the way incidents in the Book of Kings are set in a king’s reign (here king Herod the Great) and introduces a godly and righteous couple who have no children echoing Sarah, Hannah and other women in the Scriptures. Being barren and in one’s old age implies a God given miracle to come. In the society where the role of the wife was to become a mother being childless would have been seen as not being blessed by God and indeed maybe even as a punishment for undisclosed sins. Luke however records them as being righteous - upright before God - and being blameless in all the commandments of God, and Zechariah is taking up his role in the Temple. We are not given a hint that they had any expectations of blessings to come, indeed the whole idea is so unexpected Zechariah can’t believe it. The expectations of parenthood have not been granted them and yet they have remained faithful to their God. So how have they maintained their faithfulness without the expected Blessings of children? What expectations of yours have not been fulfilled, and how have you responded to the disappointment?
Wednesday 30 November Luke 1:9 He was chosen by lot according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. This verse refers to Zechariah who was fulfilling his duties in the Temple, and falls into that part of the Gospel of Luke foretelling the birth of John the Baptist. At that time, priests were divided up and took turns to do their priestly duties on a rotation basis. The Levites were divided into 48 semi-annual rotations, which meant that a priest would only be on duty no more than twice a year. To serve the privilege of entering the shrine to burn incense was considered a great honour, and would happen at most once in a lifetime, if at all. According to custom, the priesthood decided whose turn it was by casting lots. On this occasion it was Zechariah’s turn. Fortune came Zechariah’s way that day, for at the altar appeared an angel of the Lord who told him that his wife, Elizabeth, will bear a son, and he was to be called John. Today is the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, who along with his brother Peter, were both called together to become disciples of Jesus and “fishers of men”, when he saw them fishing on the Sea of Galilee. What we see from both these events is how the unexpected can come our way: sometimes this can be good, other times its’ bad. However, whether this be through serving God at the altar, or by serving society through providing food, as on these occasions, or whatever we do in our lives, God is with us, at our sides, watching and guiding us. We can all find a moment each day to think about God’s presence in our lives, and despite the turbulence that faces us every day, we should have confidence that God never leaves us.
Thursday 1 December Luke 1:11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. I’ve never had an angel appear to me – have you? I know a friend who had a vision of angels protecting her daughter when she was in a dangerous situation; they formed a circle around her and shielded her from harm. However, I’ve never actually experienced an angel visiting me either in a dream or reality. I have no doubt that they could if they chose to – and the Christmas story is absolutely full of them appearing to a succession of very different people. How wonderful to see an angel whilst in the sanctuary of the Lord. It almost feels like that is where they should be, especially by the altar where the incense offering was made. The questions I always ask myself when reflecting on such verses are: have I inadvertently missed an angel appearing; and would I react in the same way? The truth is that I may have met many angels throughout my life – disguised in the image of a mere mortal rather than in their heavenly splendour. Might we be more open to and accepting of mortal version? Are we too sceptical of the supernatural; the spiritual dimension to creation? I would like to think I would be bold and unafraid; that I would willing accept the challenge without question. In the simplest, purest sense angels are God’s messengers. Part of our Advent watch should be to be vigilant for God-sent messengers. For angels in mortal guise. Maybe I have had an angel appear to me – have you?
Friday 2 December Luke 1:15-16 . . . even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. These words are spoken by Gabriel to Zechariah about John the Baptist. John prepared the way for Jesus in his preaching and ministry in the wilderness around the river Jordan. This reminds us that we are all called to “prepare the way”. It is important to bear in mind that we do not convert people, it the work of the Holy Spirit to bring people to a true encounter with Christ – what we do is to help that process by what we say and do. It is the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Risen Christ, that helps us recognize the Truth. The Holy Spirit, then, as Jesus promises, guides us "into all truth" (Jn 16:13). The Spirit leads us not only to an encounter with Jesus, the fullness of Truth, but guides us "into" the Truth, that is, the Spirit helps us enter into a deeper communion with Jesus himself, gifting us knowledge of the things of God. Let's ask ourselves: are we open to the Holy Spirit, do we pray to the Spirit to enlighten us, to make us more sensitive to the things of God? We need to let ourselves be imbued with the light of the Holy Spirit, so that we are introduced into the Truth of God, who is the only Lord of our lives. We are not called to be ‘part-time” Christians, at certain moments, in certain circumstances, in certain choices, but to be Christians at all times! The truth of Christ, that the Holy Spirit teaches us and gives us, always and forever involves our daily lives. Let us invoke the Sprit more often, to guide us on the path of Christ's disciples.
Saturday 3 December Luke 1:19 I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
Ethiopian Orthodox icon, ca 1700s
Zachariah has just asked a pedantic, narrow-minded question, revealing all his human anxieties while providing no evidence that he’s spent his many years ‘walking in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless’. Gabriel patiently spells things out and even gives the priest the time and space to reveal his deeper, ‘righteous’ nature. For someone of Zachariah’s education and status, the name Gabriel would have been inextricably linked to the prophet Daniel, who on his first encounter with God’s messenger fell prostrate to the ground. Zachariah stands his ground unmoved, so Gabriel continues, providing the priest with the ultimate evidence of his pedigree and thus the veracity of his message. Still, Zachariah does nothing to indicate that he is ready to receive this good news from God. Zachariah doesn’t even say, ‘thank you’. How will we greet the stranger who arrives before us unannounced yet clearly well-informed about who we are and the gift intended for us and for our community?
The Second Sunday of Advent 4 December Luke 1:20 ... because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak... Both Zechariah and Mary were visited by the angel Gabriel. Both were told that a child was on the way. Both questioned Gabriel about this seemingly impossible birth. For her part, Mary wondered, “How will this be?” Likewise, Zechariah asked, “How shall I know this?” But only Zechariah, for his trouble, was struck dumb for nine months until his son was born. Is doubt a grounds for punishment? And was Zechariah really doubtful? Neither he nor Mary made it crystal clear whether they believed the angel’s words or not. Gabriel could see into Zechariah’s heart to reveal, “you did not believe.” When Elizabeth met Mary, it was she who sensed her cousin’s faith and declared, “blessed is she who believed.” So why was Zechariah silenced by Gabriel? Some say he was merely prevented from speaking any more doubting or distrustful words. But look what happened when his eyes saw the result of Gabriel’s prophecy and his son John the Baptist was born. In the words we know as the Benedictus, he burst out with praise to God that is unparalleled in scripture! And why? The lesson to me is to believe if I can or to at least keep quiet and wait until I see the results of what God is doing. In any case, if you are truly one of God’s servants, you will eventually burst out with unquestioning praise to him. In the meantime, recognize the possibility that even a true believer may find themselves speechless in the face of what God promises to do.
Monday 5 December Luke 1:22 When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. One of my fondest memories of St Andrews is gathering in the sanctuary to share in the Eucharist. Under a haze of gently billowing incense, we come to know Jesus’ presence in the broken bread we share, catching a glimpse of the time when we will encounter God face to face. The sanctuary becomes the place where we are welcomed into God’s outstretched arms. Whatever baggage we bring with us, we enter into a space where we are welcome as we are. Zechariah’s ‘vision’ or encounter with God in the sanctuary – here in the message of the angel - likely felt a little different to him. Though the promises of God delivered by the angel were an invitation to participate in God’s grand plan for humanity, Zechariah retaliated with mistrust and saw it as a confrontation. He folds his arms and his faith falters. However, God doesn’t lose faith in Zechariah, but perseveres, continuing to welcome him into the fold, irrespective of the baggage Zechariah is carrying with him. When we approach the altar, when we too encounter God in the sanctuary in the breaking of bread, let us be mindful of what we are bringing with us. But let us also remember that we are bathed in God’s love as we hold out trembling hands to receive him. Let us remember that God sees us as we are, through whatever veils or lenses we try to shield ourselves with. God sees us as we are. Ultimately, what we are looking ahead to in Advent is the day when we too will see God as He is, when the veil will be removed. We celebrate the birth of the child who ripped away our veil, and ultimately invites us to gaze upon the face of God who now "dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has even seen or can see" (1 Timothy 6:16). What we glimpse – both briefly in the sanctuary and in the Christ child lying in the manger is the moment when when God reveals Himself to us in heaven and when we will then see Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Tuesday 6 December Luke 1:25 This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favourably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people. Grace is a very interesting idea. In nutshellish terms, it means a divine influence, which in Christianity is more specifically God’s favour. In the context of the Christmas narrative, Mary (“full of grace”) becomes the focus for this - a lowly, ordinary girl chosen by God. We need to look at what exactly that means and what it implies, in practical terms, for us. They key aspect here is that grace is not something which is earned through our own merit, but which is bestowed freely and generously by God - it is a gift. The Church has very often failed to uphold that, and its historically meritocratic views on salvation have caused a number of divisions: salvation by grace alone is fundamental, for instance, to Lutheranism, which rejected the then practise of paying the church for indulgences, amongst other things.
That is one egregious example, but the idea lives on in principle. Elaborate sets of rules governing what is acceptable to eat, drink and do remain common across denominations. These rules effectively demarcate people into camps according to their personal holiness their spiritual worth, so to speak. Theologian John Barclay offers us some insights: the cross shatters our old allegiances to notions of what is superior and right and establishes an equal standard. In the new creation, there are neither gentiles, jews, men, women, no east or west. Grace creates radical communities which bridge old boundaries where our socially constructed systems of worth are worthless. We are no better or worse than anyone else - religion, sex, sexuality, ethnicity in the eyes of God, we have equal weight, and his grace is boundless.
Wednesday 7 December Luke 1 v26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth. This verse sets the context for the whole of Luke’s Gospel. We have met Zechariah, Elizabeth and the Angel Gabriel and we are to be introduced to Mary (and Joseph). These are the visible characters but Luke tells us that Gabriel was ‘sent by God’. God is in charge of the events that are coming into play. God can sometimes feel very absent in our lives and in the world around us. Prophets have been fairly quiet at this time in Israel's history and under the rule of the Romans there have been many false messiah’s, so as Luke comes to tell the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth he sets it very much as part of God’s intervention in history. These are not random events in one particular family (Elizabeth is called kinswoman to Mary) but ones organised by God himself. God sends his messenger, here in the form of an angel, to an obscure town in an out of the way part of the world, to a young woman with her conventional life planned out before her and that messenger is going to totally turn her world upside down.
We might think of ourselves as insignificant in the grand scheme of things but that does not stop God from using us. Are you listening for God’s voice in your life? Are you prepared to be sent by Him?
Thursday 8 December Luke 1:28-29 And he came to her and said, “Greetings favoured one! The Lord is with you. But she was much perplexed... Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and this verse falls in the opening section in Luke which foretells the Birth of Jesus. The Angel Gabriel was sent by God to visit Mary to tell her that she is to conceive a son, and he is to be called Jesus. The Angel tells Mary she has found favour with God. Mary questions Gabriel as to how this will happen, and she is told that with God nothing is impossible. The Solemnity celebrates Mary’s conception without sin, and is a uniquely Catholic celebration. Mary, the one who is "full of grace" and the one whom "all generations will called 'blessed'" has been viewed as unique since the earliest days of the Christian faith. The Church Fathers see Mary as one who humbly obeyed God, calling her the "new ark of the covenant" and God-bearer. It is from these titles that the doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception and sinlessness unfolded; St. Ephrem spoke of Mary as without stain or blemish, calling her "all-pure, all-immaculate, allstainless, all-undefiled, all-incorrupt, and all-inviolate”. Mary’s role and her virtues as a woman, a mother and her devotion of God are central to our Faith. We cannot all be free of sin, but we can look to her as an example to follow. 2016 concludes the Holy Father’s Jubilee year, a Holy Year of religious celebration: much of this centres on the door of the Church, and the responsibility of every believer to cross its threshold; it symbolises our passage from sin to grace and to strengthen our faith in Jesus in order to live a new life. Advent marks the start of the new liturgical year: let us use today to think of Mary’s devotion to God and how we can use her as an example to step into the new year with God at its very centre.
Friday 9 December Luke 1:31 You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great… Procreation is just the most amazing biological feat. When we as mere mortals consider creating a life it is, more often than not, an expression of an outpouring of love for one another. I am not sure that I fully understood the implications of growing a life within me nor did I anticipate the incredible intimacy that resulted. To conceive in your womb is the ultimate gift of love – which is why conception as the result of an act of violence is so abhorrent. I realised reading this brief passage again, in preparation, that Mary, who we now acknowledge as being a young woman – a teenager even, was confronted by this exceptional situation. The appearance of an angel must have been enormously disconcerting and then its message is one that would frighten any young woman to the core. Her reaction, which we will consider in a couple of days, shows that she understands the mechanics – what we don’t know is how it was uttered. Was her tone full of anxiety and panic? Did she fleetingly fear violation? (Somehow, it feels wrong to even voice this, let alone contemplate it…) However, we know that Mary’s deep faith and implicit trust in God allowed her to humbly submit to this most personal message. If she understood the mechanics, you can be sure she immediately knew the public disapproval that would also follow. Yet Mary offered herself, the very core of her physical being and her entire life/reputation, willingly to her God. How far would you go for God? How deep is your faith? How strong is your love?
Saturday 10 December Luke 1:32-33 ...the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign ... and of his kingdom there will be no end. Sometimes it looks as if the kingdom will never begin. We see so much injustice and suffering in the world without any solution in sight and so we doubt whether God is really acting in the lives of men and women. Some may think how much wickedness can the world stand? That is not a cry of despair, but a wish to know, because they now begin to believe that at some point the world will be drowned in evil, and evil will rule the world. That fear is hard to answer. After all, as Edmund Burke said, ‘All that’s necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing’ – and yet good men often do nothing in the face of evil – witness Germany in the 1930’s. We may have every reason to fear for the future as we see so much that is wrong and evil around us. All the enemies of human happiness are very much at large in the world. In the face of evil there’s no totally satisfying intellectual answer to the question, ‘Why does God allow that?’ But the gospel does give us a practical answer, which is that God will bring all those enemies of human happiness to an end – and we need
to wait patiently for that. We can also hold on to the fact that Jesus’ ultimate purpose is to get us to the place where God is ‘all in all’ for us – where there’s nothing we want more than to serve him as King; and where we’re finally able to do that perfectly. That’s what the creed is on about when we say, ‘His kingdom will have no end.’ And if we’ve come to find our purpose in serving his kingdom, then our satisfaction there will have no end, either.
The Third Sunday of Advent 11 December Luke 1:34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her... the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
The Sheltering Wing of the Most High, Georgiana Houghton, 2 October 1862; Victorian Spiritualists’ Union, Melbourne, Australia
Unlike Zachariah, Mary is neither questioning the truth nor the intention of what Gabriel has told her. She’s expressing her curiosity, awe and wonder at how she will play her part. Unlike the sceptical priest, she believes in the vision of the future that has been presented to her. It may also worth looking back to another Biblical ‘virgin’. The boy, Samuel, ‘did not yet know the LORD: the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.’ Like Samuel before her, Mary does not yet know the LORD when Gabriel appears to her. Yet unlike Samuel, Mary lacks an Eli, another human being who has been there before to guide and teach her the way of the servant. No one has ever before been called to serve in this way. Gabriel’s response provides no human comfort or encouragement; the message for Mary predicts an overpowering eclipse. Thus begins the extraordinary play of light and dark, from conception to resurrection. The Son of God begins the human journey in the darkness of the womb, hidden from human sight. Reflecting again on the subtle yet profound differences between Zachariah’s and Mary’s exchanges with the same messenger, is the underlying message that we are all called to respond as virgins, not as savvy, data-rich, well-informed, initiates, who’ve seen it all before?
Monday 12 December Luke 1:37 ...And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son... For nothing will be impossible with God. The Annunciation is the celebrated moment depicted in some of the finest works of art ever created, when the angel Gabriel announced the coming birth of Christ. In the light of such news, it would be easy to forget that before departing, Gabriel also informed Mary about the imminent birth of John the Baptist. We picture her rushing some 80 miles, probably on foot, to Hebron to visit her pregnant cousin. So when Gabriel said, “nothing will be impossible with God,” why didn’t he say a word about the fact that both John the Baptist and his cousin Jesus were born to die? Instead, he predicted wonderful things for both children. He told Zechariah, “You will have joy and gladness,” and that his son would, “turn many ... to the Lord their God.” Mary learned that her child “will be great,” and that “of his kingdom there will be no end.” Only the prophet Anna warned Mary of heartbreak, but no one else told these expectant mothers that their joy would turn to sorrow. No one announces that the kingdom will exist only after Jesus dies a horrible death. What does this say to us? First, we learn that miracles are only the beginning of what God able to do. The joy he promises is still coming! He can turn death to eternal life. But we can also learn from the faith of the first Christians, who endured what seemed like staggering reversals of fortune and still believed.
Tuesday 13 December Luke 1:38 Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed... Richard Dawkins has described Mary as the ‘great cosmic doormat,’ while Simone de Beauvoir said her submissiveness has held back women for centuries. Both these opinions demonstrate a great misunderstanding of the gravity of Mary’s ‘Here am I’. We hear these words so often that perhaps we too are in danger of taking them for granted, without fully grasping the fullness of what they mean. For Mary, an unmarried mother, this pregnancy meant risking shame, the loss of a partner, security. Her ‘fiat’ and humble obedience to God’s will becomes all the more incredible when we begin to peel back the layers. As much as Dawkins would like us to believe it, the relationship between God and humanity is not and cannot be a one sided one. It involves reciprocation. Mary’s ‘let it be’ is theologically important, and speaks of the bond between Creator and Creature: that nothing is forced on us, but we are invited to participate freely in God’s plan for the whole of creation. In one way Mary is unique – the Theotokos, chosen to bear the Christ child. On the other hand, Mary is the Archetype of the Christian life we are all called to lead. We share a common vocation, to hear God break into our lives and to answer him with that same ‘’yes’ – ‘let it be with me according to your word.’ We too share that vocation, in our own way, to bear God’s Word and make it known in the world. How willing are we to emulate the words of our blessed mother – whether it leads us to joy or pain? In these days, let us pray for the Humility to look beyond ourselves and trust in his plan for us, that we might take on Mary’s sublime model of service, and share her courage in being sent into the unknown.
Wednesday 14 December Luke 1:39 ...Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house ... and greeted Elizabeth. Mary went out with great haste to share her good news. The exultation to share the good news of God is repeated throughout the bible. God’s people, however, very often tend to make it sound much more like bad news, dished out with an iron fist and the demand of repentance. What news we share with the world ultimately boils down to how we see God. A vision of a vindictive, punishing God inevitably is going to cause people to reject Christianity.
The God who damns us to eternal torture for a few years’ worth of wrong cannot simultaneously be the God of love. The very idea is ludicrous, and no amount of marketing, contemporary worship and trying to be relevant is going to change that. Most definitions of hell must be, in reality, quite wide of the mark. The alternative is that those who shout it the loudest don’t really believe it, or else the crushing load of that kind of God would lead them to despair. But the truth is different. God is good - God is truth - God is love. The news is good.
Thursday 15 December Luke 1 v44-42 And Elizabeth ... exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” We last met Elizabeth hiding her pregnancy from the world around her, maybe she feared this blessing could be taken from her? But here as Mary comes in the gate Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and can keep silent no longer. She “exclaimed with a loud cry” and no longer is she focused on the baby in her womb who has suddenly given her an enormous kick but recognises who Mary is in this God given scheme of which she, Zechariah and baby John are to be a part. With Zechariah remaining dumb, and Elizabeth hiding away, theirs must have been a quiet household in recent months a silence suddenly shattered with the arrival of visitors and some words spoken that have reverberated down the centuries, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”. Elizabeth’s focus turns to Mary with joy, she is not ‘put out’ that her son will be ‘inferior’ to Mary’s but full of wonder and encouragement . How do you feel when others are seemingly more “blessed” than you?
Friday 16 December Luke 1:43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?... Following Mary’s visitation by the Angel Gabriel, Mary went to stay with Elizabeth, and this verse is drawn from that section in Luke. Upon Mary’s arrival, Elizabeth exclaims great joy at the arrival of who was to be the mother of the great redeemer. However, there are two points to concentrate on in this verse: one is meaning, and the other is content. On meaning, what this verse tells us is that it is important to communicate; as Christians this can be difficult. Our increasingly secular society is not always open to such messages; but that leads onto the second point, content – and in particular the words “this happened to me”. It is worth reflecting why as individuals we have not only been called to God, but we welcome him into our lives and we are happy in the knowledge that he is in our lives. This is a special gift: and as with all gifts we need to understand ourselves, through prayer, what this means and how we will use this gift to the benefit of others.
Saturday 17 December Luke 1:45 Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord. Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord. This phrase is redolent with the power of conviction and the absence of doubt. Mary knew that all the angel had foretold would come to pass – that there would be a fulfilment. Though our prayers and petitions are dialogues in the opposite direction – from us to God rather than God’s message revealed to us – I wonder how often we truly believe that there will be a fulfilment? When you pray do you expect an answer? That’s an easier question in some ways – yes, of course I expect an answer but years of preaching have taught me that the answer may not be, is unlikely to be the one I desire. Is it that I set my sights too high? Is it because I only really pray in earnest when it’s something very serious? Is it because my faith is just not strong enough? Or is it a combination of all the above? It brings to mind some gentle, yet beautiful teaching I heard a few years ago and try to observe: that the more we are diligent in prayer – simple, searching, sensitive prayer – the more we will align our thoughts with God. Prayer shouldn’t ever be a list of demands but rather an open dialogue between us and our Maker. It should be a gentle conversation that includes time to listen to and discern God’s will for us. Mary knew that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord because she was utterly in tune with her Lord.
The Fourth Sunday of Advent 18 December Luke 1:46-47 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” The song of Mary is the oldest Advent hymn. It is also the most passionate, the wildest, and one might almost say the most revolutionary Advent hymn that has ever been sung. This is not the gentle, tender, dreamy Mary as we often see her portrayed in paintings. The Mary who is speaking here is passionate, carried away, proud, enthusiastic. There is none of the sweet, wistful, or even playful tone of many of our Christmas carols, but instead a hard, strong, relentless hymn about the toppling of the thrones and the humiliation of the lords of this world, about the power of God and the powerlessness of humankind. She, of course, knows better than anyone else what it means to wait for Christ’s coming. Her waiting is different from that of any other human being. She expects him as his mother. He is closer to her than to anyone else. She knows the secret of his coming, knows about the Spirit, who has a part in it, about the Almighty God, who has performed this miracle. In her own body she is experiencing the wonderful ways of God with humankind: that God does not arrange matters to suit our opinions and views, does not follow the path that humans would like to prescribe. God’s path is free and original beyond all our ability to understand or to prove. There, where our understanding is outraged, where our nature rebels, where our piety anxiously keeps its distance— that is exactly where God loves to be. There, though it confounds the understanding of sensible people, though it irritates our nature and our piety, God wills to be, and none of us can forbid it. Only the humble believe and rejoice that God is so gloriously free, performing miracles where humanity despairs and glorifying that which is lowly and of no account. For just this is the miracle of all miracles, that God loves the lowly. God “has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.” God in the midst of lowliness—that is the revolutionary, passionate word of Advent.
Monday 19 December Luke 1:50-51 His mercy is on those who fear him... He has shown strength with his arm and has scattered the proud...
‘A Deluge’, Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1517-18; Royal Collection Trust
The extraordinary outpouring of Mary’s thanksgiving bears witness to God’s power to transform people just as God’s elemental forces transform landscapes. Everything and everyone become as one in a new order of equity and diversity beyond our human capacity to imagine. Mary speaks not only for herself but for many, past, present and future. Her words reflect back to Hannah’s prayer [The Lord] raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honour. (1 Samuel 2: 7) and ring loud and clear in our world of increasing disparity between rich and poor and rapidly accelerating climate change. Yet at the same time her song of praise exalts the creator and marvels at all that is possible on a grand scale, her words also prepare the way for the saviour’s ultimate blessing, which resonates in a quieter key. ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.’ (Matthew 5: 7-9)
Tuesday 20 December Luke 1:53-53 He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel... Mary seems to have a great sense of irony. At which point in this drama were hungry people fed or wealthy magnates turned away from a feast? She spoke of God promising to help Israel, but few can doubt that the descendants of the nation she described have been horribly persecuted by people who wanted to drive them to extinction. Where is God’s kindness? Where are his promises and love for them? For us? There is a clue in her words. While composing her Magnificat, Mary quoted almost directly from Psalm 107, which reads, “the hungry he fills with good things.” The psalmist here described all kinds of people in trouble. Some of their suffering was a result of their own foolishness and sin, but others had not done anything wrong. “Finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.” And yet, God helped them. Through his bounty, people managed to survive and build, to reap a harvest and raise a family. It is still very popular to believe that God allows terrible things happen to undeserving people. But what good does he do that we fail to thank him for? Whatever choices we make, God sustains us. Whether our suffering is selfinflicted or just circumstance, there is usually still food on the table. The earth is harsh, but we still have enough to eat. Likewise, Mary’s son might have looked like nothing more than a child born out of wedlock, but he invites us all to a never-ending spiritual feast.
Wednesday 21 December Luke 1:59,63 They were going to name him Zechariah after his father... He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” Poor Zechariah is often set up as the antithesis to Mary’s holy obedience: when he is told about the child his wife is about to conceive, he’s the stubborn disbeliever who argues with the angel, and is instantly struck dumb. It is too easy to read this as a punishment. In a world where we seem constantly to be surrounded by noise, the inability to speak may be seen as a hindrance, being silent is too often a weakness. And yet in those nine months we see a profound transformation in Zechariah’s attitude. Even though Zechariah’s faith has faltered, God’s faith in Zechariah does not. In the defiance of his written declaration ‘his name is John’, we see a great deal of change since his faltering disbelief and argument with the angel. Rather than being a punishment, we can see his silence as an invitation to growth.
In our own prayer lives, God too is most active and speaks most clearly to us in moments when our own hearts and minds and voices are silent. Our words allow us to voice our anxieties and concerns, and there is an important place for that, but they can say nothing of God’s action. For that, we need to allow God the space to respond. While prayerful words can be a beautiful mode of communication, they can also be distractions from fully placing ourselves into God’s hands. God’s power goes beyond whatever we are able to name, capture or control with our words. By entering into the silence, we enter more deeply into God’s mystery, learning to trust in God’s transforming power taking us into the unknown. In these coming days, let us take the opportunity to enter more deeply and more courageously into the silence, even for five to ten minutes a day.
Thursday 22 December Luke 1:70-71 ...as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from old, that we would be saved from our enemies... To fear our enemies is, on the face of it, perfectly reasonable - it comes to us naturally; it is hardwired to the part of us dedicated to selfpreservation. The trickier question comes when we want to know who our enemies really are. For the most part of human history, it would seem that we have framed anyone who counts as other as our enemies, particularly when it suited us for social or political reasons. Now, it is immigrants and Muslims if the newspapers are to be believed, but it has variously been Jews, women, black people, white people, those from a certain country - the list is endless. Looking at humanity on the whole, perhaps the best answer is that we are our own worst enemies. In 2016, the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, one of the bloodiest endeavours in history, has been commemorated. It raises difficult questions for us about how we react when pitted against our enemies. We don’t even have to think about it on such a large scale - how would we deal with, say, a child being attacked in the street? It’s the same principle. If violence is lamentable in itself, then total pacifism is correspondingly irresponsible in world full of violent men, but anger at pacifists really is misplaced, when the problem rather lies with the world. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told Peter to put away his sword, and in doing so, disassociated physical violence from the Kingdom. The pacifist, therefore, is prophetic - eschatological even because he points us directly at the Kingdom. It is a paradoxical position ill-suited to the framework of a fallen world, but it is still a living out of the resurrection. Cutting completely against the grain of selfpreservation then, Christ on the cross offers us a vision of love as selfgiving to the point of self-annihilating. To save us from our enemies, Jesus’ death saved us from ourselves. What do we do, then, in the face of the enemies of God? In the run up to Christmas, we will no doubt hear that political correctness and secular coffee cups represent the “war on Christmas.” In truth, these things are completely superficial. Christ comes to us to be the Prince of Peace - and therefore war itself is the war on Christmas.
Friday 23 December Luke 1 v73-75 ...the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we...might serve him without fear... Zechariah speaks at last and it is to utter a hymn of praise. These verses recall God’s covenant with Israel from the call of their ancestor Abraham that God would deliver them from their enemies and that they would be free to serve God without fear. The history of Israel is a roller coaster ride of being God’s people living under His will and then disobeying God and serving other gods and being punished for it. ‘Fear’ of the Lord or fear of humankind which are you living under?
Fear of the Lord leads to wisdom (Proverbs 15 verse 33) and also a desire to serve and worship God in holiness and righteousness all of our days. If we are aware of His Presence in our daily life fear of our enemies will diminish. We are called to serve God, to wait in His Presence and to do His will, to answer His call on our lives however long that might take to be made clear and however dangerous in human terms it might be. Are you willing to serve God in whatever way He calls you?
Christmas Eve Saturday 24 December Luke 1:78-78 ...the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness...to guide our feet into the way of peace. This verse is drawn from the Song of Zechariah. We know it today as the Benedictus, and is a central part of our worship. It is a song of thanksgiving, said by Zechariah on the occasion of the circumcision of his 8-day old son, John the Baptist, drawn from the words of the Prophets. The end of the Song, from where this verse sits, is essentially about forgiveness. Forgiveness from God leads to freedom, and God forgives the wrong that we do, and in so doing we are lead into a new dawn of peace. As we approach this special time in the Christian year, when we gather with friends and family, at a time of we hope peace, we should remember the journey which as Christians we are on. Each of us takes a different path, and it is one of many twists and turns. But it is a journey worth taking and one which we should continue on whatever life throws at us. Our map is the Bible, and if we follow it, it will lead to peace.
Christmas Day Sunday 25 December Luke 2: 4-5 Joseph also went… to the city of David... because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary… who was expecting a child. Today is a day when the family is the focus. We gather. We greet. We give. For some of us it will involve other alliterative adjectives: greed, grumbles, and grief being just a few. In our brief reflection today I want us to consider what it is to be descended from the house and what house we believe takes priority… For many our earthly families, our house of descent, are ones of challenge and even pain. There are fractures and wounds that somehow hurt more on this day and no amount of superficial merriment will or can soothe it. Even for those that are joyful and harmonious the expectations of today cause anxiety and stress. After a year where we have witnessed the ascendancy of thinly veiled nationalism on a whole new scale, let us think about the true family we are descended from. We are all members of the human family –descendants of Adam and Eve - in all its diversity and current discord. We are all children of the same heavenly Father. We are all migrants on a journey towards our eternal home.
Afterword We’re told that Zachariah and Elizabeth are childless and have lived long and blameless lives. Mary tells Gabriel that she is a virgin. And Joseph is of the house and lineage of David. The subtext is that not one of them has been put to the test in an encounter with the Lord. The messages Zachariah and Mary receive defy human logic and change their lives and those of their families and communities irrevocably. God sends Gabriel to bind the four together in an unfolding drama for which they have been cast as both agents and witnesses of God’s extraordinary work and presence in their ordinary world. We’re still experiencing the aftershocks and the blessings in the here and now of our daily lives. The road ahead is unknown and uncharted, as full of promise and unforeseen gifts as we are filled with awe and apprehension. How do we prepare for such a journey? Who is our guide; who will be our companions? Where do we set our sights? What do we carry with us; what do we leave behind? When do we leave?
We feel a sense of urgency from within and all around. Questions abound. Perfect timing for silence and darkness, stillness and waiting, both within ourselves and among our communities, opening a way for God’s transforming love to enter.
Photographs by Walker Evans from Let us now praise famous men; 1941 James Agee and Walker Evans
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