December 24 at 11 am- Advent 4 –Luke 1: 39-55

Many years ago there was a Broadway play entitled “Green Pastures”, a retelling of the biblical story as if it took place somewhere in the rural American South. The play added some scenes which aren’t in your Bible, one of which took place in heaven at the close of the Old Testament age, sometime before that first Christmas.

The Lord God is seated on His heavenly throne, deep in thought. The angel Gabriel walks in, with his horn under his arm. (You’ll remember that one of Gabriel’s jobs is to blow his horn when the Lord decides that its time to end the world and begin the last judgment.)

The Lord is troubled about what has happened among His people on earth. As He thinks about it, the Lord decides he’s more than troubled - he’s fed up with humanity’s sinful ways. He reminds Gabriel that he has sent prophet after prophet - and the Lord recounts the long list - but the people never listen to them.

Gabriel offers to blow his horn - the last trumpet - and end the whole thing, but the Lord brushes the trumpet away. So Gabriel asks: “What then Lord are you going to do?”

The Lord replies: “I am not going to send anybody else. This time, I am going myself.”

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Those words in that play Green Pastures are not in the Bible, yet they point to the meaning of Christmas - when the Lord says to Gabriel: “I’m not going to send anybody. - This time I’m going myself.”

Isn’t that really what Christmas is all about:

The Lord came to His people where they were - for Christ is Emmanuel, which means God with us.

Instead of just telling us about his way, Christ will show us the way, giving us His example of how to live.

And instead of leaving on our own to do it, he’ll empower us with His Spirit.

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And so rather than blowing the last trumpet, the angel Gabriel gets the job of telling Mary about her part in the Lord’s new plan. Gabriel told Mary God has chosen her for a special task - to be the mother of the Messiah - her response was “How can this be?”

She didn’t understand. Maybe it didn’t seem like such a good idea either - she already had other plans for her life.

Yet the angel persists, assuring her that “with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Her response was brave, obedient, but not enthusiastic.

“I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be to me according to your word.”

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Today’s gospel continues the story sometime after Gabriel’s visit to Mary. It’s still months before Christmas, and Mary has gone to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

At the surface it seems like a very ordinary event – a woman visiting an out-of-town relative – and the two sharing the mutual joy of their pregnancies.

But these two women represent the meeting of the old covenant and the new covenant. Elizabeth is elderly and will have a son, John the Baptist, who will be the last great prophet of ancient Israel. Mary is young and will have a son Jesus, who will usher in the new age of salvation. Their joyful meeting expresses the harmony between the Old and New Testaments.

In Mary, the new covenant reaches out to the old, giving it ultimate meaning and preparing for its fulfillment.

In Elizabeth, the old covenant recognizes the new and gives honor to its coming.

Elizabeth was well along in her pregnancy when Mary came to visit, and so her baby’s movements were unmistakable. She receives a revelation of what God has done for Mary - a revelation through the movement of the unborn John, already prophesying. The Holy Spirit is active in these two women.

Elizabeth proclaims: Most blessed are you among women, because Mary will be the mother of her Lord, and because she has believed the word of God. Mary is a model disciple because she is a hearer and a doer of the word of God. After receiving the word, she hastens to share that word with another. She is obedient to God’s plan - and grateful for the gift she will receive. She doesn’t understand it all, but has a sense of wonder at the mysteries of God.

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Near the end of Jesus’ life, another woman said to him: “Your mother is blessed to have a great son like you.”

Jesus replied: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” He’s not saying that his mother is not blessed, but rather giving the reason that she is called blessed.

And at the same time, Jesus was issuing an invitation.

We too can be blessed. For we have the opportunity to hear God’s word and keep it - in our day-to-day lives, to be faithful to the Word of God. . .

Like Mary, to trust in God even when we can not fully understand.

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In her song, Mary gives praise for all God has done - especially in bringing forth the Messiah, the Christ.

Mary praises God as her Savior, who will deliver from sin, and alienation from God.

Now God is again doing great things for his people.

The Lord is the “mighty One”, who cares for the lowly.

He is the “holy One”, who chooses to dwell among his people.

God’s endless mercy refers to His covenant love - a love without merit on our part.

The advent of the savior - of Christ - is a new expression of God’s might, holiness and mercy.

In his mercy and because of his love, God will reverse the conditions that human beings have created. He will exalt the lowly and needy, putting down the proud and powerful.

That’s a theme that Jesus will proclaim in sermons and parables - and is prefigured by the choice of poor teenager from a little town to be the mother of the Savior.

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Months later, the time for the La Posada has come. Mary and Joseph have completed their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and are seeking lodging. In the La Posada procession, Mary and Joseph, are denied shelter at the first houses they visit.

A symbolic way of reminding us that we fail to discern the presence of God in the ordinary and insignificant around us.

God works through ordinary people, like young Mary, in insignificant places, like Bethlehem, to accomplish his purposes.

But unless we have our spiritual eyes opened, we don’t recognize the movement of the Spirit - the presence of the Lord. Like those first houses on the La Posada, who fail to discern that Mary is bearing the Son of God.

In a sense, we can only see what we expect to see. Our vision is limited by our expectations.

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Do we fail to discern God’s presence - the Spirit’s activity - because we are not looking for it? Are our expectations too limited?

Do our low expectations limit what the Lord can or will do for us.

Advent encourages us to raise our expectations. God can break into our lives when we least expect it. The Lord is all about doing new things. That’s why we sing Mary’s song.

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In her praise of God, two lines standout:

First Mary assures us that God remembers his promises,

and second, she says God will do great things for her.

The point is that faithfulness is not one-sided. Mary faithfully obeyed God’s word, and therefore trusted that the Lord would fulfill His promise - that He would do great things for her - that nothing is impossible with God -

She had great expectations - and was filled with hope.

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As believers, we are called to faithfulness - and also called to hope - to expect the Lord not only to see us through, but to do great things for us.

For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Be open to the spirit’s guidance and be willing to let the Spirit of God “do great things for you”.

God’s rule is already asserting itself in this world, and the Holy Spirit is active in our lives - but what we experience now is only the beginning.

We are people of faith, yet we are all still on the journey of faith - we are not yet what we shall become.

In that sense we are pregnant with faith - the seed has been planted and has grown, but has not reached maturity. We have not yet delivered that complete faith.

Like Mary we are called to be faithful, and like her to be expecting: joyful and hopeful. To expect of God with confidence, knowing that the best is yet to come.