from Helen
Well we are nearly there, after weeks of shopping and preparation today we come to the last Sunday of Advent. Tomorrow of course will be Christmas Day.
I have to say that I think I got through advent with prayer, Bible reading and lots of chocolate. I am not sure if I need to lower my chocolate intake from now on …. We have been preparing and when I think about preparing there is no better person to think of than Mary.
Mary the very young girl, possibly even as young as 10 being visited by an angel who had more than slightly surprising news for her. I can’t begin to imagine how she felt. I suspect that relaxed wouldn’t be the word. It may be that you are feeling more relaxed now we are so close to Christmas or if you are having a last minute stress but certainly Mary didn’t have the opportunity for this.
There was once a woman who realised that she hadn’t sent any Christmas cards, she was in a huge rush and it was 22nd December. She quickly bought some cards and signed them all without reading what was inside. She wrote the cards and sent them first class hoping that they would arrive on time. After she had done this she sat down with a cuppa and had a good look at the cards, she read them and inside they said… your Christmas present will arrive soon ! Oops..serious panic, I expect.
Anyway, back to Mary.
I once read a book called Virgin Diaries which portrayed Mary as a teenager whose parents owned a pizza restaurant. In the diaries she goes from excited to fed up, after all she had a wedding sorted and now it’s a little doubtful. She talksof all the men wanting to throw pizza dishes at her and saucepans. It was a fun book to read but it did get me thinking about Mary.
We will never know how she felt but we do know how she responded. In our gospel reading (Luke 1:26-38) we heard of the visit of the angel Gabriel with his life changing news. Mary wondered how it could be possible but of course it was God’s plan and there was an answer ready for her to hear. I love the fact that Mary just seems to accept this. After all, wouldn’t you have more to say than, ‘let it be to me, according to your word.’ The next part always surprises me even more. Mary didn’t just say yes, but she started praising God and in the words that she used she showed us something of how life was now going to be different.
We have heard the words she said, this morning instead of a Psalm. These words (Luke 1:46b-55) are a song of praise yes, but they are also a vision of what God was going to do. God was going to break in and change everything, Life and its social order was going to be turned on its head. Everything that seemed to make sense was going to change and in it all Mary had a part to play.
I don’t think though that when we read this we’re supposed to only think about the part of Mary. I think we are also supposed to think of our part in the story. God came to earth as one of us and we have a response to make. That response is to be more like Jesus and to be prepared to see the world change.
The words that Mary spoke are words for us to share with others, they speak of a lifestyle that makes a difference in our world. They speak of a life where the poor matter, they speak of a life where those in need are helped and are loved. They speak of the difference that Jesus makes. They speak of the difference which comes after the waiting of advent as we celebrate God breaking into the World as a baby. They remind us that in our waiting we are still to show Jesus in our lives everyday to all those around us.
The words also speak of the difference that we as followers of Jesus are to make as well. So that our lifestyle, based on the lifestyle of Jesus, and His teaching, is one where the poor matter, one where those in need are helped and loved.
Can you imagine what a difference it would make to the world around us if everyone started living more like Jesus and more like those words we heard from Mary. Words that reassure us that the world was different, that injustice of many types was turned upside down. I often think that when we look around us we can see so much injustice. The type of injustice that makes us want to cry out and the type of injustice that means we need our foodbanks, the type of injustice that shows that the wealth of the world is not fairly shared, the type of injustice where people are seen as nothing because of the colour of their skin or because they are different to us.
This isn’t the way of Jesus, it’s not the way that Mary spoke of. A way that lifted the lowly, put down the mighty, that filled the hungry with good things a world where everything is fair.
In advent we have been looking towards Christmas but we have also been looking towards the second coming when all will be made right. At the beginning of advent I told you that I was trying a challenge to keep praying for God’s kingdom to come when I saw an awful situation. It has been interesting. I have to say that it has made me think more about what the kingdom of God will look like. The kingdom of God will be the time when all is right and when the words of Mary that we heard earlier aren’t just words of hope that things will get better but words of how things are.
I pray that as we get to the end of today and always we will be ready and waiting for Jesus and looking forward to the time when all will seem to be fair. AMEN
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