Readings: Micah 5:2-5a; Luke 1:46b-55; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. 

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me, 

and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him 

from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; 

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, 

and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things 

and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, 

in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors, 

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

Luke 1:46-55

Imagine what it must have been like for Mary. Engaged – looking forward to having a husband who would love, care and provide for her. It would be a simple life in small village – never great wealth, but every reason think they would have what they needed to live and raise a family. And then this angel shows up. And she learns she is going to get pregnant before she’s married. And the baby she’s going to have is not just any baby; he’s God’s son. I can picture her imagining her life falling apart around her. What was a time to celebrate, to look forward in joy to marriage and married life had all of sudden become a time of stress, strain, ridicule, criticism and condemnation. And it was all God’s fault!

This is what God does. God continually disrupts the complacency of our lives. When we think we’ve got the answers God lets us know we don’t. When we think it’s all settled God stirs things up. When in our pride we relish our own ability to handle all of life on our own, God confronts us with the harsh reality of our own inadequacy and weakness, God whittles us down, reminding us that something beyond ourselves is needed. And when we’re caught in a web of despair, seeing no possibilities and having no hope, God offers a vision of a new life of joy. And this doesn’t just happen to us as individuals. It happens to the world. 

God does this to reverse the way things are because God knows the way things are is not the way they are supposed to be. That’s why it’s important during Advent to acknowledge the struggles and problems of living – so we’ll be open to the great reversal God is about. If we don’t do that, if Advent was only about hope, peace, joy and love, there would be no reason for reversal, no reason for God, no need of a savior. So, we need to talk about the fear, the guilt, the anxiety of our living. And, following Mary’s lead, we take it one step further. In her hymn of praise Mary helps us see it’s not just about personal reversals. It’s also about the world, about all creation. Mary sings praise to God because God has looked with favor on her lowliness, done great things for her and shown great mercy. But she also sings praise to God because God scatters the proud, brings down the powerful, lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry and sends the rich away empty.

Because this is our faith – because we know this is the work God is up to, because we have experienced this reversal in our own lives, even as Mary did – we now have the strength, the courage, the fortitude not just to sit by and wait for God to do God’s thing, but to join in doing it. Because God has provided assurance for our fear, forgiveness for our guilt, and courage for our anxiety, we can join God in the work of turning the reality of injustice into a reason for joy. We can do it with conviction and hope because we know we are not the powerful of this nation or this world: God never chooses the powerful. We may not be among the movers and shakers: God never chooses the movers and shakers. We can do it because we are precisely the kind of people God chooses to do the work God wants to do. And when we’re chosen by God we too can be about reversing the way things are. We too can bring joy to injustice. We too can really and truly turn the town, the nation, the world upside down. This is the meaning of incarnation. This is how the Word is made flesh. It’s the thing God does – and it’s the thing God has chosen us to do.

Offered by Jeff Jones, God’s beloved child.