Walking with Jesus: Fourth Sunday of Advent C

For Sunday, December 22, 2024

Micah 5:1-4, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45

There is always excitement at this time of the year. It’s like everything has a “good side” about it — like we’ve won someone’s support or approval. We’re on the bright side … the good side … the positive side. Things are favorable, marvelous, pleasant; even excellent, superb. It’s not like I’m on “cloud nine,” because my feet are solidly on the ground. I’m just experiencing greatness in action. In a sense this is a foretaste of heaven — and it really is. So on this Sunday, just before Christmas … days away … it’s as if everything is filled with promise. So often — hopefully — animosities are set aside; estrangements dissolve into reconciliation. There is a gentle spirit seen in generosity. It seems that the spirit of the season has caught hold of us before the actual day. Why do we experience this more often than not? Is it from God? Am I paying attention? Do I fear it will dissolve or disappear? Am I thinking and planning to get involved in its continuance? Can I take time to envision its future and my role in it, and appreciate the gift given to me this moment — the gift of love, care, and belonging — and that I’m important and have been invited to be love? Let’s get in touch with the wisdom direction of the readings.

Micah is being totally positive, foreseeing the rescue of Jerusalem which is now under siege. Its rescue will come from an unexpected place, a place of no importance: Bethlehem. Imagine a place like this — maybe your small hometown. A King will be born here — King David — and not just ONE king but another, one of peace, love and caring … so sympathetic … and calling each person to greatness. And this King’s greatness will resound worldwide, bringing peace. By placing this reading so near Christmas, we are latching on to the Christian belief that Jesus is the fulfillment of these expectations. Jesus’ birthday quotes the very passage: “… from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel ...” [Micah 5:1] Having languished under persecution and foreign dominance for so long, the people eagerly hope and pray that this “king” will be their savior, military-wise. Why not? Here again is another one of “my plans,” not God’s. God wants us to know about HIS LOVE for each of us … it’s way too hard to love in and through war implements; love needs to come through people’s love and care. Why wouldn’t coming as a baby child be so surprising — and so missed — yet only a God, our God, could think like this. Imagine being at the manger — just you, Mary, Joseph, and the Baby — and a parent holds Jesus right before you and asks, “Do you want to hold my baby?” Would you refuse? Would you be afraid? His parents aren’t. Say YES! Do it — but talk not as a baby, but as you are right now!

Paul is addressing the Hebrews who originated from Mesopotamia near the Persian Gulf, then migrated west to the Mediterranean coast and settled in Canaan which they feel God has given them. Paul reflects how Jesus conceived of His mission at the time of His incarnation. Paul does this through Psalm 40:7-9: “Then I said, ‘As is written of Me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do Your will, O God.’” [Hebrews 10:7] For it is through the offering of His own Body in sacrifice that Christ identifies His own will to the will of the Father. And He offered Himself once for all. The Old Testament sacrificial offerings of animals, even humans farther back in history, were required to be repeated time and time again. This illustrates the inadequacy of any single sacrifice. Because Jesus offered His own body, Christ offered Himself only ONE TIME and in only ONE WAY — and it was enough. It is through THIS sacrifice that we are sanctified and redeemed. Praise God.

So I reflect on:

• Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary all show us what it’s like to be going about our own business, only to have our life plans completely disrupted by the Holy Spirit. Do I look at my own life and see a better understanding of what God wants for me?
• What obstacles face me in opening that vision? What might change if I were able to unstick my current understanding?

Sacred Space 2024 states:

“Mary in her kindness hastens to go to her elderly cousin, knowing that she will need help in her pregnancy. Elizabeth recognizes the greedy privilege being given to her. Today we have the privilege of being able to speak to our God and to Mary.

“Elizabeth praises Mary for her great faith in believing the message of the angel. As Jesus grew up in Mary’s home from childhood to manhood it must have been extraordinarily difficult for her to realize that this is God. In our prayer let us ponder with Mary over this mystery of our God who became one of us and who is with us now through the Spirit within us.”