Sunday, December 21, 2014 Week Four: Christ is King Day 22 ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent Luke 1:30-31, and 34-37 30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” The Birth of Jesus Foretold Perhaps one of the most joyous moments in a family’s life is the announcement that a new life is on the way. “Mom and Dad, I’m pregnant!” Squeals of laughter and vigorous shaking of hands follows the announcement along with warm hugs and slaps on the back and a voice saying, “Tell me all about it? Do you know if it is a boy or a girl? When is the baby due?” I doubt if that is the way it went when Mary told her parents of the angel’s announcement of the new life to come. And I suspect Mary didn’t relish the moment when she would have to explain the angel’s announcement to her parents and her betrothed, Joseph. But thanks to the angel’s words Mary was assured that she had no reason to fear because God was with her. The angel also promised her that her kinswoman, Elizabeth was waiting with similar good news. As we know, the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth was one of great joy – it probably included a few squeals of laughter, too. Advent is such a wonderful and strange time of the year. We prepare our hearts and our homes to celebrate and remember the birth of our savior, Jesus the Christ. In this time when Jesus has come, is come and is coming again we are also called to prepare our hearts and our homes for His glorious return. We have become very confident that we will be received with joy and confirmation when we declare “Merry Christmas!” to those we meet. We shout out and sing of the birth of our Savior so long ago in Bethlehem without fear and even the loud speakers in the malls respond to our voices. The challenge to us this Advent season and every day of the Christian Year is the call on our lives to declare with joy the announcement that Christ is coming again in glory. We are frightened that the world will receive this wonderful news in the way that Mary’s parents likely received her news. We are fearful of how we will be greeted. Will we be greeted as Joseph did with thoughts of quietly divorcing Mary or will we be greeted as Elizabeth did with confirmation and prophecy of the goodness of the life Mary bore? We have great good news of new life, new possibilities, new hope, and new joy this Advent season. Christ has come. Christ is come, Christ is coming again. Our job is to proclaim the good news and not worry about how it will be received. That’s God’s job. And remember what the angel said, “Nothing is impossible with God.”
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 11:58:59 +0000
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