Micah 5:2-5a               Canticle 3 or 15                       Hebrews 10:5-10        Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

Perhaps I noticed this for the first time this year because I am writing sermons each week, but the shift in our lectionary between the third and fourth Sunday’s in Advent seems rather dramatic.  For two weeks we read about John the Baptist and how he called for the people to repent in preparation for the coming of the messiah.  Now, we rewind the story all the way back to when Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist, is visited by Mary, pregnant with Jesus.  In this fourth week of Advent we abruptly move to the beginning of what was foretold in Micah:  “. . . [one] shall come forth . . . who is to rule in Israel.” 

Mary knows that her relative Elizabeth is pregnant, because the Angel Gabriel told her this when he announced to Mary that she was to carry the Christ child.  Now, the two are together and Elizabeth asks, “Why has this happened to me?”  She is filled with the Holy Spirit, she is filled with joy knowing that the “mother of my Lord has come to me.”  The two women know that the child within each of them is a gift from God and their children’s lives will serve a purpose already determined by God. 

When Gabriel came to Mary, he told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."  Just as Micah foretold.  Mary accepts God’s call to her saying,   “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Like the great prophets of old, Mary submits to God’s will, she offers herself completely to God.  The canticle we recited today is the Song of Mary that is recited in Morning Prayer; it is the continuation of today’s Gospel reading from Luke.  So, Mary says these words to Elizabeth, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.  From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” 

Knowing the rest of the story that her son Jesus is to be crucified on a cross, would Mary have said this?  Would she have believed the Lord had looked upon her with favor?  Would she even care that on this day, over 2,000 years later we call her blessed?  Not one of the great prophets in the Old Testament lived an easy life.  Not one lived a life free of pain and suffering – yet every prophet lived with determination and purpose.  The prophets seldom said what the people in power wanted to hear and often feared for their lives.   Mary said the Lord had looked upon her with favor, for Mary was a faithful servant who, like the prophets, would do anything she could to serve her God.  When she visited with Elizabeth, she did not know what to expect - but then again, how many of us know what to expect.  We may know what we would like to have happen, but we certainly don’t know what will happen. 

It is only after the resurrection that we know the tragic story of the execution of Jesus has a glorious ending.  What we see is only a small portion of the bigger picture, the picture in which God is working to accomplish in us and our lives what God intends for humanity.  We know so little, yet so much more can be accomplished when we accept God’s call and say, as Mary did to Gabriel, “let it be according to your word.”  In our culture, submission is considered a sign of weakness by many.  Yet, submitting ourselves to God is an act of will that takes a great deal of courage – and faith.  Submitting ourselves to God is not a sign of weakness, but an act of faith that God can do infinitely more working through us than we can do on our own. 

When I read how Mary responded to Gabriel, “let it be according to your word,” I can’t help but think of what Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives, “not my will, but your will be done.”  Jesus responded as Mary responded.  God choose Mary because she was pure; knowing she would not tempt him as Satan later did.  God did not choose to come to us in the flesh as a grown man, but chose to enter the world as we entered it – “born of a woman.”    Even before his birth, Mary was caring for the Son of the Most High, as mothers do.  The Christ Child received his nourishment from her.  Her body kept him warm and safe as she carried him within her.   She brought God into her wayward world, dressed and fed him.  She and Joseph took him to the temple, prayed with him, and loved him as God loves us. 

As Christians, we are often overwhelmed that Christ loved us enough to die for us – I know that I am.  But the mere fact that God became flesh and dwelt among us is equally amazing.  God did not choose to remain “other,” or “separate” from humanity, but God chose to live the life we live.  A life filled with hurt, sadness, and disappointment.  As we prepare for Christmas, the birth of our Lord, let us remember that we must, like Mary, be prepared to care for Christ as we would a vulnerable, helpless infant.  For in so much as we do to the least of these, God’s children, we do unto God.

Let us pray.  Almighty God, help us to love you as a mother loves her newborn child.  Open our eyes that we might see Christ in all persons, especially the sick, the poor, and all those in need or who suffer distress of any kind.  Help us to trust in you, that we might have the faith to know that you can do more working in us that we can ask or imagine.  Lord, let it be according to your word. Amen.