On Sunday night, I had the joy of bringing the message for our church's fourth Advent service. For this blog post, I've added a few things I wish I said Sunday night, as well as shortened my message a little.
Advent, which means "coming," is a period of four weeks when Christians remember the coming of Jesus into the world. Thus the season of Advent ends on Christmas day, when we celebrate Jesus' birth. Advent is also a time when we look forward to Jesus' second coming.
Luke 1:39-56
What I can't get away from in our Advent passage is that it seems to be overflowing with joy. Leading up to the passage, the angel Gabriel has told Mary that she will give birth to the Son of God. Mary wonders how this can be, since she’s a virgin, but in the end she says, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”
Then the angel leaves, and our Advent passage begins: “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.” Elizabeth was Mary’s relative, and we find out earlier that Elizabeth is elderly and barren. She and her husband, the priest Zechariah, have prayed for a baby, and an angel tells Zechariah that they will have a child--John the Baptist.
By the time Mary greets Elizabeth, Elizabeth is six months pregnant. This alone is cause for joy. Elizabeth and Zechariah have wanted a child for so long, and now God has given them one. Mary greets Elizabeth, and when “Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” More joy there. Then Elizabeth exclaims, in a loud voice (and when people exclaim in a loud voice, it usually means they’re joyful), “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Have you ever had something so great and amazing happen to you to make you wonder, “Why me? What did I do to deserve such a thing as this?” That’s probably the kind of joy Elizabeth was feeling. But notice that Elizabeth isn’t filled with joy only because she is pregnant. She asks, “Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Elizabeth is rejoicing because the mother of her Lord has come to her. She is rejoicing because of Jesus.
When Jesus comes into the world, he brings joy. I don’t even know if Jesus is in his mother’s womb yet, but he’s already bringing joy to Mary and Elizabeth (and baby John the Baptist).
Jesus brings joy as an adult, too. If you read through the gospel of Luke, you’ll find that Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law from a high fever, forgives a sinful woman, heals a demon-possessed man, raises a girl to life, heals a woman who has been sick for twelve years, and more. Usually, when I think of Jesus’ miracles, I am amazed at Jesus’ power. But can you also imagine how much joy these people must have felt after being touched by Jesus? Now they are no longer drowned in guilt, bound in sin, or paralyzed by a disease. Now they can live full, complete, whole lives. Jesus brings joy, and as we see in our Advent passage, he brings joy even before he is born.
But not everyone receives Jesus with joy. After Elizabeth’s exclamation, Mary sings a song, in which she says, “[The Lord] has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” While Jesus’ coming into the world brings joy to those who welcome him, Jesus also brings a reversal, a dethroning, to those who reject him.
Which side are we on? Does Jesus’ coming into the world, does his kingdom, bring us joy, or fear? Or a little bit of both? When he comes, will he scatter us, or lift us up? Will he empty us, or fill us with good things? Could it be that Jesus is already at work in us, scattering our pride so that we may one day be prepared to welcome him when he comes again? Could Jesus also be at work bringing us joy during our time of waiting?
Our Advent passage is interesting because we can read it two ways. First, we can read about how Mary and Elizabeth waited for the Lord’s first coming. Second, we can read about how we are to wait for Jesus’ second coming.
These past four weeks of Advent, our Master of Christmas, Alec, has asked us to reflect on the question, “How do we wait?” Our passage may be helpful in answering the question because in the passage we see two women waiting, not only for their children to be born, but for the Messiah to come into the world.
So, how do we wait? One way I think we wait for the Messiah is a way I’ve already mentioned: we wait joyfully. Just as Mary and Elizabeth joyfully awaited the Lord’s coming, we, too, joyfully wait for his second coming. Or at least that’s how we’re supposed to wait.
When I was a kid, I heard people say that Jesus was coming at a time when no one expected him. So whenever I thought about Jesus’ return, I would think, “Maybe Jesus will come back today,” in an attempt to delay his coming. I figured, if Jesus is coming on a day when no one expects him, and if I’m expecting him to come back today, then he won’t come back today! I’m not sure why I didn’t want Jesus to return; I guess I wanted to enjoy life, and didn’t want to go to heaven quite yet. I must have thought that life before Jesus’ coming was better than life after his coming.
I don’t think about Jesus’ second coming as often as I used to, but thinking about it still brings me some anxiety. During the first week of Advent, we looked at a passage in Luke 21 regarding the end times. Some verses in Luke 21 just don’t sound joyful, like this one: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven,” and this one: “Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” And this next passage kind of contradicts our Advent passage: “How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!” What are we supposed to believe about Jesus’ second coming? While our Advent passage shows Mary and Elizabeth expecting the Lord joyfully, this Luke 21 passage shows pregnant women dreading those final days.
I’m not exactly sure what to do with this, but I wonder if maybe we should see the troublesome end times as birth pangs. Trials and tribulations will come, just like the pain that comes in giving birth, but the pain does not match the joy that will come when life is brought into the world. So even though we are told to watch out for that day, we should not forget to wait for the Lord joyfully.
But our joy does not rest only in some future day. Elizabeth tells Mary, “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” Baby John the Baptist leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb as soon as the mother of Jesus says “Hello!” Elizabeth (and John the Baptist) experience joy before Jesus comes into the world. So we, too, can encounter the joy of the Lord during our time of waiting.
Where is our joy? If Jesus brings joy to those who welcome him, then is he bringing joy to us? Are we welcoming him? Where is Jesus at work in our lives, in our church, in our neighborhood? What streets does Jesus walk on? Maybe by remembering joyful experiences, we can see Jesus at work among us.
One afternoon earlier this semester, while I was taking a nap, I dreamed that I was tutoring. Each week, some friends and I tutor elementary school students in the church classroom. When I woke up from my nap, I felt joy having remembered times with the students. I thought about how some students, during the first few weeks, did not want to do their homework, but are now eager to do their work and study hard (for the most part). I thought about how Gilbert, who recently graduated high school, has helped students with their English homework and has kept kids in line during Knock-out matches.
I think it’s important to remember joyful times like these because they encourage us, and maybe they also show us where Jesus is working among us.
Mary and Elizabeth teach us to wait joyfully. How else do we wait? Together. When Mary heard the good news that she would give birth to the Son of God, she didn’t keep the news to herself, but hurried to tell Elizabeth. And after they greeted, “Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.”
Joy and togetherness are connected. I think it’s impossible to rejoice, to celebrate, by yourself. How would you rather celebrate your birthday? By sitting alone in your room all day, writing your thoughts about turning 22? Or by your friends surprising you, coming over and singing happy birthday?
In the same way, this is how we celebrate Jesus’ second coming: together. Pastor Steve and Alec could have asked us, for the Sunday morning and evening Advent services, to meditate on scripture passages in silence, alone. And there is a place for studying the word by ourselves. But here we are, gathering together each week to celebrate with one another that Jesus is returning. When we’re together, we encourage each other, learn from one another, and enjoy each other’s company, looking toward the day in which all creation will celebrate together. It will be like a birthday for all creation because when Jesus comes, he will finally make all things right and new, bringing peace, righteousness, justice, and his kingdom of joy to the world. If he brought joy and hope the first time he came, how much more will he bring joy and hope in all their fullness the last time he comes?
So, how do we wait? Joyfully and together. Just as Mary and Elizabeth waited joyfully together for the Lord's coming, we too wait for the joy that will come when Jesus returns. And just as Mary and Elizabeth (and baby John the Baptist) celebrated the joy that was already present, we remember the joy that has already come to us in Jesus, in his work in the world, and in his presence among our lives even now.
