Fourth Sunday in Advent (Year C)
TEXT: Luke 1:39-55
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
Those often-quoted words begin Charles Dickens’s novel, A Tale of Two Cities. I repeat them to you today because they are words that are as true of our time as they were when Dickens wrote them.
They were true in the days of Mary and Joseph, as well. It was—and is—the best of times; and it was—and is—the worst of times. Today as we celebrate the fourth Sunday of Advent, and we look at the candles that have been lit—the candles of hope, peace, joy, and love—I want to ask you all to remember that in these times there is much to celebrate.
And you know, that is always true. There is always much to celebrate, no matter how bad the times are—and no matter how much worse we think the times may become. The Christmas message is the message of Emmanuel—the message that “God is with us.” And nothing can change that—no matter how many negative forces may try to rob us of the hope, the peace, the joy, and the love that God intends for us. Nothing can take from us that which is from God—that which is good, and true, and pure, and lovely, and gracious.
Jesus was born into a world like ours—in fact, in a world even worse than ours. It was a world in which tyranny ruled everywhere, and poverty—with its attendant hunger and suffering—was the lot of all except a privileged few.
Mary and Joseph were not persons of privilege. They lived in an occupied country, subject to the foreign power of Rome, which had conquered them. Mary’s relatives Elizabeth and Zechariah were not privileged, either. The old priest and his wife may have been respected members of their community—but they were as poor as everybody else.
Some might say it wasn’t much of a world to bring a baby into. And yet, when Mary went to visit her aunt Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy! And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour 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 for ever.” (Luke 1:46-55)
When you look at the time of Jesus realistically, you might easily think that it was the height of foolishness for Mary to sing for joy to God as she did. The times were bad—and everyone knew that they were going to get worse. Roman soldiers—and Herod’s tax-collectors—were everywhere, just like the crosses that kept appearing on the roadsides, displaying tortured human bodies.
What was there to celebrate in Judea 2,000 years ago? And what today—in our time—is there to celebrate? People we love get sick and die. Our society is threatened from without by terrorism and from within by crime and despair. Our children’s futures are uncertain. The worst people have nuclear weapons; and around the world, newly-won freedom is turning into anarchy and chaos, even as millions starve in the midst of plenty.
It was in Jesus’ time—and it is now—the worst of times. But, my friends, it was then—and it is also now—the best of times.
I say that because the Spirit that took hold of Mary, and conceived within her a child, is here with us today. And just as the Spirit, working in Mary, brought forth life and light to the world in the person of Jesus—so it still brings forth life and light to the world through its working in us. That light and that life cannot be destroyed—no matter how bad the times are.
You may remember the Dr. Seuss story about the Grinch who tried to steal Christmas from the people of Who Town. He attempted to steal Christmas by removing all their Christmas decorations, all their trees, all their presents, all their food—all the exterior things that they enjoyed so much.
But Christmas continued!
Christmas continued despite this theft, because the villagers had Christmas inside them. As it was with the villagers in Who Town, so it was with Mary and Joseph and Elizabeth and Zechariah, and so it is—and so it can be—today, with us. So it should be for us, today.
For years now, I’ve listened as people have told me that Christmas is not like it used to be. Like grinches, they keep on trying to steal Christmas by looking at the bad things and forgetting that good things exist too. It seems to me that goodness shines brightest where it is most needed—right in the midst of the bad things. As it says in the Gospel of John: “… the Word became flesh and lived among us … full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
Where is Christmas today as it used to be? Where it has always been: wherever people are moved by the Spirit of love, which is the Spirit of Christ.
It is to be found even in that most commercial of all places—the shopping mall. I know this, because I know a young woman whose boyfriend lives far away. She doesn’t get to see him as often as she’d like—and so she was excited to learn that he would be coming to visit her on Boxing Day. What good news!
She really needed some good news, because—in the weeks leading up to Christmas—first her purse, and then her car, had been stolen.
Knowing how her boyfriend loves hockey—and remembering that there was a game on Boxing Day—she went online to the TicketMaster site to see if there were two seats left together for the game. There were—and two good ones, at that!
But … since her purse had been stolen, her credit cards had been deactivated—and so she could not make the purchase online.
By the time she got to the TicketMaster kiosk in the mall, the seats were gone. Crestfallen, she turned to go. But then, the clerk—a kindly grandmother type—called her back. “Give me your phone number,” she said. “You never know.”
They aren’t supposed to do that, of course.
The next day, the young woman received a call at home from the ticket clerk. Somehow, two tickets—also good ones—had become available. “I’ll hold them for you until you can get here,” the clerk said.
They aren’t supposed to do that, either!
Christmas is found wherever people genuinely care about one another. In such places, and at such times, the gift of Emmanuel—of “God with us”—is freely and generously given; and nothing and nobody can steal this from us, even if we live in the worst of times. God bestows—upon all who will receive it—his Spirit of love and hope, of joy and peace.
This is what makes Christmas what it is; it makes this the best of times, for those who believe. The Spirit of Christmas is alive everywhere. Just look around you.
Consider what God has done. Consider God’s very great promises to us. Accept his commands, act on the promises—and you, too, will find the Christ Child being born in your heart. Then you will be able—with joy—to say with Mary: “Our souls magnify the Lord, and our spirits rejoice in God our Saviour!’
Merry Christmas, everybody. Amen.