Watch, Wait, and Wonder: A Midweek Series for Advent
To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ,
be glory forever and ever.
Hymn - O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.
May we, with Mary, sing your praises and magnify your name.
As we worship, renew our vision that we may do your will.
In your name we pray,
Amen.
Readings
Psalm 146
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Blessed indeed are they who put their trust in you, O God, our sure rock and refuge. Guard us from giving to any other the allegiance that belongs only to you. Shine upon us with the brightness of your light, that we may love you with a pure heart and praise you forever; through Jesus Christ, Our Saviour and Lord. Amen.
A reading from the Gospel of Luke (1:26-55)
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to 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.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The 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. And 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. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor 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 forever.”
Reflection
From Steve Bell's Pilgrim Year Series "Advent", Chapter 7
We cannot begin to understand the profundity of the season and its implication for human dignity without considering the woman whom Eastern Orthodox Christians reverence as Theotokos: the God-bearer, and the one whom Catholic tradition venerates as the Daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Incarnate Word and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
Growing up as I did, in a Protestant tradition, I was not encouraged to ponder the life and faith of Mary. she was presented as a mere passive instrument of God in the drama of salvation: not particularly heroic, not a leader or a theological shaper of the faith like Paul, or Peter, or any of the disciples, for that matter. She was not as interesting as Mary Magdalene and didn't seem to play a supportive role in Jesus' ministry, as did the women who followed and funded his work. Mary was a quiet, quaint, and somewhat tragic figure in the background who drew empathy from those who attended to her story, but not much else. Yet, it is the story of God's loving humility meeting hers that exposes the staggering dignity of the human person: that we have been created to house heaven and bear forth Christ for the sake of the world.
I was in Israel in 2004, tagging alongside my good friend jack, who was visiting Palestinian Christian aid and education organizations in the West Bank on behalf of potential North American donors. i was there simply because I had been reading about the region and wanted to learn something of the complexities of Israeli-Palestinian relations, and Jack was happy to have the company.
At this time, the second Intifada was winding down. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was bunkered deep in the recessed of his bombed-out compound, and the whole of the West Bank and Gaza Strip was in lockdown. At each of the many military checkpoints, we were met with machine guns pointed at our heads and nervous soldiers interrogating us about our reasons for being in the region. The tension was so high that stepping on a twig, it seemed, might erupt into chaos and violence. It was frightening.
After a week of living in this tension, my insides were wound up like a clock. I wasn't sleeping, and when I did, my dreams were dreadful. One night I dreamt that I was dangling helplessly like a spider on a thread while a churning, mile-high tidal wave of black, roiling water overcame and obliterated me. I still can't recall that dream without hearing the ominous roar of the approaching rage, the feeling of horrified helplessness, and the moment of impact when my frame was crushed like a bug to nothingness.
Nearing the end of our trip, my companion and I realized it wasn't a good idea to return to our families in such a stressed state, so we checked into a quiet monastery a few miles west of Jerusalem to decompress for a couple of days. it was an incredibly serene and peaceful place.
The monastery, mercifully inhabited by tranquil, hospitable nuns, was situated on a hilltop covered with ancient olive trees. A quiet Arab-Israeli village lay below. The gentle sounds and smells of life - children and adults kibitzing, bleating goats, car horns, music, open cooking fires - rose up the slope like a soothing balm. On the pinnacle of the hill was a graceful chapel adorned by an elegant statue of the Madonna and Child. She, Mary, was holding the Christ Child in her right arm and gesturing towards Jerusalem with her left, as if to show the child the glory and the tragedy of his inheritance.
The night before I left for home, I decided to keep vigil amid the olive tress and wait for the sun to rise over Jerusalem, visible to the east from my vantage on the hill. I had my guitar with me, and through the night I played some, I prayed some, I wept some, and I waited. At dawn, a gentle, rose-coloured wave of light glided across the valley floor and up the hill to the chapel behind me. As the ascending sun bathed the Madonna and Child with new-dawn splendour, I noticed - for the first time - the inscription beneath the figure: Mary, Ark of the New Covenant.
I stared at that inscription for the longest time, the truth of it rising in me like the morning sun which illuminated it.
Mary, the prototypical Christian, who first received the seed of the Word of God in her womb and who bore it for the sake of the world, beckons us all to realize our innate calling to be co-bearers of the seed of God. Even in our troubled humanity - within the drama of brokenness, redemption, and salvation - we, too, have been invited to take up our role as maternal-spouse of God: to receive, carry, and bear forth new life for the sake of the World. Anything less is beneath our dignity.
This invitation to a spousal relationship, which God offers in the unfolding drama of salvation history, is a genuine offer. Therefore, what comes with it is the dignity of choice.
During Advent, when Christians piously exhort the world to "keep Christ in Christmas," we may do better by encouraging one another to keep ourselves in Christmas. I sense that Christ doesn't need us to defend him. We have not understood our place in this astonishing story; we should instead ponder and internalize how this season reveals not only the truth of God, but also the truth of our humanity. And so our souls, too, can whelm in song along with Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55).
Hymn - Magnificat
Prayers
In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the church of God,
and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the health of the creation, for abundant harvests that all may share,
and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For public servants, the government, and those who protect us;
for those who work to bring peace, justice, healing, and protection
in this and every place, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For those who travel, for those who are sick and suffering,
and for those who are in captivity, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For deliverance in the time of affliction, wrath, danger, and need,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For all servants of the church, for this assembly,
and for all people who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy,
let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Guide us waking, O Lord,
and guard us sleeping;
that awake we may watch with Christ
and asleep we may rest in peace.
Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
Blessing
Even as we wait, watch, and wonder,
God is with us.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Hymn - Even So, Lord Jesus Come
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