Year C

Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

Already, But Not Yet

You can feel the excitement in the air today as we move from waiting and preparing for God’s promised fulfillment, to a realization of that fulfillment in just two short days. Yet, the soon Babe born in Bethlehem’s manger whose birthday it will be is only a partial realization of that fulfillment. The final fulfillment of all that God has promised will not be realized until the Second Advent, the return of him who was a Babe but is now Reigning Savior and Lord. The texts for today capture something of this flavor of already, but not yet.

The text from Micah, one of the first of the judgement prophets whose ministry of 46 years took place in the eighth century before Christ, speaks hope during difficult times for the people of God. Greed and corruption were rampant. Micah sees that the situation is grim: the nation is in extreme distress, Jerusalem is under siege. The people see no hope but suddenly Micah sees hope. He sees beyond the current circumstance to what God is promising to do. He begins to speak in tones of joy. One day, little Bethlehem, the place of King David’s birth, an ancient village long before Jesus was born will give to Israel the One who will rule in peace.

And this is to be no ordinary ruler of the house of David, but one whose origins are “from ancient days” and who “shall be great to the ends of the earth.” God had promised that a descendant of David will rule over God’s people and such a king will come forth from Bethlehem to reign forever. The new king will not be limited by geographic or time restrictions. He will rule all nations with righteousness and justice, as he brings peace. We see in these verses not only the significance of the role of Bethlehem in the story of the promised Messiah, but we see the goodness of God’s ultimate plan of salvation for God’s people.

Micah, during this time as we wait for Christ’s coming once again, points us to “promises kept” by God despite the hardships and injustices of this world. God’s justice is as real as God’s mercy. God’s justice eventually prevails and God is merciful to those who seek God out. Mary today sings of this justice and mercy. The Magnificat, one of the most beautiful hymns of praise found in scripture, has been called a most revolutionary song for it envisions God bringing down of the mighty, sending the rich away empty, and filling the hungry with good things. 

A young, poor, unwed, pregnant woman proclaims one of the most important prophetic words in Scripture, the promised, topsy-turvy future of God. She proclaims it as an already accomplished fact-possibly because that future can already be seen in God’s choice of her as the bearer of the Messiah. Today, the story of the meeting of Mary with Elizabeth follows immediately after Mary has been informed of her holy vocation, and that her cousin Elizabeth was also pregnant with the child she had ceased to hope for. It would be natural for Mary whom God chose to have God’s Son after what she had just experienced, to want to be with her cousin, another woman in whose life God had intervened.

The gospel of Luke, of which most of the gospel texts this church year come from, above all the New Testament books, is about women. It almost reads as if a woman had written it, for it contains intimate details that might not have occurred to a man. It begins with the birth of John the Baptist, focusing on his mother, Elizabeth. Then we hear Mary’s story which is followed by the prophecy of a woman named Anna. When Jesus goes to the temple as a boy to debate the religious authorities, the only person Luke quotes is Mary his mother.

Many of Luke the physician’s stories during Jesus’ ministry are about women: the woman who was a sinner, the woman who wouldn’t give up, the widow of Nain, the bent over woman, the woman who gave her mighty mites. At the resurrection it was only women who went to the tomb, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of Jesus, and the other women. And all of this, from a culture in which women didn’t count. Obviously they count to God and to Luke because the central person in the birth of Jesus, a story told by Luke, is Mary.  

Luke gives us a wonderful pre-Christmas gift today with this story about a genuine connection between two pregnant women of different generations. Mary, who loved God, who obediently accepted the task which God had given her demonstrating her faith. In both women, we see God at work in a deeply personal way that just happens to change the world! Even though Mary is of “low estate,” through her obedience to God’s call and her openness to the Spirit of God, she will be called blessed by future generations.

In her words of song, we find the very essence of the whole Gospel message. “The Mighty One has done great things…holy is his name.” There is hope in God’s promises. This hope is what the writer of Hebrews encourages the Christians of his day and of all times to; to remain faithful. The promises of God are still being kept in Jesus who makes us holy people of God by his sacrifice. The never-ending compassion of God continues to generations of those who like Mary and Elizabeth open themselves to grace in Jesus Christ.  

This is what we celebrate in this season of the Lord’s coming, in the birth of Christ, God enters humanity; and in our behalf Christ, in doing God’s will, creates a new access to God and takes as the charter of his ministry the lines from Psalm 40: 6-8 that we hear in Hebrews. God comes to live with us, to be a part of our world, surrendering all to transform our lives in ways that we had never before considered. Therefore, we can look forward to celebrating with special joy the upcoming feasts of Christmas and Epiphany.

Just as Mary’s visit fills Elizabeth to the brim with joy, so the Lord’s encounter with us does the same thing. Because he is our way of doing God’s will by self-sacrificing love. This is the reason we lit the candle of love today. God’s love for us that Mary sings about, Micah envisions and Hebrews declares is the work of God in Christ from the moment of the incarnation, through the cross and resurrection. It is our response to this love and our willingness to offer ourselves to God’s will that brings us joy.

So let us proclaim our own Magnificat of God’s justice and liberation. Let us pray we can bring peace, joy, and love into the lives of all we encounter in the days ahead as we await our Lord’s arrival again, now and then again one day. For God will not let injustice reign forever. Good news that is something to sing about, to shout out about with joy and in this way we become a part of God’s extraordinary, saving mission of love.