For all of us
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Micah 5:1-4
From you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. When she who is to give birth has borne, he shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the Lord, in the majestic name of the Lord, his God. His greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace.
As Mary and Elizabeth exult in their awareness of God’s children in their wombs, they do so knowing how rare is their experience. God has been so silent for so long. Connected as they are to their people, they also know that this is not just for them, never just for them. Their song, their awareness of what Henri Nouwen calls the “fullness of time,” reaches across the land.
Of our responsibility, Nouwen writes,
The experience of the fullness of time, during which God is so present, so real, so tangibly near that we can hardly believe that everyone does not see God as we do, is given to us to deepen our lives of prayer and strengthen our lives of ministry.  Having experienced God in the fullness of time, we have a lifelong desire to be with God and to proclaim to others the God we experienced.
Peter, years after the death of Jesus, claims his Mount Tabor experience as the source for his witness. He says: “When we told you about the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not slavishly repeating cleverly invented myths; no, we had seen his majesty with our own eyes … when we were with him on the holy mountain” (2 Peter 1:16-18). Seeing God in the most intimate moments of our lives is seeing God for others.
So, Lord, when one of us sings, she sings for us all. When you hear our song, be glorified. You have made us glad; we want to worship you. One of us, all of us, we want to see you and never leave your presence. You are peace, and we are made peaceful in your house.
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