Joy of their coming
Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2019
The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit hat this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
– From Matthew 1
Despite Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph heeds his dream and takes Mary for his wife. This brings him peace and great joy, and patience with the gossip of his family and neighbors. Mary, though, has a tougher time with the wagging tongues, so while Joseph works, she travels to the house of her relative Elizabeth. As she arrives Elizabeth sings for joy and the baby within her jumps for joy. At last Mary can relax and know her own joy. She sings from the bottom of her soul, praising and glorifying God:
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
 for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
 He 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.
 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors. (From Luke 1)
Mary’s was not a visit for the afternoon. She stayed three months before returning to Nazareth. I guess there was no hurry. They told their stories, they made bread, they harvested olives, they dried fish, they ate and slept and ate and slept.
Zechariah might have been a bit of a scholar. He was a high priest. He read his scrolls. His prayers might have been longer and more complicated. He offered no complaint about Mary spending time with Elizabeth. Their meals were pleasant and rich with conversation.
Nobody had to put their phone away when it was time for dinner. There was nothing on TV to watch as the house grew dark, no radio shows, no newspaper. Their conversation covered the events around them, what was happening to the people in their community.
And then … perhaps at times all three were caught up in remembrance, those shocking, amazing words brought by Gabriel. They did not make this up; the babies he left behind made that clear as clear.
All this was illuminated in Mary’s song of liberation and equality. They followed after their Father, and hope filled their hearts.
Did these mothers expect their sons to become Nazarites, join the strange men of the desert who ate locusts and honey, let their hair grow like Samson, and dedicate themselves to God by leaving the city, leaving the world?
As their babies grew inside them, did they imagine these boys growing and teething and crawling and rolling over? Of course they did. These mothers already knew the names God picked out for their boys, and in their minds they watched them walk, and play, begin to read the Torah, ask questions about the words of the prophets, listen to the old men and dream their own young dreams.
Jesus and John would grow in stature, and in God’s own good time move the mountains of their Hebrew world, ushering in a new one. “I am the voice of the one calling in the wilderness,” John called. “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” Jesus cried out.
All this will come. For now the sun sets, the moon rises, the stars shine bright and cold in the night. The candles are extinguished, covers pulled up to their chins. Pray, sleep, wait, wonder. And each day, awaken once again.
I’m free, Lord, to remember your morning even in the darkness of my night, to feel the warmth of your arms, the gentle embrace of my God. Even as sleep falls, so too do dreams come, so too do you whisper in my ear. Not sweet nothings, no, but joy and joy and joy.
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