Fourth Sunday of Advent, cycle C

LUKE 1:39-45

MY 73^RD BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP SOON. I WAS BORN IN 1942. THERE WERE A LOT OF FAMOUS PEOPLE BORN THEN. HARRISON FORD, STEPHEN HAWKING, JIMMI HENDRIX, VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN; AND THERE WAS JOHN WAYNE GACY, A FAMOUS SERIAL KILLER, AND MUMAR QUADAFFI, THE LIBIAN DICTATOR.

BUT WHEN WE WERE BORN, WE WERE JUST BABIES. OUR PARENTS LOOKED AT US LIKE ANY PARENT, A LITTLE AFRAID OF THE NEW RESPONSIBILITY, MAYBE FEELING AN OVERWHELMING SENSE OF LOVE; AND MAYBE THEY RESOLVED TO GIVE US A GOOD LIFE AND HELP US TO ACHIEVE OUR POTENTIAL.

MARY AND ELIZABETH WERE PEASANT WOMEN. ONE WAS AN UNMARRIED TEENAGER IN A SOCIETY WHERE SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE MIGHT MEAN BEING STONED, BUT ALWAYS MEANT BEING CAST OUT OF SOCIETY IN SOME WAY. THE OTHER WAS AN ELDERLY WOMAN WHO THOUGHT SHE HAD WANTED CHILDREN, BUT NOW WONDERED WHETHER SHE AND ZACHARY WOULD LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO RAISE THE CHILD. TODAY, OF COURSE, OUR SOCIETY WOULD GIVE THEM AN EASY ANSWER – ABORTION. BUT THANK HEAVEN THEY DIDN'T LIVE IN OUR SOCIETY.

ONE BABY WOULD BECOME AS JESUS SAID OF HIM, “AMONG THOSE BORN OF WOMEN, THERE IS NONE GREATER”. AND OF COURSE THE OTHER IS THE VERY CENTER OF HISTORY, THE REASON FOR OUR JOY, THE SAVIOR OF OUR RACE. IN OTHER WORDS, THESE TWO BABIES WERE REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT. BUT THAT COULD ONLY BE DETERMINED WITH TIME, BECAUSE WHEN MARY AND ELIZABETH MET, NEITHER COULD HAVE FORESEEN ALL THIS. IN FACT WHEN YOU READ THE GOSPELS, IT BECOMES OBVIOUS THAT MARY HERSELF DURING JESUS' LIFETIME ONLY HAD THE VAGUEST IDEA OF WHAT HER SON WOULD BECOME; AND THERE WAS A TIME WHEN SHE EVEN THOUGHT HE MIGHT BE MAD.

BUT ONE THING IS CLEAR, THESE TWO INFANTS, BOTH NOT EVEN BORN YET, WERE IMPORTANT; AND ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT TO GOD, SINCE HIS WHOLE PLAN HINGED UPON THEM. AND DESPITE THE FACT THAT EVEN THEIR OWN PARENTS HAD NOT SEEN THEM, THEY WERE LOVED – BY THEIR PARENTS, BY GOD HIMSELF.

AND DID YOU EVER STOP TO THINK THAT WE COULD SAY THE SAME THING ABOUT EACH OF US? YOU ARE LOVED, YOU ARE IMPORTANT, NOT ONLY TO OTHER PEOPLE, BUT TO GOD HIMSELF, WHO HAS GIVEN YOU THROUGH BAPTISM A SPECIAL STATUS – YOU ARE A PROPHET. YOUR MISSION IS TO LIVE SO THAT OTHERS SEE THAT YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, THAT YOU FIND JOY IN YOUR FAITH, THAT YOU STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE. PROPHETS GET IN TROUBLE, IT'S TRUE, AND THEY AREN'T ALWAYS WELL-LIKED. BUT NEVERTHELESS, THAT'S WHAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE.

AND YOU ARE A PRIEST. A PRIEST IS SOMEONE WHO IS A LINK BETWEEN GOD AND THE WORLD. YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE LINKS. YOU BRING GOD TO OTHER PEOPLE BY YOUR VERY PRESENCE; CHRIST LIVES IN YOU, AND THE MORE YOU IMITATE CHRIST, THE MORE HE CAN REACH OUT THROUGH YOU TO A WORLD THAT DESPERATELY NEEDS HIM. AS A PRIEST, YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO BE THAT BRIDGE.

AND YOU ARE A KING. WE THINK OF KINGS WITH ALL THEIR TRAPPINGS OF ROYALTY, OR PERHAPS AS MERE FIGUREHEADS. BUT KINGS IN THE HEBREW TRADITION WERE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SAFETY AND WELL-BEING OF THOSE OVER WHOM THEY RULED. THEY HAD TO BE CONCERNED NOT ONLY ABOUT THE PEOPLE, BUT THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PEOPLE, AND THE LAND WHICH THEY LIVED ON. AS KINGS WE ARE EACH GIVEN A KINGDOM, EVEN LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE A TINY KINGDOM FOR WHICH THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE. AND OUR DUTY IS TO TAKE WHAT WE ARE GIVEN AND PERFECT IT AND GIVE IT BACK TO GOD.

WE EACH ARE PROPHET, PRIEST AND KING THROUGH OUR BAPTISM AND AS SUCH ARE VERY, VERY IMPORTANT TO GOD; AND EVEN THOUGH GOD LOVES EACH OF US AS MUCH AS HE LOVED JOHN THE BAPTIST AND JESUS, HIS FATHERLY HEART CANNOT HELP BUT BE FILLED WHEN HE SEES US DOING WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO DO.

WHEN A WOMAN BECOMES PREGNANT, AND MAYBE I'M PRESUMPTUOUS TO SAY THIS, SINCE I HAVEN'T HAD THAT EXPERIENCE, SHE HAS TO MAKE WAY FOR THE CHILD SHE CARRIES. HER BODY CHANGES, EVEN HER MIND IS AFFECTED. AND THE PREGNANCY CARRIES HER ALONG, CHANGING HER, AND FOREVER ALTERING HER LIFE. EVEN LONG AFTER SHE HAS BORN HER CHILD, EVEN INTO HER ADVANCED AGE, THAT CHILD WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT HER, TO BE A PART OF HER LIFE, FOR GOOD OR FOR BAD. ONE OF THE LAST THINGS MY 90 YEAR OLD MOTHER, LOST IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, SAID TO ME WAS, “MY SON, IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO FOR YOU?”

WHEN MARY CONSENTED TO BE THE MOTHER OF THE SAVIOR, WHEN SHE BECAME THE MOTHER OF LOVE PERSONIFIED, HER LIFE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME; HER LIFE WOULD ALWAYS BE AFFECTED BY THIS EVENT. AND IN EACH OF US LOVE IS BEING FORMED, CHRIST IS COMING INTO THE WORLD. AND LIKE MARY, LIKE EVERY WOMAN WHO CONCEIVES AND BEARS A CHILD, ONCE LOVE HAS TAKEN HOLD, IT WILL GROW, IT WILL SEEK TO COME INTO BEING, AND SOMETIMES IT WILL COMPLETELY ALTER WHATEVER PLANS WE'VE MADE, WHATEVER FUTURE WE'VE WISHED FOR OURSELVES. AND LIKE MARY, FOR WHOM THE CONSEQUENCES OF HER CONSENT PLAYED OUT IN A WAY THAT SHE WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND UNTIL THE RESURRECTION, WE ALSO CAN ONLY SEE GOD'S GUIDING HAND IN OUR LIVES BY LOOKING BACKWARD, AND EVEN THEN OUR VISION IS STILL IMPERFECT; BUT ALL WE KNOW FOR SURE IS THAT WE ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD, AS PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING; AND WE ARE LOVED BY GOD BECAUSE LOVE IS CONCEIVED IN US AND WE ARE ENTRUSTED TO BRING LOVE TO LIFE, TO GROW LOVE, AND TO BE BEARERS OF LOVE TO OUR NEIGHBORS.

ELIZABETH SAID TO MARY, “BLESSED IS SHE WHO TRUSTED THAT THE LORD'S WORD TO HER WOULD BE FULFILLED.” THE LORD FULFILLED HIS PROMISE TO MARY BECAUSE SHE WAS SO IMPORTANT, BECAUSE HE LOVED HER AS MUCH AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR GOD TO LOVE SOMEONE. AND YOU ARE SO IMPORTANT, AND YOU ARE ALSO LOVED AS MUCH AS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR GOD TO LOVE YOU. AND HIS WORD WILL BE FULFILLED IN US, THE MORE WE COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY TRUST IN HIM.