the Fourth Thursday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Emmanuel - God with Us
As I write this Advent devotional, my heart is heavy. Heavy with the weight and tension of 2021. Heavy with pandemic tensions, the tensions of racial unrest, family tensions, health concerns. This year, my roads have been barricaded, my finances eroded, my relationships damaged, and my children hurt. Just this past week, the tragic death of a friend by suicide has broken my heart. My heart is heavy, my spirit is weak, my body is exhausted, and my eyes are swollen from tears as I collapse into the arms of Jesus.
The gospel lectionary reading for today is a famous section of Scripture - The Magnificat. It is Mary’s song of praise to Yahweh. It is beautiful, even epic, but I wonder: How? How does she respond in the midst of her tension–her disastrous, life-threatening tension–with praise?
When Mary sang that song, she was a young girl, likely between the ages of 12 and 16. She was poor. She was unmarried, utterly dependent on others. She had no power, no voice, no rights. Her pregnancy would have brought shame to her family. It would have ostracized her in the community. She must have feared that if Joseph, her betrothed, didn’t believe her story of an immaculate conception, she would be destitute or even killed.
A song of lament would have been more realistic, more appropriate.
I think my song likely would have been a lament.
But not Mary…
Songs of lament are biblical. God meets us in lament. He joins us there and holds us close. Songs of lament are not caused by lack of faith, but result from a growing, enduring faith that is under pressure. Songs of lament give voice to tension. They release pressure from pent up exhaustion and brokenness. They bring release, bring healing. Many in the Bible, including the Psalmist, share deep-seated laments.
But not Mary…
Young, poor, scared Mary offers a song of praise.
With all my heart I glorify the Lord
I rejoice in God my Saviour.
Again I wonder: How? Could it be that Mary’s hope, her joy, her praise, originated from within her because of who was inside her? The hope of Emmanuel, already inhabiting her virgin womb, was even now transforming the world. Bringing healing and peace. He was a “lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19). The light of the world was already shining in Mary’s womb and the Morning Star had risen in her heart, resulting in praise. Mary could respond with songs of praise because she had the hope of Emmanuel — God with us.
In our tensions, amongst our laments, we, too, have Mary’s hope. We, too, have Emmanuel. Like Mary, we can bring our uncertainty, pain, fear, and tensions to Him, and allow Him to light our darkness. We can bring our laments and allow Him to turn them into praise. We can rest in Him, knowing that the lame will walk, the blind will see, the broken will be restored, and His Kingdom will come.
As we prepare our hearts this Advent and as we look forward to celebrating Christ’s birth, let us rejoice within the tension, sing praise with exhausted voices, and seek the Morning Star in the darkness.
With all our hearts we glorify the Lord
We rejoice [despite the tension] in God our Saviour.
Emmanuel — God with us!
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