Fourth Saturday of Advent
Scripture Reading for Today:
Advent Solidarity
by Rohadi
Linger in the final moments of this season's Advent journey with a deep breath...and exhale. Pause this morning, noon, or evening to listen intently to the way your body feels in this moment. What do you sense? Smell? Hear? Feel? How are you holding the Christmas hustle? The seasonal blues? The pandemic woes? Exhale. Exhale a deep breath as it disappears into a frigid Canadian winter's eve…
When we s-l-o-w down and listen to what our bodies are saying, we embody a micro-expression of Advent. Slow is countercultural, just like Advent. A season I value because it also intentionally dwells in a rhythm of darkness. We can discard any pretense that everything in our lives or around us is just fine. Rather, we are invited to adopt a posture that reaches for a particular destination: deliverance. Deliverance from all that seeks to make us less whole in favour of liberation.
Today's readings: Isaiah 9:2-7; Ps 96; Luke 1-2:1-14.
Weaving through the Gospel stories surrounding the birth of Jesus reveals a picture beyond tranquil creche scenes and marvelous angelic encounters. The storytelling retains a stark honesty by inserting the transcendent birth of the Saviour within its geopolitical reality. It begins with a lament for liberation from the Romans. Then it journeys through Caesar’s call for a census. Finally, it trails off with a noble visit from foreign dignitaries at the heels of Herod’s fearful suspicion. The narrative portrays the need for a saviour as being specifically tied to the need for deliverance from opposing powers. It’s worth noting that this deliverance is not speaking to an individual liberation, rather matches the real cries to find release from shackles of oppression that can be touched and felt.
Advent brings the past into the present, a reminder that these are not mere stories, rather invitations to dwell in the darkness that surrounds us, longing for tangible liberation. The tension we bear is how we can bear witness to God’s faithfulness to produce said liberation while sitting in a reality where brokenness surrounds us like a mist that won’t lift.
Stop. Name the woes that may surround you. The Christmas hustle, the seasonal blues, the pandemic woes. The wars around the world, the murdered Indigenous women and girls, the disabled pushed further into obscurity. Stop. Listen to your body. Listen to the cries of your neighbor. What can you name?
When we name our woes, we drag them closer to the light, raising a voice that speaks truth while piercing the dark. Advent is the space that amplifies these voices. It is Elizabeth’s body that speaks truth to God’s faithfulness. Lowly shepherds are the first outsiders to hear about a divine liberator who would emerge to deliver a nation. It is Mary who sings a bold witness to God's faithfulness to counter the force of an empire. Prophetic voices on the margins who represented truth against malformed power in hopes for deliverance.
The longing for liberation was a ubiquitous trait amongst the Israelites, who were in the process of being colonized by yet another foreign power. The kind of liberation Jesus brought was, however, unique. Liberation from oppression may come through the sword, but the way of Jesus adopts a completely different option. This way is displayed with clear literary irony in the story of Barabbas, where both Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus Barabbas are named as liberators. But only one toppled empires and darkness by offering himself as the non-violent antidote. Only one triumphed over death to usher in a reign of possibilities for a collective vision unto new life. It’s in these possibilities that we may discover the liberation we seek, although curiously, for whom deliverance awaits is quite specific.
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” Luke 2:14
Who does God favour? Mary offers a glimpse. She defies the empire, the rich, and the proud, and instead reflects on who God chooses: the poor, the hungry, and the merciful. Mary is not merely speaking about individuals but glimpses an expansive vision for a new collective way of being. She not only speaks into her moment but is also prophetically foretelling what the way of Jesus will look like by describing who it will include.
Who is included? “And you’ve heard it said, the last shall be first, and the first last.”
What does it look like? “The rod of the oppressors shattered…peace there will be no end. A kingdom upholding justice and righteousness.”
As we trail off this Advent season, many linger in the dark, waiting for vindication that the light will win out. We reach for a specific kind of deliverance in solidarity with a Liberator who first draws near to those searching for tangible liberation from all that ain’t right at home and in our world. Are you reaching for the light? Are you standing in solidarity? Deep breath. Exhale.
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