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Advent
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
See, everything about Christmas is about God ignoring what is great to move close to what is humble. Welcome to the commons cast. We're glad you're here and we hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to commons.church for more information. But welcome today.
Speaker 1:Thanks for being here with us during this Christmas season. We understand that this is a busy time of year, and there are a lot of things to keep track of, and so we are honored that you would come and worship with us here today. Now that said, we are in the season of Advent, and so we are working our way towards Christmas Eve, which is actually next Sunday. And on that day, we will gather together to light the Christ candle and to welcome once again the Christ child into our midst. Now, this is, of course, a really significant moment in the Christian calendar, but I'm always reminded that in the Western church, we tend to make Easter the center point of our calendar.
Speaker 1:In the Eastern tradition, however, it is Advent that is the climax of the year. After all, you don't have a Christian story unless you fully embrace the mystery of Advent that God would come and fleshed in the human experience. And so, this is why we wear these liturgical vestments during the season, because this is meant to remind us that we are waiting together for something beautiful. And so today, I wear purple. This is a signal of our anticipation, and then next Sunday, as we light the Christ candle, I will wear white as a symbol of our celebration together.
Speaker 1:However, before we get rolling today, I do want to take a moment to talk about one last part of our advent campaign. Every year, we try to take a little bit of the hope and the generosity that Christmas engenders, and we try to point that at those who need it the most. And so this year, we have talked about the amazing neighborhood partners that we are supporting over this season. Last week, Luke was here to give us some information about the Rohingya people and how we are trying to help them as well. But one of the other significant parts of our advent campaign every year is the in house benevolence work that Commons does throughout the year.
Speaker 1:Now, it's important that we serve in ways that don't exploit or shame people, and so we are always very careful about how we communicate the work that we do, but I want you to know that we invest considerable time and financial resources into caring for those in need here in our community. This year, we came alongside a family in Bowness with four kids, and their utilities were overdue. They were on the verge of eviction, and we worked with them to renegotiate those bills to help keep things stable while they could find a more sustainable way forward as a family. This fall, we worked with the family to address an incredibly bad infestation of bed bugs, and we worked with and spoke with the rental management on their behalf so that we could look after the extermination, and then the church provided alternative housing while that was happening, and new bedding for the entire family once they were able to move back into their home. We've covered rent for people who've got caught unprepared.
Speaker 1:We've worked with debt agencies to help people restructure things and make a plan to move forward. We've provided emergency housing for those in need in the short term, and we have made groceries available to those who have found themselves in tight spots throughout the year. And all of that takes resources, but it also takes time and investment. It is a lot of work and a lot of mental energy to sit with someone and to go through their story and to empathize, but then to determine how we can best help that person move their story forward in a healthier way. And Colette, who is part of our team, does a lot of that work for us, but it really is your support, particularly during the advent campaign that makes a lot of that possible throughout the year.
Speaker 1:And so, if you can contribute this Christmas, thank you. If you have contributed in any way this year, we also want to say thank you for that as well. And you can go to commons.church/advent for all the details this season, but you can also go to commons.church/donate, and there you can read our 2017 donor report. This is something that we put together every year around this time to communicate what your contributions have helped us do as a community throughout the year. We wanna be transparent with that and give you that information, so that's there.
Speaker 1:Now, back to our series. This year, we have taken a little bit of a different angle on Advent, and we have been looking through the lens or almost attempting to see through the eyes of Mary, the mother of God. And we titled this series Theotakos, which is this great word that means the God bearer. And you are more than welcome to use that word wherever you want in your next dinner party or office function, maybe your company Christmas party. If you just bring up Theotakos in casual conversation, I can promise you, people will be very impressed and probably a little suspicious of you for the rest of the night, but that's free.
Speaker 1:Go ahead and use it. However, we've been working our way through Mary's story back towards the birth of Jesus. And part of the reason we've done it this way is obviously so that we can focus on the Christmas story and the birth of Jesus next Sunday, but also because Mary helps to bring us into the full range of emotional spectrum that a season like Christmas offers us. Two weeks ago, we saw Mary at the foot of the cross mourning the death of her baby boy. It's important to remember the humanity of these stories.
Speaker 1:This is a mother watching her son in pain, and she feels every ounce of that in her soul. And some of us here are in pain right now. And the joy and the laughter and the pressure to force a smile at Christmas can make it all seem so much harder right now. And there is celebration in the season, and joy is appropriate, but Mary reminds us that it's okay to hurt too. In fact, is about the fact that we are all of us together waiting for things to get better.
Speaker 1:And so if this season is difficult for you right now, I hope that you see in Mary someone who understands that. Then last week, we looked at this great little story where Jesus is at a party, and his mom realizes that they are about to run out of wine, and so she goes to her son and she says, do something. And Jesus is like, mom, I'm in with my friends. Don't embarrass me right now. However, even though Jesus says, listen, it's not my time, mom knows.
Speaker 1:And so Jesus does make wine out of water. It's one of his most iconic moments, and this is actually his first foray into being a public figure. This is what the writer of John calls the first sign of his coming ministry to reconcile the world. And it's at a party, and it's making wine, and it's at the urging of his mom. How cool is that?
Speaker 1:Because every single one of us needs someone like a mom who believes in us even when we're not sure we're ready. And I love that Jesus has the power to turn water into wine in that story, but it's Mary who has the power to release her son into his destiny. And some of us here need to hear that kind of encouragement in our lives. Some of us here can actually be that kind of voice for others around us. And if we are, perhaps we could even say that we bear God in our encouragement to each other.
Speaker 1:Well, that was the first two weeks of the series. Next week, we focus on the birth narrative. Well, what do we have in store today? Well, today, we have one of the most beloved passages in the Christian tradition. It is known as the Magnificat or the Song of Mary, and this is a poem that Mary recites while she is pregnant waiting for the birth of Jesus.
Speaker 1:And in a moment here, we're gonna talk about the background in the story and where this poem comes from after we pray. But first, I thought that maybe we could stand together as I read this hymn, Because this is a poem that has been read at this time of year across dominations, and families, and traditions of Christianity for centuries. As we, the church, along with Mary enter into this final week before Christmas, anticipating the arrival of the Christ. And so, I'm gonna ask you to please stand as I read the Magnificat, and this is from Luke chapter one verses 46 through 45. And Mary said, my soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
Speaker 1: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.
Speaker 1:He's performed mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those who are proud in their innermost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but he has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things, but he 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.
Speaker 1:May the Lord bless the reading of the word. You may be seated. And as you are, let's pray. God of Advent, you reassure us that the night is far spent and the day is almost at hand. Help us stay awake and alert in this season of waiting, watching for your kingdom, looking for ways to bring and to be your light in the world.
Speaker 1:Make us strong in faith, unafraid of the dark, and yet at the same time vulnerable enough to feel deeply so that we might join others in the healing of their pain as well. God of glorious, simple, unexpected gifts. Help us to set aside the commercial trappings of the season to be present to your story, so that we might bring the same kind of surprising gift of love to everyone we encounter this Advent. And as we wait for you, would you help us to wait well with hope, with anticipation, with love, and with an investment in the world that we know you have planted beneath our feet. Child of Bethlehem, make your presence known to us this day.
Speaker 1:In the strong name of the risen Christ, we pray. Amen. Okay. Before we dive back into the Magnificat, I wanna tell some stories here because this is really the first year that my son, who is four years old, is really sort of getting the idea of Christmas. Now, last year, he was very excited about opening his present on Christmas morning, but he didn't really get the whole idea of anticipation.
Speaker 1:I mean, he just woke up one day, and there was a present that morning, which to be fair, is kind of a great way to start the day, but there wasn't a lot of anticipating Christmas in our house last year. He just didn't get it. This year, things are very different. Every day when I get home from work, I hear about how excited he is for Christmas, and every morning when I get up, he shows me his present under the tree. He spends lots of time deciding what he wants for Christmas.
Speaker 1:Lately, he has found all of these videos on YouTube of people playing with toys, which he seems to watch incessantly, which I can only assume is him doing research. I don't I don't understand this, and parents, maybe you can help me out here. What is with all of these toy videos? Because I know you know them too. Because if you search kids video on YouTube, all you get are all these videos of people either opening boxes of their toys or playing with their toys, which seems like a very strange comment on society.
Speaker 1:That we would rather watch someone do the thing than actually do the thing, because my son has all those toys already up in his bedroom. Anyway, I digress. Because the point here is that Eaton is starting to understand the idea of gift giving. That we do this as an expression of love. We do this to be kind.
Speaker 1:We do this because we want to say that we care. And so, Eaton has become very aware of gifts and their connection to kindness. It's really quite charming, and I assume that this is all because of the amazing work that all of our volunteers do in the commons kids area every Sunday, but this is his new fascination right now. And so about a week ago, he wakes up early as kids are won't to do, and he makes his way into our bedroom as he often does, and at 04:17AM, he comes to my side of the bed, and he stands 1.3 inches away from my face, and he says, daddy, it was very kind of you to give mommy a diamond ring. And then I open my eyes, half asleep, and I respond, thanks, buddy, but it was seventeen years ago.
Speaker 1:Now, back to bed. Now, 4AM wake up calls aside, what's fascinating is to see Eaton starting to notice what kindness looks like, and that giving a gift means something beyond just the thing that's in the box. He gets this idea that we give because we care, and so he's talking a lot about kindness and gifts right now, which is really cute. And so I hope that on Christmas morning, when he opens maybe 5% of all the toys that he has asked for this season, he will still appreciate the kindness behind those gifts. But here's why this is important.
Speaker 1:Our house is waiting for Christmas. And we know what kindness looks like, and we know that kindness is coming, and so we are waiting every night and every morning, and every time we look at the tree, are desperately waiting for Christmas. And that is very much the sentiment that sits behind a poem like the Magnificat. Now, obviously, Christmas wasn't a yearly event at that point. It wouldn't be for hundreds of years.
Speaker 1:But with her poem, Mary is placing herself at the tip of a very long story of anticipation. You see, you really can't get Mary's words here without understanding a little bit of history first. Because at one point, the Jewish people really were a very real power in the world. There was a nation of Israel, and eventually that split into two kingdoms, and one of those kingdoms was conquered by Assyria, the other was conquered by Babylon, but then Persia rose to power. And then Greece dominated the world, and then Rome emerged as the new world superpower.
Speaker 1:And during all of that time, almost six hundred years, the Jews had sort of lived in the shadow of these successive empires. All the while, telling stories about the good old days, and dreaming, waiting for those days to return. So by the time I'm married, it's important to realize that there is no one alive who remembers the kingdoms of Israel. That was all long gone. This is all just story.
Speaker 1:And so when Mary speaks, there is something very interesting going on. Because while she writes using the language of Israel's illustrious history and all the stories of her people, in fact, there are no less than eight quotes from the Psalms and the prophet Isaiah woven into her poem here. By the way, this is why it's really important to read, particularly poetry. Because there will come a time when you will need someone else's words to express what is happening inside of you. And when you can access someone else's artistry to help you tell your story, that is a gift.
Speaker 1:And so Mary knows the poets, and she brings them to bear in her world. But more than that, the way the poem is structured is that it brings all of those past memories and moments of her people into her presence. She says, my soul glorifies the Lord, and generations will call me blessed for the mighty one has done great things for me. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm, Psalm one eighteen. He has brought down the ruler, Psalm 75.
Speaker 1:He has exalted the humble, Psalm one thirteen. He has filled the hungry, Psalm 34, and he has helped his sovereign remembering to be merciful, that's Psalm 98. What Mary is saying here is that all of that, all of the things that she has heard about for all of her life, all of it is true right now for her. And understand that this is clearly not some small, docile wallflower of a woman. And I know we all picture a young girl, maybe 14 or 15 years old, and that's probably true historically.
Speaker 1:Although, let's be honest here, we really don't know. All we know is that Mary is unmarried at this point. But we do know that this woman is fierce. I mean, she's talking about bringing down the kings and humbling the rulers and lifting up the brokenhearted and feeding the hungry and all of that because of her pregnancy. So what's going on here?
Speaker 1:Is she naive? Is she just a kid who doesn't really understand the politics of empire? Or is she, like a lot of the men later in Jesus' life, convinced that her son will grow up to be a military leader who will actually overthrow the rulers that oppress her people? Well, I think there's reason to give Mary more credit than that. There's this old song, Mary, did you know that the child you've delivered will soon deliver you?
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, of course she knew. She wrote a whole poem about it. Months before he was even born, she knew. But more than that, I think she has some sense of what this deliverance means. As I mentioned, Mary quotes the prophet Isaiah in her Magnificat.
Speaker 1:And there's this passage from Isaiah, it's in chapter 49, that I wonder if maybe Mary treasured up in her heart as she thought about her son. There the prophet speaks about the Messiah, and he writes, before I was born, the Lord called me. From my mother's womb, he had spoken my name. But now the Lord says, it is too small a thing for you, my servant, to simply restore the tribes of Jacob and to bring back those of Israel I have kept. No.
Speaker 1:I will also make you a light for all peoples, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. That's Psalm or that's Isaiah 49. Mary seems to know perhaps better than most of Jesus' contemporaries. She seems to know what Jesus is about, and I think that's why her poem is all about underdogs and victims and scapegoats and transformations. It's about the humble and the poor and the weak and the ignored because that's who Mary is.
Speaker 1:And somehow, I think she knows in her heart that's who her son will be as well. See, this right here, this is what Christmas is all about. Not the majesty of God, but the mystery of the divine. Christmas is not just the shining brilliance of angels that trumpet a baby's arrival. It is the disheveled audience to which that brilliance is revealed.
Speaker 1:And it's not just the remarkable circumstances of Christ's birth, it's the utterly mundane humanity of it all. I mean, we sing the little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes, and it's a beautiful psalm. It's not really the point, is it? The point is the humanity of the story. Mystery of Christmas is how God of creation appears now in solidarity with the full human experience.
Speaker 1:And so where Mary says, you have done this for me. You have brought down the rulers and exalted the humble. This is not just a naive hope for the future. This is a declaration of something that is happening for her right now. What she's talking about is the fact that God has come to her for help.
Speaker 1:Not a king. Not a ruler, not someone rich or powerful. No. God has come to someone full of grace. A young girl living in some backwater little town in an oppressed nation under the foot of the most impressive empire on planet Earth.
Speaker 1:And God comes to her and says, here's our plan. We want to fix it all. And we want to absorb all the pain in the world, and we want to enter into history in order to bring history back to us. But we want to do that in and through you, Mary. So what do you think?
Speaker 1:And just try to imagine that for a moment. Because I can get my head around the shepherds being invited as witnesses to the birth of Jesus. I can. There's a certain symbolism there. Shepherds chose the spotless lambs for the nation.
Speaker 1:Now, they witness the final lamb of God that will save the world. Okay. I get it. And I can even get my head around God choosing to come as a baby to a young mother. There's a certain poetry in that.
Speaker 1:That God experiences the full human story including birth in all of its vulnerability. But to reflect on the fact that God of the universe comes to maybe a 14 year old girl with God's plan for everything and asks her to participate. That is what it means to humble the rulers and exalt the humble. You see, if you back up just a few verses in Luke, we read the encounter with Mary and the angel. We call it the annunciation.
Speaker 1:The angel appears and says, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you, so that the holy one to be born will be called the son of God. And Mary answered, I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled. Let's be honest here. This has been a problematic story for a lot of people.
Speaker 1:I mean, does Mary get a say in this actually? Is God just unilaterally declaring pregnancy to Mary? And where's her agency here? But the Greek here is framed in what we call the future middle indicative tense, and all that means is that Mary is not pregnant yet. When the angel appears, the spirit hasn't done anything miraculous.
Speaker 1:The only thing remarkable about this moment is the conversation with an angel. As the question here is, is this a definitive declarative statement, the Holy Spirit will do this, or is this really a request? Mary, will the power of the most high overshadow you? And traditionally, this is actually how the annunciation has been understood. I know we picture an angel coming in from the ceiling, and they gotta cut those wings and all.
Speaker 1:What are they gonna do with them? But in the icons of the church, Mary is often depicted with the angel kneeling before her in supplication. Here's another image from the Renaissance, Federico Barrochi, but it was Saint Bernard of Clairvaux who wrote that when Gabriel announced to Mary that she had been chosen to be the mother of God, it was as though the angels in heaven held their breath waiting for her reply. And they wait, and she says, may your word to me be fulfilled. Now don't mistake this for anything less than it is.
Speaker 1:This is Mary giving permission to the God of the universe. Mary gets the last word. Let me say that again because it's important. God lays out God's plan through scriptures that Mary knows full well, and then an angel shows up and speaks to her, but it's Mary who gets the last word in the story. God, in grace and wisdom, becomes the one who would ask for help and then wait for the response of a young girl.
Speaker 1:A young girl in some backwater town in an oppressed little nation living under the foot of the most impressive empire on planet earth. And Mary knows exactly what that means. It means that God has brought down the rulers, and God has exalted the humble, that God has brought good things to those who wait. And I think it's why somewhere between the annunciation and the magnificat, Mary's grace that drew the divine to her in the first place now becomes courage and boldness and grit and a ringing conviction about what justice means in the world. But Mary knows that all of that is true because God has shown that to her.
Speaker 1:See, everything about Christmas is about God ignoring what is great to move close to what is humble. And anyone who thinks they need to fight to defend the greatness of Christmas has completely missed the point of the story. Because Christmas isn't great, it's small, and it's humble, and it's easily missed, and it's hiding in the moments where we look past what grabs our attention, and we notice those who've been ignored all around us all the time. So years later, when Jesus will get down on his knees in front of his disciples, and he will take a towel and a basin, he will wash their feet. Or maybe years later, when Jesus will go out of his way to touch the leper or to touch the untouchable and embrace them, or years later when Jesus will bend down and play with little children.
Speaker 1:Where do you think he gets all this from? John five tells us that Jesus does nothing unless he sees his father do it it first, but maybe what we see here is that Jesus does a lot of imitating his mom as well. God intends to do everything Mary says God will do. But what we really learn from Mary is how God intends to do it. Because God is not coming as a conqueror to overthrow the rulers.
Speaker 1:God is coming to those who are humble to lift them up. You see, you can't fix the world unless you're willing to touch it, and you can't bring peace until you've understood what pain really is. There's no way that you can bring reconciliation to the world until you understand what it means to be the one who's being left waiting on the outside. But at Christmas, God comes, and God touches our poverty and our frailty and our anxiety and our fear, our loneliness, and our separation. And God does all of this so that God can experience all of it, and then absorb it, and then heal it, and then hand it back to us made new.
Speaker 1:Mary, did you know that the child you've delivered will soon deliver you? Trust me, Mary knows. But Mary knows that Jesus is not going to be the conqueror we think we want. Mary knows that that's not what humanity needs, and her son is going to be something very different. And so in Mary, we are reminded that this Christmas in the season of hope, it's okay to be scared or anxious because we trust that God is with us in the midst of it.
Speaker 1:Mary reminds us that this Christmas in the season of joy, it's okay to be excited and happy, and it is beautiful to laugh and celebrate with friends and family because God is there with you in that as well. And this Christmas mirror reminds us that in the season of peace, it is okay to be completely dependent on Christ because God is with you, and he will never take advantage of you. This is the God who comes to exalt the humble. Let's pray. God, help us in this last week of waiting and anticipating the arrival of your son to walk alongside Mary and to understand exactly what it means to bring down the rulers, and to lower the powerful, to exalt the humble, and to lift up those who are brokenhearted.
Speaker 1:God, this Christmas, might we understand that you never intended to be great in the way that we imagined. You never intended to come and overthrow those who oppress us. But instead, you intended to come near to us, to be with us in deepest dark, so that when we celebrate, we would know that we are close to the spirit of God. And so, God, as we move into this final week of waiting, would we wait with hope and anticipation for the world that will be healed by your arrival. May we carry that into every conversation and gesture and act we carry out this Advent season In the strong name of the one we await, we pray.
Speaker 1:Amen.