Magyar Egyház, 2008 (87. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2008-10-01 / 4. szám
4. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Waiting in Advent Preparation for Christmas can be difficult: difficult for Mary, for Joseph, for Mary's mother, Anna, for Elizabeth, and for us. Are you ready for Christmas to come? cookies baked, house cleaned for guests, travel arrangements in place? gifts purchased and wrapped, tree decorated? I confess I'm behind on all those things; and probably some others I've yet to remember. During Advent we talk a lot about remembering to prepare for Christ to be bom in our lives. And I'm way behind on that one too. My "spiritual house" is still a cluttered mess though I've tried dutifully to practice what I preach. After reading today's lessons, though. I wonder where Jesus will choose to visit — Will it be the well-prepared house with all the perfect color-coordinated decorations and the tastefully wrapped gifts? Is Jesus looking to be bom in the soul that is really prepared for his birth? The person who really "has her act together"? the one who has neatly ordered his spiritual life? Does our God search out the people and places who are perfectly prepared and in control of things? Listen to our readings for today: God doesn't seem to be showing up at those places that are neatly prepared. Micah tells us that the great shepherd of Israel will be bom not in the power and security of the large, ruling city of Jerusalem, but out in the hill country of little Bethlehem. Psalm 80 is addressed not to comfortable respectable folk, but to a despised people who are laughed to scorn by their enemies. The Letter to the Hebrews talks of God ignoring the pomp and ceremony of ritual sacrifice in favor of humble service. And finally in the Gospel, we hear that our Lord is going to be the child of an unwed teenager. Elizabeth might logically have greeted her young pregnant cousin with "Mary, what have you done? You've ruined your life!" Then our imagined dialog between Joseph and his mother in law paints a picture of God coming into people’s lives in radically unexpected ways. Right in the place that one is least prepared: A carpenter is going to be a midwife? Surely this God has a sense of humor. Showing up where least expected. Instead of pointing out our strengths, God shows up and magnifies the lowly places in our lives. Did you really hear Mary's familiar song — the Magnificat? It's not an affirmation of the good stuff of the status quo. It's a radical turning of the world upside down. The proud are scattered. The powerful are brought down. The rich are sent away empty. The lowly on the other hand are raised up; the hungry are fed. Apparently when the Lord is magnified, the "down and outs" are magnified also. God seems to prefer the needy "have nots" to those who "have it all." God chooses strange unexpected ways to make history. This most important event in all human history happens not to a powerful and wise man, but to a powerless teenage girl. It is announced not by an assembly of royal heralds, but by an elderly pregnant woman. Perhaps the wealthy and powerful would not have heard the message that Mary and Elizabeth heard. The lives of the wealthy and powerful are too full and too well ordered. But if you've ever lived with a 13 or 14 year old girl, you've seen that wonderful adolescent chaos and you know that there is an emptiness and powerlessness there as well. The miracle is not the virgin birth The miracle is that God spoke and Mary heard. The Christian tradition has a long heritage that speaks of what preceded Jesus' birth not in sexual terms but in terms of God's word. In our time theologian Karl Barth echoed this tradition writing that Mary's pregnancy was "realized by the ear of Mary which heard the word of God." God spoke and Mary heard AND obeyed. Obedience in the biblical sense (and in fact in the root meaning of the English word as well) means also to hear. To hear, really to hear, is to obey. And the result of that obedience is a miracle. Miracle enough that both women react with songs of sheer joy. God sends totally unexpected miracles in unexpected places to unprepared and needy people. It's those unprepared and empty places that God chooses to fill with joy. God sees human need and answers our deepest longings. So instead of looking for God in the beautiful, well kept part of our lives. Let's take time to consider our neediness. The unprepared places. A skilled carpenter is not asked to build a beautiful home for Jesus, he's asked to be midwife to a virgin. A successful businessman may not be asked to manage the kingdom of God, he may find God only in the brokenness of a sudden heart attack. A gifted teacher may be too busy speaking her wisdom to hear God's work, and God may come to her in her weakest spot. Where is it that you are truly needy? Where is your life broken? Where do you feel inadequate and unprepared for life? Where are the empty spaces? Where do you hunger? Maybe it's loneliness or alienation? Poor health or financial stress? Depression or overwhelming fears? These are the mangers of our lives where God is asking to be born. Listen carefully in the broken places of your life. God is looking with favor on your lowliness. Hear God's unexpected word promising to fill your greatest needs. Hear and leap for joy. The Lord will do great things for us and Holy is God's name. REPENT Jesus came to die for our sins. We need to acknowledge that we have sins in the first place to be ready gladly to welcome Jesus' arrival. Think of it this way: if a plumber shows up at your door one day but you are unaware of any leaky pipes or other plumbing needs, you will be mystified by his presence and will likely tell him to go away. But if a plumber happens to come to your door at the very moment you just discovered a pipe had burst and was flooding your basement, you will grab him, haul him into the house, and beg for his help. John gets us ready for Jesus by showing us our sins so that when Jesus arrives on the scene, we will seize on him as the only one who can help us. We cannot have Advent or a proper Christmas without John's blazing message that calls us to repentance.
