My thoughts today come from Luke chapter one:
“Greetings, favored one! The LORD is with you.”
Such a greeting! Such an honor to be favored by the LORD! And Mary gives the angel such gracious replies. This interchange between Mary and Gabriel strikes me as extremely intimate—intimacy between God and Mary—something shared between God and a woman.
As I reflected on God and Mary, I became acutely aware of something bothersome. I have worshipped in the Churches of Christ for more than 25 years and have never heard a sermon on Mary. As a matter of fact, there have been few lessons on Biblical women; and yet, the narrative of Jesus begins with women—Elizabeth, Mary, Anna.
These are honored women, favored women. As a woman, I pay attention to these women. They make me proud. Throughout ecclesiastical history, men predominate in the Christian institutions; but here I read that for all their power and authority, these "church" men would be nothing without the undergirding of a woman’s “yes” to God.
A woman made a choice that brought joy to heaven and to earth.
Oh, JOY! Mary said, “Yes.”
As I read from Luke 1 today, I paused at these words from verses 31-33:
“You will name him Jesus . . . and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
A never-ending kingdom . . . Jesus has a kingdom. Frankly, I don’t know much about kingdoms and kings reigning. I have no experience with that vocabulary. That language speaks of an old era—a time in history that belongs to my ancestors. It speaks of Medieval Ages and the Renaissance, of King Henry and King James. It speaks of fairy tales, myths, and legends: King Arthur, Aslan, Aragorn and the Hobbits.
Yet with this language and all that it connotes, I get an inkling, an idea, a childlike longing for what it means to be in a kingdom, what it means to have a king, what sovereignty means, what royal power means, what rule and dominion mean. Despite my limited understanding, I like the notion of a never-ending kingdom. I like thinking about a Son-of-God king who rules the kingdom. I can celebrate that kind of a kingdom—a never-ending kingdom.
Oh, JOY! A Never-Ending Kingdom.
Today, I gleaned these words from Isaiah 61 verse 1:
“He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed.”
I like good news. There is something about it that brightens the day. It reassures the heart. It changes a mood. It awakens the spirit. It refreshes the soul. It cheers, encourages, and comforts.
What would be “good news” for the oppressed? What kind of news would be good for those who suffer under the weight of some sorrow or some unjust encumbrance?
Freedom comes to mind. Freedom from that pressed down feeling, freedom from the heaviness that threatens to crush the spirit. It would be freedom that lightens and lifts the burden that weighs on the heart, that confuses the mind, that saps the strength and weakens the spirit. It would be freedom that gives a reason to rejoice and celebrate. That kind of freedom would be good news.
Oh, JOY! Good news.
For this week’s meditation on joy, I am reading from Isaiah 61 and Luke 1. Today, Isaiah brought joy to me. Verse 10 says
“He has covered me . . . as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland.”
Now, I don’t know much about grooms wearing garlands, but I do know that a wedding is a time of celebration. It is a happy affair that emanates the ending of one way of life and the beginning of another. The party is about relinquishing the old and welcoming the new. It is an event worthy of joy.
The idea of a garland-bedecked groom causes me to reflect on the evergreen garlands that hang in most places during this Christmas celebration. Since I was young, green garlands have fascinated me. They bring life indoors and spread their outdoor fragrance into our closed up living spaces. They remind me that the year is ending and a new one is about to begin.
These evergreen garlands symbolize what is fresh, what is alive, what is new, what is eternal. They remind me that something is afoot, that a world-changing babe is about to be birthed, and that along with this babe comes a new way of living together with God.
God with us—Oh! JOY!
Today is Gaudete Sunday. It begins the third week of Advent in which we celebrate with joy the first advent of Jesus and rejoice as we look forward to his second advent. It is a time to reflect on “God With Us”—Emmanuel.
God With Us—Emmanuel—gets my heart pounding a bit harder, my lungs breathing a bit faster, my thoughts thinking a bit louder, and my body tingling with a bit more energy. It is a bit like waiting for a long anticipated lover. And so he is.
God wants to be with me, and so he came to visit, to tell me that he wants to be with me and to tell me that although he had to leave for a while, he will be back. Now, he is with me unseen, but one day, he will be with me seen.
Oh! JOY!
