By Deacon Timothy Siburg
Revised Common Lectionary reflection for Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C
December 22, 2024
Key Verse: “For as soon as I heard your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44).
“It was a dark and stormy night.” “In the beginning was the Word…” “In those days…” Perhaps these three phrases don’t sound quite the same and feel the same, but they all have at least one thing in common: They are the beginning words of stories that stay with us. They each begin a story that will travel with us – that captivates us, fills us, draws us in, and calls again to know, to remember, and to wonder.
This week’s gospel reading begins with the words, “In those days” (Luke 1:39). The three words by themselves may not be that significant. But they will be repeated. Here they start the story of Mary’s journey to see Elizabeth. A story of hope and joy. And these same three words will be repeated again at the start of Luke 2, the story we always hear on Christmas Eve. These words draw us in to God’s story. They call us to imagine and to wonder. They invite us to be present in the moment with Mary and all of God’s people throughout all of time and space. They also connect us in such way that they are part of our story too. The story of coming to know God’s love and promises. The story of journeying to the manger. The story of God with us.
The lectionary provides an option this week. To either take the section of Luke 1:39-55 as one, or to separate Luke 1:39-45 as the Gospel lesson, and then as the psalm to use Mary’s song of praise, the Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55. Either option gives the full sense of what is happening here. God is up to something. The news is spreading. Hope abounds. Joy is real. It might be normal for babies to kick in the womb (so I have been told). But I don’t know that I have ever heard a mother describe such kicking as “leaping for joy.” Speaking to Mary, her niece, Elizabeth explains, “For as soon as I heard your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:44). Can you imagine that? What would that experience feel or look like?
There’s no question that Mary and Elizabeth’s trust in God is abounding and deeper than most. But Elizabeth recognizes what is going on and continues telling Mary, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” (Luke 1:45). Elizabeth recognizes Mary’s faith and trust, and so she names it. Maybe this is a sign of evangelism. Maybe it’s a sign of recognizing God’s work and mission. Maybe it’s an act of reassuring aunt letting her niece know that she is not alone and that she is loved. Perhaps it’s all of this and more.
Regardless, the story isn’t done. As is often the question about stewardship, what will be Mary’s response? Elizabeth’s response is one of joy and welcome towards Mary and what God is up to with her, as her soon-to-be-born son, John the Baptist, literally leaps in her womb. But what about Mary? Mary responds with the words that we have come to know as the Magnificat. Words she spoke, but may as well have sung, just as God’s people have been saying and singing them ever since.
Mary says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior…” (Luke 1:46-47). She is grateful and filled with joy. She is humbled and filled with awe. Yet, amazingly, she seems to grasp just how much the world will be changed by the birth of her son. For a musician like me, it’s difficult to read these words and not break into song. Whether it’s in the Magnificat as composed by Marty Haugen in his Holden Evening Prayer, or in the words of Rory Cooney in his hymn, “Canticle of the Turning,” the words and lyrics Mary proclaims compel us to sing along.
And perhaps that is a stewardship insight. There are times when we can’t help but be so moved to join the song. There are times when we can’t do anything but be so moved by the Spirit, and God’s activity in, with, for, around, and through us, that we can’t help but join in with God. To wonder and witness. To point to and even proclaim that God’s love is made real- here for us today.
For a world in need of good news, Mary brings it and then some. It’s not about her. It’s about the message that with which God has entrusted her. The news that, “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty” (vv. 52-53,). Things are going to change because God comes near. That could be terrifying. It could also be freeing and exciting, especially for those longing for a better day and for reason to hope. And this hope is central to the promise of Advent.
As we move quickly now towards the end of Advent and the beginning of the great Twelve Days of Christmas, let us do so by fully leaning into the story. To listen with fresh ears. To wonder. And, we hope, to catch the joy, hope, love, and peace which Mary herself shares in these familiar words that we hear again this week. So, take a deep breath and prepare again to hear what God might be up to and to respond anew as disciples and stewards: “In those days…” Amen.
In Worship and Congregational Life
As referenced above, consider using the words of Mary’s Magnificat in song in some way in wordship this week. One option would be to use “The Annunciation” based on Luke 1:26-28, 30-32, 38, followed by “The Magnificat” from Luke 1:46-55, as composed by Marty Haugen in his Holden Evening Prayer. The words fit so beautifully in this setting, and if your congregation has used this worship order before, it can prove to be a couple minutes of pure joy and beauty through song.[1] If looking for a bit more rhythm or to be able to use a drum like feel, Rory Cooney’s setting of the Magnificat in “Canticle of the Turning,” set to the traditional Irish melody, “Star of County Down,” might be ideal.[2] One other option, could be the hymn, “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness,” from an arrangement by the great Ralph Vaughan Williams, which is also set to a very singable English folk tune called, “Kingsfold.”[3] Whatever you might choose, it seems like the ideal week to bring further life to such familiar and rhythmic words that are core to our faith, through song.
Worship with Youth and Children
In many contexts, worship this week might include the youth or younger saints telling the Christmas story through a pageant or Sunday School program. For others, perhaps this is a week where the congregation is invited to be part of a reader’s theater or impromptu pageant where everyone gets a role and a line. If this is happening in your context, great. If not, perhaps there could be time in or around worship this week that invites the younger saints to lead the story through example. Whether it be through wondering in a Children’s Sermon time about what Mary and Elizabeth might have been thinking about or how they might have been feeling. Or, asking the simple question, you know that Jesus is coming. What does that make you feel? Such a simple question might lead to a chance to name a response and to connect the dots from “In those days” being just 2,000+ years ago, to rather these days here and now too.
Here are previous reflections for Advent 4C:
2018 – STIR: Stewardship in Advent
2015 – Stewards of the message and the margins
2012 – Encountering incarnation
[1] Mary Haugen, Holden Evening Prayer, (Chicago, IL: GIA Publications, Inc., 1990).
[2] Rory Cooney, “Canticle of the Turning,” as found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), 723.
[3] “My Soul Proclaims Your Greatness,” as found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2006), 251.
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