Third of Advent, Year B                                                        Isaiah 65:17-25
December 4, 2005                                                                Canticle 15
St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church                           1 Thessalonians 5:16-28
The Rev. Linda McCloud                                                      John 3:23-30

Praying in joyful hope 

“Rejoice always.  Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 

            In our scripture readings for this Third Sunday of Advent, we find ourselves somewhere between John the Baptizer and Mary the Mother of our Lord Jesus.  They share a common theme:  deep joy in the face of what appear to be adverse circumstances. John the Baptizer is about to be executed and Mary is pregnant out of wedlock.  And yet, they both embrace God’s culture of life in the face of those who embraced a culture of death.  They are an example to us that the struggle for God’s culture of life must go on.  They are the ones who rejoiced always and prayed without ceasing.   

            John the Baptizer is back on the scene this week, but by his own admission he is about to exit stage left.  John is fading into the background as Jesus starts to appear on the scene.  And he goes out in a blaze of glory.  He goes off the stage of history with his heart full.  His joy has been fulfilled.  He has done what he came here to do, and he gracefully steps aside to let Jesus step into the spotlight.  John had the good grace to have joy in the face of certain death.  John the Baptizer’s joy was fulfilled by seeing the success of Jesus as Jesus drew all people to himself.  John was joyous that his own mission had been fulfilled by the coming of Jesus into the world.  The Holy Spirit of God gives us a generous spirit of sharing – even sharing the limelight.   

In our Advent preparation to talk about the coming of Jesus, we first need to meet his dear mother.  We will also talk more about her next week.  You noticed that today, instead of a Psalm from the Old Testament, we had a Psalm from the New Testament – the Song of Mary.  It is out of Luke’s Gospel and is called The Magnificat. We Episcopalians say it every day at Evening Prayer.  In singing The Magnificat, Mary was rejoicing because she was going to give birth to the Savior of the world.  Babies renew our world and give us hope for the future.  The Baby that Mary was carrying is our hope for now and for the future.  Mary’s adverse circumstances were that she was very young, unmarried, and expecting a child.  Why would Mary be joyous?  In her culture, such people as her were stoned to death for their condition.  By outward appearances, she had every right to feel sad, lonely, and afraid.  Yet she rejoiced in God her Savior.   

            We acknowledge that Christmas and other winter holidays are especially difficult for some people – maybe even some among us.  This year, many of our neighbors along the Gulf Coast will be facing Christmas without their homes, their belongings, and without some of their loved ones.  There is no denying that in this country and around the world, there is a lot of sorrow during this time.  There is a lot of stress in families that comes out at this time of the year.  To counteract these overwhelming circumstances, this is a great time to reconnect with God.  To reconnect with the source of true joy.  We can do this through the Holy Eucharist.  We can do this by giving thanks in all circumstances, by rejoicing in God, and by keeping in an attitude of prayer. 

Mary’s joy comes from praising God and recognizing the great deeds of God.  This joy comes from saying yes to God.  Mary had joyful hope even though a sword would pierce her own soul.  Her song – The Magnificat – is so subversive that, during the 1980’s the government of Guatemala banned it from public recitation.  Mary’s song talks about the power of God – how that God casts down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly.  Her song comforts us and confronts us.  Are we hungry for God in our lives, or are we rich and full of ourselves, not recognizing our own spiritual needs or those of anyone else?   

The song of Mary is a summary of the theme of the Old Testament Prophets.  In essence, Mary says that when God comes among us, the status quo will always be upset.  Our collect for today is, in that sense, rather risky.  We have just prayed for God to stir up God’s power and with great might come among us.   

This weekend at the movies the film to see is C.S. Lewis’ wonderful allegorical tale, The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe.  This story includes talking animals and frightened children.  One of my favorite scenes in the book comes when Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy (the frightened children) visit Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (two of the talking animals).  They are discussing Aslan the Lion, who is a type of Jesus Christ.  Susan declares that she will be nervous about meeting Aslan, and asks if he is safe.  Let’s listen in on their conversation.  “Safe?” said Mr Beaver; . . . Who said anything about safe?  ’Course he isn’t safe.  But he’s good.  He’s the King, I tell you.”[1] 

When I first read this, more than thirty years ago, it hit me with the force of revelation.  Of course God isn’t safe, but he’s God.  God can definitely be trusted to have our best interests at heart, even if it doesn’t appear so at the time.  God wants us to have joy, but doesn’t promise us happiness.  God apparently does not want us to confuse hope with optimism, or joy with happiness.  Happiness can be shallow and short-lived.  It is like the babbling brook as compared to joy, which is the still water that runs deep. 

            How do we get this joy?  How can we be joyous in the face of all that is going on in our world?  For me, joy comes from cultivating a deep faith.  Joy comes from knowing in the bedrock of my own heart that no matter what happens to me in this life or in the next, I am in the loving hands of God.  God is all around.  God meets us in the Word and Sacraments.  That gives me great joy.    

Did I say I was happy all the time?  No.  I did not say that.  There is a lot in this world about which I am very unhappy.  Unhappiness is my reaction to hunger, oppression, war, poverty, domestic violence . . . I could go on and on. Sorrow over these things is what prods us to do all we can to eliminate such conditions from God’s good earth. 

            There is a wonderful collect at Evening Prayer that covers the spectrum of praying for all sorts and conditions of humanity.  This ancient prayer includes these words:  “Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake.”  Why would we pray for God to shield the joyous?  Perhaps it’s because there is always someone in this world who wants to pull us down to their level of unhappiness and misery.  Such people are provoked to jealousy by the joy of others.  They are unhappy and can’t bear for anyone else to be happy.    

            But we can have joy in the midst of sorrow.  Such joy is based on our trust of God and our hope in God.  If we are willing to rejoice and give thanks to God for all God’s blessings, we will in a sense be praying without ceasing.  The Song of Mary can become our prayer.  Our souls will proclaim the greatness of the Lord, and our spirits will rejoice in God our Savior.