Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

She’s pregnant. Your reaction to the news may differ depending on the subject of the sentence. Stop looking around. Today there is reason to rejoice because this day, the Fourth Sunday in Advent is pregnant. It is rich and full of significance and meaning. The Scripture readings for today are pregnant. They carry a rich and full meaning of the expectancy of the birth of the Christ.

 

The Gospel reading for today (Luke 1:39-56) is especially pregnant, even as it includes two women who were pregnant. The elderly Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist in her womb, and Mary who came to visit her was pregnant with Jesus the Christ. And the visitation was full of joy. Elizabeth greeted Mary with joy that the mother of the Lord (1:43) should come to her. And John the Baptist leaped for joy in Elizabeth’s womb (1:44).

 

There were some reasons why it may not have gone that way. They may not have been joyful. While Elizabeth had wanted to have a child, that was when she was younger. Giving birth past the normal age of child-bearing has risks to both mother and child. There was cause for concern. There was reason to be somewhat restrained in joy in case something went wrong during the pregnancy or in the development of the child in her womb. And there was further reason to be restrained in joy, looking forward after the birth. How were two elderly parents going to deal with the physical demands of caring for a baby and running after a toddler?

 

Yet there was no restraint to Elizabeth’s joy when Mary came to visit. And the reason stated by Elizabeth is that she knew Mary was carrying the LORD God in her womb. Elizabeth knew that the Lord was near. He was right there under the skin of Mary. He was close in proximity, and He was near to the time of His appearing. After a few months He would be born into the world. The long-awaited fulfillment of the promises of the Lord through the prophets was near. This Child to be born would accomplish all that He was sent to do for the salvation of His people.

 

Elizabeth’s own pregnancy confirmed the fact. The angel had told her husband Zechariah that their child would prepare the way for the coming of the Lord (1:17). Elizabeth had the proof bouncing around inside of her. Every movement in her belly that could have been a cause for concern was instead a proclamation that God had visited His people (1:68).

 

And that is why Elizabeth rejoiced and blessed Mary as the mother of God: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!... And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Luke 1:42, 45). What the angel promised Zechariah was true: they would “have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth” (Luke 1:14). That is a prophecy of your joy at this year’s celebration of Christmas.

 

There were some reasons why Mary may not have felt all that blessed. She, like Elizabeth, was also unexpectedly pregnant. While Elizabeth might have been restrained with health concerns in her old age, Mary could have been restrained in her joy by this sudden pregnancy before her marriage to Joseph. On the surface there could of been the fear of bearing the shame and guilt of getting pregnant before the wedding, but Mary had deeper concerns. She knew that she had not “known” a man (she hadn’t had sexual contact with a man) and still she was pregnant. That wasn’t normal. Her joy might have been restrained by the confusion of trying to sort out what was going on. “How will this be, since I am a virgin” (1:34)?

 

But the same thing that released the restraints of Elizabeth’s joy also released Mary’s joy. The angel had told her that the Lord was coming and that He was coming through her. With the first “Hail Mary,” that angel’s “Ave Maria” burst forth to bring good news of great joy. This maiden Mary would give birth to the holy Son of God (1:35). The Lord was near to her, in her very womb. The Lord was near to do for His people what was promised so long ago. The Lord’s coming would turn Mary’s shame into praise. She was not going to live in disgrace but in the favour of God.

 

A wondrous joyful event was happening and she was in the middle of it. The eternal God without beginning and without end, the immortal, the almighty, the creator, was coming to His creation. God was coming to mankind as man. He was coming to restore the fortunes of His people, to rescue them from every oppression and to set them free to be the people of God.

 

Mary heard the good news with her own ears. She received the grace of God from the Holy Spirit at work in the word spoken to her by the angel. The power of the Most High overshadowed her (1:35) as He became a tiny, microscopic, fertilized egg cell and began to develop and grow within Mary as we all did inside of our mothers.

 

And so Mary’s joy burst forth and the Magnificat was sung for the first time: “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation” (Luke 1:47-50).

 

His mercy is for you in this generation. So you also are right in the middle of it. You, too, can rejoice. And that is what St. Paul tells all Christians to do in today’s Epistle: “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). But there may be things threatening to restrain your joy as things could have restrained the joy of Elizabeth and Mary. Whether or not you will rejoice “always” is quite precarious because of such things.

 

Perhaps an unexpected pregnancy or another unexpected event has taken your joy away. It may not necessarily be happening now. Perhaps it did in years past and you are still having a hard time reconciling with it. Unexpected things have the ability to shake us up and throw us off balance. When they happen we don’t know how everyone will react, or how everything will turn out. Sometimes, even years later, we wonder if there will be consequences yet to emerge.

 

Like Elizabeth, you may have health or age-related concerns dominating your thoughts and threatening to steal away your joy. This holiday season might be different for you because you can no longer do all of the things that had become traditional celebrations of Christmas. You might be worried about how you will handle the demands placed upon you in the upcoming year as your physical capabilities change. Could this even be your last Christmas?

 

Like Mary, you may have to deal with shame because of some situation you now find yourself in. And sometimes it doesn’t really matter if it is something innocent or culpable. What seems to matter is what other people will think of it—what they will think of you when the news gets out. Will you be able to show your face or will you have to dodge people’s looks? Will friends keep talking to you and family support you? Any of these things may threaten to restrain your joy and make it impossible to “Rejoice in the Lord always.”

 

To remove the restraints, the good news given to Elizabeth and to Mary has also been give to you. You are right in the middle of it. It is possible for you to “rejoice in the Lord always” for the same reason that they found joy in the threatening situations that they were in. I won’t say that what you are going through is the same as what they might have had to struggle with, but I can and will say that you have the same reason to rejoice in all circumstances as did they.

 

The Lord is near. “The Lord is at hand” (Philippians 4:5). As both Elizabeth and Mary realized, the Lord is near in two senses. The first is that His appearing is near. Yes, the celebration of Christmas is just a couple of days away. That’s a joyous time whether you are at a big family gathering or sitting quietly alone in contemplation, because the event itself reminds us that we are never alone.

 

The Most High was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Holy God was made man and was tempted in all ways as we are. He also took upon Himself our infirmities. We are not alone because He is present with us especially in our sufferings. He has compassion and consolation as one who has suffered and died in human flesh. That appearing is announced at Christmas and it is where the thoughts of Christians are directed to dwell on the upcoming holy day.

 

The Lord is also near in terms of His final appearing. He has promised that He is coming soon (Revelation 22:12), to set all things aright: to take away not only our physical sufferings and infirmities, but also our shame and guilt. He will declare us innocent of all the faults that he has forgiven along the way and proclaim to all, the great and good things we have done (good and praiseworthy things we are not even aware that we have done) (Matthew 25:31-40). The day of His appearing is near.

 

The second sense in which the Lord is near is that He is at hand. He is near in proximity to you, even now. Elizabeth rejoiced that the Lord had come to visit her home in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. John the Baptist leaped for joy within his mother because he knew that the One to whom he was to point out as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) was on the doorstep. Mary could run her hand over her abdomen and feel the swelling, and then the movements, and the kicks, and even the contractions.

 

“The Lord is at hand” to you also. You can reach out your hand to pick up that Bible on the table and have the Word who was made flesh in your grasp, on your tongue, and digging into your ears. You, too, can be physically sure of the faithfulness of the Lord in keeping His prophetic promises to come. There is a physical comfort that you may have seen, when people in distress hold their Bible close to their heart. The Word spoken of and the Word who speaks from the pages within the Book is the Word that was made flesh so that we may see His glory (John 1:14).

 

The point of contact is not in touching a book like a relic of the bones of Elizabeth or Mary, but in the remembrance of what is proclaimed through the book in a physical audible way that generates sound waves which reverberate in your ear. Which is why the reading of the Word of God in the church services is so much more important than having a Bible placed somewhere in the house. Through the reading of the Scriptures the Lord gets into your ears.

 

“The Lord is at hand” also in the pastor’s hand as he feeds you the true body of our Lord Jesus Christ, given for you for the forgiveness of your sins. The Lord comes to you in close proximity. He appears on the altar by the promise of His own words, “This is My body.... This is My blood.” That body and blood are carried to you and placed in your mouth to eat and to drink. We believe that the Lord is truly present in the Sacrament of the Altar, not only according to His divine nature which permeates all things, but also according to His human nature in which He was born of the Blessed Virgin, suffered and died upon the cross, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and in which He is also coming soon.

 

“The Lord is at hand” to forgive you all your sins, to cleanse you from all shame, to take away your mortal infirmity and to give you everlasting life. All that might restrain your joy is taken away in the coming of Jesus, quickly and in close proximity to you. This is the only thing that releases your joy from the restraints of this fallen world and your own sinful nature. He brings His forgiveness and life to you, like He did to Elizabeth and Mary, and John the Baptist, and all who rejoiced at His appearing.

 

This is the only reason why St. Paul can appeal to you to “Rejoice in the Lord always;” letting “your gentleness be known to all men,” both friends and enemies, despite any shame that comes upon you; being “anxious for nothing,” not even the unexpected events or the inevitable changes due to health and age; letting “your requests be made known before God” who is near to hear and answer. He is the one who gives you peace for anything and everything, the unexpected and the foreboding. His peace is always available to you to guard your hearts and minds from anxious cares, and to take away your shame in the forgiveness that is at hand with Him.