Snow is NOT Expected!

Advent 4C

Luke 1:39-45

St. Matthias

December 23, 2018

           This week I was asked about my favorite Christmas of all time. That’s sort of like asking what’s my favorite Christmas food.  I love them all!  There was 2008 – the first Christmas after Phyllis and I were married.  Christmas 2016 – when we got to watch our granddaughter come down the stairs all excited because Santa Claus had come and found her in Birmingham, Alabama.  Lydia was really worried Santa wouldn’t know that she wasn’t at her house in Argentina.  Christmas Eve 1990 I was in Minot North Dakota and we had a blizzard for Christmas.  I love snow and understand – in North Dakota, you never canceled Church just because of snow.  Our organist skied to Christmas Eve Mass which was held at midnight with the Northern Lights blazing overhead.  There was Christmas 1965 when Santa Claus brought me the coolest bike I had ever seen and Christmas 1973 when I had just turned 16 – had just gotten my driver’s license – and was convinced that I was going to get a red and gray Chevrolet Monte Carlo.  I didn’t!  But looking back now and to tell you the truth - I don’t know which Christmas is my favorite. 

This Sunday we come to the 4^th Candle on the Advent Wreath and I discovered that we can’t decide what this one means. Some say it is Peace – others Joy – and still others Love.  The 4^th candle has been called the Angels Candle because it was the Angels who announced the birth of Christ – first to Mary and Joseph – then to the Shepherds – and then to the whole world.  Peace – Joy – Love – Angels all of these are important messages leading up to Christmas.  Is one more important than the others?

I would imagine that Mary – the mother of Jesus had all kinds of feelings, thoughts and emotions before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  All kinds of things happened in the 9 months she was expecting with the Son of God.  An angel appeared – there was a miracle – and when she was 9 months pregnant, she traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem on a donkey.  That’s 80 miles.  Sounds pretty uncomfortable.  I bet she couldn’t wait to get to Bethlehem.

In this morning’s Gospel lesson – Mary is proclaimed the most blessed of all women by her cousin Elizabeth.  My cousins have called me lots of things over the years – but BLESSED is not one of them.  Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth in the Judean Hill country who is also pregnant with a son who will become John-the-Baptist.  What would they talk about?  How do you describe God working in our lives?  And through all the years of Christmas’s, Mary has been so important.  Episcopalians and many others honor Mary as a Saint.   The Roman Catholics have declared Mary as the Mother of God – the Orthodox Church calls her Theotokos, and I understand there are over 20 other titles the Church has given this young girl who was probably only 13 or 14 years old.  Every day I can imagine she lived not knowing what to expect next.  Jesus would be born in a stable where shepherds and Wise Men would kneel before the Son of God.  He would astonish the temple leaders – turn water into wine – raise the dead – and then she would stand at the foot of the cross and 3 days later know that her Son – God’s Son – was risen.  Peace – Joy – Love – Angels.  Mary experienced them all.

Tomorrow night we will gather once again for Christmas Eve.  Snow is not expected – God is.  We will sing the carols of Christmas and hear the Christmas Story once more.  We will light the candles and sing Silent Night and hear the 1^st Chapter of John’s Gospel.  No doubt we will remember favorite Christmas’s we have shared.  Midnight Mass in North Dakota – Christmas morning’s full of cheer – and the joy of children and new gifts.  And consider the possibility that this may be our best Christmas ever.  What if Christmas became both a time of remembering and expectation.  Rather than just think about Christmas past – perhaps we need to begin expecting Christmas yet to come.  We sing Christmas Carols and hear the choirs of angels singing to all - Joy to the World. Can we spread that Joy this Christmas to everyone? We kneel to pray and feel the presence of God.  What if on this Christmas, bread and wine become to us spiritual food for a spiritual journey yet to come in a year ahead where we will know God as never before.  Christmas is about love born in a manger and love born again in you and me.  Imagine expecting that you will love MORE than ever before between this Christmas and the next.  Imagine Joy to the World every day. That’s a Christmas to anticipate.  For a Savior who is Christ the Lord is about to be born!  It’s all about Peace – Love – Joy and Angels to come.  Look forward to Christmas – snow is not expected.  God is!  AMEN.