Being Ready for the Unexpected

With the fourth Sunday in Advent we draw near to Christmas day. I was reading someone recently who remarked that we never finish the fourth week of Advent. It is always “interrupted” by the arrival of Christmas Day. This, of course, fits the Advent pattern. Our Savior Himself said that His coming would be when none expected it. Whether we consider His coming in judgment in the time of Noah, at Sodom and Gomorrah, or at the Red Sea, His coming always takes people off guard. This morning we’ll consider how the announcement of His coming to Mary catches her off guard; it interrupts her week. But unlike the generation of Noah, the Sodomites, and the Egyptians, Mary has prepared herself for His coming. Though caught off guard, we’ll see that she nevertheless responds in faith, ready to receive the promises of God. But that type of response doesn’t just happen; it is the fruit of preparation. It tells us that Mary had been “repeating the signs” and rehearsing the story unlike the priests and Levites that we considered last week. This is clear from the song that she takes up after going to meet Elizabeth, which we call the Magnificat and which we’ll sing this morning. In the Magnificat, Mary weaves together texts from songs and psalms of old, showing us that for instance she had often sung Hannah’s Song. You see it was through cultivating regular habits of worship and prayer at the synagogue in Nazareth and in her home, that Mary made herself ready for the message of Christmas, for announcement that she would conceive and bring forth the Son of God. I call upon you now to join me in following Mary’s example of preparation for the message of Christmas. Confess your sins from heart, sing with hearts full of joy and gladness, and receive Christ in Word and Sacrament as Mary received Him in her womb!