Loading...On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we finally feel the anticipation of Christmas. We hear the story of Mary’s pregnancy! I found this wonderful painting depicting the Visitation – the story of Mary running off to her cousin Elizabeth’s house.
The pictures shows two women embracing, each with a halo of light about her.
The elder woman is grinning – even laughing with joy.
The painting shows, in their respective wombs, circles of energy and life – babies!
The younger woman is dressed in gold, signifying that there is something special about her.
In the midst of the shocking, startling, and even scary news,
when Mary has already said “yes” to God’s call,
she goes to her cousin’s house for encouragement and rest.
Elizabeth greets her with joy and delight, and speaks words of a prophet:
the child within my womb leaped when I heard your voice,
the voice of the mother of my Lord!
Some of the details in particular that I love about this painting
are the windsock hanging from the eaves of Elizabeth’s house
and the words written below the windsock.
The painting was commissioned for the Visitation Monastery in north Minneapolis, a poor neighborhood. The sisters of the monastery hang a windsock outside their house every other day of the week as an invitation to the children of the neighborhood to come in and enjoy afterschool activities – painting, reading, praying, and having fun; plus to celebrate birthdays and other special days.
In this painting, the artist has included the detail of the windsock:
Elizabeth has hung the windsock on the eave of her house to let any and all – Mary! – know that she is welcome to come in.
Then, there are the words of invitation: “This is the place of our delight and rest.”
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The news the week in the world has not been so great.
There is cause for significant anxiety:
a government shut down hateful words
posturing the stock market tumbling
Then, the news in your own life may not be so great either.
I learned this week that my dad’s Alzheimer’s continues to progress.
Maybe it’s news of your own health, or some sort of hurt in your family, or stress at work or in your neighborhood.
So, we gather here.
This is the place of our delight and rest –
not just this physical place,
but this One in whom we have delight and rest – in Word and Sacrament –
so that we can grin and even laugh in the midst of loss, worry, or fear.
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As the story of Elizabeth and Mary goes on,
we are in for another remarkable surprise –
one that can fail to take our breath away since we have heard it so often.
After Elizabeth offers her words of encouragement, delight, and joy to Mary,
Mary who had bravely, yet maybe with some concern, said “Let it be with me according to your will” (this thing being the remarkable pregnancy and birth) –
This same Mary seems to have then experienced deep peace and her own delight, joy, and hope at what was happening.
And she began to sing:
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord
and my spirit rejoices in you.
You have looked with love on your servant here
and blessed me all my life through.
Great and mighty are you, O Holy One.
Strong is your kindness, evermore.
How you favor the weak and lowly one,
humbling the proud of heart.
You have cast the mighty down from their thrones
and uplifted the humble of heart.
You have filled hungry with wondrous things
and left the wealthy no part.
Great and mighty are you, O Faithful One.
Strong is your justice, strong is your love.
As you promised to Sarah and Abraham, kindness forevermore.
My soul proclaims your greatness, O Lord
and my spirit rejoices in you.
You have looked with love on your servant here
and blessed me all my life through.
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The last days of Advent,
more than any other time of the season,
invite me – invite us – to waiting and to pondering.
We’re not waiting for Christmas (with the frantic pace!)
We’re not even waiting for the infant child.
We are called and invited to wait
for the fullness of the promise about which Mary sang:
that the poor, the lowly, the lonely, the shunned, the ridiculed, the rejected
would be lifted up
and that the proud, rich, corrupt, power-hungry
would get their comeuppance.
These last days of Advent invite me to wait in patience for the work that
God IS doing in our world.
These last days of advent call me, call us, to ponder how God’s vision for the shalom (peace) of the world is coming to fruition; and to look for it.
It can be so easy to get lost in the frustration, anger, or grief of despair and pain that we miss the delight, the rest, and the joy.
Advent. The visitation.
Elizabeth’s infectious joy and prophetic words.
Mary’s courage and song.
They all remind us to stop what we’re so busy with and pay attention.
They remind us to rest and to delight.
They remind us to take courage and to live in hope.
They remind us to wait and watch for the birth of God’s continuing work and creation in the world and in your life.
My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
Amen
