"My soul magnifies the Lord - for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant"

Scripture: Micah 5:2-5a  •  Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80:1-7  •  Hebrews 10:5-10  •  Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

In preparation for the coming of God's good news we have spent time in the wilderness with John the Baptist, and considered scripture about the second coming of the Messiah - the Christ. This week we consider all of the hopes, fears, doubts, anxiety, joy and love of Mary, the God bearer and Mother of God who magnifies the Lord from her lowly, humble state. "Little, lowly, humble" are words we see in this week's scripture, from "Bethlehem, a little clan of Judah, to an unwed, pregnant teenager, who "left in haste," to go to her cousin Elizabeth, as Fr. Rick Morley tells us in "from shame to blessing with haste."


And it is from and to the lowly the Holy One comes - the hungry are fed, the rich are sent away empty, the powerful are removed from their homes, as Mary sings to us the Magnificat. How are we to receive this gift of the Christ child, and, in turn, offer his gift of love, compassion, forgiveness, peace and wholeness to others? See Morley's remarks about Elizabeth in "from shame to blessing with haste," Dan Clendenin's "Blessed is the Child You Will Bear - Advent and Anxiety," and Theme and reflection, Call to Worship and Reading for the Lighting of the Advent Candles, 4th week from Anna's Hosannas.

"We MUST set aside an empty space, even if it is only a feeding trough in a stable somewhere, that God can visit us.  Emptying ourselves is the greatest act of love we can offer; we make space for the other to enter us and live in us.  Since love is the traditional theme for this Sunday of Advent, it's a perfect match."