CELC The Fourth Sunday in Advent

The Fourth Sunday in Advent – December 18, 2005

Luke 1:26-38

The Fourth Sunday in Advent brings the Word of God: "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." These are the words that Gabriel uses to address Mary, the mother of our Lord. They are also words addressed to you this morning: "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."

In the 1970’s the running guru, Jim Fixx, wrote a book and made jogging a national pastime. He told his story, about becoming a runner and losing lots of excess pounds, becoming healthier and even how running improved his attitude.

Jim Fixx was only 52 years old when he died. He had inherited heart disease which all the running in the world could not overcome. There, present in him, Jim Fixx had what he could not out run, a family disease that was silent until the moment of his death.

In the gospel lesson today we hear the Word of God proclaim to Mary that God is with her. That is the message of Luke for you today as well. Know that the Lord is with you, even if you cannot sense God’s presence in you, just as Jim Fixx did not know of the heart disease that was within him.

God has always been present with believers. Begin in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve who walked with God in the cool of the evening. Or, as Exodus reveals, God was with Moses and Israel. In Exodus 25:8 you hear God ask Moses to us the gifts of the people to “…make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them.” God dwells with believers.

This truth continues through scripture. To Solomon God says, “I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.” (I Kings 6:13) And you know the great Temple Solomon built for God to dwell there.

Even Psalm 23 ends with those marvelous words, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” The people of God dwell with God, forever.

Yet, there are those moments we feel God absent from us more than present with us. In the dark moments like the moment the doctor hesitatingly tells you that the esophageal cancer has spread to your lungs, liver, and elsewhere. It is inoperable and terminal. There is not much that can be done. You never knew it was there.

At moments like these we feel that God is not around, not present, not with us.

Yet, it is precisely at the moments we feel God most absent that we turn to the cross: to God most present with us. Advent always reminds us that the child who is born in Bethlehem is the Christ of the cross, dying that we might live with him forever. Once again, God is with us.

Only there is a difference. As God has become incarnate in Mary, so God now dwells not in buildings, but in each of you. God comes to us and dwells in us. Writing to the people at Corinth, St. Paul tells them and us that he bears a thorn in the flesh so that he will not depend on his strength, but on the gracious strength of God. In his weakness, Paul is strong because of Christ. Here is how he says it: “So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The coming of Christ and his death has made all the difference for us. The cross transforms us from people who wander aimlessly to believers who, like Mary, bear Christ to the world. It is through us that God works to manifest the love of the cross with its mercy and forgiveness.

You see, not only is God with us, but we have become bearers of Christ to the world. Like Paul, by grace the power and strength of God is ours to share.

And know that I believe the God we do not see does dwell with us. This afternoon you may not be able to sit back in your Lazy-boy chair and watch the Redskins defeat the Cowboys. Perhaps you will be driving somewhere and need to listen to the game on your radio. You do not see the radio waves that are always there and allow your radio bring you the football game. But, the radio waves are there and connect you to the thrilling sounds of the game.

Prayer is like that for us. Through prayer we are connected to our gracious God who loves and forgives us. Through prayer we are able to hear the calling God has for us and bear Christ to the world as God asks us to do. It is prayer that provides us the opportunity to serve God.

Our calling is to bear Christ to the world. In the waters of Holy Baptism the cross of Christ has been placed upon your forehead. Take that sign of hope and promise, take that sign of life and love and share it.

As the book of Revelation closes it proclaims as the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven: “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

God, who has dwelt with us, continues to dwell with us, promises we will dwell in the kingdom yet to come. "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." Amen.

Pastor Robert F. Holley