Wednesday, December 4, 2024 – Advent Two

Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! (Luke 1: 28 -29, New Living Translation)

                Batteries not included.

                There is nothing worse than for a child to open up a Christmas present which is a toy that needs batteries. But the package informs us that batteries are not included. Susan is very good at assuring that batteries are sent along with the gift, but I’m sure there have been times when we have been caught without. So the hunt begins. We check the junk drawer. There is every battery known to humankind but the right size. Then we start pillaging other devices for their batteries like the TV remote, shavers, other toys in hopes we find the much-needed battery. Worse come to worse, we hope that the local convenience store might have what we need and isn’t closed on Christmas Day. Ah, the day is saved after all!

                Mary begins her Christmas story without the necessary batteries. She is confused and disturbed by the angel’s words. A bit later, she even asks, “How all this can be?” She is being offered a tremendous gift but, at first, she lacks the understanding which is needed for a full appreciation of the moment. She was not prepared for the angel’s message. She was missing the essential spiritual energy boost to comprehend the import of what was happening to her.

                The angel supplied the battery, so to speak: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Then it dawned upon Mary. It clicked. Her Christmas took on life. “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

                There may be times when any of us come into the Advent season “confused and disturbed.” We can’t find the Christmas spirit.  We don’t feel that we have the energy to do everything which needs to be done before Christmas day. There is enough stuff going on in our lives already that Christmas itself seems daunting and even somewhat overwhelming to some extent. Our get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went. We might ask ourselves, and it is OK if we do, what is Christmas really all about. Is the fuss worth it? How can this be?

                It is then I hope and pray that the Holy Spirt calms our worries and helps us to appreciate the full meaning of the Christ Child. May the power of the Most High speak to our anxieties and lift the veil so that we find the momentum which leads to Christmas itself. Like Mary, we will stop our fretting and accept with peace and goodwill the Good News of Jesus’ Advent into our messy world. We will stop resisting Christmas and accept it with grace and humility. God will give us the power by which this Christmas and every Christmas is truly experienced.

                We may not see any angels on our doorsteps, but in the simple reading of all the Christmas stories, it is as if the angel is still speaking to us and telling us of the Good News which is ours today. “Don’t be afraid” the angel starts out saying to Mary. Indeed, Christmas is not something to dread or put off.  The Good News is for us in all its wonder. It speaks to us in our everyday world and experiences even when it seems hard to fit it in.  Its energy comes from the Love of God for us. Its vigour comes the from grace of God. Its vitality comes from the hope, the joy and peace God gives.

                “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 1: 19 20)

 

Dale