Text: Luke 1: In those days Mary set
out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered
the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's
greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and
blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the
mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your
greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed
that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."
As Christmas draws near children
begin to get very excited.
They started the countdown a while
ago perhaps using an Advent Calendar to help them count down the days.
As the “how many sleeps to go” gets
into single digits each day gets more and more exciting as Christmas day and
Jesus’ birth draws near.
This is what we see happening in our
Gospel reading today as Jesus draws near to John the Baptist.
Even though neither Jesus or John
have yet been born the excitement cannot be contained.
Elizabeth asks: Why has this happened
to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound
of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.
There is a joy that only the presence
of Jesus can bring.
And this is not just speaking about
Christmas but in all life.
As St Paul said last week – rejoice
in the Lord always – the Lord is near.
When going through times of
difficulties and uncertainty there is an amazing peace that comes to us
when we spend time with Jesus;
When we take time to pray.
When we pick up our bibles and read a
passage that seems to have been written just for us.
When we hold out our hand and receive
Jesus body and blood.
And there is a comfort also that only
Jesus’ nearness can bring when facing a chronic situation such as an impending
death or incurable sickness knowing that the time draws near when we, or a
loved one, will be free from the suffering and be with Jesus in heaven.
Nothing else can bring that peace as,
again St Paul said last week, the peace of God that surpasses ALL understanding
will guard and watch over your hearts and minds.
Amidst all that, however, we’re
living in a world that has a seemingly growing distance from God.
The growing tensions in the world
through political turmoil – and you only need to look at some of our close
neighbours like Britain and America to see those political tensions.
The tensions in the world through
terrorism, and again in recent times in Paris.
Or the tensions of warfare and other
forms of fighting such as in Yemen and the Middle East.
And then there is the growing
immorality of the world and we don’t need to look beyond our own borders to see
the violence, crime, drugs and sex to see that our world seems to be drifting
further and further away from God rather than drawing nearer.
And there is the growing decline of
respect for the church and anything to do with God with the attack on religious
freedoms.
Like Jesus at his crucifixion I’m
sure you’ve cried out very similar – my God, my God, why have you forsaken me.
Jesus was quoting Psalm 22 which
continues: Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.
As we read again today’s gospel
reading we are reminded that as the world removes itself further and further
away from God, God does not remove himself from us.
It was Mary and Jesus who went to see
Elizabeth and John whereby Elizabeth is amazed that she should be so honoured.
And why has this happened to me, that
the mother of my Lord comes to me?
Just as John the Baptist would later
ask too when Jesus comes to him to be baptised:
You come to me? It is I who should be
baptised by you.
And so we understand that it is
always God who is moving towards us, even as we move away from him.
Maybe we’d be surprised to know that
despite how the world has treated Jesus God continues to love us and be with
us.
After all, that is what he promised,
both at his birth when the angel said: “The virgin will conceive and give birth
to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
And also Jesus as he ascends to
heaven and promises the disciples “I am with you always till the end of the
age.
This is why we rejoice at Christmas
because it is God coming to us and expressing just how much he loves us as he
loved the world so much that he sent his one and only Son to us.
And even though there was nothing to
love about us it was while we were yet sinners that Christ came and died for
us.
So we can be assured that there is
nothing that we can do that will remove God and his love from us.
And this is now what God sends us to
do.
To go into the world and love the
unlovable.
To be the love of God to others even
in those times when others would walk away.
Love bears qualities that the world
doesn’t understand.
Christian love begins where worldly
love ends.
It is characterised as St Paul says
in 1 Corinthians:
Love is patient, love is kind. It
does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others,
it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of
these is love.
It is disheartening at times as we
see the growing secularisation of our world.
But we are thankful that God never
gives up.
He weeps with us as Jesus did when he
saw his own people distancing themselves from God:
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who
kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to
gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and
you were not willing.
Christmas reminds us that God is not
“up there” but here with us.
Christmas reminds us that in the
midst of the darkness of our world God sent his Son to be the light of the
world.
We live in a sinful world but let us
remember that he would be called Jesus because he would save God’s people from
their sin.
And that God did not send his son to
condemn the world but to save the world through him.
And that is our mission – that is
God’s mission.
To bring Jesus into the hearts of
people and to be Jesus in the hearts of people by loving our neighbour as
ourselves.
To many Christmas can be a difficult
time as it highlights their hurts, their grief, their poverty, their
loneliness.
And we can be Jesus to them as he
says as much as you do to one of the least of these you do it unto me.
A blessed Christmas to you all as you
take baby Jesus again into the world.
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