O Come.

This week is traditionally the time of Advent when we consider Joy.

I've practically been lost in The Magnificat, the song of praise Mary, the expecting mother of Jesus. This passage of Scripture found in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke moves me every time I read it (which frankly is not often enough).

Luke 1:45 are the words of her older cousing Elizabeth who is also, hope against hope, for she was barren, and miracle of miracles, for she was getting up there in years, was finally pregnant. Mary came to visit her and Elizabeth, upon Mary's arrival, felt her own child leap in her womb. She longed for a child and her prayers were answered.

And Elizabeth knew. She knew about Mary because the Holy Spirit live in her. Elizabeth, who is described as a woman who lived blameless, knew. And she said, "Mary, you are blessed ~ or maybe, will be blessed ~ because you believed that the words of the LORD would be fulfilled".

And in response, Mary's words, a beautiful hymn of praise to God found in Luke 1...

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed
for the Mighty One has done great things for me.
His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham
and to his descendants forever.

There are so many reasons why Mary's words mean so much to me, reasons that have formed over the years. First, Mary praises so innocently and simply, basking in the promises of her Lord. I don't know if she's endured any hard thing before this major turn of events ~ getting pregnant out of wedlock a big deal here. She is very young by our standards.

Her words are innocent and simple but are fully loaded with understanding. She's not blind to what is happening to her, although I can't imagine that she understands it all. She longs for things to be made right in the world, just like everyone else does, and sees herself, finally, as a possible conduit for bringing justice to the world. That is something to rejoice! To know you lived blessed because God has asked for your help to bring about his plan of deliverance... that blessing is not something we all covet, as I imagine it for her, and I know it for me, to be not entirely free of struggle. But she is living in hope, and joyful that this day is come. I don't believe that she could know all that would happen to her, to her Son, but she was trusting here, that God would do His thing, that God would keep His promises. So she praised!

Not only are her words simple and innocent, the are prophetic. A woman prophet... gasp! For all those who think that God does not and will not use women in speaking His Words to His people, they better consider how Mary's praise is prophecy. She is telling all of us what Jesus, even as he is still a tiny babe nesting in her womb, was about to do. Again, did she completely understand it all? Probably not. I'm not sure any prophet understands every word he or she is asked to bring, but she spoke them with boldness and joy. She is a prophet, and she speaks about justice more than anything. And I firmly believe that only through justice, and knowing we are working to bring God's Kingdom to this world, and therefore, a more just world to this earth, only through justice can we truly find JOY.

And Mary's audience is not lost on me either. She is singing to her barren cousin and confidant. Yeah, Elizabeth may be "with child" but she is barren. Elizabeth I am certain knows longing and it is this exact longing, that of a child to hold and to love, to nurture and to cherish, that makes me feel this all so very much. There is nothing just about barrenness, about who gets to be a parent and who doesn't, but GOD IS JUST. And that has taught me, even though I rarely am able to express this yet, that joy comes in the realizing that God's justice does and will bring what we need in our lives, but more importantly, through us He will bring what the world ~ the bigger picture, the stuff bigger than my own barrenness ~ needs. He has chosen us, just like He chose Mary, to bring His love and life to the world. Therein lies the joy.

There is joy even in the longing. Mary says it in her words. She's not saying "this has happened" but "look at what God has put into motion! The possibilities are His and endless because He keeps His Promises and He promised to deliver us from the injustice in the world."

And that makes me cry even louder as I long for His birth to happen in my life yet again... O COME! And Let Us Rejoice!

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel...Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyrannyF
rom depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel... Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel...Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel...Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel...Shall come to thee, O Israel.
~ Latin hymn, 12th century

O Come!

For to Us a Child is Born.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.

You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.

For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.

For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named...
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father
Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it with justice
and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

~ Isaiah 9: 2-7 (NRSV)

The Advent Season mark a time of hope and longing. As much as the lights shine bright on our Christmas Tree, which is up for the sake of our kids, my heart lives in the dark longing of wanting the Peace promised by the coming of our Savior.

As much as I live in hope, it is always a longing, alongside the knowing, that Our Hope has come and IS coming, not by any other means EXCEPT the child in a manger.

Sometimes God seems far away, like now, as our family lives under a cloud of sickness. We long for God's protection akin to a bubble to be able to fully feel the possibilities of the Season to come. But this sickness, I guess, is here, for whatever reason... maybe it's to increase the longing, as I know that with health comes a more full experience of the hope that comes from Him. When the pall of feeling sick leaves, life seems brighter, so even in this time of longing, I am working to embrace the sick and trust God's light to shine regardless.

That is hope... and in that HOPE, and only THAT hope, the Hope that only Christ can bring, is where I can and will find my PEACE, now and always. God may seem far away right now, but this hope bring the anticipation of a King who will bring peace and justice and righteousness, finally and wholly, into the world.

Let there be PEACE on earth... that is my hope.

On the Way to the Manger

I think we get lost, or rushed. I don't know which. But alot of times I find myself trying to take a deep breath in the middle of the Christmas Eve Service and then, and only then, realize how much I haven't prepared myself for this moment... the celebration of when God came to earth the first time. I'm trying really hard this year not to find myself in that place but in another... one where a prepared heart and mind at peace can completely bask in the Silent Night of it all.

So I'm looking at some of the events that happened on the way to the manger.

Starting with the generations before...

~ Matthew 1 ~
The Ancestors of Jesus the Messiah:

1 This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab).
Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth).
Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon (whose mother was Bathsheba, the widow of Uriah).
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
Abijah was the father of Asa.
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was the father of Jehoram.
Jehoram was the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.
Manasseh was the father of Amon.
Amon was the father of Josiah.
Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon).

After the Babylonian exile:
Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of Akim.
Akim was the father of Eliud.
Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.

Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah.


Wow... that's quite a list. And really, who cares? Some cool names yeah, a little bit of history, okay, but why write about this?

There are a few things that make this passage of Scripture ~ that comes just before Matthew's shorter version of the Nativity ~ significant.

First, the original hearers Of Matthew were most likely Jewish and well it mattered to them that Jesus be connected to their heritage. But still, it would have seemed kinda fake, wouldn't it? This list is Joseph's ancestry!!! Who cares?!?!?! I mean, Joseph isn't really the father of Jesus. Who cares about his ancestry? Well... if you know me at all, know my story, I would find this amazingly wonderful as I work to find ways to explain what a blessed thing adoption is to my own children, the kids to whom I am really Mother. Since God the Father couldn't be here physically to take care of His Son, he chose a man of honor, a man with some credentials if you look at this list of names and know the way God worked in the lives of all those listed, know their stories. Joseph is a descendant of all the big guys... Abraham, Isaac, David... so this gives Jesus "legal" lineage to be a King. (Well, so does Mary's... she also descended from David, just another way) And yet, even with this, in real life, he was just a simple carpenter making a living and loving a woman named Mary. He chose to believe God's messenger when he said "it's okay" and love her in spite of the scandal it caused.

He is a man of honor, and great earthly father for our beloved Lord. He adopted Jesus in a sense, loved him as his own. That says huge things about what God says about blood lines. Of course they matter, but what really matters to a little child is a present, physical parent in the home. God blessed adoption as he makes IT the avenue of providing his ONLY Son with a family on earth.

And I don't know if you noticed the names of women in the list. I do. Women??? In a genealogy? I thought it was only the men that counted. But.... not so much in Jesus' ancestry. There are four women named ~ Tamar, Ruth, Rahab, Bathsheba ~ and again, to the original hearers this might have seemed strange. Women didn't really matter in the whole lineage thing. Why would Matthew name them? Did it matter? And look at the kind of women they are.

Tamar, she wasn't even a Jew (Canaanite, ack!) driven to prostitution (Gen 38). In fact, when Judah found out she was pregnant, he wanted to kill her to cover up his own sin. Throught THIS line, Jesus came.

Or Ruth... she too, was not a Jew (her story has a book all its own) but married one, and then stuck by her mother-in-law and ended up marrying Boaz... yet another link in his lineage. And

Rahab (Joshua 2ff), a temple priestess who conducted "worship" for men by using her sexuality. But for some reason, she decided to protect some Jewish spies, was saved from the fall of Jericho and married... yeah, you guessed it... into the lineage that would bring the world Jesus.

Bathsheba, well, she is the stolen queen. David lusted after her and to get her, he had her husband killed. (2 Samuel 12: 24, 25).

All these women, all foreigners, all with sordid stories... they tell me that God wants us all, no matter where we come from, no matter what we've done. He can use us and he sent Jesus to earth, through these people FOR US.

It's more than a bunch of names... it's the Way to the Manger.

Our God Comes

The virgin will be with child
and will give birth to a son,

And they will call him Immanuel ~
which means, "God with us."

You who brings good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.

You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,

Lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,

"Here is your God!"

~ Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 40:9

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lowly exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!