Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 20, 2009
Text: Luke 1:39-45
The reversal of fortunes, oh how it leaves us dumbfounded. Last year the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl 43 by defeating the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers had lost only four games during the regular season. This year, just in the past five weeks, the Steelers have lost all five of their games, more than all of last year. They have just six wins against seven defeats. God performs miracles, but not for football teams. The Steelers probably will not make the playoffs this year. Who would have thought this possible?
Talking a little baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008, but their fortune was reversed in 2009 when the New York Yankees beat them. Though the Phillies had the fortune of playing in this year’s World Series, they did not have the fortune of repeating. We Phillies’ fans were hoping a repeat was possible.
Whether we are sports fans or not, we know of and have experienced the reversal of fortunes that occurs so often in life. Consider the millions of people that have suffered the misfortune of losing their jobs this past year. Their once positive and secure futures were reversed by a pink slip. Many of you on fixed incomes experienced the misfortune of your investments decreasing by 30-40%. A goodly number of people experienced the misfortune of having the bank foreclose on their mortgage. Who would have thought any of this was possible?
Fortune reversal can also go from worse to better. In this past year, you may have found a job that compensated you with higher wages and gave you increased satisfaction in your work. Maybe the good fortune that you received was the healing of an illness, the reconciliation with the person who hurt you, or the solving of a long-standing problem that has been solved. Who would have thought any of this was possible?
In our Gospel reading this morning, two kinfolk women, Elizabeth and Mary have had their fortunes reversed. Elizabeth was barren all of her adult life. Now past her child bearing years she is pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary is a virgin; engaged but not married, she is bearing in her womb the Son of God. When Mary visits Elizabeth, Elizabeth is filled with wonderment as she asks, “Why has this happened to me that the mother of my Lord comes to me.” (Lk. 1:43) Mary expresses her wonderment with these words, “My soul magnifies the Lord for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.” Who would have thought any of this was possible?
In her song of praise, called the Magnificat, Mary declares to us that the son she bears in her womb is the Son of God, the one who will change our fortunes. Mary sings, “He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.” Notice that everything she speaks of is already stated as having happened. The promises of God are so sure and certain that Mary and all who believe already know that it will happen.
On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, just five days before Christmas, we are waiting for our God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is a God that reverses our fortunes according to His will.
The world is full of misfortune and contradiction. We wonder, “How will it all come out? Who will make the world right?”
In the womb of Mary, is the Son of God. He is God’s will, soon to be born, that the misfortune that now lies on the shoulders of the people of God can be reversed. This is God’s world. He comes to set us free from all that oppresses us.
What should we do? Mary is our example. As Elizabeth said of her, “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” Mary trusted God’s reversing of her fortune. Let us do likewise. If you are in doubt about your future, repent – for through Jesus Christ, there is forgiveness of sin and new life. Who would have thought that through Mary’s son our good fortune would be to be loved by God?