Advent
December 21, 2014

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-38

The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her. — Luke 1:35-38

I have been running at full speed for weeks with a variety of responsibilities besides trying to get ready for my annual family Christmas party. During most of the year I work my family into my life, in and around these other interest of vocation and avocation but not my Christmas party. All that other stuff has to fit in with my family. In our scripture today Mary learns that her relative Elizabeth, presumed to be barren, was also expecting a baby. Later in the story we learn that Mary travels to be with Elizabeth. My guess is that Mary needed the reassurance of one she could trust and one that would not shut her out as a result of her circumstances.

One of the joys of being a part of the Body of Christ is that we can seek out each other for mutual prayer and confirmation of the paths toward which God seems to be directing us.

My party is over. I thoroughly enjoyed my family which meant sharing time with boys becoming teenagers, newlyweds, a lot of school teachers in my midst, one recent high school graduate moving into independence, young adults starting new careers, tall tales of hunting and funny things that happened at work, and my siblings who are the proud parents and grandparents of the all.

Jesus came to bring all into the family of God and we are the ones chosen to plow the fields and plant the seeds for that to happen.

Prayer: Jesus, Spirit of God, Holy One, come among us and bless us to your service. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.