Radical Christian: "Rejoice... Again, I say, rejoice!"

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Readings:

Key Verses (using the World English Bible):

Php. 4:4-5: “Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, ‘Rejoice!’ Let your gentleness be known to all… The Lord is at hand.”

Luke 1:28: “The angel [Gabriel] said to [Mary], ‘Rejoice, you high favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”

Reflection

The Annunciation has to be one of our most familiar stories. We hear it at least once a year around this time—maybe a second time during Lent, when the Feast of the Annunciation officially falls. The Angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary has worked its way into popular devotions such as the Catholic rosary, as well as the Orthodox mystical poem, “Salutation to the Mother of God” (aka, “Akathist to the Theotokos”).

No matter how many times I hear it, I always find this story profound and humbling. A large part of it is because Mary, in her humility and respect, reminds me so much of my own mother. But a larger part is because the Annunciation narrative weaves together themes of promises about to be fulfilled, of age-old burdens being lightened, of God about to work in the world in a direct, visible, and even tangible way. And I know that’s something that all of us who seek God yearn for deep in our hearts. It’s a yearning that comes from the knowledge that the world is not okay, and that only something larger than we are can make it right.

And, up to this point, Advent has called us to live in that yearning, by summoning us to be watchful, to repent, to cast off sin and darkness, and to forgive—but now, on this Sunday before the coming of the Christ-child, it calls us to rejoice. Note how Scripture is quick to make a connection between the arrival of the Lord and joy. Gabriel’s first words to Mary are: “Rejoice… the Lord is with you!” And Paul reminds—you might even say commands—us to “Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, ‘Rejoice!’… the Lord is at hand.” God’s presence, God’s nearness, “God-With-Us” should, and must, always be a cause of joyous celebration.

This is such an important connection to make because it’s so easy to forget. Even in the Bible, manifestations of God to his people are almost always accompanied by fear and guilt, even dejection and unworthiness—and that’s natural. It’s all too human to fear and flee from what we can’t understand, from what’s larger than life.

But what if we looked at it from Mary’s angle? Most us just hear the story, but we must also “be doers of the word, and not only hearers”. Do put yourself into the narrative. That angelic greeting wasn’t just for her—it’s for you, too. Consider “what kind of salutation this might be”: the Creator of all things, the Beginning and End of all that is; the eternal One of infinite power and wisdom, whose very name means “causing to exist”—that God, for no other reason except love, wants to be with you; to come into your life and live it as you do; to be born into your heart, and to be born(e) by you into the hearts of others. God is inviting you to participate in an unbroken, unceasing chain of existence, forever flowing into and out of itself through all that’s ever lived, through all that even now is alive. Is that what it means to be “full of grace”? To be “overshadowed” by the Most High? With such a salutation, how can there be room in the inn for anything else except joy?

Like Mary, though, we too have to say yes. We have to choose to receive God; God will never push himself on us. But the good news of Christmas is that we have that choice every day. Every day, we can receive God into our being, and be transformed into a living manifestation of everything that God stands for. And when we do, the God of peace, with whom nothing is impossible, will indeed be with us forever.

Prayer of the Day

O Lord, we pray you,

raise up your power, and come among us,

and with great might, come to our aid;

that, whereas through our sins and wickedness,

we are sorely hindered in running the race set before us,

your bountiful grace and mercy

may speedily help and deliver us;

through the satisfaction of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,

to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,

be honor and glory,

forever and ever.

Amen.

(From the Book of Common Prayer, 1662;

used for Advent 3 in the 1979 edition)

Or,

Waken our hearts, O Lord,

so that we may prepare the way for your only-begotten Son.

Graciously keep us in your service,

and cleanse our hearts for his coming;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

(From the Lund Missal, 1514, Advent 2;

translation by Joseph A. Soltero)

Hymn: “Rejoice, rejoice in God the Lord”

(Words: ‘Op glædes alle, glædes nu’, by Thomas Kingo, 1689; translated from Danish by Joseph A. Soltero, 2014

Tune: ‘Alt, hvad som fuglevinger fik’, by Thomas Laub, 1915)

Rejoice, rejoice in God the Lord,

Arise and sing with one accord,

The dawn yourself awaken!

For God the Son again comes near,

And, as in love he holds us dear,

Our human form has taken.

Away with gloom! Away with sin!

The joy of God now we let in,

As we embrace our Jesus

In prayer of heart, in thanks of soul;

In Christ is all our hope made whole,

The hope which ever frees us.

The peace, O God, you freely give,

With open hearts may we receive,

And there to leave us never,

That in your Son we may abide

On this and every Christmastide

With joy that lasts forever.

Or, “O come, O come, Emmanuel”

(Words: “Veni, veni, Emmanuel”, 12^th cent.; English translation by John M. Neale, 1851; Adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2014)

Tune: ‘Veni Emmanuel’, 15^th cent., French Franciscan processional )

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel