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“My soul magnifies the lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

In today’s gospel we hear the Magnificat:
that great song of Mary found in the Gospel of Luke.

And there’s very similar words in the book of Samuel:
When another mother: Hannah, sings a similar song.

Hannah was unable to conceive and bear children:
We are told that it was because, “The Lord had closed her womb.”

In time, however, she did conceive:
And she gave birth to Samuel:
who would become a great priest and prophet.

When Hannah dedicates Samuel to the temple to become a priest:

She sings a song:
The song that Luke uses as the model for Mary’s song.

Hannah says,
“My heart exults in the Lord;

My strength is exalted in my God.”

It sounds a lot like Mary’s song:
“My soul magnifies the Lord.”

As both songs continue,
They talk about the mighty being laid low,
The lowly raised up:
About God acting in the world.

And so these women sing:
“My heart exults in the Lord.”
“My soul magnifies the Lord.”

That’s an arresting phrase: My soul magnifies the Lord.
MY soul magnifies the Lord.

It is sometimes translated as:
“my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”

But there’s something really powerful about this translation:
“my soul magnifies the Lord.”

And it IS a better translation:
Since Mary’s song is named “The Magnificat”
The Latin word for “Magnifies.”
The more traditional, version translates the song as:
“My soul doth magnify the lord,”
And a little later says,
“For he that is mighty hath magnified me.”

Think about that:
Mary is saying:
I magnify the lord:
And the Lord also magnifies me.

Double magnification:
Double “Bigger.”
As if : In a magnifying glass.

And that’s where we are in Advent:
Advent prepares us for Christmas:
Taking us through the magnifying glass:
Through the looking glass.

There, everything looks familiar,
But everything is utterly and profoundly different.

Because God has become incarnate, enfleshed, one of us:
And that changes everything.
It magnifys everything.
It makes all meaning bigger.

This is the God-magnifying life of Jesus.
Where JESUS magnifies God:
Where JESUS: coming to earth:
Makes us more able to SEE god:
As if we are looking through a magnifying glass.

At the beginning of the service we prayed:
“that when Jesus comes he will find in our hearts a mansion prepared for him.”
It echos the Gospel of John:
Where Jesus says that he goes to prepare a mansion for us:
That in his father’s house there are many mansions.

Jesus promises to prepare a place for us.
And now we are on the cusp of welcoming God again:
And recognizing God as living, moving, and acting among us again.
We are told to prepare a mansion for God.

You know the song:
“Joy to the world”

“Let every heart, prepare Him room.”

Preparing God a space:
So that God might be born again in us.
So that we might be born again in him.
Our souls, or bodies, our very being, will magnify the greatness of God.
Will make it bigger:
More visible.

As Mary’s soul magnifys the lord:
So should ours.
We too, have a part in God’s divine action.

And that’s what Jesus’ incarnation is all about:
That’s what God becoming human is all about:
About how humans, too, can magnify the Lord:
Making God more visible:
Brining peace, joy, love, and hope to the world through us:
Magnifying God’s grace and spirit through us.

“My soul magnifies the Lord,” can mean that through me,
through you, through us:
others can see the Lord more clearly.
Through me and through you,

People can catch a glimpse of that peaceful kingdom:
Can see it magnified more clearly.

Through each of us, through our words and our actions,
through all that we do, can magnify God.

We magnify God’s being with our own bodies.
We magnify God’s action with our own practices.
We magnify God’s word with our words in the world.

But HOW can we magnify the Lord?
That’s a big question.
It’s easy to think that it’s too big for any one of us to handle.

But another important lesson that Mary’s Magnificat teaches is that we are
enough.
Whoever you are, whatever you have or haven’t done, you are enough.
The song of Mary reminds us that all of the scripture points to the little, the lowly,
the “who me?” as the vehicle for salvation.

Bethlehem is nothing special.
Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is nothing special:
Elizabeth:
The mother of John the Baptist, is nothing special.

And both Elizabeth and Hannah endured disgrace due to their barrenness.
And Mary:
Mary is a NOBODY.
An underage woman, from a nowhere town—Nazareth.

All throughout scripture whenever God wants to do something it’s the little,
the ordinary, the unexceptional that God uses.

When God wants to create humans:
God reaches into the mud.
When God wants to redeem all of creation:
God enters that creation fully and completely:
as one of the most vulnerable creatures on the planet:
a human child.

And a human child born to NOBODIES.
In a NOWHERE town.
A tiny baby:
Who is, at first, a NOBODY.
Yet, entirely enough
Enough to change human history,
Enough to change the world:
Enough to change us:
Into the beloved children of God that we are.

That tiny baby:
Magnifying the Lord:
Making God more visible to all.

It is through human beings, through human flesh:
Through this fragile and easily broken substance that salvation happens.
It is through us that God works.
Through us that God is magnified.

And just like Mary and Hannah, though little, we are enough.
Each of us is enough to magnify God.
Imagine what would happen if we let God work.

If we truly made room for God to be born in our hearts.
If we let God magnify the good work that God has begun and is already doing in
each of us.
What if we joined together with others to magnify that work?
Imagine the world that would be born from that.

As we prepare to welcome Christ once more into our hearts and our homes, may
our souls magnify more and more the glory of God.
May our souls:
Make God magnified:
Seen more clearly:
In the world and in us. Amen.

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3rd Sunday in Advent

12/16/2024

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Rejoice in the Lord Always,
Again I will say rejoice!

The past two weeks:
We’ve heard a lot of bible stories depicting despair and destruction:
All sorts of apocalyptic images that must take place before the Advent:
The “coming into being”
of the new creation yet to come:
and the Christ child in the manger.

And on this Third Sunday of Advent,
We begin to see a sort of shift
In this expectant journey to Christmas:

Today is traditionally called “Gaudete” Sunday:
Gaudete is the Latin word for Rejoice:

And it’s why we light the pink candle on the advent wreath:
There’s a moment of joyful “brightening”:
Moving from the deep purple to pink.
But it’s not ALL sunshine and rainbows.

There’s still this lingering scary talk:
As John the Baptist shouts about repentance:
Calling the crowds a brood of vipers:
And even proclaiming the coming of Christ:
Not as a sweet cuddly baby:
But as someone who will baptize with Fire:
With a winnowing fork in his hand:
Burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

It’s the same sort of stuff we’ve been hearing.
But there’s also this seemingly conflicting message of great joy.

Because right after John talks about this unquenchable fire,
This separation of the wheat and the chaff:
We’re told that John:
With many other exhortations:
Proclaimed the GOOD NEWS to the people.

All this scary talk from John the Baptist,
Doesn’t exactly feel like Good News.
It feels contradictory.

And to hear all of this,
About repentance, and fire, and winnowing forks:
On the same day that Paul urges us to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

Feels weird and conflicting.

But here’s the crazy part about that second lesson from Philippians.
Paul wrote that letter from PRISON.

Despite being in prison:
Paul is remarkably upbeat in this letter.
He’s exuding joy:
And encouraging his friends to trust God with all their worries and concerns.

And that’s not even all!
Our first lesson from Zephaniah is full images of joy:
Singing:
Shouting!
Rejoicing and exultation!
As if on a day of festival!

There’s a promise to remove disaster,
change shame into praise,
And a restoration of fortunes.

But there’s a weird contradiction in this lesson too.

Zephaniah tells us that all of this joyful delight will happen later:
It’s again a sort of apocalyptic image:

(although a happier one than the ones we we’ve been seeing.)

Zephaniah uses phrases like “at that time”
Or “on that day”
To describe a promise of something to come LATER.

The same phrase is used in the canticle today,
(Which is the reading that we read in place of the Psalm:
From the book of Isaiah)

This language of “on that day” or “at that time” signifies something not yet here:
Not yet in fruition:
But still coming into being:
An Advent:
Coming Later.

But here’s the contradiction.
Because although these things are yet to come:
We’re told TWICE in Zephaniah that “God IS in your midst.”

And that same phrase shows up in our canticle too.
If God is in our midst:
Midst doesn’t mean in the other room:
Or in some other place.
If God is in our midst:

That means that God is right in the center:
Right here:
Right now:
Not coming later.

The point of all of this is:
That contradictions aren’t necessarily impossibilities.
They don’t cancel one another out to create nothingness.

You CAN Be imprisoned and joyful:
Just like Paul.

You can actually even experience joy and sorrow at the same time.

You CAN be a brood of vipers:
In need of repentance:
And still seek good news of great joy in the knowledge of God’s forgiveness.

You can be a sinner, and also do great good.
You can do great good: and do great harm.

You CAN have God in your midst:
And still plead and long for MORE.

You CAN sing and dance and rejoice:

Even if things aren’t perfect.

You CAN long for something more:
While STILL being grateful for what you HAVE.

These seeming contradictions:
Remind us and teach us that It’s NOT all or nothing.

It’s not black and white.
It’s not Joy vs. Sorrow.
It’s not saints vs. sinners.

The Christian life is about ALL of it:
Human life is about ALL of it:
Our Advent:
Our coming into being is not a “one and done trip”

After all:
As we wait for our own advent:
Our own “coming into being”
We also know that we already ARE.
We already exist:
But it’s not just life or death.
It’s also the in-between.

Our advent is a continuous, ongoing adventure:
Where joy meets sorrow:
And mixes it all up.

A continuous, ongoing adventure:
Where the unquenchable fire:
The repentance and recognition of our sins:
Is also the source of good news.

It’s a continuous, ongoing coming into being:
Where we rejoice in God active among us:
And can also look forward to the day when we see and hear God even more
clearly.

God is already in our midst:
Already in the very center.
And yet, we still cry out “Come lord Jesus.”

We still pray,
As we prayed in our opening prayer today, to “Stir up your power, o Lord, and
with great might COME among us.”
Even though our Lord is already right here.

Advent is a good reminder that things are always more complicated than they
seem.
Humans are more complicated than they seem.
And the peace of God surpasses all of our human understanding.

We’ll never be able to fully understand Gods ways of peace, justice, and mercy.

What seems like a contradiction to us:
Might also be a part of God’s perfect plan.
But we’ll never know
Unless we live in our own advent:
Waiting expectantly:
For something more to come into being.

Amen

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1st Sunday in Advent

12/2/2024

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Good Morning!
And Happy First Sunday of Advent!

Except Advent isn’t all shine and rainbows.
When you look “Advent” up in the dictionary:
The first two definitions are obviously about the Coming of Jesus:
Jesus’ first Advent:
in his human birth.
And his second Advent: which is still yet to come.

But advent, NOT capitalized:
Literally means “a coming into being.”
Or a “Coming into use.”

Advent is:
Something coming: but not yet quite here.

And the images in advent:
As we will see in the coming weeks:
Aren’t really glorious images of the beautiful hope that is to come:
(or of the sweet Christ-Child in the manger.)

Before that:
There are all sorts of images of unfinishedness:

Unfulfilled-ness:
Even images of destruction and despair:
Before the great glorious “coming into being” that is yet to be realized.

Even JESUS talks about this in today’s Gospel.
He says, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
And on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea
and the waves.
People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world,
For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

These words from Jesus sound less than happy.
They sound terrifying.

Part of the season of Advent is acknowledging this terrifying reality.
The terrifying reality of things not being as the should be:
The hard road of coming into being.
(Or as we heard a few weeks ago: the beginning of the birth pangs).

So there’s that sort of terrifying reality that is a piece of Advent.

And the other part of Advent:
Is the expectant hope:
The expectant SOLID BELIEF:
That the current terrifying reality is not the end:
That something better is coming into being.

And Jesus points us in this direction:
He says, “Now when these things begin to take place.”
(Meaning this terrifying stuff about distress among nations, and fear and
foreboding.)

When these things begin to take place:
Stand up and raise your heads:
Because your redemption is drawing near.”

The point of all of this is:
That Advent isn’t just about waiting for Jesus to be born
(although it is that)

It’s ALSO the time of waiting:
THROUGH the despair and the destruction:
For something more to come into being.

In Jerimiah:
We heard today:
That God promises that the days are coming:
When a righteous Branch will spring up and bring about true justice and
righteousness.
But this hasn’t happened yet.

And the faithful people:
In Jeremiah’s time and ours:
Are called to patience and hope.

But not in a trite way:
In a true:
Steadfast belief that it WILL happen.
DEMANDING that it will happen:
That the true Advent WILL come:
That the entire world will come into being as God intended.

And ALSO:
This has implications for us right here at St. John’s.

We’re obviously waiting in this season of Advent:
For the Christ child to be born.

And we’re obviously waiting:
For the moment where Jesus comes again:
To bring the entire world into being.

But it’s also more local than that.
Maybe even more imminent than that.

I believe that we, at St. John’s church in New London:
Are also waiting for our own coming into being:
Into what God intends for us.
Our own sort of revival.

I think that God wants something more for us.

LONGS for something more for us:
And it’s our job to invite and welcome it in.

It’s our job to shout and scream “Come lord Jesus.”
Not because Jesus isn’t already here:
But because we want more:
Because we believe there can be more:
We can even DEMAND MORE.

And there’s a lot of darkness and destruction in today’s world.
In our own lives,
And sometimes even clouding over our own beloved church.

It seems to me:
That this season of Advent is the perfect time for us to begin to pray out the
darkness and destruction:
And to invite in the light.

It’s the perfect time:
to pray for renewal:
for Revival:
To believe that it is possible:
And to maybe even DEMAND that it take place.

Our opening Collect:
(which was read today in every Episcopal Church across this country)
acknowledges this:

We prayed, “Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works
of darkness, an put upon us the armor of light.”

But I want more even more than this one prayer offers.

So we’re going to keep praying it.
(But with different words)

We’re going to welcome in the light:
Demand the light of revival:
For as long as it takes.

And It will almost certainly take longer than this season of Advent.

Our own Advent:
At St. John’s New London:
Our own renewal and revival will not suddenly appear for us on Christmas
morning.

We’ll still rejoice in the birth of the Christ Child:
AND:
we’ll keep praying:
Keep demanding:
A renewal and revival from the Holy Spirit:
Right here in this space.

But for now:

During this Church season designed for expectation:
For waiting:
And for prayer:
We’ll light our Advent wreath every week.

We’ll pray the light in.
We’ll cry “Come Lord Jesus.”

We’ll sing O COME O COME EMANNUEL:
(And we might even sing it so many times that we get tired of it.)

Because we must.
We must demand the light to come over us:
And to drive away all signs of darkness.

Please join me in this season,
And well beyond:
As we wait for our own Advent:
Our own new “Coming into Being.”
Which only God can bring to us.

Amen.

Advent Prayer

Holy and Gracious God,
Maker of all things:
You alone are the source of light and life:
And for that we are supremely grateful.
Send us your light and your truth.
In the name of Jesus:
Dispel the darkness covering us,
Destroy the darkness around us.
Drive out all evil:
And bring us your eternal flame of light.
We cry out for you and your great light.
Come Lord Jesus:
Come heavenly light:
Come celestial brightness.
Renew us.
Enlighten us.
Revive us.
Bring us into being:
And create in us something new:
All in the name of your glorious Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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