Sunday, December 19, 2021
4th Sunday of Advent

The Revised Common Lectionary passages for the Lord’s Day are:
– First Reading: Micah 5:2-5a
– Psalm: 80:1-7  Canticle: Luke 1:46b-55
– Second Reading: Hebrews 10:5-10
– Gospel Reading: Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)

The liturgical color for the day is: Purple or Blue

It is what Elizabeth does—she recognized Mary.  She recognized her.  “And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?”

She recognized her.  She saw in her the presence of the eternal.  She knew her as the vessel of life which is the being of God.  Elizabeth saw—she witnessed—she was in the presence of the Incarnation.  She saw the very flesh of eternity and spirit in the one who was with her.  And Mary saw it in Elizabeth too.  She heard it in the Spirit, but she saw it in the woman who was before her.

Why did Mary go?  Why did she go to Elizabeth?  Because she needed that recognition that we can only get from that one who knows us.

She could not get that recognition by going to the mall.  She could not behold it by explaining to another her dire situation.  She could only bear witness to it in the presence of Elizabeth.

There is no coincidence.  Mary does not just happen to come upon Elizabeth.  The child does not just happen to leap within Elizabeth’s womb.

There is no coincidence…  There. Is. God.

And so, like every other Sunday we come together.  There is no coincidence.  We need to be together—to sit in the same room in recognition.

And just when…just when we think it is all coincidence…that it cannot be…  We close our eyes…  We come together in the same room…  We dare to trust that awe that is God With Us.  As we continue to do that Sunday after Sunday—into this dark world comes this flicker of starlight.

When we let that light in—we recognize love in such a way that we become a chorus of Mary singing: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

“…my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”

—

Rev. Dr. Daris Bultena
General Presbyter and Stated Clerk