For weeks, Christmas music and carols have surrounded us. Appropriately so, we’re all getting excited for the joy of Christ’s birth at Christmas!
But before making our final trek to the manger in Bethlehem, I invite you to heed the words, and music, of an Advent hymn that often is left forgotten: the song of Mary.
This past weekend in worship we heard Mary’s song. After travelling to her relative, Elizabeth’s, house, she was greeted with a blessing. From that blessing flowed Mary’s song: a song of profound trust in God’s promises fulfilled in her and for her people.
For Mary, to declare in her song that God would act on behalf of her people was a bold move. She, and her people, had every reason to abandon hope – no longer believing that God would fulfill God’s promises to them. But still, she had the guts to believe that the Spirit of the Lord was upon her, and through the birth of Jesus, God’s promises would come to fruition for her, for her people, and for the entire world.
When we look around our lives and our world today, to boldly believe that the promises God offers to us will come to fruition may seem ludicrous. And yet, as we near the end of Advent, we are encouraged to hold onto hope – recognizing where and how God is at work within us and within the world, and looking forward to the day when all God’s creation will be joined in wholeness and peace.
So in the remaining days of Advent, dwell in Mary’s song. Read it, or listen to various musical interpretations of it (try this link, or this one for a totally different feel). May your final days of Advent be blessed as you prepare for the fulfillment of God’s promises given to us at Christmas.