Sermon, Advent 4

 This week, I had the privilege of being online with a group of people, conferring a blessing on a baby bump. And, naturally, the baby bump’s parents, too.

Each of us around the Zoom Room was invited to share a prayer prompt – a word or phrase of blessing that would grace the top of a page of the growing family’s prayer journal.

The prayers we offered were based in experience and faith.

Prayers for abundant joy – and adequate sleep.

For health and safety.

For moments of wisdom, and self-care.

For love, for faith, for family.

And for grace.

Oh yes, we prayed for grace:

Which we all knew we didn’t need to do: for grace is not a commodity to be shared, it is not an object to be offered, it is not in our control: but it is our delight.

For grace is the perfect gift of God. Sprinkled as abundantly and indiscriminately as the snow that glitters from the sky.

We prayed for grace.

Just as grace was prayed for in that beautiful interaction between Elizabeth and Mary, that we hear about in today’s gospel passage.

This gorgeous conversation and declaration of faith – of hope – of expectation – of grace.

It is not the easiest of conversations, obviously!

Elizabeth, after all, is not a young woman; a pregnancy for a mature woman whose husband has been struck mute.

Mary, after all, IS a young woman – a girl, really, fleeing from her home for her safety and for the safety of her unborn child: for although she – and we – know that this child is the manifestation of God Almighty, growing in her womb; her community may not have quite grasped that unique and unbelievable miracle. And there were consequences in that society for showing up pregnant before your wedding… And – at this point, Joseph is choosing to remain silent.

So she fled. “Went with HASTE” we hear – to see her elderly relative, hoping beyond hope to be received.

To be welcomed.

To be cared for.

To be prayed for.

And Elizabeth and Mary meet, and speak: they hear and are heard.

And grace abounds: blessing these two expectant mothers; blessing their baby bumps; blessing all of us who are hearers of their grace.

So let’s think about grace for just a moment.

The gift of grace. The divine gift: that cannot be bought or sold; that cannot be maximised or minimised. Grace: is. It simply is. Because it IS of God.

And for us, as recipients of grace, we struggle to understand what grace is. Theologians and philosophers have long struggle to articulate this mystery:

St. Paul says “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

St. Augustine says that “of the divine testimonies concerning the grace of God, without which we are not able to do any good thing”

Lenny Duncan says “We live lives on the edge between sinner and saint. Somehow grace is our balance.”

Anne Lamott says ““I do not understand the mystery of grace -- only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.”

Paul Tillich says “Sometimes … a wave of light breaks into our darkness, and it is as though a voice were saying: “You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!” If that happens to us, we experience grace. After such an experience we may not be better than before, and we may not believe more than before. But everything is transformed.”

So even the best thinkers and writers cannot fully capture the concept of grace in words: but our souls, our bodies, our selves: they *know* grace. The counter-cultural, unconditional, perfect gift of grace.

And this grace is the basis for the song of praise that Elizabeth proclaims when her cousin Mary arrives, and the Holy Spirit fills her with joy.

It is the grace that has sustained generations with faith and confidence and hope:

Hail Mary; Elizabeth says. Full of grace. You are blessed.

What magnificence these words must have been to a tired, scared, young, impossibly pregnant girl.

You are welcomed and accepted; says Elizabeth. She cries out – not intimidated by who might overhear, in fact overjoyed at the possibility to share this news with everyone who CAN hear!

Hail Mary! You are full of grace! You are full of God’s gift!

FULL: not carrying a little bit, not bearing a portion. FULL of grace.

The grace that brings light into the world.

The divine gift that we feel, and is so profound that we don’t even have words for it all.

You, Mary, are full of that grace.

Welcome, Mary; Elizabeth says. Blessed are YOU among women.

And this is a blessing that transcends time and space and place.

It is bigger and better than grace and blessing to just one person: as impressive and important as Mary is; for she shares the blessings that she has received, with the entirety of the world. And the entirety of time.

Which means that this blessing: of choosing to carry forth the Christ into the world – this blessing continues for all of us.

And all of us can receive the good news of a blessing similar to (though admittedly distinctly different from!) the blessing of Mary’s womb.

But we too are blessed, as we bring to new life the presence of God in our midst.

So – this Advent Sunday, as we sit on the precipice of a week of who knows what – let us know that we too are living in hope… in expectation… in joy… in blessing.

For blessed are you!

Blessed are you among men; blessed are you among women; blessed are you among all expressions of gender.

Blessed are you among all peoples, of all pronouns. Of all colours, creeds, nations, of every presence.

Blessed are you. For you too are full of grace.

The grace which can NEVER be taken away – for it has come to you from God.

It is a gift for you: It is a blessing.

For you are blessed.

Blessed are you among your communities, among your friends, among the strangers.

Blessed are you who stand up for rights, who speak up for the voiceless, who support the weak.

Blessed are you who feed the hungry, and care for the sick, and provide for those experiencing need.

Blessed are you: among all. For you are doing the work of God, that brings light into the world.

Hail Mary. And Joseph. And Karen. And George. And all the names that have been lifted up before God: the beautiful names that we are known by, that we have shared with God and with others. Blessed are YOU. For you bring light into the world. You carry hope; you bless the world with faith; you extend the grace that you have been gifted.

Hail, beloved. You are full of Grace. Blessed are You among peoples.

Your soul magnifies the Lord; Your presence lightens the world.

Blessed are you, who makes others leap for joy.

And blessed is your faith: as together we believe in the fulfillment of God’s promises.

Blessed is the one – every one - who carries the Word of God to the world.

Hail, beloved. Full of Grace. Blessed are you among us.