Advent 4c - conclusion

Micah 5:2-5; Psalm 801-7; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-56

How did we get to the fourth Sunday of Advent so quickly? When I was a child it took an eternity of Sundays to light four candles, now it seems those four weeks fly by and with so much still to do and less and less time to do it I could use an Advent 5. But whether it is time that speeds up or we who can’t slow down doesn’t really matter. The day will come and go right on schedule and maybe that’s the point. We’re the ones who fluctuate in both our experience of time and our relationship with the Divine. And so like Micah’s vision we live through times of abandonment, but when God comes we know security and peace. Like the Psalmist we live through times when tears are our bread, but when God comes we are bathed in the light of God’s face and are restored. Like Hebrews we trust we can please God with sacrifices and offerings and are never quite sure we’ve done enough, but when God comes our dependence on law gives way to being embraced by love. And finally the truth of Mary’s song is that we are the proud lost in our own thoughts; we are those who are well fed but always hungry; we are the powerful sitting on thrones of our own design; but when God comes we are blessed for God looks on us with favor. But then God has never left us so this coming and going is really more about our returning, which of course is only possible because God came down.