Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

In this last week of Advent, as we enter into our final days of preparation for the Christmas season and the celebration of Christ’s birth, we hear the angel’s greeting to Mary. We hear of the promise of the birth to come.

What are we listening for in these final days, then? What have we opened our ears to in these last moments of Advent, as Christmas rushes headlong towards us?

What do we have left on our “to do” lists? Do we have all of the decorations up and the gifts bought? Are the pictures taken, cards mailed, and family contacted? What more is there yet to do to be ready?

I think of all the sounds that are particular to Advent and December: the bells, the songs, the carols, of course. But I also think of the whisper that tells you the difference between rain falling, and snow. The way you can tell when the snowplow is going by, which is somehow a different sound than the usual cars or garbage trucks.

If we could open our ears to the world around us and hear God through the voice of the angel Gabriel, what greeting would we hear? What would we expect to hear? “Greetings, child of God!” or do we look down on ourselves in our image of God’s eyes, and expect something a little less cheery, “Hello, child.”

Perhaps we are indeed hearing God’s voice, coming closer and closer as Christmas approaches, through all the different sounds of the season. The voices of the angels singing out in the carols on the radio, the greetings of family and friends reminding us of the joys of the season, these voices remind us of the love of God, who delights to be in relationship with us.

And perhaps also we can hear the voice of God in the whisper of the falling snow and the rush of the working snow plows. Perhaps we can open our ears to the quiet ways that God calls out to us, calls us into the world that is always changing, forming and re-forming around us in every moment, calling us into relationship with God and God’s beautiful, holy creation.

After all, Christmas is when we celebrate God becoming a truly physical part of that creation.

And it’s coming soon!

Thanks be to God!

Amen.