Status Updates From Songs for a Saviour's Birth...

Two more p's -- praise and proclamation. Anna's responds to seeing her prayers answered were to praise and proclaim. This is the capstone of all five Christmas songs (Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, and Anna).

I see a pattern: peace, purpose, and now pain. This is not a pleasing prosperity gospel. Here Jesus reveals what we are and scratches off the crusty scales of the old man as happened with Eustace in Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Jesus is the way and the life, not a way and a wife. When we accept that, then we can learn our purpose and share in his work.

A little section on peace. Peace comes from believing in Christ. Of the 1,000 things to do before you die, this is the only one that matters. This kind of peace leads to true contentment and takes away the fear of death. "O Death, Where is Thy Sting?"

The birth of Jesus has so many doubles that function as mirrors. Joseph and Mary > Zechariah and Elizabeth > Simeon and Anna and they are three stages of life. God is such a great storyteller because of the clever design and craftsmanship.

We rebeled against our maker and he sent an army of angelic warriors to do battle with Satan rather than children who rebeled. While we have such a hard time reconciling with people who have wronged us, that is not the case with God. I just read about Boromir's confession and Aragorn's response which reminded me of Aslan's response. God is the wronged party but he is also the great reconciler.

I had never really thought about why the shepherds were "sore afraid." I figured it was simply being startled by the appearance of an angel in the middle of the night. Moderns have the idea of cute little cherubs but the author reminds us that heavenly host implies an angelic army. No wonder the shepherds were frightened.

This chapter connects the idea how Jesus came down a person so that we could relate to a person and then went back up. He was the mountain and hill made low and then was the valley that was made high. That speaks to him a God (exalted and lofty) as well as man (humble and meek).

The sunrise imagery used in The Benedictus is glorious.

In this advent season two ideas have emerged in books and music and art that have been in my life. Darkness covered the earth and the Light invaded it and transformed it into a new world. God has raised the humble (every valley shall be exalted) and He has brought down the mighty (every mountain and hill made low).

Our social media/influencer culture is far different from Mary. An astonishing thing happens and also a dangerous, frightening thing happens (there are dire consequences for a young woman who is pregnant before marriage). Mary does not focus on herself or even the baby. In her song is about what God will do as a result of this birth. God coming to earth will right many wrongs.

The chapter conculudes with the third in a trinity of joy: joy in the womb, joy in the Word, and joy to the world. This joy is available to all who hear the word and believe. We can have even greater joy than Mary and E;izabeth did during their pregnancies. We are on the other side of the cross and we know parts of the story they did not know at the time. Those who believe are blessed.

I really like the section "Joy in the Word." We have this tension between duty versus desire. Often, the way to resolve tension is to realize this is not one or the other, it is both. Mary represents the duty side, "I am the handmaid of the Lord," and Mary represents the desire side, evidence by the joy she felt when she saw Mary.

Today's reading was excellent because it reminds us that joy comes from getting to be part of God's story through what he calls us to do. That is far greater than seeing a specific prayer request answered. The other thing is that church, advent practices, a favorite podcast, and this reading flooded me with all kinds of insights and images.

“Joy in the Womb” In light of weighty matters being discussed in court, we have to consider preborn life. “God knows his place, his plan, his purpose for every one of us who are his kingdom people, and for our children, even those still in the womb. We too are called to take God at his word, to trust his promises, and so to lead our own children in the way of the kingdom that God has promised in his gospel.”

I have never thought about the differing responses of Mary, Elizabeth, John, and Zechariah fro the perspective of belief and unbelief. Even in the womb, John was an evangelizer. Children are born persons and the person of John was already responding to God's call on his life even before he was born.

The idea of pondering advent through the five canticles leading up to the birth of Christ. Pardon the pun, but I got a kick out of the idea that John the Baptist kicked it off while in his mother's womb. What a marvelous thing to realize that he was filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb (Luke 1:15).