Not many sleeps before Christmas by the time you read this. Another Advent is upon us. Another season to try and not let the mad Christmas rush dazzle us too early with tinsel, twinkling lights and jingle bells.
Instead, we try to watch, wait and ready ourselves for the return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Time, again, to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armour of another kind of light, so we may rise to the life immortal when Jesus comes again and the chips are down (see The Collect for Advent (BCP p95 and BAS p268).
And as we wait, consider how it all started.
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:18).
It started supernaturally. The Holy Spirit of God working through an extraordinary young woman. Mary, “the greatest merely human being that ever lived,” wrote Peter Kreeft, theologian, philosopher, teacher and author.
And then, to her betrothed, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:20).
God helped and directed Joseph by speaking supernaturally through an angel and a dream. The angel went on: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel — which means, “God with us” (Mt. 1:23).
Matthew is quoting Isaiah 7:14 here. This is not a coincidental proof-text. He was prompted supernaturally to make that connection. And in doing so he communicates the supernatural reality of Jesus into our world. This is Good News.
Because Mary (and Joseph) made in these extraordinary circumstances, what on the face of it, were irrational, heart-decisions to say yes to God, she brought Jesus into the world for us. She offered her body so God could take on human flesh to save us. Through Mary, Jesus was embodied and made flesh for our benefit.
Madeleine L’Engle, in her poem After the Annunciation, puts it like this:
This is the irrational season
When love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason
There’d have been no room for the child.
So Mary made room and “was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 1:18).
With that in mind, here’s an Advent question for us to consider: how might you and I be being called to make room for Jesus in our lives, and what new Gifts and Fruits of the Spirit might be found in us as a result?
Read about the Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:11-12 and Galatians 5:22-23. Ask The LORD to transcend our limitations and enable us to risk getting irrational, like Mary, and to let love bloom brighter and wilder and make a more room for Jesus in our lives this Advent.
