Save Us, O Lord
Advent 4 – December 22, 2024
Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm 80:1-7
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-55
“Restore us,O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved” Psalm 80: 3, 7, 19.
This is the refrain of Psalm 80. A refrain which is interspersed with the lament that God had abandoned God’s people because of their sin. A recognition of the fact that the people have not always looked to God for their salvation and have wandered off to look for a different salvation. That is much of the history of God’s people. When offered a salvation by God, we have chosen something else. You know the routine. We are relentlessly offered short cuts to salvation by advertisements on the television to ‘come-alongs’ from the street vendors. (A humorous example is the time when one of the Mon Valley communities was struggling financially so they tried playing the lottery.) I suppose, in part, the reason for this is that we have a distorted idea of what salvation actually is. We have made salvation to mean an easy life full of money, and health. When we don’t have that, we think God has abandoned us. That’s also what the Israelites thought. Our story from Luke today says otherwise.
Mary did not have an easy life before Gabriel’s visit. His visit only made her life more difficult. We do not know exactly why she went to visit Elizabeth. Perhaps it was to hide that she was pregnant. Maybe she went to see if Elizabeth was pregnant for herself. She may have gone to give Elizabeth help in the last months of her pregnancy. But the journey was not easy. She most likely walked the 80 or so miles to visit. Mary also heard the accusations of her neighbors that Jesus was crazy (the text says ‘beside himself’) and Jesus’ response when she went to bring him home when he told her those who were with him was his mother and his brother. And she stood and watched her son die upon the cross. Mary’s life was not made easier when she was chosen and the angel Gabriel visited her. This is also true for many of God’s chosen people. To have God’s face shine upon you does not guarantee an easy life. It guarantees a life with God.
In this very hectic time think of Mary and Elizabeth. Mary who was not expecting God’s gift and Elizabeth who spent a lifetime praying for it. Both, through the gift that God gave them, helped to bring God’s love into the world. It certainly was not easy and, at times, they probably wondered if it all was worth it or even what it all meant. But they did it because they could do no other. Yes, think of Mary and Elizabeth, Joseph and Zachariah, the disciples and Paul, and think about your place in the great cloud of witnesses to God’s love. It has not always been easy nor have you always done the right thing, But it has always been in the presence of God. That is what salvation truly is – walking in the footsteps of Jesus and sharing God’s love with all. Make this Christmas a time to share what God has showered upon you with others.