Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your Word” (Luke 1:35-38).

Our collect for the third Sunday in Advent begins, “Stir up thy power, and with great might come among us.” In this week’s Old Testament reading from Zephaniah, we hear the words, “The Lord is in your midst.” In the letter to the Philippians Paul tells us, “The Lord is near.” John the Baptist says in Luke, “One who is more powerful than I is coming…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

All our readings point to the one who is coming from the realm of the eternal to the realm of the temporal. We are asked to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. Last week we set the story in its historical setting that you might believe.

This week, the crowds in Luke’s Gospel ask, “What then should we do?”

I want to jump ahead a bit in the Gospel readings to use Mary as an example of the answer to this question. Mary was told that nothing is impossible with God. Although she cannot wrap her mind around the incarnation, she is willing to be a part of God’s plan. This is the key to spiritual development. It is natural to question what we cannot understand intellectually. Mary asks, “How can this be?” More and more folks today are spiritual and not religious. They do not understand the incarnation and close their mind to the possibility that Jesus came from the realm of the eternal to be near to us. We are asked to be part of God's “plan” (or Word). We need to be at least open to the possibility that Jesus is God incarnate. God asks us to be part of his “plan” (or Word). We only need to be open to the possibility that Jesus is God incarnate.

Today’s readings not only point to the existence of God, they point to God coming near to us. Jesus comes again and again that we might be in personal relationship with him. Timothy Keller helps us understand this in our December bible study book, Hidden Christmas. “What are the elements of a genuine, personal relationship with Jesus? It requires, as does any close relationship, that you communicate with him regularly, candidly, lovingly. That means not simply saying your prayers, but having a prayer life that leads to real communion with God, a sense of his presence in your heart and life. On the other hand, being in close relationship means he communicates with you. That comes from a deep acquaintance with the bible.” (Hidden Christmas p. 55)

John the Baptist helps us with the next step, “In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise’” (Luke 3:7). On Sunday, December 12th, we will share with the Huntington community, the fruits of the Harvest Fair. Fran and Chris will meet after the 10:00 service in the St. Hilda’s Guild Room and decide how we will support nonprofit organizations in our community. Please join us.

Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid,

for the Lord God is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 

And you will say in that day: Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

make known his deeds among the nations; proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion, 

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 12:2-6).

In Christ’s love,

Fr. Duncan

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