Advent, Week FOUR, Day One: Justice

Linda
Dec 22, 2024
4 min read

Luke 1:46-55 Message

And Mary said, I’m bursting with God-news;

I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.

God took one good look at me, and look what happened—

I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!

What God has done for me will never be forgotten,

the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.

His mercy flows in wave after wave

on those who are in awe before him.

He bared his arm and showed his strength,

scattered the bluffing braggarts.

He knocked tyrants off their high horses,

pulled victims out of the mud.

The starving poor sat down to a banquet;

the callous rich were left out in the cold.

He embraced his chosen child, Israel;

he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.

It’s exactly what he promised,

beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

Mary's song is revolutionary. She proclaims an upside-down vision for our weary world. She had a vision that was relevant in the midst of her unjust world and is real for us today. Her experience of God coming to her as a humble, marginalized minority, and stigmatized unwed teenager was transformative and scary! Mary doesn't just accept her visitation quietly and submissively but has agency and gives voice to the injustices of the larger dominant and controlling empire. She proclaims that God will lift up the lowly and marginalized groups and transform the world as it is intended to be.

Today our compassionate and merciful God abides with all people in the rubble and messiness of this life. God dwells among the lonely prisoners and those without food and shelter. God weeps for the children and their families in the 39 school shootings this year who experienced violence and death due to readily available firearms. God suffers with those living in fear and grieving losses in the 42 countries involved in war-like conflicts in the world. God journeys with the 122.6 million people worldwide who remain forcibly displaced due to persecution, violence, and human rights violations. Emmanuel, God-with-us continues to come, entering the world in endless disguise, found in the rejected and unacceptable, and hidden in the ones we ignore.

As pregnant Mary gave voice to the powerless, may her courage propel us to declare that this world can be a better place. Let us be hope-bearers and justice-seekers in our families, communities and the world.

Song: The Canticle of Turning by Siskin Green, BBC, Scotland

My soul cries out with a joyful shout

that the God of my heart is great,

And my spirit sings of the wondrous things

that you bring to the one who waits.

You fixed your sight on the servant's plight,

and my weakness you did not spurn,

So from east to west shall my name be blest.

Could the world be about to turn?

My heart shall sing of the day you bring.

Let the fires of your justice burn.

Wipe away all tears,

For the dawn draws near,

And the world is about to turn.

Though I am small, my God, my all,

you work great things in me.

And your mercy will last from the depths of the past

to the end of the age to be.

Your very name puts the proud to shame,

and those who would for you yearn,

You will show your might, put the strong to flight,

for the world is about to turn. (Refrain)

From the halls of power to the fortress tower,

not a stone will be left on stone.

Let the king beware for your justice tears

every tyrant from his throne.

The hungry poor shall weep no more,

for the food they can never earn;

These are tables spread, ev'ry mouth be fed,

for the world is about to turn. (Refrain)

Though the nations rage from age to age,

we remember who holds us fast:

God's mercy must deliver us

from the conqueror's crushing grasp.

This saving word that our forbears heard

is the promise that holds us bound,

'Til the spear and rod be crushed by God,

who is turning the world around. (Refrain)

Prayer:

Merciful and loving God, may I have courage to be a hope-bearer and justice-seeker.

Help me to do acts of love and works of justice that will lead to the flourishing of those I encounter. Light my way and gift me with hope for our weary world.

Reflection:

How can you, like Mary, challenge the status quo and proclaim justice and mercy in this weary world?
Where do you see glimpses of justice and mercy already happening? What brings you hope Mary's song?
It was a surprise to many that Jesus chose to enter the world as a helpless, dependent baby in a time of great political oppression. If Jesus were to be born today, where do you think he might appear?

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