Psalm 126; Luke 1:46-55; December 17, 2023; Third Sunday of Advent
Let us together remember the words from our Call to Worship this morning, from Psalm 126:1-2: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.”
July 26, 2018, Pittsburgh, PA. That was the day, that was the night, that was the city and state.
Yes, it was then and there, my friends, that I finally heard it. Live and in person. The greatest song ever recorded, on the greatest album ever made, by the greatest band that ever existed. That’s right, “Let Down” off the album OK Computer, by the one and only, Radiohead.
I’ve waited a year to tell you about these guys, but I could wait no longer!
I had been to 5 countries and 28 concerts before hearing that song. FIVE countries and TWENTY-EIGHT concerts. I spent TWETNY-ONE years, and Lord knows how much money, driving and flying around the western hemisphere hoping to hear that song played even just once in my presence. But by some horrible strokes of luck, I would always miss it by a venue here, or a city there.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Those preceding 28 concerts were great. Phenomenal experiences that I’ll always remember. But still… until that fateful night in Pittsburgh, before that 29th show, I truly believed that God was punishing me for even the slightest of my sins.
But then it happened, and redemption came, with my two best friends on either side. The first notes of “Let Down” rang out and I literally dropped to my knees and let out a scream like a little child on Christmas morning. I remember laughing for a couple of seconds and almost hysterically at that. Can you blame me? I mean, it was a 21-year long dream finally come true! To say that my soul was moved, and that my heart was overjoyed and filled with gratitude, would be underselling it.
And yet, all of that being true, none of it… none of it at all compares even the tiniest bit to what Mary must have felt when that Angel told her the news. When Gabriel told her that she would be with child, and, that her child would be both great and mighty, the son of the Most High, and that of his kingdom there would be no end (Luke 1:32-33). I mean, wow! Can you blame her then for bursting out in song like I burst out in laughter? Can you fault her for interrupting Luke’s cohesive narrative by belting out, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in my Savior (Luke 1:46-47)?
For God “looked with favor upon her lowliness (Luke 1:48)” and taking no offense at all, God lifted her up, and “filled her with good things (Luke 1:53)” – in fact, the best of all possible things, even better than a dream, or dare I say, a long-sought Radiohead song.
But none of that, really, should be all that surprising, for that’s precisely how God works! For we are told over and again throughout scripture that God will be on the side of the lowly, of the poor, of the slave and servant. In Mary, in the disciples, in Paul, heck even in a congregation full of sinners like us; for from Jonah to Esther, Ruth to Samuel, we are told that God can make miracles happen from nothing. That God can create a world from a formless void; and then, a whole kingdom out of the smallest of seeds. Mustard, manger, whatever, God can literally MacGyver anything into something. I dare say then, we have plenty to sing about, my friends, more than even 29 concerts worth of material!
I have already told you that one of my favorite parts of this season are the songs and carols. Advent hymns, Christmas carols, I love them all. I love the preparation aspect too. I love that at Church, during Advent, we run counter to the rest of the world, and practice that waiting for things can be both virtuous and advantageous; such that when nativities and feasts finally come, we aren’t let down by them, but that much more excited to celebrate them.
But you know what else I’ve come to love and appreciate after years of ignoring it? Hanukkah. That’s right, Hanukkah. And so should you. In John 10:22-23, we are told that Jesus is in Jerusalem for the “Festival of Dedication,” which is Hanukkah. Jesus, we must remember, was Jewish after all, and like other practicing Jews, Jesus went into Jerusalem to celebrate the Holy Feast. John reports on this specifically, and then draws a direct line from Hanukkah to Jesus as the being the light of the world.
You all know the history, right? Around 175 B.C. the Seleucid king Antiochus IV and his armies captured the Temple in Jerusalem and defiled it by erecting an altar to the Greek god Zeus. Years of revolt followed, until in 164, Judah Macabee claimed an improbable victory and won back Jerusalem, restoring the fortunes of Zion, rededicating the Temple. Inside the temple though he only found enough oil to light the candelabrum for a single day. Fearing darkness would return, he sent his people to search diligently for more oil to keep the flame burning. Miraculously though, during that time, the candelabrum burned for 8 full days, on a single vial of oil, giving his people enough time to secure what they needed. And thus, the feast and celebration of Hanukkah was born; a festival of lights, where improbably, from almost nothing, light overcame darkness.
You see, my friends, with God, across time and traditions, all things are indeed possible; and creation can come even from the tiniest of things.
So, even with everything going wrong in the world right now, across sea and nation, God allows us to dream of when everything will be put right; when our fortunes will be restored; when the song we’ve been waiting for will finally be played and then never end, singling God’s favor, such that even the lowliest of creatures amongst us might find both joy and hope, singing our own Magnificat: “My soul magnifies the Lord” for God has been good even to little ole me.
Amen.
