Introduction
This will certainly offend Advent purists, but this is the perfect year to do a little mixing a matching with Advent 4 this year (especially if you have a morning service).
Because of Year B’s inclusion of the annunciation and the inclusion of the Magnificat this week, we can tell the long story of who Jesus is promised to be, who he was entrusted to, and how he came into the world.
Knowing that many will be picking and choosing how to preach very carefully, I’ll throw out a couple preaching possibilities here and hope that something sticks for you.
Preaching Possibilities
The Mother
Growing up, I went to a Catholic elementary school called Holy Cross. In each classroom you could always find two things, a crucifix that hung front and center in the room. And also, a statue of Mary that rested on a ledge close to the classroom door. Each statue of Mary was the same. She stood standing with her arms open wearing a sky-blue shawl and looking so peaceful.
I remember it well because every day we would turn to the corner before lunch, where Mary was, and say our lunchtime prayer, which included the Hail Mary.
At the time, I don’t recall overthinking it too much. We were taught in school that Mary was Holy, that she was the mother of Jesus, and that she was blessed. So, to me, it just made sense that she would be honored in the faith.
For many Christians around the world, the Virgin Mary is THE icon of faith. That alongside the cross. There are shrines, statues, dedications, and prayers all associated with the Blessed Mother (the most famous or most visited being Our Lady of Guadalupe).
But, in the Lutheran tradition, we don’t often talk about Mary as much. There is a simple and not very good reason to explain it… For many in the Lutheran tradition, the worship of Mary is too Catholic. The most that we might see or hear of Mary in some Lutheran churches, is a stain glassed window and a nativity set.
But Mary’s story offers us so much. And Martin Luther, our founder, had a deep spirituality and appreciation for her. Because her story means something for us. And today, we hear her words that have been spread through prayer and song for generations. The Magnificat.
Martin Luther once wrote in a letter about the Magnificat,
“The tender mother of Christ does the same here, teaching us with her words and by the example of her experience how to know, love, and praise God. With a leaping and joyful spirit she boasts and praises God for regarding her, despite her low estate and her nothingness. We must believe that she came of poor, despised, and lowly parents. To paint this for the eyes of the simple, there were undoubtedly daughters of chief priests and counselors in Jerusalem who were rich, young, educated, and held in high regard by all people, just as there are today daughters of kings, princes, and the rich. The same was also true of many another city. Even in Nazareth, her own town, she was not the daughter of one of the chief rulers but a poor and plain citizen’s daughter, whom no one looked up to or held in high regard. To her neighbors and their daughters, she was but a simple maiden, tending the cattle and doing the housework, and she was certainly no greater than any house servant who does what she is told to do around the house.”[1]
In the assigned readings for this 4th Sunday of Advent, our central character in the story is of humble origins. Of little significance in the eyes of the world. And yet God chooses her. Not just for a simple task either. But for probably the hardest task that has ever been asked of a human person.
For often in our minds, Mary’s story stops on Christmas Eve. She gives birth to Jesus and miraculously he becomes a human man 30 years later and the story picks up from there. But Mary raises the child Jesus, protects him by fleeing to Egypt and fleeing King Herod’s wrath. And she will be there with him throughout his entire life. Even being there at the foot of the cross.
Mary’s story is deeply interwoven into the story of Jesus. She serves as a reminder of where Jesus came from. And offers up an opportunity for us to see ourselves in the story.
You see if God can choose Mary, God can choose us. If God can come from humble origins, then God can come from even us. And Mary and her song today remind us that this is not a burden but is a blessing.
The Child
“Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”
That is where we find our God.
In an unfamiliar city. With two new unwed parents who have so many unanswered questions. We find him, wrapped in blankets, surrounded by animals, and lying in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
That is where Jesus comes to us.
Mary and Joseph did not have to be in the nicest accommodations for God to come to this world. Jesus didn’t need to be laying in the most ornate crib, with harps and lyres lulling him to sleep.
No, Jesus was born in the stable. Laid in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
Martin Luther once wrote in a Christmas Sermon:
“If Christ had arrived with trumpets and lain in a cradle of gold, his birth would have been a splendid affair. But it would not be a comfort to me. He was rather to lie in the lap of a poor maiden and be thought of as little significance in the eyes of the world. Now I can come to him.”[2]
Connection – Extraordinary or an Example?
God comes to us in the unfamiliar, unexpected, unimportant (in the eyes of the world), places.
When we preach on these, we have to make a decision. Do we lift Mary, Joseph, John the Baptist and others up as extraordinary? Overcoming all obstacles to make a way for God? Or are we lifting them up as examples that God can and will work through every person no matter how humble in origin?
[1] Philip Krey & Peter Krey, Luther’s Spirituality, 96.
[2] Martin Luther, Sermon in 1530.
Micah Krey 
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