Rev’d Peter Balabanski

Advent 4 C –  Lk 1 46-55, Lk 1 39-45

Today’s message is that God works most powerfully in our weaknesses, not our strengths. It’s a core teaching of the Church. But even in Christian communities, I hear people being told to focus on their strengths if they really wanted to succeed. Yet we’re told God works most powerfully in our weaknesses, not our strengths. I find it’s true, particularly in ministry. Great moments can come if I stop thinking my gifts are indispensable to what God wants to get done. I’m set free to listen to God. When I acknowledge my weakness, another way might become apparent to me, or I step back and the way opens for someone else to do what comes naturally.

In parish life in practical terms, for me it means I try not to be controlling or managerial. That would confine the parish’s ministry within the horizons of my vision. Instead, I try to encourage a culture of openness to God’s values where we all risk God’s leading. So we study Scripture together to become people who recognise and respond to God’s promptings; promptings that might come to any of us. Do you wonder if Scripture tells us that God works through weakness and not strength? Remember the central symbol of our faith is our crucified Saviour. And we see this God-is-most-present-in-our-weakness theme throughout the story of Jesus’s life – even from before his birth. It’s what we see in today’s Gospel.

Today we met two first-time mums-to-be; Mary and Elizabeth. Now if God were in the life-coaching business, I’m pretty sure consideration would have been given to choosing experienced mums for today’s two babies, John and Jesus. There’d have been a worldwide search for mums with a proven track-record of raising A-grade gifted and talented children; supermums fit to raise tomorrow’s little leaders. But that’s not how God operates. Elizabeth and Mary had no prior experience of raising their own children. Mary, maybe shell-shocked, set off on a four-day journey to be with Elizabeth. There’s the God’s-strength-in-our-weakness thing. In Mary, God picked a woman who knew she couldn’t go it alone; she looked for connection with someone else; she found strength by being with someone else in the same boat.

So lesson one for today: this God’s-strength-in-our-weakness thing reveals its true meaning when we’re in community. Lone-ranger spirituality is just silly. Our full humanity is only found in relationship; in community. The quality of our life is not measured in our personal accomplishments, but rather in our belonging.

That’s a message it’s almost impossible for people in our developed-world societies to hear. We live in a media world that tells us home and family are really just a launching pad from which we rocket off into a stellar career, armed with all the competitive edges we need to carve out status for ourselves. That’s incredibly unhealthy. The real heart of being human is found in belonging – like we belong here – among the people who know our weaknesses best. Mary set off to face her predicament together with someone who’d know it from the inside.

So Mary went to Elizabeth’s home. And when Elizabeth heard Mary’s voice, her baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’ Mary responded by saying, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.’ They were clear it was God who’d done something wonderful; not them. God chose to work these wonders through these ordinary, very vulnerable women.

But it’s not going to be easy. The woman who’ll cradle her newborn in a feeding trough will also see that child of hers die on a cross. And that’s the other lesson about this God’s-strength-in-our-weakness thing. Letting go and letting God might sound easy, but it’s not. Accepting God’s calling doesn’t stop the death of our loved ones; it doesn’t give us the power to stop a world system where the strong seem to crush the weak; where the proud and mighty bray as though the Earth is theirs, and where, at least for a time, it almost seems as if their delusion will prevail.

But our Gospel opens us to the Advent hope. Jesus, who swallowed up the power of this evil once and for all in his death; this same Jesus rose from the dead, and he will return and bring forth in us the resurrection life he has nurtured and cherished in our hearts. He’ll bring it forth throughout the Earth – and our hearts will leap for joy like Elizabeth’s baby on the day of his coming. … So we approach the close of the Advent season in the knowledge that we’re waiting; we’re keeping watch; we’re staying awake; we’re getting ready to meet him on the day of his coming. Today’s lesson from Mary and Elizabeth and God is that none of us is too old, too young, too weak, too silly, too unqualified or inexperienced to be called by God to change things here on Earth. When God calls us, if we can believe that even we can answer and be ready to say yes, then we’ll have used this Advent season well.   Amen