It’s pretty hard to believe, but this past Sunday was the first Sunday of the 2020 Advent season. If you aren’t familiar with the liturgical calendar and maybe aren’t quite sure what Advent even is, it is a time of intentional waiting and anticipation as we prepare our hearts for Christ’s birth on Christmas Day. In a removed and distant way, it’s meant to mirror the longing God’s people experienced while waiting hundreds of years for the promised Messiah. And in our day and age, we manage to fit it into about four weeks.

So, over these next four Wednesdays, I wanted to do something a bit special with this podcast  and after quite a bit of thought, prayer, and brainstorming, I landed on something well, pretty unoriginal. But I’m hoping it might be exactly what you need this year.

One of my favorite Christmas movies is A Charlie Brown Christmas. Throughout most of the movie, Charlie Brown is distracted by and fed up with the typical hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. He is in a pretty sour mood because he (and, to be fair, most of the people around him) have forgotten “what Christmas is all about.” 

I find that by the time I usually get around to watching the movie each year, I’m right there with Charlie Brown. Distracted, anxious, longing to focus on what is true. Sound familiar?

Toward the end of the short movie, Charlie’s friend Linus reminds everyone what Christmas is all about. And I love the way Linus reminds them. He goes back to the basics, straight to the source, and lets the story found in Scripture speak for itself. Linus recites the Christmas story. That plain and simple reminder is profound all on its own. And so this Advent season, I’m following Linus’ lead.

Today, and for the following three weeks of Advent, we’re going back to the basics, remembering different parts of the Christmas story together. Episodes will be short and sweet (even shorter than they usually are), as I simply read a Christmas Scripture passage. I will also provide you with some questions for reflection after the Scripture passage is read. I hope you’ll take some time when each episode finishes to think through those questions and how God might be speaking to you through each particular passage. In fact, if you want to jot down notes, feel free to press pause for a moment to grab a pen and paper, or open your notes app on your phone. 

Recently I’ve been reminded that Scripture is inspired by God, meaning God not only inspired the writers of it, but God inspires its readers, too. Readers just like us. It’s one of the ways God interacts with us and I’m excited to see how God might use a familiar story to speak to us in a new way. At the end of such a crazy and heavy year, I hope the simplicity of this series is an unexpected gift this Advent season.

So, without further ado, I invite you now to listen for the Word of the Lord. 

A reading from Luke 1:26-56

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Mary’s Song

46 And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord

47 

    and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 

for he has been mindful

    of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49 

    for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

    holy is his name.

50 

His mercy extends to those who fear him,

    from generation to generation.

51 

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

52 

He has brought down rulers from their thrones

    but has lifted up the humble.

53 

He has filled the hungry with good things

    but has sent the rich away empty.

54 

He has helped his servant Israel,

    remembering to be merciful

55 

to Abraham and his descendants forever,

    just as he promised our ancestors.”

56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

I wonder what stood out for you in this part of the Christmas story? Maybe there was a word or phrase that caught your attention or piqued your interest? Why might that be?

Were you able to see something familiar about the story in a new way?

Mary is called blessed for believing God would fulfill his promises to her. What promises of God are you clinging to? What promises of God are you having a difficult time believing?

If nothing else, I invite you to ask God what you specifically need to know and take with you from this passage today as together, we prepare our hearts for Christmas.