Patrick Comerford
Next Sunday, 20 December 2020, is the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary for the Fourth Sunday of Advent in Year B are:
The Readings: II Samuel 7: 1-11, 16; the Canticle Magnificat or Psalm 89: 1-4, 19-26; Romans 16: 25-27; and Luke 1: 26-38.
There is a link to these readings HERE.
Introducing the Readings:
There is a popular idiom that says, ‘A promise made is a promise kept.’
Sunday’s readings are not only laden with God’s promises, but they also tell us that all God’s promises in history and scripture are kept or fulfilled in the Incarnation.
These promises were made, over time, to the Patriarchs, at the Exodus, to David, and to prophets. There are reminders of these promises, in these readings, and these promises reach their climax in the promises the Angel Gabriel brings to the Virgin Mary in Nazareth.
We may ask, What if Mary said no?
Instead, Mary says Yes, and the consequences of this Yes are set out in the Canticle Magnificat.
Advent is about to come to an end, is about to reach its climax, on Christmas Day.
II Samuel 7: 1-11, 16:
This first reading recalls a conversation between God and King David. Despite King David’s plans to build a fine Temple in Jerusalem as a dwelling place for God, God insists that he will dwell with his people always, no matter where they are.
The word house is consistently bayith (בַּיִת) in Hebrew. Here it has three different meanings: palace (verses 1, 2); temple (verse 5-7), and royal house or dynasty (verse 11).
After many wars, King David now consults his court prophet, Nathan, and says that since he now has a fine house palace, it is time to build a fine house or temple for the Ark, representing the presence of God since the Exodus.
Nathan agrees, but later that night God speaks to Nathan, who is to tell David that he is not the one to build a temple for God. Nathan is to assure David that God has raised him from shepherd boy to king and has always been with him wherever he went. God will make David great and give his people peace and security. God will make David the founder of a dynasty, a royal house that will be God’s for ever.
The Canticle Magnificat:
The canticle Magnificat is the first of four cantcles in Luke 1-2. There are good reasons for providing the Canticle Magificat as the first option on Sunday morning. Note that the psalm is only the second option, and should only be used if Magnificat was used in this place the previous Sunday.
This is a wonderful opportunity to use this canticle in the morning. It is normally reserved for Evensong or Evening Prayer, which means fewer and fewer parishioners have an opportunity to hear this canticle. There are two hymn versions of this canticle that are easy to sing in parish settings:
704, Mary sang a song, a song of love;
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord.
This poem is known as Magnificat, from the first word of the Latin translation. The song is modelled on Hannah’s prayer (see I Samuel 2: 1-10), but there are other, similar songs with political implications by women: see Miriam in Exodus 15: 19-20; Deborah in Judges 5: 1-31; and Judith in Judith 16: 1-17.
The Virgin Mary is visiting her cousin Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah. As God’s messenger, the Angel Gabriel has told Mary that she will bear Jesus, Son of God, successor to David and founder of an eternal kingdom.
Now the Virgin Mary thanks God. From the depth of my heart, she declares the Lord’s greatness and she rejoices in God her Saviour. She praises God and says how much she depends on God’s mercy. She speaks of the great reversals God has achieved in the past and will achieve in the future. She recalls that God has fulfilled, and continues to fulfil, his promises in the past to the patriarchs and prophets.
In choosing her, God goes against conventional wisdom and chooses the poor and lowly over the proud and the powerful.
Psalm 89: 1-4, 19-26:
Psalm 89 is appropriate for this Sunday too. Verse 10 is quoted in the Canticle Magnificat (Luke 1: 51), and verse 20 is quoted by Saint Paul when he speaks in the synagogue in Antioch (see Acts 13: 22).
The superscription claims this psalm was written by Ethan the Ezrahite, who, along with Heman the Ezrahite, the author of Psalm 88, was a wise man from the time of, or prior to, King Solomon.
This is a hymn of praise, thanking God for his faithfulness in fulfilling the promise given to King David.
The psalmist recalls God’s promises to David. He recalls that God’s promises, based on love, are firm and everlasting and that God is ever faithful. This promise extends to King David’s descendants.
The psalm also recalls Nathan’s vision. David became a mighty warrior under King Saul. God chose him and set him apart as his representative on earth. God will always support and protect him, giving him victory over his enemies and evil forces. His rule will extend from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia in the east.
God has chosen David as his son. This psalm ends with a king’s prayer that he and the nation be delivered from their enemies, perhaps the Babylonians who besieged Jerusalem in 597 BC.
Romans 16: 25-27:
This epistle reading, which concludes Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans, is a doxology that praises God for his revelation through the ages.
The mystery that was long kept secret is be revealed to all people through the fulfilment of the Scriptures, and is now fully revealed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
This is the heart of the Gospel, and the reason we are celebrating Advent and Christmas.
Luke 1: 26-38:
This Gospel reading is the same reading we had almost nine months ago (25 March 2020) on the Feast of the Annunciation, which is one of the 12 Great Feasts of the Church. We have the same Gospel reading again, almost nine months later, because the action initiating Christ’s Incarnation is so significant as we prepare to celebrate that Incarnation.
However, there is a cultural antipathy in many parts of the Church of Ireland – though not throughout the Anglican Communion – that makes it difficult to deal with Gospel stories about the Virgin Mary.
The Wednesday before last [8 December 2020] was an ordinary day in the Church of Ireland calendar and lectionary. But those of us who have a residual memory of provincial shoppers travelling to Dublin on that date to start their Christmas shopping in earnest would recall the significance this date holds our neighbours.
Nor do we mark 15 August, although we mark the date on which other saints are said to have died, including Charles Inglis on the following day, 16 August.
Most of our parishes are unlikely to even notice that 8 September is marked in the calendar and lectionary of the Church of Ireland.
Many of us, too, find it difficult to take on board the plaster statues and their portrayal of the Virgin Mary, in demure robes of white and blue, which run contrary to the strong Mary celebrated in the canticle Magnificat, which is offered as a first choice in the readings instead of the Psalm for next Sunday; the strong Mary who stands by the Cross when most of the disciples have run away; and the strong Mary of the Pieta.
Earlier in this chapter (verses 8-17), Saint Luke tells how Zechariah sees an angel in the sanctuary of the Temple. The angel tells him that his wife Elizabeth will bear a son, who will be named John. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit and ‘turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God ... to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’
Elizabeth is in the sixth month of her pregnancy (verse 26) when God sends the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town known for its jealous, materialistic people.
Mary’s Hebrew name Miryam (מִרְיָם) means ‘exalted one’ or ‘favoured one.’ Yet, it is through Joseph, not Mary, that Jesus is going to become a descendant of King David.
Mary is especially favoured with God’s love, and as such has long been part of God’s plan (see verses 28, 30). Perplexed, she reflects on the angel’s greeting, wondering in what way she is favoured.
The Angel Gabriel now tells her that she will give birth to a son, Son of God, a king. Verse 31a recalls Isaiah 7: 14, where Isaiah tells King Ahaz that ‘the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel’ (meaning God with us).
Psalm 89: 26-27 also speaks of the link between the dynasty of David and sonship of God. The reference to ‘the Most High’ in verses 32 and 35 is to God. The prophet Micah often speaks of the house of Israel as the ‘house of Jacob’ (see Micah 4: 7).
While Mary does not doubt Gabriel’s message from God, she wonders how this can be, as she has no husband, although she is engaged to Joseph.
The Angel Gabriel answers Mary by telling her that she will conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit, not through sexual union, and the child she is to conceive is a gift from God. The child will be filled with the Holy Spirit, dedicated to the service of God, and will be called Son of God.
Verse 37 is similar to Genesis 18: 14, where God asks, ‘Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?’ There, as with Elizabeth in her old age, Sarah too gives birth to a son after a normal pregnancy.
But the birth of Jesus is even more exceptional than the birth of either Isaac or John the Baptist. To be a ‘servant of the Lord’ (verse 38) is special: David, in the first reading, is called a servant (II Samuel 7: 8).
Saint Luke is doing more than telling the story of the Annunciation: he is placing the Incarnation within the context of the prophecies and promises in Scripture.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s painting, Ecce Ancilla Domini! (1850), now in the Tate Gallery, LondonA Pre-Raphaelite painting:
We are all used to these images of the Virgin Mary that lack challenge and message, images that have been inherited through Mediaeval and Renaissance art. But one of the most challenging presentation in art of the Annunciation is Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s painting, Ecce Ancilla Domini! (1850), now in the Tate Gallery in London.
The poet, painter, and designer Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) was a co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelites, a group of Victorian artists who wanted to emulate the richness and purity of the mediaeval period. The son of an exiled Italian patriot and scholar, he was a brother of the poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1893), author of one of the greatest Christmas carols, In the bleak mid-winter, one that might be worth singing today
This painting is one of the earliest Pre-Raphaelite paintings, and when it was first exhibited in 1850 it shocked and stirred controversy.
In this painting, Rossetti offers a radical reinterpretation of the Annunciation, rejecting the traditional representation of the Virgin Mary passively receiving the news. Instead, he seeks to give the picture a supernatural realism.
While the angel is announcing to the Virgin Mary that she is to give birth to the Christ Child, she appears to be recoiling, as if disturbed from sleep.
Although Rossetti relies on earlier traditions for many of the symbols he uses in this scene, his use of these symbols, his depiction of space, and most significantly his portrayal of the two figures represent significant departures from earlier traditions.
This painting is unusual in that the artist shows the Virgin Mary in a state of fear – see how she cowers against the wall and casts her eyes down. This is a far cry from many depictions of the Annunciation where the Virgin Mary is shown in a state of humble acquiescence or acceptance.
White is the dominant colour in the painting, relieved only by small areas of blue, red and yellow. This use of white emphasises the quality of the Virgin Mary’s purity, and is reinforced by the lily embroidery – the same one that she is shown making in Rossetti’s painting of The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, also on display in the Tate.
Early great paintings of this scene usually depict lilies, the symbol of the Virgin Mary’s purity, in a vase nearby the scene as the angel addresses the Virgin. Although Rossetti also uses lilies, he integrates them into both the action and the environment of the scene.
Notice how the Angel Gabriel holds out a stem with lilies, offering them to the Virgin Mary and seemingly presenting her with an embodiment of the chastity and purity she is fated to continue throughout her life. At the end of the bed hangs an embroidery on which the Virgin Mary is also working on in his painting, The Girlhood of Mary Virgin. This plays a contextual role – this is a young girl’s bedroom, so we might expect to find her needlework in this space – as well as, perhaps, representing her active choice to live purely since she has chosen to embroider a lily.
The Virgin Mary is not dressed in her traditional blue; instead she wears a simple white dress. Yet, Rossetti does not ignore the importance of blue as the colour associated with the Virgin Mary and heaven: he places a blue screen directly behind her, and looking through the window, the sky is a similar shade of blue, alluding to heaven.
Most Annunciation scenes have candles that have just blown out with the entrance of the Holy Spirit. Instead, Rossetti gives us a hint of a flame – a different presentation of a usual symbol. He includes a dove, embodying the Holy Spirit, although in this case he has not drastically transformed a traditional symbol.
Rossetti’s imagined space shows great innovation. Compared to traditional interiors, that were rich with elaborate floor tiles, stained glass, wooden furniture, rugs, pillows, and similar details, the Virgin’s bedroom in Rossetti’s painting is shockingly simple. White stone tiles cover the floor; the walls have white paint; the window has no panes; and the only other object in the room is a simple, low wooden bed with a white mat and pillow.
In traditional paintings, the room draws the viewer in and the eye is allowed to move through the scene to the back wall of the bedroom. But Rossetti places the Virgin Mary in a room that is almost claustrophobic it is so small. The use of perspective is unconvincing: her bed appears about to slide out of the painting, and the floor on the left of the painting blends into the wall, furthering the effect of a steep plane.
For the view out the window at the back, Rossetti might have given the scene depth by allowing us to see a scene in the distance. Instead, however, he shows only blue sky and part of a tree.
Look too at the angel. Rather than a winged, long-haired boyish angel, Rossetti paints an androgynous Gabriel, without wings, his face only visible in highly shadowed profile, with the hints of yellow flames around his feet.
The Virgin Mary sits on her bed and slouches against the wall. She is markedly adolescent with her beautiful young features, un-brushed straight hair, a childishly thin body, and the hesitance, fear and melancholy with which she responds to the Angel Gabriel’s news. Wisps of her messy, auburn hair spread around her neck, silhouetted against her white dress, reminiscent of a bloodshot eye or perhaps intentionally hinting at Christ’s crown of thorns.
Rossetti has no use for the stiff, exaggerated poses of primitive Virgins. He seems most concerned with the sincere response of a young girl who has been given a burden that is both wonderful and laden with responsibility. And in this task, Rossetti thoroughly succeeds.
The Virgin Mary is keenly aware of her position, and it is this self-awareness and terror that endows the painting with its power. This painting inspires the viewer to religious contemplation and prayer. But it also speaks strongly to universal issues of growth, responsibility and youthful vulnerability.
Favoured and perplexed
When the Virgin Mary hears the Angel Gabriel address her as the ‘favoured one’ and tell her, ‘The Lord is with you,’ she is ‘much perplexed by his words’ and she ponders ‘what sort of greeting this might be.’
Perplexed?
We might think she was perplexed, to say the least.
She has been told she is to bear a child, who would be called Son of God, and who would receive the throne of David.
‘How can this be?’ she asks.
And well she might ask.
She might well wonder how she is going to survive a full nine months until this baby is born, once her father, her family, her friends and her village hear she is pregnant.
Both the BBC and the Guardian reported some years ago, in the weeks before Christmas, how there has been a frightening increase in ‘honour killings’ in Britain. At the time, the topic also provided a story line in EastEnders.
So-called ‘honour killings’ were frequent too around the time of the first Christmas. A woman who was sexually violated by a man – even against her will – could be killed, usually by her own father or brother, so the illegitimately conceived child would bring no further shame to the family.
The newly-betrothed Joseph would know he is not the father of the Virgin Mary’s baby. If a man and a woman who were betrothed to each other had sex with each other and the village knew it, they were considered to be married. This, and not some religious ceremony, marks what we might call the ‘consummation’ of the union, and the engagement now becomes a marriage in common law.
Should Joseph intend to stay with Mary, then he has to protect her and protect himself by acknowledging the child is his.
On the other hand, if he does not do this, Mary’s pregnancy becomes known and her father or brothers do not kill her, then the Biblical code commanded the death penalty both for her and for the man – if he is known too – who has stolen Joseph’s betrothed and made her pregnant.
And, of course, if child’s true identity is truly known, there are others who would like to ensure that Mary does complete her full term of pregnancy.
Herod the Great, who rules as king with Rome’s support, would not be very happy with another claimant to David’s throne arriving on the scene.
If the authorities realise this child is going to be honoured as the ‘Son of God,’ they too would have to take action. This is a title used for the Roman Emperors; any usurper or pretender is likely to end up on a cross rather than on a throne.
Anticipation and challenge
In the choice of the Canticle Magnificat to accompany the readings, both responses are anticipated and challenged in Mary’s song, in which she praises God and proclaims:
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty. – Luke 1: 52-53.
In our world today, despite financial and economic problems and banking and trading scandals, are the proud and the powerful still on their thrones?
Are the lowly still waiting to be lifted up?
Are the hungry waiting to be filled with good things?
Do the rich still find themselves still walking away with all they want?
What are the promises of this Advent, of every Advent, of the coming Kingdom?
What are the promises and prospects for a child who is born among us this Christmas?
We live in a world where the survival chances of a child depend not just on attitudes to ‘honour killings,’ but even more so depend on the financial and economic climates where mothers live.
The American blogger and theologian Sarah Dylan Breuer cites Mike Russell when she points out that this is a world in which one more child dies every three seconds from extreme poverty; where 300 children die during an average Sunday sermon in an Anglican church; and where 1,600 children die during each celebration of the Eucharist.
Yet, the Advent readings tell us repeatedly that God’s promise is that through Christ the hungry will be filled with good things. We might ask, with Mary: ‘How can this be?’
We too may ponder these things in our hearts. But having pondered them, what do we say about them next Sunday?
We too are called to bring the Good News of liberation to the prisoners, of food for the hungry, of dignity for those regarded as lowly.
We too are called to do that not just in words or song, but like the Virgin Mary, by giving flesh to God’s hope, God’s peace, God’s justice, and God’s love for the world.
The young, unmarried teenage Mary found the courage to face her father, her family, her potential husband, her friends, her village, despite the risk of pointing and whispering … and even stoning to death. There would be a birth … and there would be another death. And I recall the words of TS Eliot:
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
– TS Eliot, Journey of the Magi (1927)
Luke 1: 26-38 (NRSVA):
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34 Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ 35 The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38 Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
Liturgical Resources:
Liturgical Colour: Violet (Purple), Advent, Year B
The Collect of the Day:
God our redeemer,
who prepared the blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
Grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him
when he comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Advent Collect:
This collect is said after the Collect of the day until Christmas Eve:
Almighty God,
Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light
now in the time of this mortal life
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post Communion Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
you have given us a pledge of eternal redemption.
Grant that we may always eagerly celebrate
the saving mystery of the incarnation of your Son.
We ask this through him whose coming is certain,
whose day draws near,
your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Liturgical resources for Advent:
The liturgical provisions suggest that the Canticle Gloria may be omitted during Advent, and it is traditional in Anglicanism to omit Gloria at the end of canticles and psalms during Advent, which would, of course, include Magnificat this Sunday morning.
These additional liturgical resources are provided for Advent in the Book of Common Prayer (2004):
Penitential Kyries:
Turn to us again, O God our Saviour,
and let your anger cease from us.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Your salvation is near for those that fear you,
that glory may dwell in our land.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Introduction to the Peace:
In the tender mercy of our God,
the dayspring from on high shall break upon us,
to give light to those who dwell in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1: 78, 79)
Preface:
Salvation is your gift
through the coming of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ,
and by him you will make all things new
when he returns in glory to judge the world:
Blessing:
Christ the sun of righteousness shine upon you,
gladden your hearts
and scatter the darkness from before you:
The Advent Wreath:
On the Advent Wreath on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the fourth, purple, symbolising the Virgin Mary, is lit this morning alongside the two puple candles, symbolising the Patriarchs and the Prophets. and the pink candle from last Sunday symbolising Saint John the Baptist.
The prayers at the Advent Wreath on the Sundays in Advent can help us to continue our themes from the Sunday before Advent [22 November 2020], which we marked in these dioceses as Mission Sunday.
The first purple candle lit on the Advent Wreath on the First Sunday of Advent was the Purple Candle, recalling the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The second purple candle, lit on the Second Sunday, represents the Prophets. The third, rose-coloured or pink candle, which we lit last Sunday [13 December 2020], the Third Sunday of Advent, represents Saint John the Baptist.
USPG suggests this prayer when lighting the fourth candle representing the Virgin Mary:
The Virgin Mary
O God of promise,
whose mother Mary carried your Christ in an occupied land;
we pray for mothers in the Holy Land
who today live with restrictions and violence.
Bless the church-run hospitals that serve them and their children
regardless of race, religion or financial status.
An extra preaching resource:
Rámond Mitchell, Volunteer and Education Coordinator for the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), will provide the sermon for USPG’s pre-recorded sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, 20 December. This will be available by 17 December.
USPG’s sermon for January with be provided by the Right Revd John Perumbalath, Bishop of Bradwell in Chelsmford Diocese for Sunday 24 January, the Third Sunday of Epiphany.
USPG is also offering pre-recorded sermons for 21 February and 21 March 21. To order these sermons for your church email Gwen Mtambirwa, Mission Engagement Co-ordinator at USPG, gwenm@uspg.org.uk.
Suggested Hymns:
II Samuel 7: 1–11, 16:
342, Sweet is the solemn voice that calls
73, The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended
343, We love the place, O God
Canticle Magnificat:
704, Mary sang a song, a song of love
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
373, To God be the glory! Great things he has done!
Alternative Psalm (Psalm 89: 1-4, 19-26)
690, Come, worship God who is worthy of honour
374, When all thy mercies, O my God
Romans 16: 25–37:
636, May the mind of Christ my Saviour
175, Of the Father’s heart begotten
Luke 1: 26–38
119, Come, thou long–expected Jesus
263, Crown him with many crowns (verses 1, 2, 5, 6)
462, For Mary, mother of our Lord
123, God the Father sends his angel
125, Hail to the Lord’s anointed
92, How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
94, In the name of Jesus
97, Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
99, Jesus, the name high over all
133, Long ago, prophets knew
704, Mary sang a song, a song of love
175, Of the Father’s heart begotten
472, Sing we of the blessèd mother
139, The angel Gabriel from heaven came
73, The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended
185, Virgin–born, we bow before thee
477, We praise you, Lord, today
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.
The hymn suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000).
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