4th Sunday Advent Year C

4th Sunday in Advent - Here I am Lord. I come to do your will

Mary said Yes to God. She said Yes even though she must have known the consequences on, and in, her own life: the looks, the stares: the comments and the gossip and very probably, the avoidance and isolation. She said Yes, without question, without doubt and without hesitation.

She said, Yes and then without any further thought to her own life and situation, she set out to see her cousin Elizabeth, who she had been told, was also expecting a child. Again, without any thought to her own welfare, she set out to make sure that Elizabeth was okay, was well and was being looked after.

She didn’t go and jump a cab, or get the 472 via the nearest town centre. She didn’t travel by train or plane: she walked to a town in the hill country of Judah. Her every thought was based on her faith and belief, “Here I am Lord. I come to do your will. What do You want me to do now?”

Even though Mary was but a young girl, she grasped this with her whole heart, her whole spirit and her whole being. She was to become the Mother of the Saviour of the World. And she clearly knew that God wanted her to be together with Elizabeth, so that they could support, comfort and strengthen each other during this demanding and trying time.

Mary accepted and believed that the promise made to her by God would be fulfilled. She had no doubts on this. Her every being proclaimed, “Here I am Lord. I come to do your will.”

Elizabeth proclaimed to Mary, “Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

What does my Lord and my God want of me in this situation? He wants me to show His love of me, in my love of and for my family, for my friends and my neighbours and then for anyone else that I might meet in my journey through life.

God has made promises to all of us here this weekend through His Son, Jesus Christ: to all of us who have been baptised in the Lord. Jesus promised each of us that He would be with us until the end of time. He promised that because of His birth, life, death and resurrection, He would take all of our sins from us and that we would be saved, if we but believe in Him.

“God of hosts, bring us back, let Your face shine on us and we will be saved”, it says in our Psalm. Bring us back to You. Shine on us. Choose us. Selects us. Save us.

God made all of these wishes and expectations into promises that He has made for us, if we but accept Him as our Father; if we but believe in His Son and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

“Here I am Lord. I come to do your will.” How often do we think this or say this? How often do we listen for God to speak with us, to contact us, to engage with us? How often do we allow the time, the space and the opportunity for God to get in touch with us? How do we listen and allow Him to enter our hearts, our minds and our souls and truly allow and enable our spirits to hear and understand what it is He is asking of us and what it is He is offering and promising us?

What does God want from me? What is His will? We cannot hope to do His will if we do not hear it and listen to it. We cannot do His will if we do not spend time preparing for Him, allowing Him into our hearts and our lives. We cannot do His will, if we drown out all that he is trying to say to us with the clutter and bluster of commercial preparations for Christmas. We cannot do His will if we do not know and understand what His will is.

“Here I am Lord. I come to do your will.” I know that You want me to show Your love of me in my loving behaviour and attitude toward all those that I meet in my life’s journey. I know that You want me to work positively and productively to help others to prepare for this coming Christmas: for the time to celebrate together the birth of Your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ at Christmas. I know that You want me celebrate with rejoicing and jubilation, His birth and our salvation.

Lord. Help me to say Yes to You, without doubt or reservation; without concern or anxiety.

Lord, help me to be as Mary was, saying Yes, full of trust and faith in You.

Lord, help me to listen to You and to hear You and then say, “Yes. Here I am Lord. I come to do your will”, every day and in every way that I can, especially in these last few days running up to Christmas Day.

Lord, help me to see those who are isolated or excluded; who feel sidelined and thrown out; who are maybe alone felling sick, or forgotten or simply and cruelly, unloved: those who feel unused or underused and under-appreciated, who simply want to be involved and useful.

Lord, give me the strength of heart and mind and spirit to see you in my every neighbour and to do as you did and reach out to them with love, with care, with tenderness and with hope.

Lord, Christmas is a time of celebration and rejoicing but it can also be a time of loneliness and despair, help me to remember all of the good things that people did during the dark days of the Covid-lockdown in seeking out those that needed care and love and going out of their way to ensure that all were fully cared for.

Lord, help me to say yes to them and to say yes to you throughout each and every day. Amen