One of the characters who appears early in the birth
narrative of Jesus is a lady named Elizabeth,
a cousin of Mary’s. Elizabeth was the wife of Zechariah, a priest at the temple
in Jerusalem. They were an older couple, past the time of having children, yet
unexpectedly, miraculously, Elizabeth was about six months pregnant. It must
have caused a lot of talk in the town, but it made her the perfect person for
Mary to visit, not just to get out of town to avoid the wagging tongues when
they found out she was pregnant even though betrothal was as good as marriage
but possibly to give her parents time to adjust to the idea that the child wasn’t
Joseph’s. At any rate, Elizabeth could use some help and Mary could use some
empathy. It was a perfect match. Oh, and the fact that Elizabeth’s baby would
grow up to be John, the Baptizer for Mary’s child Jesus . . . well, as Alfred
Einstein said, “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.”
Eating is one of
the enjoyable pastimes, and there’s plenty of that during Advent. Unlike
holidays like Passover, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, Advent doesn’t
really have any particular holiday meal or standard party fare. Instead it
offers pre-Christmas baked goods, cheese balls and eggnog, perhaps with the
addition of hot cider and warm gingerbread with lemon sauce and similar treats.
Of course, people bake cookies and pies in preparation for Christmas, but they
also do it in order to provide home-made gifts that show more care and perhaps
more love than the most expensive purchased gift. Even before the Book of
Common Prayer, the last Sunday before Advent was “Stir Up Sunday.” The collect
for the day read, “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful
people...” That was the signal to begin the preparation of the cakes, pies,
puddings, tarts and all kinds of baked things for Christmas. In the current
American BCP it has been moved to the third Sunday of Advent and in some
denominations it is given on the fourth Sunday. Whichever it is, when things
start to get stirred up I’m sure liberal tasting went on, and perhaps a few of
the goodies helped to fill out the meals during that period when the cooks were
busy with holiday preparations and regular meals might be a bit more skimpy as
a result.
Advent brings wreaths and swags of evergreens— cedar, pine and spruce—to decorate doors, windows,
balustrades, handrails and tables. Advent wreaths traditionally have evergreen
wreaths as the base that holds the candles that mark the Sundays and Christmas
Day. There’s something festive about the scent of evergreen. The green was a
welcome color, contrasting with the white of snow and the various browns and
blacks of bare trunks and branches of trees outside which might appear dead but
would bring out tiny green leaves at the first hint of spring warmth.
Evergreens are traditional in Advent wreaths and, of course, swags, sprays and arrangements
that bridge both Advent and Christmas.
Emmanuel is the
reason for the season, so to speak. As Isaiah puts it, “. . . [T]he young woman
is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel” (7:14, NRSV). Matthew
repeats the prophecy as “. . . a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they
shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’” (1:23). The names are
used interchangeably although the Hebrew spelling is Immanuel while the Greek is Emmanuel.
So why do we call him Jesus? Because
Emmanuel or Immanuel is a sort of title rather than a name a child would be
called. It doesn’t change the fact that the baby boy born to Mary was, indeed,
“God with us,” just as the prophets told us. The baby isn’t resting in the
nativity scene just yet, but we sing hymns like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” in
church and remember that we should “. . . [R]ejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall
come to thee, O Israel.” Luckily, Advent
allows us to rejoice, perhaps a bit more quietly than those who are already
deep into Christmas, but nonetheless, we enjoy the hope and wait more or less
patiently to welcome the Light of the World that is coming, even symbolically.
In the midst of decorating and stirring up in preparation,
don’t forget to hope—and quietly rejoice.
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