Come, Lord Jesus. Fill our minds with your word, fill our hearts with your love, fill our lives with your light. Come, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.

On these Advent Sundays we have been considering the words that are a part of the Advent experience. On the first Sunday of Advent, we looked at the words that come from God that last. Those are invitational words, because God is always inviting us into new life, into a new relationship with God and with those around us. On the second Sunday of Advent, we looked at God's divine word. God's divine word is change, or repent, or turn-for that is what is required if we are to respond to the invitation that God has given to us. We need to change and turn, so that we can receive the new life God offers to us. Last Sunday we considered God's clear word to us. God's clear word is work-not a popular word, but a clear word. If we are to sustain that new relationship we have with God and with those around us, then we need to work the work of God, we need to do that which God has called us to do. Today, God's word for us is a word of celebration-because on this day we celebrate the Word of God becoming flesh, coming as the babe of Bethlehem, as Jesus. As the Gospel of John says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth."

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah in chapter 11 describes the nature of the long-anticipated Messiah, as he does in several places throughout his prophecy. It is a poetic and beautiful picture. Chapter 12 then is composed of two songs, or psalms. The heading in some Bibles over chapter 12 is "An Outburst of Thanksgiving." These two songs are in response to this picture of the anticipated Messiah. They are joyful songs, songs of thanksgiving and praise to God. The first song, verses 1 and 2, is a very personal song, a song of an individual. The second song, verses 3 through 6, is a corporate song. The mood of celebration marks both: "God is my strength, ... my song, ... my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.... Give thanks, ... sing praises, ... shout, ... sing for joy." All of that is because of this image of the anticipated Messiah. Out of the empty hopelessness of the people of Israel being held in exile, comes this great outburst of boundless joy. The Christ, the Messiah has not yet come. All they have is the word of promise-and yet they are so filled with joy, they are so thankful they cannot contain themselves, and so they praise God.

The passage from Luke is a joyful passage as well. It is a passage that deals with two people, Mary the mother of Jesus and her relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth goes first, and hers is a song of joy as well. Elizabeth demonstrates the pinnacle of joy for any pastor's spouse. The pastor has been silenced, and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesies. She sings a Spirit-song of joy, because she will bear a child; but also when she meets Mary and understands Mary's situation, she sings a song of joy. It is the Holy Spirit singing through Elizabeth in praise to God for all that God is doing in their lives.

Elizabeth's song is followed by Mary's song, called the Magnificat because of the first word of the Latin translation. It is also an outburst of thanksgiving and unbounded joy. It too is both a personal and a corporate statement. Verses 46 through 50 are a song of individual praise; verses 51 through 55 are a song of corporate praise.

The joy of Mary and Elizabeth is the joy of all who look forward with wonder and thanksgiving to the birth of a child. There is the great joy of human anticipation of a new life in their midst. The joining of this wonder with God's saving work invites us to consider how the experience of expectancy teaches us the ways of God's gracious work in human experience. Joy is peaked by waiting. Every birth can be a sign of salvation, of finding favor, of being blessed, of living with promise and of realizing fulfillment. But infused into that is the activity of God in both of their lives, the fact that God is moving in both Elizabeth's life and in Mary's life. That brings an additional dimension of joy to them. The joy of the mothers will become the jobs of their sons. These two mothers, Mary and Elizabeth, both have joy in being a part of God's salvation work-their sons will do the work of salvation. Their sons will be involved in spreading the good news of God's activity in the world.

Some people tend to get stuck from time to time in their lives using a certain phrase over and over. I know one young adult whose word right now is "sweet." If you say anything to him that has a positive dimension to it, he'll respond, "Sweet." It's a nice word. It can be stretched out a long ways when you're really excited about something: "Sweeeeet!" he says. Just a few months ago this same young man had a different trademark exclamation. That word was "word." You would say something to him, and he would say, "Word." You could say something positive or something negative, and the response was always the same: "Word." Friends, I don't understand these things, I just report them. But the word for us today, the word of celebration, is "Magnificent."

I once knew a veterinarian in a church I served. His name was Dr. Richard Goebel. His word was "magnificent." I knew him for over three years, and that was always his expression. "How are you, Richard?" "Magnificent!" . . . "What do you think of this idea, Richard?" "Magnificent!" . . . "Would you like to be a part of this activity in the life of our church?" "Magnificent!" He was a fun guy to be around because he was so affirming all the time. The word "magnificent" and Mary's word, "magnify," obviously have the same root. The word magnificent means noble or great. The word magnify means to make much of, to worship, to hold in high esteem, or to enlarge. Mary says in her song, "My soul magnifies the Lord." It is the Lord that Mary holds in high esteem; it is the Lord that Mary worships; it is the Lord that Mary seeks to enlarge in her soul.

What the soul magnifies or considers great or enlarges makes a vast difference in human life. The recent Florida election experience is an example. Some people were magnifying everything wrong with the situation: We don't have a decision. These people are disenfranchised. Those people aren't counting right. Some were angry. Some were fearful. Some thought it demonstrated the disintegration of democracy. Yet others were saying: This is democracy in action. There is a process to handle the situation, let it work. Clearly, we have discovered some glitches in the process. There is clearly a need for election reform on several fronts. However, the decision was not determined by violence in the street, or a take-over by some armed group. What we choose to magnify makes a vast difference.

At the first appointment I had out of seminary, there was a retired pastor who was the minister of visitation, Dr. Everett Taylor. Everett Taylor was a retired Presbyterian pastor, a refined, handsome man with chiseled features, eloquent in his phrasing and clear in his diction. I went calling with Everett one day, and as I went to get out of the car, my back "caught," and I said, "I've been having some back trouble lately." Everett, just in passing, said, "I know a doctor who may be able to help you." He gave me the doctor's name, and I went to see him. The doctor not only helped me but he told me something. Everett Taylor had been experiencing severe back pain for over 15 years. I knew the man for almost five years, and never once heard him say anything about his back. He chose to magnify God and God's work in our lives, not his own pain. What we choose to magnify makes all the difference in the world, in our lives, and in the lives of those around us.

Mary's song is a song of two parts. On the personal level, she magnifies God for what God has done in her own life, for the blessing that God has given her as an individual. This little "Miss Nobody" has been blessed beyond measure, and she celebrates God's grace in her own life. We all can magnify God, because the character of God is to see and bless each one of us no matter how insignificant we may feel or others may cause us to feel. The corporate or social part of Mary's song praises God for judging those who abuse their power and position to demean others, and praises God for raising up the poor and lowly. It's a song of all the outcasts, a song that praises God for recognizing one of them. As the song of Mary says, "God will bring down the mighty and lift up the lowly." It is a warning to all those who would grasp for power at the expense of someone else, and it is a word of hope to all who are oppressed. God sees them and knows their plight.

In the twelfth century in Paris, the poor were allowed into the churches on only one Sunday of the year, Christmas Sunday, this day. When the Magnificat was read, and the stirring words were pronounced, "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted those of low degree," the folks of low degree recognizing their cue would yell their heads off in approval with a noise that almost lifted the roof. For many years this chaos reigned unconfined. Then in 1198 the Bishop of Paris decreed that after seven yells, that medieval form of "Amen," the clamor must stop. The whole of Mary's song is infused with unbounded joy. It's a song of appreciation for what God has done, not only in one person's life, but in all of our lives together.

When you read Mary's song in the English translation, you'll notice it's all in the past tense. Jesus has been conceived but is not yet born-yet the song says it's an accomplished fact. For Luke it is already accomplished because Jesus as the first person of the kingdom of God has been conceived. This new order is already on the way. It's microscopic at this point, within a womb. But the kingdom is God is here, and it's coming in its fullness. That was the perception in the first century, and they sang with great joy. In the twelfth century they stood on their pews and shouted for joy. The question, friends, is what are you and I going to magnify today? How are we going to celebrate the joy of God in our lives today?

Nan Mitchell told me this story this week. Last Sunday evening a friend of hers went to the Christmas Boat Parade and then over to Seaport Village for a walk. There was live music so they sat along the walkway and listened. It was a beautiful night and beautiful music. An African-American family nearby was also enjoying the music. There was a boy of about four with his dad and other family members. The boy had one of those glow necklaces and was trying to fit it around his father's wrist. They struggled and giggled but couldn't get it together. It was fun to watch them interact.

The musicians started to play "O Holy Night." Just about that time another family came walking by, with a little girl, she estimated about two years of age. The little girl stopped and began to watch the boy and his daddy, just stared like little kids will do without embarrassment, in absolute wonder. Her mother went to the father, and asked where he bought the necklaces. He said, "From a vendor, but I think he's packed up and gone on his way." The little girl just kept looking. The father brought the little boy close to himself and whispered something in his ear. The boy was slightly embarrassed, but took off one of his glow necklaces and gave it to the girl. His older sister did the same. The little girl ended up with a necklace that was all the way down to her waist. "O Holy Night" was still being sung in the background, and it came together so wonderfully, Nan's friend said she had tears in her eyes. The father then took the boy in his arms and hugged him with appreciation and delight for what he had done. What a magnificent scene it is.

The word for today is Magnificent. It is a word of celebration. Magnificent is what God has done in our lives in the gift of Jesus, the Christ. Magnificent is what we do for each other when the Spirit of Christ is born anew in us. Thanks be to God. Amen.