The Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year C), Dec. 21, 2003
Micah 5:2-4; Psalm 80 or 80:1-7; Heb. 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-56
The Letter to the Hebrews uses the word “sacrifice” in its most familiar sense, referring to offerings burned on an altar. In contemporary usage, the word has also come to refer to any act or event which deprives someone of something important. For example, the word has been used frequently in recent months to describe the high price which members of the armed forces pay in leaving behind home and family to go to war and to the “supreme sacrifice” of losing their lives in combat.
However, the English word “sacrifice” comes from a Latin root which combines two words that have nothing to do with burning or losing anything. The literal meaning of the word is simply “to make holy”— to sanctify. That is what the ancient burnt offerings were really about. A few sacrifices were designated as “whole offerings,” but most were “shared offerings.” That is, the worshipers ate the flesh of the animal after it had been roasted on the altar, not totally consumed by the flames. To eat the flesh of an animal offered to God in sacrifice was to share a meal with God and, thus, to be made holy.
Sacrifice requires a body. Our lives are sanctified in the flesh by our participation in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And so, as Advent draws to a close, the lectionary turns our attention to the body quite literally prepared for us, the incarnate Lord whose sacrifice makes us holy. Micah foretells our Lord’s human descent from among the clans of Judah. The gospel relates part of the story of his incarnation and birth from the flesh of the Virgin Mary, his Mother.
The lectionary does not quite complete the story. That is left for us to do, as we go to the altar and receive the body of Christ. We participate in his sacrifice by eating his flesh, which sanctifies us. In the Holy Eucharist, we receive his body, the very body which was incarnate in Palestine, crucified on Calvary, raised in glory on the third day, and given to us in bread and wine.
The sacrifice of Christ, his death on the cross, is at the heart of our faith. It is always there, even on Christmas. We cannot escape the fact that the Babe of Bethlehem was born to die for us. Even his birth is celebrated by sacramentally sharing his sacrifice as we keep the “perpetual memory of that his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again.” And when he does come, his sacrifice will still take center stage for, as Wesley’s great hymn says, “Those dear tokens of his passion, still his dazzling Body bears ... with what rapture gaze we on those glorious scars.”
Look It Up
The Song of Mary, in today’s gospel, is one of several hymns sung by various people in the Gospel of Luke. They are examples of a great tradition of Hebrew devotional poetry. Compare Mary’s song to the prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2.
Think About It
The prayer which may be said before receiving Communion in Rite I (BCP, p. 337) is often referred to as the “Prayer of Humble Access.” While not included in Rite II, it could still be used as a private preparation for communion.
Next Sunday
Next Sunday, The First Sunday After Christmas, Dec. 28, 2003
Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 147 or 147:13-21; Gal. 3:23-25; 4:4-7; John 1:1-18
