Holidays have a way of often bringing to the surface darkness from the past…darkness from hardships and losses…darkness from broken relationships…even darkness coming forth from our own Church…leaving us, at times, blinded to God’s presence, asking, “Where is God in all this?” Allow this Sunday’s Gospel to shed new light on that age old question...

1. December 23, 2018 4th Sunday in Advent – Cycle C Princeton, N.J.
Over the past few weeks we have marked the time of Advent by lighting an Advent candle each Sunday.
And with each new candle lit we have been increasing the light during a time of year when darkness is
more present – astronomically and perhaps maybe even in our own lives. For holidays have a way of
bringing to the surface darkness from the past…darkness from hardships and losses…darkness from broken
relationships…even darkness coming forth from our own Church…leaving us, at times, blinded to God’s
presence. And asking, “Where is God in all this?”
And, perhaps that same question was being during the time when Christ was born. For it took place during
the reign of Herod, who ordered all the children under the age of two in and around Bethlehem to be
killed and tried tricking the Magi in order to find the Christ Child. That was the world to which God choose
to become incarnate – to take on human flesh and to bring salvation to all. God choose that point in time
to bring forth the light of life – the light of Christ – the divine presence.
And so two millennium later on this fourth Sunday of Advent in Princeton, days before Christmas, perhaps
we – or someone close to us - may find themselves, living in some sense of darkness, looking to regain a
spark of Divine light. But how? For that we need to turn to today’s gospel.
The story features Mary and Elizabeth who are related to each other. Elizabeth, unable to conceive a child
was the wife of the high priest Zechariah. Mary, a young teen living in the small northern town of
Nazareth, is also barren in a different sense – she is a virgin. The angel Gabriel makes an appearance and
tells Mary that she has found favor with God and that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of
the Most High will overshadow her and that behold – she will bear a son and shall name him Jesus. Gabriel
then tells her that Elizabeth has also conceived a son and is in her sixth month – all of this – because
nothing is impossible for God. And with this Mary literally becomes filled with the true presence of the
Lord – the ultimate indwelling of God.
So we pick up the story with today’s gospel where we find Mary not focusing inward on her own
pregnancy – but rather reaching out to another as she sets out to see her relative. For Elizabeth, advanced
in age, home with a husband who is deaf and dumb, was now six months pregnant and no longer able to
draw water from the village well, or go to market to do her shopping or to look after the crops in her
garden. Mary, about 14 and pregnant, sets off on a 78 mile trek by foot and donkey.
And when she arrives for a three month stay, there is no mention of any house warming gifts, no talk of
rum cake or wrapped baby gifts – rather Mary, filled with divine presence gives Elizabeth the gift of her
presence – and as we heard today - upon her greeting the infant leapt within Elizabeth’s womb. And
Elizabeth, seeing Mary is with child, calls her – the Mother of my Lord. The importance of this mutual gift
of presence and divine recognition is biblically emphasized in as much as it is the only time in the entire
New Testament that there is a dialogue recorded between two women.
And so, in just two days we will celebrate the birth of Mary’s child – Jesus, the Son of God, the son of Mary
– born fully human and fully divine. Our Christmas present is the perfect presence of the Christ Child. Our
1 Deacon Jim Knipper

2. December 23, 2018 4th Sunday in Advent – Cycle C Princeton, N.J.
Christmas present is the fact that we all have the indwelling of God – who is Emmanuel – God with us,
independent of who we are or what we have done or haven’t done – for we all carry the presence of
Christ.
Christ became incarnate, became fully human in order to show us how to be human – to ourselves and to
others. And he did this by being present to others. Jesus at the well with the woman…Jesus healing the
blind…Jesus dining with the sinners…Jesus calling to Peter on the water…Jesus on the cross and comforting
those hanging next to him. Wherever he went he brought the gift of his presence to all.
And some 2,000 years later, our needs, our family’s needs, frankly, the needs of this world are no different
– they yearn for presence. We need to stop blaming the darkness for being so dark and begin to ask what
we can do to make the light brighter than it is!
Mary's visit to her relative was gift and grace to Elizabeth. Likewise each of us needs to begin with our own
domestic church – with our family, friends and relatives who we will visit this Christmas. That is where we
will be given the opportunity to bring the same gift and grace into their lives, to bring them closer to God,
and to share with them the Spirit of God in us, the Spirit of consolation, of courage, of peace and joy, just
as Mary did. To give the gift of ourselves, to make time to be with another, to make that light brighter -
that is the gift that many people long for but do not receive at Christmas. What better gift is there to give
than that of ourselves, our presence and our time?
God became incarnate to give to us God’s presence…an indwelling presence that we each have. But it is
meant to be shared with others. That is why we come to this table with all of our joys and all of our
sorrows to be nourished by the greatest gift Jesus gave us – his physical presence, his body and blood.
Presence was so important to Jesus that at the Last Supper he instituted the Eucharist – and told us to do
this time and time again so that we can be fed – so that his presence can give us the strength to be present
to others. He told us to: do this and remember me….remember how I was human…remember how I was
present to others…remember how I forgave others…remember what I did for the least of my brothers and
sisters…remember how I faced evil and death and overcame it…come, don’t worship me – just follow me!
My sisters and brothers, may you be that presence…that ever brightening force bringing light to those in
darkness at home and in the community. May you make time for one another…and time for yourself! And
may you never forget that the greatest present which you can give, time and time again, is the presence of
the God who dwells within you, the God who loves you, the God who is Emmanuel.
2 Deacon Jim Knipper