Advent Devotional | 4th Tuesday in Advent | Year C | December 22nd, 2015

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Luke 1:46b-55

 And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord, 
   and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
   and holy is his name. 
His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation. 
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly; 
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty. 
He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy, 
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Today's text comes to us from the mouth of Mary, a young girl who has experienced the miraculous work of God in the world.  She, for reasons known only to her Lord, had been chosen to bear the body of Christ into a world in deep need of redeeming.  Upon her visit to her cousin Elizabeth, John the Baptist leaps within Elizabeth's womb and she tells Mary that she is blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of her womb.  To this exclamation, Mary responds with the words of today's passage, which many of us have come to know as "the Magnificat."

In this beautiful song, Mary describes the salvific work that God is doing in the world.  God is bringing down the high and raising up the lowly.  God has looked with favor upon the lowliness of God's servant.  God has filled the hungry and sent the rich away empty.

Her song is reminiscent of John the Baptist's prophecy that God is coming to make straight crooked paths, to fill up valleys and to make flat the highest mountains.  

Again we see that what God is doing in the world is not what the world would intuitively expect.  Are you lowly?  Are you rich?  Are you high as a mountain or low as a valley?  Perhaps you are all at the same time.  No matter where you are on the spectrum of Mary's song, change is on the way.  That is the Advent promise that we celebrate and prepare for as Christ comes in a few days.  

What songs will you sing as God does amazing things in your life?  What songs have you sung when God was present in your life?  What songs are yet to be sung as God's future comes to fruition?

Today's text invites us to ponder the ways in which we respond to God's work in the world.  Sometimes, we welcome change with open arms.  Other times, we run away from it like it was a wild predator trying to attack us.  Either way, God's work will happen whether or not we get on board with it!  As this Advent season draws to a close, may we be reminded that God's change is ultimately a gift to be received rather than something to be scared of!  

Let us welcome God's change with open arms as Mary did with a beautiful voice!

Prayer of the Day:
God of fulfillment,
may everything I do today be a song of praise to you as Mary's song was for her.
May I reflect your work in body and in deed, in word as well as action.  Amen.

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Stephen Fearing

Stephen was born in 1988 in Cookeville, TN, where his parents met whilst attending Tennessee Tech. Shortly after, they moved to Dalton, Georgia where they put down roots and joined First Presbyterian Church, the faith family that taught Stephen that he was first and foremost a beloved child of God. It was this community that taught Stephen that it was OK to have questions and doubts and that nothing he could do could every possibly separate him from the love of God. In 1995, his sister, Sarah Kate, joined the family and Stephen began his journey as a life-long musician. Since then, he has found a love of music and has found this gift particularly fitting for his call to ministry. Among the instruments that he enjoys are piano, trumpet, guitar, and handbells. Stephen has always had a love of singing and congregation song. An avid member of the marching band, Stephen was the drum major of his high school's marching band. In 2006, Stephen began his tenure at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC where he majored in Religion and minored in History. While attending PC, Stephen continued to explore his love of music by participating in the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Jazz Trio, as well as playing in the PC Handbell ensemble and playing mandolin and banjo PC's very own bluegrass/rock group, Hosegrass, of which Stephen was a founding member (Hosegrass even released their own CD!). In 2010, Stephen moved from Clinton to Atlanta to attend Columbia Theological Seminary to pursue God's call on his life to be a pastor in the PC(USA). During this time, Stephen worked at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Silver Creek Presbyterian Church, Central Presbyterian Church, and Westminster Presbyterian Church. For three years, Stephen served as the Choir Director of Columbia Theological Seminary's choir and also served as the Interim Music Director at Westminster Presbyterian Church. In 2014, Stephen graduated from Columbia with a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Arts in Practical Theology with an emphasis in liturgy, music, and worship. In July of 2014, Stephen was installed an ordained as Teaching Elder at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church in Shelter Island, NY. Later that year, Stephen married the love of his life, Tricia, and they share their home on Shelter Island with their Golden Doodle, Elsie, and their calico cat, Audrey. In addition to his work with the people who are Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, Stephen currently serves as a commission from Long Island Presbytery to the Synod of the Northeast and, beginning in January of 2016, will moderate the Synod's missions team.