FROM SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, SHARON DHAVALE

This post is part of our four-part Advent series in 2022 on the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy & Love moving through the first 2 chapters of the Gospel of Luke. One post will be released each week through the season of Advent. We started this tradition last year & love hearing from a variety of voices in this season leading to Christmas! This 1st reflection is focusing on hope & Luke 1:1-38.

In the beginning of Luke, we are introduced to Zacharias & Elizabeth – righteous, blameless, obedient followers of God in the priestly order – who had been waiting for a child only to be met with barren years & the reality check of perhaps having to relinquish their desires due to old age. In the middle of Luke’s first chapter, we find Mary & Joseph - awaiting a wedding day that would mark the beginning of their married life together – also faced with an unexpected pregnancy. Today, Christians around the world wait for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ while remembering His first surprising one as a human baby. Advent means “coming” & implies waiting for a significant coming.

The past several years have been littered with both joy-inducing & excruciating waiting for me. Here are some items that were on my “waiting for the coming of” list from the past three years: a job, approval of paperwork following a job offer, permission to relocate for said job (due to a pandemic), opportunity to see my family again, a physical home, an emotional sense of belonging, new friendships, the means to finish a research paper, graduation, my favorite coffee shop to reopen, Old Navy to ship the hoodies I had ordered weeks ago, & the list goes on. As I reflect on these moments of waiting though, I can now articulate that my hope came from this beautiful reality found in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel – God’s favor.

In Luke, & throughout Scripture, God’s favor is His sustaining, surprising, & abundant response to His people. The beautiful biblical imagery here is one of God looking upon & regarding His people with care. God’s favor is what gives His people hope. Five months pregnant, Elizabeth acknowledges that God’s favor – His sustaining, surprising, & abundant response – delivered her from her communal & cultural disgrace through her son, John’s birth. God’s favor is a reminder that Zacharias & Elizabeth had not simply been forgotten. In fact, it is God’s favor that enabled them to keep living righteous, blameless & obedient lives. Though surprising - in that it depends entirely on God’s timing & God’s way – God’s favor is exceedingly abundant for His recipients. John is an incredible part of the Gospel narrative. Filled with the Spirit in his mother’s womb, John paves the way for the Messiah. Preparing the way for Advent. John declares a great coming indeed. Now that is abundant!

In the middle of Luke 1, Mary receives a shocking visit from an angel whose announcement is about to majorly interrupt wedding planning. God’s sustaining, surprising, & abundant response to & upon humanity comes through Mary. The virgin Mary is chosen to be the mother of Jesus who “will be great & will be called the Son of the Most High; & the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; & He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, & His kingdom will have no end” (vv. 32-33). Jesus is God’s favor to a humanity in need of loving redemption!

I just want to take a moment to acknowledge that God’s favor does not result in blind human positivity. Elizabeth & Zacharias had to navigate years of pain before John’s arrival. Zacharias was mute till his son came! Mary still had to deal with the implications of an unplanned extramarital pregnancy. Jesus’ first coming was not at all what the Israelites had envisioned for their Messiah figure. Christians today still have to navigate darkness while waiting for Christ’ return.

Looking for a space to intentionally reflect with God in this Advent season? Join us in Essex, MA on December 7th, 2024 for our annual Advent retreat!