"You Can See It"

 

Isaiah 52:7-10    Luke 1 39-45

 

     In the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, after Aslan defeats the White Witch and is raised from the dead, he goes to the animals who had been turned into stone by the Witch and brings them back to life.  One was a lion and as you read the account you can picture the lion coming back to life. 

 

     "For a second after Aslan had breathed upon him the stone lion looked just the same.  Then a tiny streak of gold began to run along his white marble back-then it spread-then the colour seemed to lick all over him as the flame licks all over a bit of paper-then, while his hind-quarters were still obviously stone the lion shook his mane and all the heavy, stony folds rippled into living hair.  Then he opened a great red mouth, warm and living, and gave a prodigious yawn.  And now his hind legs had come to life.  He lifted one of them and scratched himself.  Then, having caught sight of Aslan, he went bounding after him and frisking round him whimpering with delight and jumping to lick his face. 

 

      Of course the children's eyes turned to follow the lion; but the sight they saw was so wonderful that they soon forgot about him.  Everywhere statues were coming to life.  They courtyard no longer looked like a museum; it looked more like a zoo.  Creatures were running after Aslan and dancing round him till he was almost hidden in the crowd.  And instead of the deadly silence the whole place rang with the sound of happy roarings, brayings, yelpings, barkings, squealings, stampings, shouts, songs and laughter." 

 

      When the young woman Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, the baby Elizabeth was carrying leaped for joy.  God stirred Mary's heart and she broke out into song.  She sang about the proud being scattered and the mighty being put down from their thrones, and those of low degree being exalted and the hungry being filled with good things.  As Mary sings we can see the prophecies of God being fulfilled.  As Mary sings you can visualize the hungry people being fed, tears of sadness turning into tears of joy, you can see the lame walking and the dead rising to new life.  And we realize that we are among the hungry who need to be fed, we are the ones who need our tears of sadness to be turned into tears of joy, we are among the lame who long to walk, we are among the dead who long to rise to new life.  Like the lion who was turned into stone, we want to live again, we want to live in a world that is full of the glory of God.

 

     As Aslan breathed upon the stone lion, God filled Elizabeth and Mary with Holy Spirit and the result was a song that would bring new life to any who choose to listen.  At Christmas we break out into song, more than any other time of the year.  We sing words like  "Joy to the World," we sing about the "Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing," we sing words like "Where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Christ enters in." 

 

      And for a few a few brief moments we believe them.  And like the stone lion the shell that we have built around ourselves begins to crumble and we are filled with Holy Spirit and we are ready to share in that new life, a life in which the hungry are filled and the lowly are exalted.

 

      Mary saw and sang about the possibility for transformation.  And somehow that transformation begins with the coming together of the human and the divine in the baby Jesus.  Mary joined God in the work of transformation.  She said Let it be to me according to your word.  Like Mary, we are being called not just to see the vision put to take part in helping the vision become a reality. 

 

      The one vision I will take away from this Advent Season is one of Amethyst Dean holding baby Jesus at the children's Christmas pageant at WOW!!  By her smile she made you believe she was holding the most precious gift in the world.  I think at that moment Amethyst was experiencing God's blessing.  That beautiful smile came from something outside of herself.

 

       It was similar to the blessing of Mary.  Something outside of her caused her to break into beautiful song, enabled her to see the transformation that was coming, helped her to see that somehow the child that was inside of her would be the savior of the world.

 

      God is bringing about transformation and God not only called Mary but is calling us to take part in this most wonderful work.