Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 21, 2003 Micah 5:1-4a Hebrews 10:5-10 Luke 1:39-25	(Audio to come)

My favorite Christmas Carol is usually the one I happen to be listening to or singing at any given moment. But the particular carol that never fails to evoke deep feelings in me is “I Wonder as I Wander.” It’s a folk song that was discovered in Appalachia more than a hundred years ago, but whose actual origins are lost in the mists of history. In addition to the wonderful play on words of the first line, it accurately conveys the theology of the incarnation, expressed in as down-to-earth way as possible: Jesus our Savior “did come for to die.” And his coming to die was an act of obedience “for poor orn’ry sinners like you and like I.”

When Luke tells the Christmas story in his Gospel, he is speaking from the experience of the death and resurrection of Jesus. And he is speaking to people who are seeking to live in union with Christ. The cross and resurrection are behind everything that is told of the birth of Jesus.

The cross often comes in the disguise of uncertainty, and always carries a call to obedience. Zechariah’s obedience to the voice of the angel was forged in confusion and doubt, and muteness. Mary was equally uncertain of the implications of the message angel gave her, but obeyed without hesitation. Filled with the Holy Spirit, she couldn’t just remain rapt in prayer, she was impelled to make present in action the good news she had received.

The letter to the Hebrews reflects on the reason for Christ’s coming in a way that impels us to look beyond the “sweet baby Jesus” image of Christmas. Rather than the “sin offerings and sacrifices” of the Old Law, God wants an offering of the heart: obedience. God wants you and me to say, along with Jesus, “I have come to do your will.”

How did Jesus do God’s will? Did God really want him to suffer and die? And what kind of a loving Father would demand that of his Son?

No, what God wanted of Jesus – and got from him! – was to be faithful in showing self-sacrificing love, the kind of love that responds to evil with good. That will always involve dying in some way, and will always mean refusing to confront evil with evil, as fallen human nature usually is inclined to do. So Jesus’ death was the inevitable consequence of his obedience to be the unfailing sign of God’s love.

Of course, the resurrection of Jesus is God’s ultimate promise and sign that neither death nor sin and evil have the last word. The real joy of our celebration of Christmas is not the warm fuzzies and gift-giving of passing worldly values. Our real joy lies far beyond that: in the mystery of God-with-us lies the ultimate triumph of good over evil, and of life over death.

© Thomas Welbers 2003