Mary knew the gift of Christmas, after the angel had visited her and shared the news. Now remember, the news that the angel brought her was upsetting in that it certainly turned all of her plans for her life upside down, changing everything, and having the potential to undercut all of her hopes and dreams. It was news that was unexpected and caught her totally off guard. It was news that was a real mixed blessing, yet it was also news that she accepted and then celebrated.

We're told that she rushed off to visit her relative Elizabeth, for as you remember, part of the proof that the angel offered her was the message that Elizabeth, whom everyone knew could not have children, Elizabeth was now pregnant. So Mary went to see Elizabeth, and immediately saw the truth of the angels words. Elizabeth was not only pregnant, but the child within her moved, acknowledging the lordship of the Christchild whom Mary carried in her womb.

Mary tried to absorb all of this that had happened to her so suddenly as she heard Elizabeth say, "You are the most blessed of all women, and blessed is the child you will bear!"

In all that had happened to her, and now in the action of John and the words of Elizabeth, Mary saw that she indeed had much to celebrate, much to give thanks for. So she spoke the words that have become so famous, the words of the "Magnificat" or Mary's Song of Praise, in which she says, "My heart praises the Lord: my soul is glad because of God my Savior". She goes on to express her thanks to God on two levels - her personal thanks for what had happened to her. She is but a lowly handmaiden and will be called blessed by all generations. God has chosen her to work through, God has chosen her to be the mother of the Christ child, and she is honored and humbled by this choice.

But Mary is also giving thanks for the great things God has done for Israel and for all nations, by reaching out to people everywhere in love. As she says, "He has stretched out his mighty arm and scattered the proud with all their plans. He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has kept the promise he made to our ancestors and has come to the help of his servant Israel."

Mary knew and celebrated all that was to come. For though the Messiah could and would do great things, and while Mary certainly didn't know the details of all that would happen, she trusted that these things would be wonderful indeed, and that the Messiah would change our lives and our world, forever.

PART 2 - LET US REJOICE ?

This time of year many people are looking for some sort of escape, some sort of artificial joy. Certainly the frantic pace this time of year in the stores is anything but joy-filled. People tend to be harried and hurried and even downright grumpy. For people without families nearby or who are experiencing a painful loss or trauma in their life, Christmas can be one of the most difficult times of the year. They feel left out, out of sync with what's going on all around them. They feel alone and left out.

There's a universal feeling of loneliness, a feeling of wanting to be wanted, that is particularly prevalent at Christmas time. If you aren't busy with all of the usual Christmas activities, it's easy to feel left out. When your heart is weighted down by a particularly heavy burden at this time of year, you feel out of step - like nobody cares, like nobody knows what you're feeling or experiencing... So, when do we celebrate the good news?

For the good news is very real, even though it's also often very different from what many people are celebrating this time of year. As Isaiah tells us, the good news comes to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives... The good news comes to those who are at a low ebb, feeling defeated and alone.

That's how the Israelite people were. They had been conquered, exiled from their land, and when all seemed hopeless, when it seemed that God had abandoned them, Isaiah brings them the good news of deliverance, that God is not finished with them yet. The future has still to be written, and their future will be very different from their past. Grief will be turned to joy. Sorrow will be turned to praise, and a people who have turned from God will live as God's children.

Our problem with celebrating the good news is that we tend to get distracted. As a society we are distracted by the materialism. Christmas often seems to be about things - about the presents we give or receive, about the fancy parties we go to or the clothes that we wear or the decorations that we hang. We become so distracted by those ways of celebrating, that we start to think that they're what it's all about, and somehow the celebrating becomes empty and hollow, because if the parties and decorations and gifts are what it's all about, then nothing really changes. Where is the real gift? Where is the real reason to rejoice?

PART 3 - LET US REALLY REJOICE !

Our problem with celebrating Christmas is that most of the time we're looking in the wrong places, most of the time we're trying to celebrate the wrong things. We're very much like the Israelite people in that we want the Messiah to live up to our expectations. We have trouble accepting the fact that God often has plans that are different than ours.

The Israelite people were expecting a Messiah who would come and fix their problems here on earth. He would drive out the hated Roman armies, replace Herod and the other leaders of the day and bring about a new reign in which poverty and pain came to an end. It was almost an expectation that life would go back to what it was like in the Garden of Eden - where all of our needs would automatically be taken care of, where suffering and pain were things you never had to experience...

As we know, the Israelite people really struggled to understand that Jesus did not come to rule an earthly Kingdom, but rather to bring the news of the coming of God's Kingdom, to bring the news of God's love and God's presence with them through all that they faced.

Does that sound familiar? It should, because we face the same struggle today. We're like the Israelite people in that we want the Messiah to live up to our expectations - to take away the pain and suffering we find in our lives right now, to fix everything out there - and instead God reminds us that Jesus was born to change things inside not outside. We're the ones who have things reversed!

It was when Mary began to realize that in the birth of Jesus God had blessed her in a way beyond all blessings, that she began to rejoice. That is the real experience of Christmas, of Christ's birth, when we stop focusing on the pain and the struggles that are outside and instead look inside for the good news, the wonderful reason that we have to celebrate.

You see the parties, the decorations, and the gifts will all soon fade. Even the pain and difficulties that we struggle with are only temporary. They may last for days or weeks or even years, but they are only for a while. If they are all that we focus on, all that we look to receive, all that Christmas is about for us, then we have missed the real gift, the most important reason we have to celebrate, the gift that will still be with us long after all the others have faded and become but distant memories.

In Jesus Christ God has come to be with each of us. We are not alone, and so we have reason to rejoice. In Jesus Christ God has come and declared a special love for us. The joy that we feel in response is a special gift of Christmas, a gift which will never fade or break, a gift that is real. So let us really rejoice and give thanks. For in Jesus Christ God has come to each of us and said "I love you. I will be with you always."

Amen.