Cultivating Joy (Cultivating Hope in the Climate Crisis- Advent 3)

Post Author: Rev. Merianna Harrelson

Prayer of the Day
Creator God, so often we look around us and see only the changes that need to be made. We look past what you are doing in the lives of the children who surround us. Open our eyes to the joy of the world they are creating alongside you. Amen. 

Commentary on Luke 1:46b-55
All around us as we go about our daily lives, there are depictions of mother and child. We see this duo in the grocery store, at the park, in the carpool line, at the coffee shop, but in our communities of faith that depiction is different. The decorations and artwork, called “Madonna and Child,” portray Mary of Nazareth with her son Jesus as an infant. The oldest Madonna and Child date back to the second century, but such images were particularly prolific during the 14th century. It is not a coincidence that so many of these pieces of art are brilliantly colored with the rich paint derived from the earth. Many are created on wooden triglyphs. This artwork encapsulates the beauty of creation and the hope of creation all at once. If you travel around the world, you’ll find Mary and her child in all kinds of holy places, especially during the season of Advent. 

Although it may seem that these depictions are merely to remind the observer about the holiness of the mother of God, I think there is another reason why this duo is so captivating: it’s because for many of us, the image of a mother and child become a space to imagine our hopes for the world and what kind of joyful place the world may become.

It is not easy to bring new life to the world. It is wrought with nine months of struggle and changes. It is the unknown of labor and delivery and whether that life will come earthside safely and swiftly. It is the closeness to death each moment of the infant’s life that we are reminded of the preciousness of the moment and the day. It is through birth that we find ourselves demanding that the world be different than it has been so that our child and the world’s children will have it just a bit easier. 

Rev. Merianna Harrelson with four of her children during children’s sermon.

When Mary hears the news that she is going to bring forth new life, she is full of joy. When she hears that the life she will bear will be the son of God, she is so overjoyed she utters the words called “Mary’s song,” or the “Magnificat,” recorded in the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Her words do not hold an idealism of a new mother, but rather the wisdom of a seasoned mother. She understands that the life she is bringing into the world will be a beacon of light and that through that light, corruption will be illuminated. She understands the risk for her child’s life even before he is in her arms. 

This child will bring powerful men down and raise the lowly up. This child will fill the hungry and send the rich away wanting. This child will change the world. What a joy-filled song!

Mary’s words encapsulate what joy is. It is not merely happiness. It is understanding that the change this child will bring will not come without difficulty. It will be hard, treacherous work, but the change that will come because of this work will bring peace to the world. Mary’s song is the song of all mothers who hope and pray their children will work to make the world a better place. 

Maybe our modern day Madonna and Child portraits won’t end up in museums or cathedrals for generations to come and see, but I will certainly look at the mother and child pictures I see differently this Advent. When I see this duo, I will say a prayer that God will come to the aid of all our children as they fight to save the beauty of our creation and indeed our world. 

Hymn Suggestions
What Child Is This
Mary Did You Know
Away in a Manger

Where We’ve Been: 

Advent 1: Cultivating Hope – Isaiah 64:1-9 & Mark 13:24-37 by Rev. Elizabeth S. Ivell
Advent 2: Cultivating Peace – Isaiah 40:1-11 & Mark 1:1-8 by Rev. Corey Turnpenny

What Comes Next:

Advent 4: Cultivating Love – Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 by Rev. Talitha Amadea Aho
Christmas Eve/Day: Cultivating Light – Isaiah 9:2-7 & Psalm 97 by Rev. Kara  Wiechmann