4th Sunday of Advent (B) – December 24, 2023

St. Paul – Lyons, KS

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38

Video

“You have only to be silent.”

One of the most well-known bible stories is when Moses is leading the people out of Egypt. They find themselves backed up against the Red Sea. And the Egyptian army is pursuing them, and they are just terrified! Because there’s nothing they can do. It’s impossible. But then Moses says something in Exodus 14 verse 14. He says, “The Lord will fight for you; you have only to be silent.” And that’s when God parts the Red Sea. And he does the impossible. And the people are saved.

We are in an impossible situation. As humans, as men and women—we are in an impossible situation. Because as hard as we work, as much as we do, as good as we are, as honorable and merciful and just as we are—we can have a good life, a comfortable life, an enjoyable life, and yet the real issue is that everything is still messed up. There is too much out of our control. We can’t fix everything. Where can I find real and lasting happiness, not just fleeting moments of pleasure? What will I do once the NFL season ends, or I get done with my Netflix? Just start a new one? Why is there so much evil in the world, so much suffering, and nothing seems to solve it? Why did that happen to me, or to my family member? What happens when I die? Who can I trust? We can do a lot, take care of a lot of things, yeah! But at the end of the day, we’re stuck. We can’t ultimately do anything about our situation. We’re just kinda holding on until it ends.

All during Advent we’ve been going through this series we’ve called Para Bellum, from that ancient saying, “Si vis pacem, para bellum”—if you want peace, prepare for war. There are those battles we need to fight. We talked about three battles in particular. Battles against the Devil, the Flesh, and the World. These are real battles that we really need to be aware of and really fight.

But do you remember my image from the beginning of Advent? It’s that scene from the Lord of the Rings, the second book, the battle at Helm’s Deep. There, humankind is making a sort of “last stand” agains the forces of evil, of darkness. And there is no way they’re gonna win! They are holding on as long as possible—but it’s impossible! They know they will die defending this fortress. Ok. In that situation, one person has made a promise: the character Gandalf. Gandalf promises that one day, at dawn, he will come, bringing victory. And when he does, the enemy will finally be destroyed. So notice! He promises: “Yes, fight the good fight, hold on. But you are not going to win! Not unless I come. And I will come. I will come! I will fight for you.”

My point is this: yes, we need to fight the good fight, especially against those enemies of our soul like the Devil, the Flesh, and the World, yes! But, but—but here’s the secret: really, we’re just waiting for God to do what only God can do. Go back to that scene of the Israelites leaving Egypt: yes, they had to eat the Passover, pack up their stuff, start walking. Real things. Real actions. But—when they finally reached the point where they recognized their complete and utter powerlessness—then the most important spiritual principle was revealed. The most important spiritual principle! A principle that is going to come up again and again and again. And it is that simple line: “The Lord will fight for you; you have only to be silent.”

God Will Do It

Throughout the Scriptures we see this over and over and over again: God has his plan, he is doing something, he is working on it, but then the struggle always arises, the question, “Will the human character cooperate? Will the human go along with his plan? Will humanity let God do what only God can do? OR, will they try to figure it out on their own?” And this comes up in a lot of different ways, time and time again! Famously, Adam and Eve: God has a plan and they royally mess that up. But not just there. Over and over again, Noah, Abraham, Moses, on and on. And it’s not even like just between humans doing bad things or good things. Sometimes even “good things” are not the plan!

Case in point: our first reading. David has this realization, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!” And so he’s like, “I know! I should build a suitable house, a temple for God.” Is that sinful? Is that a terrible thing? No! That’s beautiful!

But what happens? God intervenes. He shuts that idea down. Why? Not because it is a sinful thing that David is planning. But because it is not God’s plan. Because David is trying to fix everything on his own. Because David is missing the most important spiritual principle: God will do it. And that’s what God reminds him of! Over and over again (go look at that first reading again)—over and over God reminds him: “It was I who took you from the pasture…I have been with you…I have destroyed all your enemies…I will make you famous…I will fix a place…I will plant them…I first appointed judges…I will give you rest…[I] will establish a house for you…I will raise up your heir after you…I will make his kingdom firm…I will be a father to him.” Twelve times. Twelve times God tells David who is really in charge, who is really doing the work! It’s Exodus 14:14 all over again! “The Lord will fight for you; you have only to be silent.”

“Let it be done to me…”

The spiritual principle we have to keep in mind is this: the Lord will do it, our job is to get out of the way and let him. This is why Mary is held up before us as our model. Here in this very famous scene of the Annunciation, when the archangel Gabriel makes this announcement to Mary—notice, Gabriel doesn’t “ask” Mary to be the Mother of this child. Gabriel announces God’s plan! Mary doesn’t need to go do something, she doesn’t need to go find a husband, figure it out, get pregnant, on and on, no! Mary needs to do one thing: let God do what only God can do. 

And so look at her response. Mary doesn’t say, “Yes. I’ll be the mother of this child. You’ve come to the right lady. I’ll get it done.” Nope. Mary doesn’t say “yes.” Mary says, “Fiat voluntas tua,” let it be done to me according to your will. Not, “I’ll get it done,” no. “Let it be done to me.” What does Mary understand? Spiritual principle number one: “The Lord will do it, we just need to let him.”

The Angelus

Today’s liturgy—our opening pray, this Gospel reading—it focuses our attention on this principle. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, we prepare to celebrate that as much as we can do, as good of a fight as we can put up—ultimately we are waiting. Waiting for God to do what only God can do. It is only when he shows up, when he arrives, that anything can happen.

And so our job is to imitate Mary. How? Silence. The peace we are looking for, it happens when we allow God to do what only God can do. “The Lord will fight for you; you have only to be silent.” And silent doesn’t mean not talking. It means shutting down distractions, focusing on what is most important, turning our attention toward him and his coming.

Mother Teresa is famous for passing out her business card which said, “The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace.” Si vis pacem, para bellum. If you want peace, prepare for war, prepare for battle. But the battle? Silence, prayer, faith, love, service—that leads to peace. This is what Mother Teresa modeled for us, this is what Mary models for us, this is what we see time and time again throughout the Scriptures.

One very practical way to do this is to pray the Angelus every day. Every day. Do you know that prayer? Google it. But really, it’s just the summary of the liturgy today. You pray:

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
Be it done unto me according to your Word.

And the Word was made flesh,
And dwells among us.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

[And then the prayer from the beginning of Mass today.] Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts: that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

It has been the long-standing tradition of the Church to pray the Angelus at 6am, Noon, and 6pm. Churches would even ring their bell at these times to remind the people. But why? Why? So that throughout their day—as they began their day, in the middle of their work, as the day was coming to a close—throughout the day they would have their minds called back to this most important of spiritual principles: “The Lord will do it, we just need to let him. The Lord will fight for you; you have only to be silent.” Three times a day: a moment of silence, a time of prayer, a renewal of faith, an expression of love, and a return to service—which leads to peace.

“The Word was made flesh.” God becomes man. God arrives, in the flesh, he dwells among us. Why? So that here, in this impossible situation, he can fight for you.