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One of the most famous characters from any work of fiction concerning this time of year is Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Scrooge is not a nice man and certainly not a good one. He is a grumpy man who cares only about making a profit and adding to the vast mounds of gold he already possesses.
At one point in time, Scrooge had like-minded friends, or rather colleagues. One of these, Jacob Marley, was just as dedicated to this profit-alone mindset. Yet this man, as Dickens is quick to remind us at the start of the book, has been dead for quite some time, “dead as a doornail” even.
Just before Christmas, he comes to warn Scrooge of the fate heading his way. He has been forced to travel the earth in ghostly form weighed down by the chains he forged with his greed in life.
He also tells Scrooge of three more ghosts who are to visit him: the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. These spirits show Scrooge that there is a different path, a better path. They show him that he was once a person who cared for others and was passionate about other things aside from money. They show him that he could be this way again. They reveal what will happen to him if he does not.
At the end, we see Scrooge abounding in joy and giving freely to help others around him. This wasn’t the given outcome for him though. Scrooge can only become virtuous again because he listens.
Listening is really what today’s readings are about. We hear it at the very start of our Psalm, our response to the words we hear from the Prophet Micah. Listening is really what we see in one of our key figures in our readings today: the Virgin Mary.
When we stop and reflect, the main lesson we receive from Mary is one of listening. Here we have a young woman, betrothed to be married, who finds herself being told by the Angel Gabriel that she will give birth to the Christ-child.
Not only does this seem impossible, but in Mary’s day, this could have been a death sentence. If Joseph had wanted, he could have publicly condemned Mary and had her stoned to death. The words of the Angel Gabriel would have been have been something Mary could mot have heard without some sense of fear.
Yet Mary listens and in her listening trusts in the Lord. In fact she says as much stating, “Lo, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.”
Not only does she say that, but as we see in our reading today, she even takes time to rejoice in the coming of the Christ-child, setting out her song in the words of the Magnificat we hear today.
God chooses Mary for this very reason. She listens. She hears God’s words, and she believes them. She trusts in the Lord, the very definition of the word “faith”.
Listening is what makes Mary worthy. Listening is really the whole point of the Advent Season. Advent is a season of preparation, and preparation means taking the time to hear what God has to say to us.
Sometimes, as with Mary, God’s words can present a risk. Part of preparation is being ready to have the faith to answer God’s call. Part of it is knowing that we can make it through the difficulties only because God is there with us through every part of the way.
Advent may be ending soon, but I hope you take what you have learned this season and continue to listen. God is always speaking to us and we never stop needing to hear what our Lord has to say. As we move into the Season of the Nativity, be like Mary. Open your hearts to our Lord Jesus Christ so that you may truly hear what He has to say.