See Advent more clearly through magnifying glass

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of three letters Paul Graves is writing to his grandchildren during Advent, exploring different aspects of the Christmas story.

Dear Katie, Claire and Andy,

Here we are only two days after Thanksgiving, but I want to visit with you about Christmas.

It’s only four weeks away, but so much happens in our Christian tradition before it arrives. Much more happens, even, than getting ready for Santa Claus.

I’m so glad you are learning about Advent from your parents and your church. I hope to add to your learning about this wonderful pre-Christmas season.

Before you read any further: Do you have a little magnifying glass nearby? If you do, perhaps you will use it to read these words.

You have it?

Good!

What does the magnifying glass do to these words – besides make them fuzzy, I mean? There it is – when you get the glass a certain distance from the words, they are clearer and bigger, too.

In some of my past letters to you, I’ve told you kids about God’s radical hospitality. This is my way to imagine God’s wonderful welcome and no-strings-attached love for the world and the people he created to live in it.

In this and my next two letters, I want to tell you about how this special understanding of God helps me see new and exciting things in the Advent season.

God’s radical hospitality is like a magnifying glass to me, kids. When I look at Advent through this special glass, I see the wonderful stories of the season in bigger and clearer ways.

I believe God wants them to be seen in bigger and clearer ways.

From now until Christmas, I want to share how I see God’s radical hospitality in three stories we always tell before Christmas. They are all in the Gospel of Luke.

We use three pretty strange words to label the stories. First is the “Annunciation,” then the story of the “Magnificat,” and finally the story of God’s “Incarnation.”

“Annunciation” is a fancy word for “announcement” – being told something.

Katie, do you remember when your parents announced you were going to have a baby brother or sister? Then Claire was born.

Claire, do you remember when your parents told you would soon get a baby brother or sister? Telling you was their announcement, their annunciation, about having another baby. Then Andy was born.

Sorry, Andy, you won’t get any announcements like that. No more babies are expected in our family.

Well, the Annunciation in Luke 1:26-38 was a very special announcement to Mary that she would soon have a baby. Mary’s parents didn’t tell her. The angel Gabriel told Mary this mysterious news.

The whole story was pretty hard to believe. Gabriel said this baby would be different from any baby born before or since.

Mary’s baby was to be called Jesus. She was chosen by God to be the mother of God’s son. Pretty hard to believe, but very extra special!

I don’t know if Mary struggled with what Gabriel told her, though I easily imagine that she did. After all, she wasn’t yet married to Joseph.

But we do know she wanted to be a dutiful young Jewish teenager, so she accepted the news and did her best to prepare for being a new mother, the mother of Jesus.

Actually, kids, there are two annunciations in this chapter of Luke.

Just before we read of Gabriel’s startling news to Mary, we can read about Gabriel speaking to Zachariah, the husband of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth. Zachariah and Elizabeth had no children and were getting quite old (maybe even as old as your grandparents).

But Gabriel announced that Elizabeth would give birth to a son of her own. Gabriel also said they would call their son John, and he would have a very special mission to carry out for God when he got older.

If you want, kids, stop reading this letter and read both announcement stories. They’re pretty outrageous and dramatic.

When I use the magnifying glass of God’s radical hospitality to read these stories, here is what I see:

God loves to surprise us with gifts that fill our hearts with hope and joy. One of those amazing gifts is a newborn baby. Each of you – Katie, Claire and Andy – was God’s radically hospitable gift to your parents and grandparents.

Babies are wonderful reminders of God’s deepest love for all persons. They also remind us of the exciting potential every human being has when he or she grows up.

Both Elizabeth and Mary must have been very confused when Gabriel visited them. He told each of them they would have babies who would become special gifts of God to other people. But they must have been very excited, too.

God trusted them with a most mysterious responsibility. God’s unconditional love would be given to the world in the form of two babies, their babies.

What an awesome thing for God to do!

Of course, I think that God’s radical goodness and belief in our goodness is on display each and every time a baby is born. I really believe that, my very special children, each and every time I see each of you, or even think of you.

Grampa Graves