Welcome to Westminster Abbey on this Fourth Sunday of Advent. My name is The Reverend Dr Jamie Hawkey, and I am Canon Theologian and Almoner at the Abbey. Today, I’ll be reading the gospel lesson for Advent IV, and thinking about what God is like.

A reading from Luke, chapter 1, verses 39-55.

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Here ends the reading

This Advent, we are considering the character and nature of God as we ask, ‘Who is this King of glory?’ Today’s Gospel tells us how two women, Mary and Elizabeth perceived an answer to this question which was faithful to their Jewish heritage, steeped in the hope of the prophets, whilst engaging with what was right in front of them! Elizabeth is Mary’s older kinswoman, and she is the first to recognise Mary’s vocation as her own child, John the Baptist, somersaults with joy in her womb. This is a scene profoundly intimate yet celebratory, as Elizabeth and Mary articulate for the first-time-in-real-time, how God’s promises are coming to fulfilment.

Who is this King of Glory? Firstly, he is faithful. Faithful to his covenant, faithful to his promises. It’s hard for us to imagine how Mary must have felt in those early days after Gabriel’s visit; the initial stirrings of conception, an awareness of the deepest kind of life growing within her. More questions, than answers, perhaps, as the reality of life intersects with the hinterland of faith. Her visit to Elizabeth, more experienced, maybe more worldly, might have initially been for comfort and reassurance. But together, they find that their encounter – and that of their unborn children – overflows into joy at how God is fulfilling his promises. One of these infants, John the Baptist, will point towards the other, Jesus, as King of Glory, Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sin of the world.

This glory – the shekinah, or dwelling,­ of divine presence – will be seen most clearly as so many of the world’s habits are interrogated and changed by this child. The lowly will be lifted up. The hungry filled. Pride cast down. Mercy remembered.

The King of Glory is faithful to his promises. But his coming among us will open a new world.

Thank you for joining me for this reflection. This is part of a series of reflections, each Sunday in Advent leading up to Christmas. To find out more about Advent and Christmas at the Abbey and how you can take part, wherever you are, visit our website at www.westminster-abbey.org/Advent.