Belmont University Advent GuideSample

The texts for this day hold out images of reversal for those who lack power. The Song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2 and the Annunciation narrative in Luke 1:26-38 do this in complicated ways. In both cases the reversal is linked to the birth of a child to a beleaguered woman, but soon both texts are dabbling with royal power.

The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed. (1 Samuel 2.10b)

The Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David. (Luke 1.32b)

Royal power seems to be part of the societal sickness each text addresses, a source of the inequality they decry, so how can it also be part of the solution? Many centuries of subsequent history have demonstrated how easily those who overthrow the powerful can become just as oppressive as those they overthrew. The best visions we have for the world are still dependent upon the wielding of power. Both of these texts demonstrate the powerful tension between power and transformation and they refuse any easy resolution of that tension.

Last summer I visited the traditional site of the Annunciation in Nazareth and the Nativity in Bethlehem with Belmont students in a study abroad program. These sites today struggle with a tension similar to that found in the texts above. They recall the humility of Mary and Jesus, but they depend upon their power to draw tourists for their support. Tourists push and shove to visit these sites, and only those with significant financial means have the opportunity. People visiting for the first time, including my students, are often disappointed that they cannot have a quieter, more private experience. The desire to possess disrupts the original intent of a place, an event, or a movement. A place we consider to be “holy,” turns out to be as human as all places.

Perhaps this should remind us that Jesus came to these places as a human being. So, we return each year to the season of Advent, because the coming of Jesus into our world can never be finished exposing our desire for power and control.

Mark McEntire
Professor of Biblical Studies