Advent 2025, Day 23

Day 23, December 22, 2025

Theme: 

Love

Readings: 

Reading: 1 Samuel 1:24-28 

Gospel: Luke 1:46-56

Reflections:

Two women praise God for the children God helped them to have.  Two beautiful images of devotion, sacrifice, and praise.  This is a great pair of scriptures to sit with, so that we might meditate on the Love in the hearts of the mothers, and the deep joy and gratification of having a deeply human desire met--the desire to be a parent.

Hannah's actions say it all: she brings a valuable 3-year-old bull, worth about 15 shekels of silver (a year and a half of wages), a measure of flour (a month's worth of wages), and 4 to 10 liters of wine (one to three days of wages for the average laborer). Hannah, in modern terms, paid all of the four-year college tuition up front, showing she was deeply committed to devoting her son to God.  Based on the median income in Highlands Ranch, CO, in 2024, the cost of what Hannah did would be about 1.5 times the median income for adult men in the area, which was $104,000. If we treat it like a household gift, combining Hannah and her husband's income, it would be closer to 1.5 times the average household income, a total of $282,228 in modern terms.  As a father of a son in college, this hits home! Wow!  By the way, her prayer is recorded in 1 Samuel 2, and it is beautiful.

Shifting to Mary's praise in Luke, let’s pull it apart a bit and consider why Mary praises God so vigorously.  Look at what God does:

"...For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. 

...for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 

His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; 

he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but 

has lifted up the humble. 

He has filled the hungry with good things but 

has sent the rich away empty. 

He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.

There is also the theme of generations in this Luke passage. We have two references to generations. In the first, Mary is singing her praise of God and what is happening to her as she receives the life-changing news that she will carry Jesus in her womb. She realizes and sings, "Generations will call me blessed." Can you imagine the racing of her thoughts as she grapples with reality following the angel Gabriel's visit?

She also extols God for his mercy, as well: "His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation." As she adjusts to a whirlwind of news, she thinks both about her role and God's role.  And God is truly merciful, isn't he? He is, and Mary can't stop praising him. In fact, she further emphasizes God’s generational mercy, practically repeating herself, she continues, "He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

This praise Mary offers to God is the whole enchilada--Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.  She loves her God in Heaven, and is filled with joy, hope and peace at Jesus' reality growing within her.  She is honored to be part of God’s great story. This is a word picture of goodness, beauty and truth.

Song: My Soul Rejoices in the Lord (Magnificat), Tenielle Neda & Jon Guerra

Bonus! My Advent 2025 playlist is ready for you to listen to on Apple Music. It's diverse, and it was so much fun to put together as I read through the scriptures and wrote this series.

NOTE the songs are on Apple Music, which you can get for a month for free if you are new... I just didn't want an obnoxious YouTube Ad ruining your quiet time :-)

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If you are looking for a nondenominational church in the Denver area, check out denverchurchofchrist.org