This past Sunday, November 30, 2025, we began a new year in the life of the church with the season of Advent. “Advent” comes from the Latin “adventus,” meaning “coming” or “arrival”. It is a time of waiting and preparing our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ (his first coming) and to anticipate his future return (his second coming).

We read in Luke’s Gospel, chapter 1:26-38, the story of the angel Gabriel coming to Nazareth to Mary, a virgin, pledged to be married to Joseph. Mary has found favor with God and will become pregnant with God’s son – pregnant with the promise of God. After inquiring how such a thing could be, since she is a virgin, Gabriel explains “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. For no word from God will ever fail.” (emphasis added) I may be a male, but, can I not also be pregnant with the promise of God? Let us ponder that thought a bit. Like Mary, I ask, with this twist, how can this be, since I am a male.

Can I be pregnant with the promise of God? Certainly not in the same way Mary was pregnant with God’s promised Son. The word Pregnant comes from Latin, and literally means “before giving birth” — prae-, like pre- means “before” and gnasci is a root that means “be born.” Pregnant can also mean “filled with something,” like inspiration or “rich in significance or implication,” like a pregnant pause before answering a question.

In John 3 the Pharisee Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the dark of night – to avoid discovery by other Pharisees? – seeking answers to the mystery of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus tells him that he must be born again. As he was born of flesh he must be born of the Spirit of God. God’s Spirit is the promise of God delivered at Pentecost and ever since to all whom will believe that Jesus is the promised Son of God and Savior of the world. The Spirit comes to us in faith, even as small as a mustard seed, which Jesus tells us in Matthew 17:20: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Just as God’s Spirit came upon Mary and she became pregnant with God’s promised Son so, each of us is born a promise of God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior and invited His Spirit to dwell in me and me in Him, in that moment I was justified as his son. My faith as a mustard seed began small but grew and continues to grow in sanctification and holiness as I move on to Perfection in Christ – being more and more like him, day by day, moment by moment. The promise of God in me can no longer be contained within me but continually births forth from me as God’s instrument inviting others to be born of the Spirit as well.

So, am I not pregnant with a promise? You? Have we – are we – giving birth?

Lord God, I pray your Spirit in me, and in all who claim your holy name, is pregnant with your promise and we are actively giving birth to your promised Spirit in our every action, thought, and word. Forgive us where we fail and renew in us your Spirit of faith. Come to us anew in this season of Advent in new and mighty anad powerful ways. To your glory and in your holy name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.