Isaiah 60:1-22 - Verse 19 is telling. "The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory." God has been operative in creation (pictured by the imagery of sun and the moon here) but in a "hidden" way with him acting behind the scenes. But Isaiah calls us to anticipation for the day when God will fully come out of hiding and dwell with his people, filling the new creation with himself. Note the "now and not-yet" reality at work here. The chapter opens with a declaration of a present-tense reality: "your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." Yet the tone of the chapter, as a whole, is one of anticipation. Verse 22b: "I am the LORD; in its time I will hasten it." This is most certainly appropriate - Christ has indeed come. And Christ will come again.
Luke 1:39-56 - We hear Mary's song of praise, the Magnificat. Mary's song reminds us that God's great big cosmic plans bring intensely personal and joyous blessings for us as individuals. God is like that. His nature blends the cosmic and the personal.
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