I went to the Advent service at school again this year,
I always enjoy the music that’s brought together,
It’s been everything from
Ave Maria to
Curtis Mayfield:
You know the song—
“People get ready, there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket you just thank the lord.”
And during this year’s service, someone got up and shared a
reflection
And said something that made me see today’s gospel story in
a whole new light.
I’ve always imagined this story of the angel visiting Mary
as the only visitation that happened on that day.
But what if Mary was one among many that received a visit
from the angel?
Of course she’s the only one we read about because she’s the
only one that gave birth to Jesus.
But what if she had not been the only one asked?
How many young women in Israel might have been asked to bear
the Savior?
How many times might Gabriel have entered a room and said,
“Greetings, favored one!
The Lord is with you”?
Maybe just once.
Maybe just to Mary.
But then again, maybe not.
Mary was there. The
angel came into the room.
And perhaps there was a long silence as they adjusted their
eyes to one another.
What was it that happened in that space?
A word was given and word received by faith.
And what was that word?
Don’t be afraid, you will bear a son, named Jesus, who will
rule as heir to David’s throne, forever.
And Mary.
Not drawing back from this.
Not rushing away.
Patient, beginning to recognize the goodness of the
messenger,
Beginning to experience the faith and the hope and the love
radiating from the messenger’s presence.
Mary says “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
She stays. She does
not leave the impossible messenger and the impossible and outrageous message.
She stays with it.
And wonders at its impossibility.
Perplexed, unsure. But she stays.
How can this be? She asks.
And with her all of humanity asks again and again concerning
the redemption of the world.
How can this be?
How can this be – since we are so violent?
How can this be?
How can this be – since we are so deaf and blind to the
createdness of ourselves and all the earth?
How can this be?
How can this be – since history has proved lasting peace,
real justice, and enduring salvation
to be the last thing possible for humanity?
How can this be?
The angel
stays.
The angel doesn’t get impatient.
The angel doesn’t ridicule the young woman.
The angel replies.
The Holy Spirit will do it.
The uncontrollable power of God who renews lives
and creates form out of the formless waters of chaos.
The Holy Spirit who gives insight and inspiration and comfort
to those in the deserts of doubt or sorrow.
The Holy Spirit who gives courage and words
to prophets who speak to the powerful, words of truth and
love.
Who gives courage and words to friends who comfort and
encourage one another.
The Holy Spirit who longs for the creation to become a place
where all people can experience fully the love of their Creator and the
abundance of God’s creation.
The Holy Spirit will do it.
The same Holy Spirit who gave the impossible child of
blessing to Abraham and Sarah,
The same Holy Spirit who is even now giving Zechariah and
Elizabeth their child John in their old age,
Rising up a prophet for God’s way.
“For,” the angel says, “nothing will be impossible with
God.”
The God for whom all things are possible,
from whom this angelic messenger comes,
From whom the word of promise comes,
This God is the one who will give a child to Mary.
And then her words.
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word.”
Simple words. But
words of revolutionary faith.
Words which give voice to a faith and a hope and a love
Living in the midst of perplexity, uncertainty, and seeming
impossibility.
Words that trust God to save, to renew, to heal.
Of all of those visited, Mary shows her willingness to
become a part of God’s impossible salvation.
Why does she say yes?
I imagine that Mary was a person who felt deeply the sorrows
and injustices of her world.
Mary was young, maybe only 13 or so.
And one of the many gifts of young people in the community,
is their ability to see still with eyes that have been
hardened by the cynical realism of adult life,
their hearts still break and they still ache for a better
world,
And when the angel said that Mary’s baby would become great
and heir to the throne of David,
She probably did not hear this as an individual excited that
she just won the lottery and would become wealthy and happy and live a long
life in comfort and security.
What she probably heard was that someone, finally, would
bring peace and truth and grace
To a land thirsty and hungry for righteousness.
What she probably heard was that God would bring healing to
God’s people,
And save them from the oppression of greed and violence and
hatred,
And this is the song that Mary sings later on in the
chapter:
“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.”
Mary saw the angel in that room.
And saw the faith and the hope and the love with which the
good news came to her.
And Mary said, “Let it be.”
(makes me think of a song)
Friends, in the name of Mary’s child, I encourage you to listen to the call of God in your
life.
God is longing to bring love into the lives of hurting people,
God is longing to bring healing to a creation that has been
despoiled by the limitless desires of human beings,
God is longing to bring peace and reconciliation to
communities divided against one another,
God is longing to bring rest to the anxious and worried, who
need the support of their community,
And the knowledge of God’s relentless presence with them and
for them,
We are in the place of Mary each new day,
As we behold the impossibilities which God declares
possible,
We know the way that love bids us go,
And we can follow in faith,
Knowing that hope is not a quick fix, but a lifetime pilgrim
journey towards
God’s healing of the earth.
But just because it is not quick, does not mean that it is
not a path of joy.
Each new day
even as we see evidence of the brokenness of human society,
We can witness the goodness of the creation,
the image of God in our fellow humanity,
And we can see that God may work very slowly,
But God does not give up,
“People get ready, there's a train comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin'
You don't need no ticket you just thank the lord.”
And in the impossibilities of each new day may we hear the
words of the angel:
"Do not be afraid,” and “nothing will be impossible
with God.”
To which we can respond in those words for which we bless
Mary and her courage,
The words of faith, borne of love, looking toward the hope
of God’s salvation:
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word.”
Amen.
