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| Fra Angelico's depiction of God entering Mary's life at the "Annunciation" |
It’s tempting also to ponder some odd things about Mary. We think too highly of her—that she is a god herself—or too lowly of her—that she was a puppet that God controlled. These temptations might lead us down some difficult paths: idol worship in the former case or viewing God as a coercive puppet master in the latter case.
Or, maybe we just don’t believe in the supernatural at all—Ghosts? Zombies? Angels? Virgin births? Come on! But, even if we hurdle these temptations—boredom, idol worship, vilifying God, and believing in the unbelievable—there is one more temptation surrounding this story.
As we listen to this all-too-familiar tale, if we are to hear it, believe it, and take it seriously, we may still relegate its power by thinking that it was the type of event that only happened long ago. While all of these temptations teeter on the edge of danger, this last belief may very well cause us the most damage: God merely intervened in human history long ago in a place far away.
When we look around at our world though, we can easily think that God no longer mettles in human affairs. At this time of year news outlets publish their most noteworthy stories of the last twelve months. One does not have to scroll through many to see some devastating trends: political gridlock, religious terrorism, sexual abuse scandals, environmental crises, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. This does not even touch on personal struggles such as crumbling relationships, debilitating diagnoses, financial hardship, substance abuse, and mental illness. When reading today’s Gospel lesson through the lens of our corporate and individual lives, no one would blame us for believing whole-heartedly that God entered human history long ago leaving us abandoned to create the hellscape in which we currently persist.
And, so we may very well wonder: Why God? Why do you let this happen? Where is God in all this mess? Can God really heal or turn around our problems?
If somehow though, I close my eyes for a moment. Maybe, if I take a step back for a second. Perhaps, if I pause long enough to engage this story of God and Gabriel and Mary with new eyes, I catch a glimpse of something shining and shimmering —something that leads me and leads us not into ancient tradition, but into something happening right now. If we wipe away the way that we have always heard this story, we can hear it speaking directly to us. A crumbling world, a people yearning for something more, a lowly individual, and a God so in love with the created universe—this is not the story of long ago, this is the story of right now. God intervening in the life of Mary points to God coming into the lives of all humans throughout time. This is so much more than just a funny tale we tell at this time of year.
Back long ago the hope of the People of Israel had been clearly articulated for not just centuries but millennia: a Messiah who would come to set all people free through God’s Chosen People. However, if one waits long enough for something without it happening one may very well start to believe that even though something was promised it will never happen in one’s lifetime. Not only this, but during Mary’s day the People of Israel found themselves in a difficult, if not unfamiliar, predicament. Once again another nation ruled over them. Like during Assyrian and Babylonian captivities before, the anticipation of salvation via a Messiah may have been a stated hope, but it certainly did not appear a likely scenario. And yet, under Roman occupation God chose to intervene in human history—even in a moment when it was the great hope of God’s people, the infinite becoming finite was completely unexpected. This is not just history though.
This week your clergy have taken to their blogs to chide our colleagues who have overlooked the Fourth Sunday of Advent in favor of celebrating Christmas Eve prematurely this morning. Yes, we’re childish! But, seemingly our biggest frustration lay not in the rule breaking, but rather in the missed opportunity to celebrate this occasion and to hear the story of the Annunciation. How can we celebrate God entering into this world at Bethlehem without the story of Nazareth? It would be like viewing the empty tomb without the last supper, the betrayal, and the crucifixion of Christ during Holy Week. This season of Advent that we are still walking through gives us this gift of anticipating, waiting, and even expecting the Coming of Christ. We may get caught up in remembering Christ fulfilling the law and the prophets through Jesus, we may even get caught looking ahead for the ultimate fulfillment of all things through Christ at the end of days, and with all this looking around we might just miss what is happening now.
Mary’s story gives us the key to unlocking something big. We see through her a glimpse of God entering into our reality in this moment—even when things are dire and difficult. Mary trusted that a Messiah would come. She understood that God would make all things whole. Her song the Magnificat shows us her heart and her hopes. She yearned for those things for which God yearns, the lowly becoming exalted and the exalted becoming lowly. And yet, she believed all of this against the backdrop of violence, destruction, oppression, inequality, and mental illness around her. Does this sound familiar?
One of those most basic calls that we hear during this season of Advent is something Mary models for us: Slow down, be quiet, and listen for God. God promises to come back to us. God tells us that Christ will come again. God bids us to keep awake. Still, somehow we have manage to create in our lives more and more opportunities not to listen. It’s like we are people who do not want to hear any spoilers from the newest mega-Movie, and so we run around with our fingers plugging up our ears, yelling, “Lalalalalalala!” Except, this is not a movie plot we are missing—it is GOD!
Mary gifts us with a template for unstopping our ears, removing the scales from our eyes, and experiencing God intervening in human history right now! Before you think that you are not like Mary—think again. Mary was a female in an age that saw women as property, she was lowly. Mary was related to a temple priest and betrothed to a man from the royal line of David, she was powerful. She was faithful and yet she questioned the messenger of God. Mary was a human being—complex and complicated—just like you and me. When God sent Gabriel to her though, she had a choice. God did not coerce her into being a hapless vessel of His bidding. Even through perplexity and questions God invited Mary to bear the Divine into humanity. God’s omnipotence became particular in Mary. God’s almightiness became vulnerable in the womb of Mary. God’s infinite love became enfleshed within Mary.
At a time when everything around the Chosen People of God appeared dark and lost God chose Mary to bear the Savior of all things into this world. We know through the Gospel that Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection rerouted existence forever; however, God did not stop moving then. As soon as God chose Mary and Mary chose God all of humanity began to shift. We have not fully realized this transformation yet, but even now God is moving. In Mary’s yes God inaugurated a reign that sanctified even the most lowly and mundane of human occurrences. The life of Jesus, which made all things holy began with a woman saying, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
God wants into our lives to bring us healing and health, salvation and sanctification, mercy and grace, transformation and reconciliation, peace and love. Like a momentous earthquake God shook Mary’s existence, but those shockwaves can crash throughout our lives too. Will we notice God coming into our lives? Will we hear God saying, “Bear me into the world!”? Will we say, like Mary, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord: let it be with me according to your word.” God yearns to dwell with us and to heal this hurting world. How will we receive him?
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