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| An Icon of the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary |
©The Rev. Seth Olson 2023
It is tempting to overlook the Fourth Sunday of Advent and this story of Gabriel visiting Mary. In the case of this Gospel lesson, perhaps that is because we hear this story so often, or maybe it’s because we are already focused on Jesus’ birth, or it could even be that we are distracted by the many things clamoring for our attention on Christmas day.
It’s also tempting to ponder some odd things about Mary—thinking too highly of her—that she is a god herself—or too lowly of her—that she was only acting under God’s control. 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. It might be that we don’t believe in the supernatural at all—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 this was the type of event that only happened far away and 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 ancient human history—centuries back, half a world away. This isn’t illogical.
When we look around at our world, we can easily think that God no longer meddles 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: deadly wars, political gridlock, abuse scandals, environmental crises, and the threat of existential annihilation. This does not even touch on personal challenges such as crumbling relationships, debilitating diagnoses, financial hardship, substance abuse, or mental illness. When reading today’s Gospel lesson through the lens of our corporate and individual lives, no one would blame us for believing that God entered human history long ago and left the chat around the year 33 such that we humans have created the mess in which we currently persist.
And, so we may rightly wonder: Why did you leave us, God? Where are you in all this? Won’t you help us to make this world more like your dream and less like the nightmare it often is?
As you ponder these questions, I invite us into trying something different. Let’s step back from this familiar story, and use our imaginations to hear this story of God and Gabriel and Mary with new ears, so that we might hear something new, which leads us not into ancient story, but into something happening right now. If we delete the search history in our minds about this story, maybe we will hear it speaking to us directly.
Listen to the following and notice if it sounds at all familiar: a crumbling world, a people yearning for something more, and a lowly individual. All this checks out, right? It sounds like my life. Add in one final piece—God who is so in love with the created universe that instead of sitting on the sidelines the Divine enters into the story, not to control it, but to have compassion—that is to suffer with us. Friends, 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 an unusual 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—The People of Israel AND the People of Palestine, Jews and Gentiles, all 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—at least not in one’s lifetime. Not only this, but during Mary’s day Israel struggled through a difficult, if not unfamiliar, predicament.
Once again, another nation ruled over Israel. 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 a great hope, the infinite becoming finite was completely unexpected. This is not just history though—it’s the current reality.
Now, in this uncanny year when the Fourth Sunday of Advent is also Christmas Eve, it would have been easy for us to overlook all of this, in favor of prematurely moving to the manger. But, 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 Jesus during Holy Week. Yes, we are going to time travel a bit and go through nine months of Mary’s pregnancy by the 11 o’clock service. And yet, in this moment we are still walking through the Advent Season, as we anticipate, wait for, and even expect the Coming of Christ. In Advent we remember Christ fulfilling the law and the prophets through Jesus, we look ahead to Christ fulfilling all things at the end of days, but with all this looking around we might just miss what Christ fulfills right now.
Mary’s story provides us the key to unlocking a glimpse of God entering into our reality in this moment—even if things seem so dire or bleak. Mary trusted that a Messiah would come. She understood that God would make all things whole. Her song the Magnificat gives us a glimpse into her heart and her hopes. She yearned for those things for which God yearns, the lowly becoming exalted and the exalted becoming lowly—the hungry fed and the full sent away empty. And yet, she believed all of this against the backdrop of war, destruction, oppression, inequality, and 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 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 binge-worthy show, and so we run around with our fingers plugging up our ears, yelling, “Lalalalalalala!” Except, this is not a Hollywood 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. This is not simply about Mary having a baby—it was about her bearing Christ into this world, something all of us are called to embody.
At a time when everything 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 on the move. 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 your life to bring 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 crash throughout our lives too. Will we notice God coming into our lives? Will we hear God’s message saying, “Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you.”? Will we say with Mary, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord: let it be with me according to your word.” God yearns to dwell with us, to heal this hurting world, and to make this life more like the dream it can be instead of the nightmare that it often is.
Even if the following is hard to believe, may this be the last and perhaps most important thing I have ever said from this pulpit: nothing will be impossible with God!
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