On the Answer of a Girl

Advent 4B; 2 Sam. 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:26-38 St. Paul’s 12/24/2017

Jim Melnyk: “On the Answer of a Girl”

Theologian and author Frederick Buechner shares his imagining about the encounter between the Archangel Gabriel and a young girl named Mary, whose life may soon be changed in ways no one could ever imagine.  Buechner writes: “She struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child, but he'd been entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it.  He told her what the child was to be named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. ‘You mustn't be afraid, Mary,’ he said.

As he said it, [Gabriel] only hoped she wouldn't notice that beneath the great, golden wings he himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of creation hung now on the answer of a [young] girl” (from Buechner’s work, Peculiar Treasures).

Today’s gospel lesson is one serious flashback in the life of Mary, and in the faith of the church.  It’s a story that we normally tell nine months earlier on the Feast of the Annunciation which is observed on March 25.  Here we sit, just hours before celebrating Mary giving birth, and we hear a story about how it all begins – waiting on the thoughtful “Yes” of a young girl.  It all begins with Gabriel waiting on the thoughtful “Yes” of someone who by necessity must have the agency – must have the freedom – must have the ability – to just say “No.”  For if, in the end, we do not have the freedom to say “no” to God, how can we ever even begin to think about having a relationship with that same God?

Concerning this conversation between Mary and Gabriel, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible, Will Gafney, writes: “The Annunciation has been understood as such a pivotal day—detailing God’s intent to dwell in human flesh in and through the body of Miryam (Mary) of Nazareth—that some medieval Christians marked it as the first day of the new year” (Sojourners Online, Preaching the Word, 12/24/2017).  But in fact the Annunciation might be considered the first day of a new covenant between God and humanity – one which invites all of humanity to join Israel in a new relationship with the Divine.  This is God, choosing to put on human skin – not as some sort of costume, but in and through the flesh and blood of a young girl born in the line of David, and betrothed to small-town carpenter who will have his own visions of the Holy One.

“We may call the Annunciation a ‘joyful’ mystery,” writes Elizabeth Desimone, “but surely the experience was a mixed one for Mary herself. I believe that saying ‘yes’ to God did indeed bring joy to Mary, but that ‘yes’ was also the beginning of terrible responsibility and heartache for her, heartache that would extend all the way to Calvary” (Waiting for God, quoted in Synthesis Today, 12/19/2017).

Theologian Ronald Rolheiser describes the Annunciation another way.  He writes: “We are told that Mary pondered the word of God until she became pregnant with it. What an extraordinary notion! This…. means that [at least on one level] Mary so immersed herself in the Holy Spirit (in charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness…) [that] their seed takes root in her” (Rolheiser’s Facebook page).  That rootedness is what gives Mary the strength to sing out, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” – proclaiming a God who lifts up the lowly, who gives strength to the broken-hearted, and who calls to justice those who take pride in their power over others.

That rootedness for Mary is the very reality that God desires for us as Advent transitions into Christmas.  God’s desire – God’s hope – God’s dream for us – is that we would become so willing to ponder the wonderful mystery of the Word Made Flesh that Christ might actually take root in us.  God’s desire – God’s hope – God’s dream for us – is that by embracing the wonder and awe of Christmas, we would be willing to take God upon us, and within us, in such a way that we seem to the world to be impregnated with God’s Holy Spirit – filled to overflowing with the grace and love of God made alive in us through the gift of Emmanuel – through the gift of God with us – the gift of God in us!

As we move through the final hours of this wonderful season of anticipation and preparation we are challenged to open our hearts and our minds to the coming incarnation of Christ.  It is not always an easy challenge to accept or to live in to – this rootedness in the mystery of God.  As we explored last week, this world is not always quick to embrace the words of Mary’s Magnificat – it is a stumbling block to many who seek their own welfare over the welfare of the world.  But Christ comes into our lives to change our lives, just as Christ comes into this world to change this world.  It all began with the answer of a young girl.  Over two thousand years later the answer is ours to make.  The “yes” is now ours to proclaim.