Imagine being a Jew in the first century. You know scripture: stories of God's faithfulness, psalms for praise, precepts to live by and prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. You are living in a perpetual time of Advent, waiting for the Messiah to come. This Messiah will free the people of Israel from oppression. He will lead them to fulfillment as God's people. He will bring peace. He will be the Savior to the nations. This is the one for whom you wait.
Right now, you are really looking for a Messiah to come and save God's people. Your land is not your own. Your life is not your own. The Romans who occupy the land that God gave you control all that you have and all that you are. You live in an armed state and have to watch what you say and what you do. After all those years of exile and war, after finally making it to the Promised Land, this is how you are now living. If the people of Israel ever needed the Messiah to straighten the situation out once and for all, now is the time. Now is the time for the prophecies that God has made to be fulfilled.
And so you wait for the Messiah to come. You look for Him in every face that you meet. You listen for Him in news that you hear from surrounding towns. You hope and you pray for Him. When will He come? How will He come? He will be from God. He will be wise. He will be mighty and powerful. But, did you ever think that first, before all that will come to pass, before He was a grown man, that He would be a baby?
Mary is just such a Jew. She is living a life of faithfulness to God, walking that fine line between obedience to God and not offending the Romans who occupy the land. She is young. She is betrothed. She, too, is waiting for the Messiah.
Other than that, we do not know much about Mary at all. We can only guess as to why God chose her to be the vessel through which the Messiah would be born. But even though we do not know much about Mary before her encounter with the Angel Gabriel, we learn so much about her in the verses that we read today.
It is not difficult to picture the dialogue that Luke portrays between Mary and the angel. The words are descriptive and the emotion is clear. The verses make up a story within a story that has a beginning, a middle and an ending. It is quite complete.
The angel appears and speaks to Mary. She reacts as anyone would when an angel appears in their midst. She is confused and cautious. She does not understand what is happening, it is all so strange and new to her. The angel reassures Mary and announces Christ's birth, naming the child and predicting the future. He gives Mary the whole picture. Mary questions the angel, and once again the angel calmly reassures her that what he is saying is the truth. When Mary hears God's truth from the mouth of the angel, she accepts the words he speaks and pledges her obedience to God.
Mary is a model of faith. Not only is she able to deal with a very unusual and unexpected situation that has been thrust upon her, but she is willing to act on faith. She is willing to travel into the unknown, trusting that as she obeys, God will be with her. Certainly, she does know a little of what the future will bring. Gabriel has told her that the child she will give birth to will be holy, he will be called the Son of God, he will be great and will reign on the throne of David. And even though that is a great deal of information and is very important, it still doesn't give her any specifics.
Like any parent having their first child, I wonder if Mary knows what she is in for? Can she imagine raising this child, the Messiah, into manhood? In the farthest reaches of her imagination, can she picture what life as the Messiah's mother will be like? Does she imagine the Magi coming to pay homage to her baby? Does she know that His wisdom will take Him to teach in the temple at the age of twelve? Does she know that He will inspire such love that many will leave their lives and follow Him? Does she know that he will be hated and feared as much as He is loved, and will die on cross? Does Mary know?
The answer is 'no'. Mary knows none of these things. She is like any other parent who does not know what the future will bring for their child. But, in faith, Mary obeys God. Mary places her life in God's hands. "Let it happen to me," Mary says to the angel.
It is Mary's response to God's call that shapes Mary, this young girl, into the Mother of God that we think of today. It is her response that sets her apart. According to Paul in his letter to the Romans, Christ's birth was "the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages and is now disclosed." Christ's birth was to "bring about the obedience of faith„to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ." That is exactly what happened with Mary. Through the news of Christ's birth the mystery was revealed, Mary was obedient to her faith. She was obedient to God, all because of Christ.
Mary's reaction to the news of the angel is truly remarkable. That she could be obedient and welcoming to what God was asking of her gives us a model of faith and behavior to follow. But obedience is not all that Mary has taught us. Mary has also taught us that she is not the main character of this story. This story is not about her and her obedient response. The main character of this story is God, the giver of grace.
In our unison canticle reading today, we experienced the words of Mary's Magnificat. It is another portion of her response. Mary could have sung about how much God had done for her, that she was chosen to be the mother of God, that she was special in God's eyes. In Mary's song of joy, the focus could have been entirely on herself. But instead, the focus is on God.
Her soul magnifies the Lord. Her spirit rejoices in God. She is God's servant, God's slave. Yes, God has done great things for her and lifted her up, but only for the good of God's people. God will feed the hungry and lift up the lowly. This is God's plan, the fulfillment of God's promise. This is nothing that Mary has done. Her Magnificat tells of the triumph of God for God's people.
Mary is an amazing woman. God's grace upon her, the mystery of God was revealed to her. Mary obeys and gives glory to God.
God's grace is upon each of us every day. We have been chosen to experience God's mystery and to live our lives in response. May we believe, as Mary did, that nothing is impossible with God. Amen.
Peace,
Rev. Cynthia Bacon
Minister
You may email at:
cbacon@heritagemadison.org
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