First
preached as an extempore homily at Croydon Minster and written down afterwards
(hence discrepancies in what the congregation may have heard and what I have now written!). The readings
were, 2 Samuel 7.1-11, 16 and Luke 1.26-38.
‘Then
Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to
your word’.
(Luke
1.38)
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The encounter
of Mary and the Archangel Gabriel is timeless and enduring. It’s a scene
portrayed in art and music.
Yet what this
young woman is being asked is earth shattering, reputation crushing and
terrifying. If social media was around at that time Mary was going to be
exposed to trolling and shaming because she has transgressed the norms of
society and Law of Moses: unmarried and pregnant.
This passage
of St Luke’s gospel (1.26-38) is one that could easily be brushed aside with a
flippant, ‘yeah, heard this one before’. It’s good carol service fodder.
But it repays
deep attention for these is so much going on here, as our parish Lectio Divina
group discovered last week. Slowly chewing over its words brings out many deep
insights.
It is clear
that this reading speaks on different levels. There is the perplexity and
response of Mary which mirrors the response any one of us could make to the
call of God, and it maps how we might reflect on the dark times we are
currently in. In short it offers hope, Christian hope.
There were
five things that really struck me in this reading. They all begin with ‘p’ – I like
the alliteration! - and can be remembered on the fingers of one hand.
1.
perplexity
2.
pondering
3.
power
4.
presence
5.
possibility
Perplexity
Mary’s
response to the angel is perplexity (1.29a). It’s little wonder. What she is
being asked comes out of a ‘clear blue sky’. She is perplexed by it. The call
of God is often perplexing.
Perplexity is
an appropriate word for our times. Everything is perplexing. Why is such and
such allowed in this Tier and not that? I have waited since March to see my family
and/or friends and now I can’t it is so perplexing for us.
Pondering
Mary’s
response to perplexity is not panic (another word beginning with ‘p’) but
pondering (1.29b). Mary is a great exemplar of pondering in response to major
events: ‘she pondered all these things in her heart’ (Luke 2.51). Another word
for pondering is prayer.
The point of
prayer in perplexity is not simply a desperate plea to be lifted out of perplexity,
although that is a legitimate prayer, it is also a ‘casting our cares upon God’.
It is resting, nestling in the One to of whom we say ‘God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in time of trouble’ (Psalm 46.1)
Out of her
pondering Mary trusts the call, perplexing though it is. In prayer we entrust
ourselves to God’s care and mercy.
Presence
This is the
hinge that swings us from our perplexity. God promises presence (not presents!).
As he
promised in the first reading from the Second Book of Samuel God promises to
rest, to nestle amongst his people. This presence is not restricted to a house
of cedar but is conceived in Mary’s womb and available to all humanity. That is
incarnation. Nestled in her womb God could not be closer to Mary.
And, remember
too, in another classic reading from a carol service, the (same) angel promises
that the child to be born will be named ‘Emmanuel, which means “God is with us”’
(Matthew 1.23).
God is with us
in adversity. God, in Christ, is with us in these dark, desolate times.
Power
Mary is told
that the power of the Most High will overshadow her and we see the power of
Mary to embrace what God asks of her. She is not a victim of God or of circumstance,
she is an empowered woman defying convention to honour God’s call. How
impressive!
This power, what
the gospel calls dunamis, from which we
get the word ‘dynamic’, this power is God’s power to change and transform. Mary
the simple girl of Nazareth is transformed into the Bearer, the Mother of God.
When God is present power is bestowed such that we
can become the person calls us to be. And it is this power that makes all
things possible.
Possibility
How can this
be? This is God’s power. The creative power of God that brought life into
being, and you and me into existence, makes all things possible. What is desolate
becomes inhabited, what is empty is filled, Mary is told to look at Elizabeth’s
life, and we look at Mary’s life.
The human
body, the body of this woman, receives and gives a home to the full presence of
God, the creator, the maker of possibilities.
Perplexity then is a feature of
human existence: don’t we know that at the moment? We can’t eradicate it, but
it can be transformed. After Mary’s example, we begin in pondering and prayer. And the presence
of Christ unleashes the power of the Most
High to make new possibility of who we
are and who we can be.
Receiving this
presence, power and possibility is open to us daily in the Eucharist, where
Christ comes to dwell in our own bodies in bread and wine. That sends us out to
proclaim God’s presence in the world and assure all people that we are not
alone, because of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God is with us.
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