We are all called to be mothers of God, for God is always waiting to be born.
— Meister Eckart, 1260 – 1327
She enters our Decembers with an angel, gloriously winged, who honors her.
The moment is spellbinding: we are entranced by the arrival of this woman, Mary, on the stage of Christmas and in the story of God.
And the angel honors her: Hail Mary, full of grace . . . .
Is the angel bowing – kneeling – looking down – while speaking? So very many images say yes, but Luke’s words don’t tell us the posture, only the words the angel says. The poses in the paintings are our awe.
The grace the angel honors is already hers, though she is not yet ‘with child’.
It is her grace that has brought the angel, and the invitation. She reflects.
She questions: angel-who-are-you, and how can this be?
The angel explains: it is your spirit God seeks as Godbearer, and it is God’s spirit that will enter you.
For two thousand years we have chattered, endlessly, about her womb. Yet the angel did not honor her virginity, or her abstinence, or ask for her submission. The honor was for her grace. And by the angel’s persuading her with answers, we know she did not submit: she consented.
The chatter, our chatter, has rendered her a freak of nature. And this has become doctrine. .. But this is not what the angel honored, not what the angel sought. Nor is it what she consented to become.
After she says Yes to the angel, Mary sets out on a journey. Alone. And she stays away for months, we are told. Elijah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Samuel, Jonah, all set forth on journeys, alone, at the inauguration of their calling as servants. Each bears the word of God to someone who is unlikely to receive it well. Kings, mostly. Mary travels to the home of a prominent temple priest, Zechariah, who has been struck dumb for refusing to believe angelic hope brought to his wife, Mary’s cousin. Upon arriving at Zechariah’s home, Mary delivers her Magnificat, with all the authority and clarity of Elijah speaking to King Ahab.
In the gospels (unlike the paintings), Mary is never shown at home. Most biblical women are shown in domestic scenes, but not Mary: she does not bake cakes as Sarah and the widow of Zarephath do, as Hannah longs to do. Her child is born in a stable, not a house. She then flees to exile in Egypt.
After that, she is seen at the Temple for Jesus’ dedication and again when Jesus is twelve, at a wedding in Cana, outside the door of a house where he is teaching, at the foot of the cross and at his grave. Then she joins his disciples in the Upper Room as they await the fulfillment of the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Mary is the first woman called as a prophetic servant of God; by grace she bears the Grace of God and by grace she brings forth the Grace of God for All the world.
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for God has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Adapted from “Godbearer” by Nancy Rockwell
-------------------------------------
… CHRISTMAS IS COMING – MAY GOD PREPARE OUR HEARTS TO RECEIVE A GIFT…
MAY GOD’S BLESSING ABOUND ALL THE MORE – IN 2024!
May God Bless you and yours as we journey in this Advent Season…
As we prepare to receive the Great Gift of God with us
May God’s Spirit empower us to
“expect great things from God and to attempt great things for God”… and
May God Continue to Bless Union Church!
-Pastor Mark
Comments