The Subjunctive Space

Introduction

One of my favorite subjects in school was Physics. I can remember my High School Physics teacher letting me go into his cabinets and pull out all sorts of tools for physics experiments. I would pull out slinkys to see how waveform work in different frequencies, I would use his “Newton’s Cradle”

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you know, that desktop thing that has metal balls on wires that when you pull up a ball on one side it moves the ball on the other. That neat little device taught be about the transfer of energy through objects. I learned about slingshots and trajectories. I found it all fascinating because it was all so hands-on and practical.

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One of the first things you learn in Physics of Kinetic and Potential Energy. Let me show you.

Bow and Arrow Example

There is a similar idea in grammar actually. It’s the idea of Subjunctive and Indicative. Indicative is what actually is. For example, in our scripture reading Elizabeth has actually conceived a son (John the Baptist). It happened so that is the indicative. Mary, on the other hand was told that she will have a son, she has been presented a possibility of what God can do, and a promise that he will do it, but it is not yet done, so that is subjunctive. It’s the difference between what is and what could be.

So why the grammar lesson?

Well because recognizing how God work through both in this story can help us know how he can work through both in our stories. So let me walk you through this story a bit. As we do we will look for what is and what is possible.

The Problem of Mary

So let’s start by acknowledging a few things. First, this story we are hearing does not exist in a vacuum. There is a lot of history leading to this and a lot that comes out of it, so we will only get a taste of what the scriptures reveal. I fee like I make that caveat every week, but I still think it’s important for us to keep reminding ourselves.

Second is this. Today, it’s Mary’s story we are going to focus on, and we will find that through her story, we can see things about the story of Jesus that we couldn’t have seen any other way. Mary is very important and not just because she was the lucky on that God did something nice for or because she is a beautiful model of faith.

So, for some of that back-story and context. All the way back in Genesis 1, humans were created to “bear the image of God” What that means is that we, you and me, and all other humans, were created with the express purpose of being God’s representatives in creation, to rule on his behalf, and to cause all creation to be blessed. Humans, male and female, were to, as a unit bear that image. Male alone or woman along can do the job, it needed to be both to be right. That was God’s design.

We have warped that over the years. When humanity fell away from God, when we chose to reject his ways, we also chose to create distinctions between men and women that were unnatural. We started acting like men were somehow better than or more important than women, and we shaped many human societies off of the belief that women were to be at best quiet and obedient, and at worst treated as property. This was not a system God created, but was the broken consequence of our choices throughout history, reliving the story of the garden over and over again.

Those consequences have stuck with us and they have led us to pretend like the women in the bible are less important Characters. We even go so far as to refer to God as a male, while being really uncomfortable with the idea of God being referred to as a female, As if it’s ok to confine the creator of the universe to masculinity and not femininity. God isn’t confined to Gender, but Jesus was a male and this fact along with our own cultural presuppositions about men and women means that we can easily miss something if we don’t look close enough.

So, when Mary is visited by this angel, it is important to see that she is a whole lot more than just the savior that was born through her, but just how important she is to the salvation of the world.

Work through this thought experiment with me. If God wants humanity to rule creation, and if God chooses to become human in order to rescue humanity, then why would he come as a male, and not a female? Honest question, why not some as a woman. Now, the idea of God coming as a woman instead of a man may make you feel uncomfortable, and you’re likely not alone in that feeling, but don’t stop there. Ask, why does that make me feel uncomfortable? Or perhaps if you are a woman, you may have felt like there is a part of the incarnation of God that just doesn’t relate to you. Perhaps you’ve felt like the story of scripture is just validating that Guys should be in charge since Jesus was a man. If that’s you then keep listening, there may be something more here than meets the eye.

Let’s go back to the original question, “why would God become human be a male?” Well, consider this, God’s design for humans is that women give birth. If God were to be truly human, then someone would need to give birth, and that could only be a woman without God changing his whole design for humanity. So, if a woman were to give birth to a woman, then the male half of humanity would not be included. It is through Mary that God represents all women in the incarnation. This is why the angel calls her “favored one,” because she is the female representation in God’s incarnation. So ladies, if you ever feel like “How could Jesus know what it’s like to be a woman” know that Mary is here to say, look God does not forget you or leave you in the background.

What is possible

The miraculous virgin birth is about a whole lot more than the indicative story of a girl who was never with a man giving birth. The virgin birth is more about the subjunctive space, about all of the possibilities that we can now see because of it. God didn’t just show that he could surpass the limitations of human biology, but he could also transform a fallen human culture that placed Mary in the background, he could transform a small faithful child and use her to save the entirety of creation! Mary’s story should tell us that nothing is impossible with God.

If Mary was used then just imagine all the things that are possible. Imagine the powerful ways God could use you! Seeing the story of Jesus through the eyes of Mary should inspire you to see just how powerful and loving our God is. Mary sure did, she wrote a whole song about it called “the magnificat” Let me read it to you...

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The New Revised Standard Version Mary’s Song of Praise

My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

50 His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

51 He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

53 he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Notice how Mary’s praise for what God did for her turned to praise of what God did through her and for all her people. God used this young girl to show her and all of Israel that they are not forgotten.

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But Mary was fully human. When she heard Gabriel’s first statement “The Lord is with you” she didn’t know what he meant. But, she didn’t doubt and say “you don’t make any sense” but she wanted to understand. We can learn from her that she allowed what she did not know to open her up to learn the truth, and God, via Gabriel, was happy to tell her. Mary’s faith was not expressed in her certainty, or her understanding, but in her curiosity; her willingness to ask questions. Being a person of faith is to trust God enough to not know, and to ask.

What she learned is in verse 37...

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The New Revised Standard Version The Birth of Jesus Foretold

For nothing will be impossible with God.

Nothing is impossible for God.

Application/ Conclusion

When I pulled back that bow at the beginning of this message, we saw potential energy at work, and Mary’s story with all of it’s subjunctive space, has pulled back the arrow this Christmas. There is tension in the waiting, and there is tension in all the potential things God could do. So let’s get practical now. How does the knowledge and faith that “nothing is impossible with God” change the way you live your life? How does it change what you think about yourself and the people around you?

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I don’t know what kind of stress you are facing in your life right now, perhaps the people in your life who used to feel safe to be around don’t anymore, and your worried you’ll lose them. Perhaps your looking in your own messed up circumstances and thinking “if I can’t even get my own life straight how could God use me to do something that truly matters? Perhaps your thinking about your kids and worrying that this who season has ripped too much away from them and you don’t feel equipped to protect them. Perhaps you just feel alone, like you are forgotten. Let me be the one to point you to this story of Mary. And Listen closely, nothing....I means nothing, is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible with God. Notice that wording my friends, nothing is impossible with God. God can do all things, but he will wait for you, and you will keep feeling like you are in a storm with no chance of rescue until you, like Mary, see that God wants to be with you. All the possibilities in the world are presented before you and Jesus is reaching out his hand and saying come to me and I will give you peace in this storm.

We are in a season of waiting, but remember we only wait to remember. You do not need to wait to have your own soul magnify the Lord, you can choose to just handle these storms yourself, you can choose to keep on those blinders to the ways God wants to be with you and work through you, but there will always be a part of your heart that feels alone. Instead choose to be like Mary, and open your heart to him so that his love flows through you and out to the people around you. Will you pray with me this morning?