Advent 4B

4th Sunday in Advent, Year B

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

When was the last time you were told something so amazing that you could hardly believe it? As I reflected back, I really had a difficult time coming up with something to fit that description. Certainly I’ve received some really good news in my time, but probably not anything that was so good that it could be described as “unbelievable”. So it’s kind of hard for me to answer that question myself. Maybe you have had this happen in your own life. And if so, then you better understand what Mary is going through in today’s Gospel lesson.

Let’s remember exactly what’s going on in this scene. First of all, Mary is a young girl. In this culture, it was not uncommon for girls to get married as young as 14 years old, and to much older men. Joseph was certainly older than that, since he was a carpenter who had already learned his trade. He was likely somewhere between 18 and 25. This is not found anywhere in the Bible, but other Christian writings have been found that are used to discern this information. It’s not absolute, but it’s the best estimate we have. My point is that Mary is quite young to be getting married, and certainly for what is about to happen to her.

Let’s not forget the relationship between Mary and Joseph. They were not yet married, but only “betrothed”. Now what does that mean? Well, it’s a bit more than what we would call today “engaged”. Legally speaking, they are a couple, but the marriage is not finalized. In this culture, they would likely remain in this status until the husband had established his business, and was able to support the household - his new wife and the children she would soon bear. Until then, they would not consummate the marriage. So, they’re attached enough to register together for the census (hence the trip to Bethlehem), but they’re not quite husband and wife…not yet.

And then there’s the Angel Gabriel. What do we know about this member of God’s Army? Gabriel appears by name in the Bible 3 times - first to Daniel, then to Zechariah, then to Mary. This is Gabriel’s primary role - he is a messenger of God. And to each of the three mortals I just listed, Gabriel’s appearance strikes awe into them.

To Daniel, Gabriel appeared several times to help Daniel understand the visions of the future he was having. In one of these episodes, Gabriel points to the “Anointed One” (which is another name for the Messiah, who we know is Jesus, who was still to come at this point).

Zechariah is the husband of Elizabeth. Gabriel comes to him to tell him that his wife is going to have a son (which they both thought impossible by this late time in their lives). The angel goes on to tell Zechariah that this son is to be named John, and he will bring many people back to God, and he will prepare the way for the Lord. This son was, of course, John the Baptist.

And finally Gabriel appears to Mary, as we hear about in this morning’s Gospel. Daniel says, “As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate” (Daniel 8:17). Zechariah “was startled and was gripped with fear” (Luke 1:12). And Mary “was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be” (Luke 1:29). He had to reassure each of them before continuing with his messages, raising Daniel back to his feet and telling Zechariah and Mary, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 1:13, 30). [https://www.christianity.com/wiki/angels-and-demons/what-does-the-bible-say-about-the-angel-gabriel.html] So Gabriel was a fearsome presence, an awe-inspiring appearance.

So we have this shocking appearance by a fearsome angel, coming to visit a 14 year old girl, who has a fiancee, but hasn’t had her honeymoon night yet. And this angel doesn’t just give her any sort of ordinary news. And he doesn’t just tell her, like he told Zechariah, that she’s going to have a baby. No, he tells her the most earth-shattering news of all time. He tells her that the single event that her entire nation has been looking forward to since the beginning of their people - a couple of thousand years - is about to happen, and it’s about to happen in her belly.

Think about that. The one event that their entire culture is waiting for - the coming of the Messiah, promised by God by all of the prophets and sung about in the Psalms and promised by God - this angel tells this young girl that she’s going to give birth to that same Messiah. Now, those of you who are or have been moms…do you remember the first time you found out you were going to have a baby? How awesome was that news? That’s a feeling I’ll never even be able to empathize with. But take that feeling, and add in “Oh, and God is going to be the daddy.” Now, if you can even imagine how you would feel at hearing that, just hold onto that feeling for a moment.

Now look at how Mary responds. Now sure, she was “greatly troubled” when he first greeted her. But once he told her all that was about to happen, she just asks a simple question: “How?” Now, Mary - even at her young age - clearly understands how this whole business is *supposed* to work. She just wants to understand what the angel is talking about, because clearly that doesn’t agree with her understanding of the… “way of things”. She just wants to know how. What a monumentally innocent response, don’t you think, given the circumstances?

So, Gabriel explains it to her…although it’s still fairly mysterious and supernatural. But, given the outcome, that’s quite appropriate. Now…with ALL of this swimming around in her head… if you can even begin to put yourself in Mary’s shoes… what would you say to Gabriel?

Mary’s response tells me exactly why God chose this young woman to be the mother of His Holy Child - the “Theotokos” as our orthodox brothers and sisters call her. She just says “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” In other words, “I belong to the Lord; let it happen the way you said it would.” Holy moly. That, brothers and sisters, is faith in God.

Now Mary was not anyone who stood out from a crowd. We’re told that the name “Mary” was the single most common name for girls in Roman Palestine. And she came from a very ordinary (or even less-than-ordinary) town called “Nazareth”. Nazareth was not particularly well-thought-of in those times. In John chapter 1, we hear one man describe it like this: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”(vs 46) It wasn’t a town that anyone expected anything remarkable to happen in.

But this is what God does, so many times in Scripture. He finds the most unlikely person, in the last place anyone would think, and He does something amazing with them, or through them. That is precisely what He did with this very young Galilean girl. Not that she was anything special by herself. And not that she had done anything remarkable to *earn* God’s favor. But God chose her for this very special task, and she accepted it in faith. She welcomed God to work through her, and to bring to completion the prophecies that had been talked about and hoped for over many centuries. And because she did, she is unique among all human beings, unique among all women for all time. She carried the Son of God in her womb, gave birth to Him, and raised him as her own son.

While I don’t at all agree with praying to Mary as our Catholic brothers and sisters do, I think we would do well to appreciate exactly what Mary faced, and how she stepped forward in great faith. Innocent, yes, but trusting in God and His plan for her. She is a marvelous example of what it means to be a faithful servant…and quite the tall measuring stick to measure ourselves by. I daresay most of us wouldn’t measure up to her example, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t at least try.

And let me just say, and I have a little bit of experience here, don’t ever, EVER think to yourself that God can’t use you for something big…at least bigger than you might have thought. God will use whoever He wants to use. And when He whispers in your ear, or taps you on the shoulder, or sends a messenger to tell you what He wants you to do, I want to encourage you to be open to listening to what you’re being told. Don’t just dismiss it as “oh, I can’t do that.” Instead, ask questions. “How are you going to do that, God? That doesn’t make sense to me...” Ask Him. If He’s going to ask you to do something, don’t be afraid to ask Him questions. And yes, use Mary as your example.

Because that young girl put her faith as her guide, she made possible the greatest gift the world has ever received. She allowed God to work through her, and to make His greatest promise come true. And because that happened, we know how eternity turns out. We know what we have to look forward to, because we believe in Him, and because He fulfilled God’s plan and saved us all. That is what we celebrate this week. I pray that we would all recognize the magnitude of this event, and that we appreciate how special this one young girl was in that great story.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.