Luke 1:26-38
There is a legend
that says Mary was not the first young woman to whom the angel came. That, in
fact, the angel Gabriel had made numerous attempts to identify a young woman
who would carry the Christ child. Madeleine L’Engle imagines how these
conversations might have gone. Responses to the angel might have sounded
something like this:
“Are you sure you mean – but I’m
unworthy – I couldn’t, anyhow – I’d be afraid. No, no, it’s inconceivable, you
can’t be asking me – I know it’s a great honor but wouldn’t it upset them all,
both our families? They’re very proper, you see. Do I have to answer now? I
don’t want to say no – it’s what every girl hopes for, even if she won’t admit
it. But I can’t commit myself to anything this important without turning it
over in my mind for a while and I should ask my parents and I should ask my –
let me have a few days to think it over.”
Sorrowfully, although he was not
surprised to have it happen again, the angel returned to heaven.”
The legend has it
that Mary was not the first one visited by the angel. But Mary was the first to
say, “Yes.”
It’s worth taking
a moment to consider how things might have gone. What if Mary had refused the
angel? What if Joseph had refused Mary? What if God had to go out in search of
someone else?
Who knows how
many Mary’s there were who had to have a few days to think it over?
That’s something
we will never know. What we do know is the story that is given to us in the
gospels, a story we piece together from Matthew and Luke, and a little bit of
John. A story that draws on the Old Testament as well, particularly the
prophets of Israel. A story that has never grown old, one that has inspired
generation after generation to believe in love and grace. A story that has
inspired hope.
What we know from
this passage of Luke are these three things:
Nothing is
impossible with God. This is what the
angel Gabriel said to Mary. It might have been a warning, it might have been a
reassurance, or it might have been only an observation. Between Mary and
Elizabeth, it certainly seemed to be true that nothing was impossible for God.
And, while we often
interpret this kind of statement in the context of stories like virgin births,
Noah’s flood, and other things that defy the laws of nature, it isn’t
necessarily the best way to interpret it. Tales of virgin birth may or may not
be factual, but there is no question in my mind that God made the impossible
possible when Joseph and Mary both said yes. And that was only the beginning of
impossible possibilities that we find throughout the story of Jesus of
Nazareth.
God chose Mary,
as well as Joseph. I imagine God looked at them and saw some good raw material
there. God saw potential in these two young people, the ability to bear what
would undoubtedly be a very difficult journey. There would be nothing
conventional about this marriage. This family would not conform to normal,
respectable expectations, and I have no doubt that they were judged for it.
Unmarried and pregnant. We have names for the woman who finds herself in that
situation, and we have names for the child as well. And we have names, I would add,
for a man who takes this woman to be his bride.
I don’t imagine
that Mary and Joseph had an easy time of it. The world can be cruel. People would
have been all too glad to heap shame on them. I don’t know how they would have
made it without the grace of God. And that is the second thing we know.
The grace of God
was with them. The angel
greeted Mary, calling her “favored one.” “You have found favor with God,” the
angel said. “You will bear a son … he will be great, and will be called Son of
the Most High … he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his
kingdom there will be no end.” God is with you, Mary.
No matter how
unfavorably the world saw this young woman, she had found favor with God. No
matter how difficult the world made her life from here on out, she had found
favor with God. No matter how much shame or heartache she had to bear, Mary had
found favor with God.
There is nothing
the world can dish out that cannot be carried with God’s grace, and the grace
of God was with Mary.
And by the grace
of God, Mary said yes. And that is the third thing we know.
Mary said yes. More accurately, she said, “Here I
am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
And in this way, the
young Mary showed her own uncommon grace – but Mary is not alone in this. There
are more girls and boys in this world than we know who have faced their own
trials and suffering with uncommon grace. There have always been and there
always will be children who live in unbearable circumstances who somehow find
the resources to get up every day and take a step in the right direction. There
are people who face what seem like insurmountable odds, get knocked down, and
manage, again and again, to right themselves.
In these pandemic
days, we know, there are children who do their best to keep up with their
schoolwork while they care for younger siblings. There are children who sit in
front of their computer screens attending virtual school bundled up in blankets
trying to keep warm in a cold house. There are parents who take precious time
out of their long days to learn some computer skills so they can be there for
their kids.
And then there
are the angels. There are teachers and neighbors, nurses and coaches and counselors
and principals, who, by the grace of God, see these young people, and don’t
turn away. They see the beautiful potential in these children; they see the
glimmer of light in them and help kindle that flame.
Somehow, in a
world of brokenness, in a world where shame and hate and greed rule so much of
the day, God’s grace shines through. Light finds light. Someone says yes.
Because nothing will be impossible with God. Amen.
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