Luke 1:26-38
May I speak in the name of God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
I think it is important to say that we don’t know why God chose Mary. The bible never tells us. And I think this is important for us as ordinands. All of us here have been called by God to be ordained as deacons and priests in His Church. I don’t think we should idolise ourselves because we have been called for this ministry. I doubt that as Ordinands we have been called because we have a quality that others don’t have, and we are most definitely not better or holier than any other Christian. To some extent we should leave the why have we been called as a mystery.
Instead, our call has been based on the fact that God has invited us to this ministry. God has given us the freedom to be attentive to His call, and given us the freedom to say ‘yes’ to God.
This is the month of May, a month traditionally given over to considering the importance of Mary in our faith. So I would like to use the annunciation to Mary to provide a basis for our own prayerful reflections on our sense of calling. To me this story is a reminder of that relationship between our own call and the fact that we are first and foremost, Christians.
But, what is a Christian?
Billy Graham, that renowned evangelist, said that
“A Christian is a person in whom Christ dwells. A Christian is a person who has had an encounter with the living Christ”
A person is not made a Christian because they are holier than others, or because they are born into a Christian family, or because they have some quality that others don’t have.
Rather a Christian is someone who has said ‘yes’ to God. A Christian, Billy Graham, writes is someone who has made the choice to receive the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts. Someone who accepts Jesus Christ as their personal saviour. Someone who has allowed the life of Christ to dwell in their own lives’. This is not something that can be compelled, but only arises out of our freedom.
I think that in the person of Mary, Mother of God, we get an example of someone who made that faithful choice to accept Christ.
This is a 15th century depiction of the Annunciation painted by Fra Angelico. It is set in the convent of San Marco, and Fra Angelico depicts its serene stillness. It’s quite an unusual painting because it does not convey Mary in domestic bliss or piety. Rather, this depiction represents a still and uneasy moment, it captures the moment just before a decision is made. It as though the painting conveys the world holding its breath waiting for Mary’s response.
In one of his advent homilies, the medieval mystic Bernard of Clairvaux provided a meditation on this moment between the archangel Gabriel and Mary offering her response. He wrote that after the fall of Adam and Eve the whole world was shrouded in darkness, and under the dominion of death. He wrote that in this moment all creation held its breath just waiting for Mary’s decision to turn history on its head.
In this moment, God seeks to restore creation by entering into the world anew. But how is this possible?
Look again at the painting. There is another feature worth noticing. The archangel Gabriel casts no shadow. It represents his immaterial nature. By contrast, Mary casts a shadow, and this represents her materiality. There is a sharp distinction between the immaterial and the material. In order to enter creation, the immaterial has chosen to submit itself to the consent of the material to be made manifest in this physical creation. St. Irenaeus in his commentary on Luke poses the question: ‘how shall humanity pass into God, unless God has first passed into humanity? How is humanity to escape this birth into death, unless humanity is born again through faith?’
So God approached Mary, needing human freedom to enter creation. The way for God to redeem humanity, who was created free, was by means of a free ‘yes’ to his will. When God created freedom, God made His plan for creation somewhat dependent on human freedom. This is because God’s call emerges from his infinite love. A good response to God can only come out of love not out of compulsion. Because love needs freedom. Thus, just as the fall came about through human freedom, God’s power to redeem here was tied to the unenforced ‘yes’ of a human being.
This painting hangs on this moment of decision. It asks the question, ‘will Mary say yes?’. All heaven and creation holds it breath. ‘Be daring’ we may say, ‘don’t hold back’. But Mary is no fool. Mary knew that as a young unmarried woman, only just betrothed to Joseph, that giving getting pregnant outside of marriage meant that Joseph could submit her to a court of law. Where it was likely that she would be taken outside the city walls and stoned to death. How easy it is for us to feel overwhelmed by God’s call.
Equally, it can be easy to convey Mary’s answer as a meek response to an offer to which she can’t say no. After all she was approached not by any mere being but an angel, and archangel to boot. Gabriel. The one mentioned in the book of the prophet Ezekiel. Her response is understandably hesitant at first, ‘how can this be since I am a virgin?’
But when we look closely at this story, we can see that Mary’s yes was one she made out of discernment and as a completely free choice.
The words we get in her song, the Magnificat, demonstrates that Mary knew full well what it meant for the world to need the Messiah. The words of the Magnificat show that she had knowledge that the Messiah was the one who would come to turn things upside down and to restore God’s justice in this world. The one who will bring the Kingdom of God on earth. The one who will ‘put down the mighty from their seat and fill the hungry with good things’. She had trust and faith in God’s past actions, God’s present actions, and faith in God’s future actions.
But again, this could be construed as rather theoretical and abstract. None of us, as ordinands have felt called simply because of an abstract promise. Rather our response has been made because we have had a personal encounter, either with Christ directly, or because God has touched our lives through a person we admire or love.
It’s noteworthy that Mary’s response finally comes when she hears how the love of God has been manifest in the life of one of her own relatives, Elizabeth. How Elizabeth, in her old age, through the grace of God shall now conceive a Son.
[emphasise the drama here by speaking slowly]
Then comes the crucial moment when Mary’s answer comes. And she says, ‘behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word’. It is a moment of magnanimous obedience to God’s will, and through which the divine logos (the divine word) comes into the world.
In their commentaries on Luke, the Church Fathers linked this moment of the annunciation to Mary to our own baptisms and our own participation in the Eucharist. They said when we make our baptismal promise, and when we take the Eucharist, the divine logos comes to us anew, making us in the image of the divine Son who comes to dwell in us. That when we take the Eucharist, we receive Christ in ourselves, and in this way we become like Mary. But it is only because in our freedom we have accepted Christ.
So to finish, I would like to make a small suggestion. Before taking the Eucharist, where Christ present in bread and wine, take a moment to pause and reflect on your vocation. And be bold to say with Mary: ‘let it be unto to me according to your word’. Thus, as we go forward in our ministry, I pray that may we will open our hearts to the work of the Spirit to make Christ dwell in our lives in the knowledge of God’s sure and perfect love for us. And that through our ministry we can encourage others to say ‘yes to God’ to in their own lives. Amen.
The Fine Game of Nil 
You must be logged in to post a comment.