Advent 4/ Christmas Eve + Mary's YES

 M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

Happy Advent Four and Christmas Eve! Welcome. Let us hear a few words from Jan Richardson, from her poem “Gabriel’s Annunciation”:

“The artists would later
depict the scene:
Mary dazzled
by the archangel,
her head bowed
in humble assent,
awed by the messenger
who condescended
to leave paradise
to bestow such an honor
upon a woman, and mortal.

Yet I tell you
it was I who was dazzled,
I who found myself agape
when I came upon her—
reading, at the loom, in the kitchen,
I cannot now recall;
only that the woman before me—
blessed and full of grace
long before I called her so—
shimmered with how completely
she inhabited herself,
inhabited the space around her,
inhabited the moment
that hung between us.”

Mary said YES! During my Advent retreat this year, I had a discussion about how hard that must have been. As one of our parishioners recently posted, this was not a submissive act, but an immensely powerful one. For a young woman in that time, in any time and place, to say yes to such a thing takes guts. To say yes to being the God bearer, the theotokos, to carry God into the world.

Some commentators have pointed out that Mary didn’t do it alone. She needed companionship. Gabriel mentions that her cousin is about to give birth – miracle of miracles at her age! And perhaps that news gives her hope that she, too can do the impossible. Can welcome this God-child.[1]

Another commentator pointed out that Mary only says the “Magnificat,” this tremendous song of praise and faith in what God is doing in the world, after she is greeted by Elizabeth – she makes this hard, uncomfortable, long journey, potentially on her own, to see Elizabeth – but Elizabeth’s greeting gives her life.[2] This is the whole point of Mary’s uncomfortable journey- the way the Elizabeth recognizes her as the mother of her Lord. This greeting tells her that she will be okay. And more than that, in Elizabeth’s greeting she seems to understand the big picture in a way that goes beyond her years, beyond all of our years. She sees what God is doing in everything that is happening. How everything will be turned upside down. This is good news in a world that is seeing so much pain and loss, especially in the place of Jesus’ birth, this year. Reading the Queen of Jordan’s reflection on the cancellation of Christmas festivities in Bethlehem,[3] and the tremendous loss of life in the Gaza strip region, and her calls for a cease fire this Christmas, I could not help but think: “God will thwart the mighty and lift up the lowly.” In this way, Mary’s “Magnificat” is another yes! Mary is blessed. She is bringing God to the world. As disruptive as that may seem to us and our ordinary lives!

Note here that Gabriel comes to HER, to Mary- the messenger does not summon Mary to a heavenly realm but comes into the plain ordinary space of her lovely life. And asks the divine question.[4]
God’s messenger asks. Seeks her consent. In the same way, God asks us today. As this baby is born again in our hearts, in our memories, will we say YES too? Will we let this baby in?
Let us pause in wonder with Gabriel at Mary’s door as he ponders the magnitude of her YES.

Here Gabriel pausing by Mary’s door, as imagined by Jan Richardson. She thinks of…

“… the angel
in the doorway
who would hesitate
one last time—
just for the space
of a breath
torn from his chest—
before wrenching himself away
from her radiant consent,
her beautiful and
awful yes.”[5]

Let us ponder in our hearts so that when God comes in lovely and lowly form, into the ordinary fabric of our daily lives, we too are open to saying and being a YES, a vibrant YES in the world. Amen.

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[1] Karoline Lewis, Rolf Jacobson, Joy J. Moore, “Working Preacher Sermon Brainwave Podcast for Advent 4, 2023”, #937: Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year B) – Dec. 24, 2023 - Working Preacher from Luther Seminary.

[2] Joanna Harader, Expecting Emmanuel, Harrisonburg: Herald Press, 2022, 98

[3] “Queen Rania of Jordan Writes for Washington Post Op-Ed: Christmas is Canceled in the Land of Jesus’ Birth” Queen Rania Writes For Washington Post Op-Ed: Christmas Is Canceled In The Land Of Jesus' Birth | MENAFN.COM, 12/21/23.

[4] Working Preacher Podcast, above note.

[5] Jan Richardson, “Gabriel’s Annunciation,” Journey with Jesus - Gabriel's Annunciation