Sunday, December 21, 2008

Fourth Sunday of Advent, cycle B

LUKE 1:26-38
THERE ARE MANY TRANSLATIONS OF WHAT THE ANGEL SAID TO MARY. IN THE READING TODAY, IT IS “HAIL, FULL OF GRACE!” IN SOME BIBLES, IT IS “REJOICE, HIGHLY FAVORED DAUGHTER.” IN THE NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE, IT SAYS “REJOICE, YOU WHO ENJOY GOD'S FAVOR!” THESE ARE ALL TRANSLATIONS OF THE GREEK. OF COURSE MARY DIDN'T SPEAK GREEK, BUT ALL THE DIFFERENT TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE CAN GO BACK ONLY TO THE GREEK, BECAUSE LUKE WROTE IT IN GREEK. AND THE GREEK WORDS HAVE A NICE RING: CHARI KACHERI TOMENI. THAT SOUNDS A LOT MORE LIKE SOMETHING AN ANGEL WOULD SAY. CHARI KACHERI TOMENI.
WE OFTEN THINK ABOUT THIS SCENE. WE CHRISTIANS GET THE IDEA OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH FROM THIS PASSAGE, AND WE CATHOLICS BELIEVE THAT MARY WAS SINLESS; BECAUSE THE ANGEL CALLS HER “HIGHLY FAVORED” OR “FULL OF GRACE” OR “KACHERI TOMENI”, WE CONCLUDE THAT SHE WAS BORN WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN. AND WE ARE ALWAYS A LITTLE AWED BY HER READY ACCEPTANCE OF GOD'S PLAN FOR HER, EVEN THOUGH IT WILL TOTALLY DISRUPT HER LIFE -- “LET IT BE DONE TO ME AS YOU SAY.”
THESE ARE ALL WONDERFUL IDEAS, AND CERTAINLY WORTH OUR MEDITATION. BUT THIS PASSAGE IS NOT REALLY ABOUT MARY; IT IS ABOUT GOD.
THERE ARE MANY STORIES IN THE BIBLE ABOUT WOMEN WHO HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO HAVE A CHILD, BUT GOD INTERVENES, AND THEY DO. THE MOTHER OF SAMSON; SARAH THE WIFE OF ABRAHAM; RACHEL, THE WIFE OF JACOB; HANNAH, THE MOTHER OF SAMUEL; AND EVEN ELIZABETH, THE MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. ALL OF THESE WOMEN WERE BARREN, BUT IT WAS NOT IMPOSSIBLE THAT THEY MIGHT CONCEIVE; JUST UNLIKELY. BUT IN MARY'S CASE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE; SHE IS A VIRGIN; HER STORY IS CATEGORICALLY DIFFERENT THAN THOSE OTHERS; GOD IS THE GOD OF THE IMPOSSIBLE; NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.
WE KNOW THAT MARY IS SPECIAL; WE KNOW THAT SHE IS QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH; BUT MARY DIDN'T KNOW THAT THEN, NOR DID ANYONE ELSE. MARY IS CHOSEN BY GOD'S GRACE; THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT HER THAT DESERVES THE HONOR SHE IS GIVEN. HER PLACE IN HISTORY, IN SALVATION, IS ENTIRELY A GIFT OF GOD. GOD IS THE GOD OF GRACE, THE GOD WHOSE EVERY INTERVENTION IN YOUR LIFE AND MINE IS PURE GIFT, PURE GRACE, UNDESERVED; AND WHOSE EVERY INTERVENTION IS ULTIMATELY GOOD.
AND MARY ANSWERS, “I AM THE SLAVE (A BETTER TRANSLATION THAN 'HANDMAID') OF THE LORD. LET IT BE DONE TO ME AS YOU SAY.” WE MAKE A LOT OF THE SECOND SENTENCE, BUT WE FORGET THE FIRST. IT IS TRUE THAT MARY GAVE HER CONSENT TO THE GRACE OF GOD, THE IMPOSSIBLE THING THAT GOD WAS ABOUT TO DO; BUT FROM ANOTHER STANDPOINT, COULD SHE DO OTHERWISE? GOD HAS SPOKEN, IT IS HAPPENING; IF YOU TRULY UNDERSTAND YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, AS MARY DID, CAN YOU DO OTHERWISE THAN EMBRACE HIS WILL? ST. PAUL WAS BLINDED BY A BOLT OF LIGHTNING FROM HEAVEN WHICH HALTED HIS PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCH AND MADE HIM A SLAVE OF THE GOSPEL, AS HE CALLED HIMSELF. WHEN WE WILLINGLY EMBRACE THE WILL OF GOD FOR OURSELVES, WHEN WE ACCEPT THIS BEING A SLAVE, THEN AND ONLY THEN DO WE BECOME TRULY FREE. WHEN GOD'S WILL BECOMES THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN MY LIFE, THEN ALL THE CHAINS THAT BIND ME TO THIS EARTH FALL AWAY, AND I BECOME FREE.
AND FINALLY, THIS PASSAGE IS ABOUT GOD'S WORD. IF WE COULD READ GREEK, WE WOULD SEE THAT THE ANGEL SAYS TO MARY, “NO WORD IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD” AND MARY SAYS, “LET HIS WORD BE DONE TO ME.” GOD'S WORD – BRINGS THE WORLD INTO BEING; IMPRISONS THE DIVINE IN MARY'S WOMB; RAISES JESUS FROM THE DEAD; GOD'S WORD CHANGES BREAD AND WINE INTO THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS; GOD'S WORD MADE YOU AND I BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF JESUS AT OUR BAPTISMS; GOD'S WORD GIVES US THE GIFT OF GOD'S SELF.
SO THIS PASSAGE IS ABOUT GOD, FOR WHOM NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE; ABOUT GOD, WHO IS A GOD OF GIFT, OF GRACE; ABOUT GOD, WHO INVITES US ORDINARY HUMAN BEINGS TO BE HIS SERVANTS, FOR HIS PURPOSES; ABOUT GOD, WHO SPEAKS A WORD, AND LIVES IN US AND MAKES US A NEW CREATION.
THE PASSAGE IS ABOUT MARY AS WELL, BUT ALSO ABOUT YOU AND I. LIKE MARY, GOD HAS CHOSEN US, GRACED US, GIVEN US AN IRREPLACEABLE ROLE IN HIS CREATION; LIKE MARY YOU AND I ARE GOD BEARERS, WITH ALL THE JOYS AND DIFFICULTIES, HARDSHIPS AND PRIVILEGES THAT THIS IMPLIES. AND THE ANGELS WHO LIVE IN GOD'S PRESENCE, COULD SAY TO US, “HAIL, FULL OF GRACE” -- “CHARI KACHERI TOMENI” BECAUSE GOD HAS NOT CONCEIVED HIS CHRIST IN ANY ANGEL; BUT HE HAS DONE SO IN YOU AND I.
ADVENT IS NEARLY OVER. ON THIS FOURTH SUNDAY, WE ARE WITNESS TO THAT CENTRAL MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE, WHEN GOD HIMSELF BREAKS IN TO HISTORY, WHEN THE DIVINE TAKES ON OUR MORTAL FLESH AND BONES, WHEN THE ETERNAL ONE CHOOSES TO BE BORN AND TO DIE. THIS IS THE MOMENT THAT ALL CREATION HAS AWAITED, THE MOMENT THAT TAKES ALL THE RANDOMNESS, ALL THE BLIND ALLEYS, ALL THE FAILURES, ALL THE PAIN AND SUFFERING AND INJUSTICE WHICH HAS GONE BEFORE AND WILL CONTINUE TO GO ON UNTIL JESUS COMES AGAIN, AND IN A BLINDING MOMENT MAKES SENSE OF IT ALL, REVEALS DIVINE PURPOSE WHERE NO PURPOSE WAS SEEN AND REVEALS THAT SOMEHOW ALL THINGS WORK FOR THE GOOD THAT GOD DESIRES.
AND AT THE SAME TIME, IT IS A MOMENT WHICH IS DUPLICATED IN YOUR SOUL AND MINE, AS GOD BREAKS IN TO OUR LIVES, AS GOD DOES HIS IMPOSSIBLE WORD IN US, AS GOD GIVES US HIS GRACE,HIS GIFT. AND IT IS OURS TO EMBRACE WHAT GOD DOES, AND SUBMIT COMPLETELY, AND BE HIS SLAVE, AND SO ENTER IN TO FREEDOM, FREEDOM LIKE WE HAVE NEVER DREAMED OF, FREEDOM AS BEFITS THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD.
SO TO EACH OF YOU, HAIL, YOU WHO ARE HIGHLY FAVORED. HAIL, FULL OF GRACE. CHARI KACHARI TOMENI.