Luke 1:18-20
Christmas is coming! That means Jesus is coming! Of course, Jesus is already here, we Christians just need to be reminded of that fact and need times of preparation. Advent is very real for me this year. Thank God for that.
This is the time when the nativity story, the account of Jesus' birth, is told and hammered into our brains over and over again... on cards, in windows, in commercials, in church... So we know about how Gabriel the angel appeared to Mary and said "Hey girl! You gonna be God's baby-mama! Yay you!" (unintended to be offensive paraphrase) to which Mary replies, "How will this be?" because she was a virgin. This makes sense. God promises something ridiculous, therefore, Mary asks to explain. Not much of an explanation is given, it is about miracles and faith. The interesting thing about this is that Mary does not assume this cannot be done. She asks "How will this be?" not "How can I be sure of this?"
Zechariah, Mary's uncle, on the other hand, replies in the second way. Gabriel appears to him and says (via the unoffensive paraphrase) "Yo Zech! Yo' wife's gonna have a baby and you should call him Johnny!" to which Zechariah replies, "How can I be sure of this?" Again, perhaps a logical thing to say at a ridiculous proposition like his elderly wife conceiving ...HOWEVER, an ANGEL is TALKING to him! Is THAT logical?!
Mary had the great idea to take the Gabe at his word and instead of questioning the miraculous, she requests further details, signifying that she believes him, but is nonetheless confused, as she should be. Zechariah, though, acts like God is incapable of such a deed! Surely the God who sends glorious angels to old men in temples cannot allow my wife to get pregnant...!
Questions are not always bad, this is one lesson we can take from these stories. However, which questions we ask reveal a lot about our faith. It is worth noting that Mary was a teenage girl who had faith in a God who would do the unthinkable. Zechariah was a priest, trained in the religious world of Judaism and inundated with the stories of God's miraculous deeds in scripture. Yet, he failed to believe that God was alive and still this powerful. Likewise, we here the stories of God's power and love and faithfulness in this Advent season, but do we believe such glorious things still happen? Further, Mary's encounter delivered a promise more ridiculous-sounding than Zechariah's. Mary was a virgin, who had NEVER had sex. Zechariah's wife Elizabeth was married (obviously), HAD had sex (despite her old age), and the blessing promised to her mirrored the promise to Abraham and Sarah in Genesis that they would have a son named Isaac, despite Sarah's old age. Despite this, Zechariah needs further proof and is given silence instead. Mary accepts the blessing, despite the hardships such a proposition promises.
Which person's faith is most like ours?
May we respond like Mary, asking how we should proceed, and not like Zechariah, asking for proof.
I love the nativity scene. Pensive, strong Joseph. Elated, calm, Mary with her blush cheeks. Sweet, innocent Baby Jesus. Yet the reality is, I would wager, that Joseph was a mess. Probably frightened with uncertainty, perhaps even crying. Mark was probably crying, her hair a mess, and she probably didn;t have make-up on. Sweet Baby Jesus wa sprobably crying too, red in the face, and a mess. There wa sprobably blood all over the place, poop everywhere. I think that's a more realistic nativity scene. I wonder sometimes, what would it be like if the world would quit painting it all elevated and perfect and seen the reality of brokenness and confusion. I think we'd be able to connect better.
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