Some years ago I served an elderly home-bound parishioner who always welcomed me at her front door with the question, “So, what’s new?” Anna wouldn’t let me get away with “same old, same old” and always insisted that she knew the Spirit was bound to be up to something with all of us…and the pastor, of all people, certainly must be “in the know” about when, how and where the Spirit’s newness had broken into our human circumstances to make itself felt. I always had to ponder this question’s answer prior to knocking on her door. It was a good exercise in spiritual awareness.
If we are to be aware of and welcome what’s new, let us remember that it comes to us in the midst of what’s old wherein we creatures of habit have programed our minds to minimize surprise. It is safer to keep on keeping on with the predictable because we have associated these activities with survival and achieving goals, like doing chores, interacting with family members, getting an education, working at a job, or worshipping at a church. We instinctively sit in the same pew because ritual is comforting. When our conditioned routines are disrupted, say by Covid 19, it seems like the protective structures around our lives have come tumbling down. How do we navigate this infected world? What new structures and practices can we put into use that can restore our safety, health, worldview, faith, happiness, and community? The new is disruptive.
So in this light consider the shock of the angelic announcement: “Mary, you will become pregnant and give birth to a son. Name him Jesus” (Yesuah in Hebrew, meaning, “Yahweh saves”) because his life will become a fulfillment of his name. Hey, Mary, what’s new? Do you really feel highly favored or are you just incredulous or simply shocked? What will the community say about your “condition”? What will Joseph think?
Mary was certainly aware of how pregnancies happen, so she inquires how this new reality will come upon her since she “knows not a man”. The way in which Luke records Gabriel’s “shock of the new” message utilizes two Greek verbs which indicate both the Spirit’s procreative power and sheltering: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). The parallel to this action is found in Genesis 1:2 where the Spirit of God “hovers” over the primeval waters—both the overshadowing and the hovering are new beginnings, one a microcosm and the other a macrocosm of life.
Mary, wary of public notoriety, hid her pregnancy at the home of her cousin, Elizabeth, the mother of John (later called “the Baptist”), in a tiny town down south in the hill country of Judea. Later we are told that Mary “pondered in her heart” all that happened to her. We, with St. Paul, find in her maternity the beginning of God’s “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). I like the medieval theological suggestion that Mary’s “organ of conception” was her ear. She heard Gabriel’s message and sang the song of acceptance: “Let it be…” and was found “to be with child.” It was the song of a servant pondering the will of God.
The truth is that we cannot control what happens to us in life, but we can develop and grow new protective understandings and blessings that enhance our lives in community. This is what Mary did in visiting Elizabeth, in helping Joseph to understand his dream (Matt 1:20-21), in learning a new style and capacity for child rearing (Luke 2:40-52) and later discipleship (John 19:25-27). There is one reality that is always new for us: Christ held within the heart, parallel to Mary holding Christ within her womb that allows us to encounter the new with faith, resilience, creativity and hope. And this is good news for us, looking still for blessings as we adapt to the new surprises happening around us. We light a candle rather than curse the darkness.
A hymn to sing: LBW #393 “Rise, Shine, You People”
Rise, shine you people! Christ the Lord has entered
Our human story; God in him is centered.
He comes to us, by death and sin surrounded,
With grace unbounded.
See how he sends the powers of evil reeling;
He brings us freedom, light and life and healing.
All men and women, who by guilt are driven,
Now are forgiven.
Come, celebrate; your banners high unfurling,
Your songs and prayers against the darkness hurling.
To all the world go out and tell the story
Of Jesus’ glory.
Tell how the Father sent his Son to save us.
Tell of the Son, who life and freedom gave us.
Tell how the Spirit calls from every nation
His new creation.
Rev. Joel Nickel, Pastor Emeritus
Portals of Peace Devotion: Week of 12/20/20 Advent 4