It isn’t every day that an angel pays a visit.
Let alone an archangel.
What if Mary had told her visitor that she needed to check her calendar, or that she didn’t have time, or that I’ll get back to you?
Or that she had other plans.
The Annunciation. That is the title that the ancient church gave to the story that we hear today.
The announcement.
Interesting how the word annunciation also means to speak clearly.
God is speaking clearly. Will we hear? Will we respond?
The ancient Church also gave Mary the title of Theotokus: the God Bearer.
The one who bears God, who carries God, who births God.
The interesting thing about Angels is that they are messengers, without the message, they have no purpose. They carry news. Without the news they are just blank newsprint.
But with the news of God they blaze and they always have to say, fear not, be not afraid, when they are first seen.
Gabriel is full of news.
Mary will be full of God.
“Let it be with me according to your word.”
That is Mary’s answer.
What if the annunciation isn’t from Gabriel, but is rather from Mary.
The announcement, the clear speaking, is simply Mary saying, “Yes.”
She said yes to God.
And creation found a new beginning.
The Spirit of the Lord overshadowed her, brooded over her like in the beginning of creation when everything began.
A new beginning. Mary says yes to God.
There is so much about this story and about Mary that holds our attention. But ultimately I think it is Mary saying “yes” that makes us stop and think.
We live in a cynical world, a world of loss, and theft and grief, a world that clearly speaks the word, “No”, “Read my lips”, “What part of no don’t you understand?”
But we see here a different world.
A world of clear speaking, a world that clearly speaks yes, in a stuck and impossible situation and like light flaring out in the darkness Mary’s affirmation shines out and we can see a new beginning. It’s like she says, “Let there be light”, and it was so and the story of creation begins anew.
So here’s the thing. Which world will we live in?