Luke 1:26-38

It’s only during Advent and Christmas that most Protestants pay much attention to Mary. Besides the virgin birth, there are a couple thousand years’ worth of theology, piety, and politics layered over Mary. It’s nearly impossible to dig her out from under it all. Some Christians pray to her. Others ignore her on principle. John Knox, the reformer who started the first truly “presbyterian” church, condemned making her an object of worship. Some Christians call her “Theotokos,” the Mother of God. For others, she represents a troubling model of pious femininity — ever sinless, ever virgin, ever mother.

I think the most extraordinary thing about Mary is how ordinary she was.

In this special season, this special holiday celebrating this Special Baby born to this Special Woman, it’s easy to start thinking Christmas is all about extraordinariness. But, on the contrary, if it’s about anything, it’s about the power of the ordinary to bring about God’s purposes. Mary was not chosen to be the mother of Jesus because she was special. She was chosen because she was the epitome of ordinary. A young girl of marriageable age, living an ordinary life in an ordinary town in an ordinary country. What a spit in the eye that was to the folks in power in Rome and Jerusalem.

Mary says, “Yes,” of course, “Let it be; here am I, a servant of the Lord,” but before that, she says something we often skip over. When the angel announces what’s coming, Mary says, “How will this happen?” We know these words; we’ve said these words. Maybe prefaced by “Whoa,” or “uh-oh.” We know that feeling: “How can this work out? What’s going to happen now?” It’s a confession of vulnerability. Mary has got to be thinking, “There is no way I can pull this off. Me? Who am I? It’s impossible.”

And Mary speaks up about that – she shows up with her authenticity as well as her disbelief and asks her very reasonable question; asks it right to the face of that angel from God, for crying out loud, and that’s the first good lesson we get from Mary. She shows us the ordinary courage of speaking up. Over time, the word “courage” became synonymous with heroics, but the root of the word is the Latin word for heart. Courage originally meant “To speak one’s mind by telling one’s heart.” That means putting your vulnerability on the line and in our world, that can be pretty extraordinary.

The angel Gabriel doesn’t try to talk her out of her questions; he doesn’t tell her she can do anything she wants if she just tries hard enough or wants it enough or believes enough. He says, “Nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary listens, and then answers, “Let it be.” Mary’s “Let it be” isn’t the same as “Whatever;” it isn’t acquiescence. That’s a popular assumption and it has served the purposes of those who would prefer the ideal Mary, and by extension, ideal women in general, to be compliant and above all, keep their mouths shut. For starters, this view can’t be reconciled with the other nine stories in which Mary appears in the New Testament. Mary shows up again and again as a woman with gumption, and we see it for the first time right here in this story. She says, “Yes.” Maybe saying yes is the most extraordinary thing about Mary. One writer poses the provocative but fascinating question: “What if Mary wasn’t God’s first choice? Imagine… a whole string of Marys who said, ‘No way.’” And far from being, “Whatever,” I believe Mary’s “Let it be” is much more powerful, much closer to the words of one of my favorite “Star Trek” characters, Captain Jean-Luc Picard: “Make it so.”

Ordinary people doing God’s work. A few years ago, I had my congregation join in this litany that made Mary’s gumption real and personal:
One: Greetings favored ones. The Lord is with you and intends to do great things through you.
Many: How can this be? We are ordinary, everyday people.
One: Yet you have found favor through God, and the Holy Spirit will come upon you, guide you, and work through you to care for this world and people God loves so much. For nothing is impossible with God.
Many: Here am I, a servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.

© Joanne Whitt 2023 all rights reserved.