Behold!

Photo Credit: http://kathyschiffer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/The-Annunciation-John-Collier.jpg

Our Gospel today was “the Annunciation”, the same Gospel we used for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Very often, you will see Annunciation in a painting or stained glass window, and it’s depicted with one striking detail: Mary, holding in her hands or reading an open book. One artist has said this is to show Mary reading Isaiah, learning that a virgin would give birth to the savior. Another artist said that it shows her devotion to The Word – the Word that she would one day bring into the world as Jesus Christ.

However you interpret this, it remains a compelling way of thinking of Mary, especially as we near Christmas, and as we think more deeply about The Word Made Flesh. And as we reflect on today’s Gospel, I want to focus on one word in particular that recurs in this passage. It’s a word Luke uses again and again in the story of the Nativity, three times alone in just this short passage. That word is: “Behold.” In literal terms, it means: “to see,” or “observe.” But in scriptural terms, it goes much deeper.

Twice, the angel Gabriel says to Mary: “Behold!” In other words; he’s saying, Look! Miracles are unfolding around you and within you. Behold!

And how does Mary respond? Now keep in mind that she is young, probably 12 or 13 years old. She’s not married and doesn’t appear to have any money. What would most teenage girls do under those circumstances? Does Mary say, “This really isn’t a good time for me, can you get back to me in 10 years?” Does she say, “That’s impossible, I’ve got the best birth control on earth, I’m a virgin?” Does she say, “You’re freaking me out – I’m outta here,” and run away out of fear of the unknown? No. She realizes that she needs to place her life in God’s hands. And she replies to the angel with the same word that he spoke to her: “Behold. I am the handmaid of the Lord.” In other words: Look! You have told me something extraordinary. And now, here, before you, is something else extraordinary: a woman who’s ready to do God’s will. I am His handmaid. I am His servant.

So Mary, this woman of The Word, a woman so often depicted with an open book, is saying: the rest of the pages of my life are blank. I am God’s book now. Let Him write His story within me. It is in that moment when Mary declares her consent – surrendering to God’s will, sacrificing her life for Him and, ultimately, for us. Behold, she announces. I am His. It is in that statement that Mary speaks for all of us.

Now, chances are, none of us will encounter angels announcing that we’re going to be part of salvation history. But we can declare our own desire to continue what Mary began – to help bring Christ into the world. And it starts, as it did with Mary, by giving ourselves over to God’s will for us; to give ourselves completely to His surprising and sometimes challenging plan for us.

If someone had told me 20 years ago that one day I’d be standing here wearing these vestments and preaching to you on a Sunday morning, I would have laughed. That was the furthest thing from my mind. But God knew better. He had something planned for me. God has something planned for each of us – just as he did for Mary. We just need to be open to our calling. We need to listen from the heart.

Someone once said, unlike most of us, Mary didn’t say, “Thy will be changed. I’m not the one you want.” Rather she said, “May it be done to me according to your word.” A few years later, her Son would echo that statement in the most famous prayer ever composed: “Thy will be done.” Clearly, he was his mother’s son.

So where do we go from here? We need to follow Mary’s example of faith, obedience, trust, and love. And in doing that, we can also, like Mary, help make Christ present. We can help him to be born once again into our world – a world desperately in need of mercy, charity, compassion, hope, healing, forgiveness and love. We can remind others of Emmanuel – that God is with us. That is our call; not just at Christmas, but every single day of our lives.

In these final days of Advent, in this time of waiting, let us ponder, pray, and behold. Behold our own desire for the Prince of Peace to come into our world and our lives; behold a woman who gave herself to God, and gave us an example of obedience and faith; and behold, that like an open book, our lives are waiting for God to write His story within us.

Heavenly Father, may it be done to me according to your word.