Luke | The Irreverent Reverend

Epiphany 3: One for the Home Crowd

Patrick Comerford

26/1/25
Epiphany 3

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21

O God, we give you thanks because, in the carnation of the Word, a new light has dawned upon the world, that all the nations and peoples may be brought out of darkness to see the radiance of your glory.

Today is the final Sunday of the Epiphany season. You may be relieved to know that there are still a few threads to pull! Over the last three Sundays we have been looking at some key moments in Jesus’ life: the arrival of the Wise Men with their gifts, his baptism as an adult in the Jordan River and the wedding in Cana where bath water became a Grand Cru. The meaning of each event remains significant; the Wise Men proved that the message of Jesus is for everyone (not only the Jews), in his baptism Jesus was revealed as the Son of God. The wedding in Cana that Jesus comes when no one is looking and provides more than enough.

What does Epiphany mean? ‘A moment of great or sudden revelation or realisation.’ Epiphany moments are not always dramatic affairs. They can happen in a quiet moment and you know that something has changed in your mind or heart. However they come to us, these moments are significant. The Epiphany experiences of the people we meet in our Bible readings are the stories of revelations and realisations of God the Father and Jesus the Son.

In our Gospel reading for today the whole synagogue in Nazareth has something of an epiphany when Jesus stands up to read the scroll from what we know as Isaiah 61. It could have been a normal sabbath day, worship as usual in the Nazareth synagogue. What is the big deal?

Luke has Jesus returning to Nazareth after being away for an unknown amount of time; maybe months or even years. Jesus returns differently to when He left. Jesus comes back after being baptised and tempted in the wilderness for 40 days and stands at the cusp of his ministry which boldly begins in the synagogue in front of the home side. A bold start that gets even bolder. Jesus is handed the scroll that not coincidentally was Isaiah, the Old Testament book containing more prophecy about him than any other. He is about to begin fulfilling some prophecy.

Like the guests at the wedding, the congregation in the synagogue was not looking for anything that day. The Jewish people had long been waiting for the Messiah to come; this is what the people being baptised with Jesus expecting. The good people in the relative backwater of Nazareth were waiting for Messiah too; but not expecting him that day in their midst. Not only that, how could Messiah be from the family of a local poor carpenter?!

But He was and is.

If you replace me in verses 18 and 19 with Jesus, it is difficult to see how anyone else in all of history fills this position.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (Jesus),
Because he has anointed me (Jesus)
To bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me (Jesus) to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

This is Jesus’ chosen description of his mission; this is what He came to do. When Jesus said, ‘today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing’, the meaning of ‘fulfilled’ here is ‘to fill a vessel or hollow place’. How many of us know what it is to have that hollow place? He wants to fill it now; not tomorrow or next year or when we feel better or life is back to normal. Jesus means now.

Preach the good news to the poor. This is not referring to the financially poor. These poor are those in ‘utter helplessness, complete destitution, the afflicted and distressed.’ This has wider implications than finances alone. Jesus does not want us only to subsist but thrive. Until we let Him fill our cups daily, we will only subsist.

To heal the broken-hearted. Broken-hearted means ‘to break, strike against something, to break the strength or power of someone’. This is more than a little romance gone wrong or love unrequited. This is a big break; when everything appears to be taken and hope is dwindling.

The Hebrew translation of heal ‘to mend by stitching, repair thoroughly, make whole’. Total breakage needs total healing. One stitch follows another, it takes time and can be painful.

To proclaim freedom for the captives. Notice that Jesus proclaims freedom, he did not impose it. The door of the cell may be opened but we have to walk through it. This is not just people in a physical prison; this is anything: addiction, behaviour, situation that prevents healing and captive to it.

Recovery of sight for the blind. There are many incidents of Jesus physically restoring the sight of many blind people. This is a different kind of blindness, a more serious kind of blindness. Blind here means ‘to envelop with smoke, be unable to see clearly.’ This is about clouded vision; not being able to see the light of gospel or the glory of God. Jesus came to clear our vision so we can see him clearly.

To release the oppressed. To be oppressed is to be treated harshly or unfairly by someone in authority. This release is about breaking the chains of unhealthy attachment.

To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. That day in that year and at that time, those gathered in the Nazareth synagogue witnessed the embodiment of the Lord’s favour. His blessed gift of grace and love, Jesus. Year here means ‘any definite time’ and not a calendar year.

Paul is also responding to the needs of now. The first letter of Corinthians is Paul’s reply to the letters sent to him from members of the Corinthian church. They are contending with things like: a church divided over its leaders, what it is to be an apostle, how to deal with incest, lawsuits among believers, sexual immorality, married life, food sacrificed to idols, how to conduct communion, spiritual gifts, love, worship and resurrection of the dead.

Paul is making an impassioned plea to get the church to think in a completely new way. Paul wants them to move from only thinking about themselves and their individual needs and rights to thinking of themselves as one entity, one body, whose health and life depends on cooperation and connection.

Paul is reminding us that we are the body of Christ and we have been called to take up our roles. We may have different gifts and calling but all are as important as the other. All are needed just as all parts of the body are needed. We are part of the one Spirit, one baptism and we all have gifts to share; things to strive for.

There is an urgency in both of these passages. The invitation to what God is offering is available now. Right now. As it is an invitation it can be refused. We might decide to wait until things get better by ourselves or we just need to try a bit harder. Maybe we like struggling under our own steam. Or we can go to him now. This applies to us as individuals but also to us as the church.

Maybe this is our epiphany moment this morning: we do not have to wait until things get better or the stars align. In the Nazareth synagogue of his childhood Jesus proved that was the fulfillment of the old scriptures. He came with the Spirit of the Lord upon him to bring the good news to the poor in spirit, proclaim release to the prisoners and freedom to the oppressed who want it, recovery of sight to those who had lost vision of God and to usher in the time of the Lord’s favour. Available to all until He comes again. This day is holy to the Lord. Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. May it be so.

Baptism of Christ: Into the Deep

12/1/25
Isaiah 43:1-7
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

In this season of Epiphany (which lasts until the end of January) we will be looking at the epiphany experiences of Jesus and some of the people around him. Epiphany means ‘a moment of great or sudden revelation or realisation.’ I am not sure if you have had an epiphany moment but they are quite extraordinary!

Those moments when some new idea, knowledge or thought blows through your mind and you suddenly and sometimes drastically see the world, people, and a situation in a totally new way. Epiphany moments can cause a fundamental change in one’s life. Epiphany moments are not always dramatic affairs. They can happen in a quiet moment and you know that something has changed in your mind or heart. However they come to us, these moments are significant.

So it feels somewhat awkward to ask you: when was the last time we felt truly insignificant? I heard a great Epiphany sermon from a Lutheran pastor while on a family holiday a few years ago. He started the sermon on this particular Sunday with that question. When was the last time we felt truly insignificant? It kind of took me by surprise.

Earlier in the week I had considered my insignificance while sitting and watching the waves of the Pacific Ocean pound the beach. Over and over again, day in, day out. There was nothing I could do about it. I could not stop it or control it. I did not have the power. I could not even begin to begin to try. Little old me, sitting on a beach (not even considering the number of grains of sand I was sitting on) on a dot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean watching water. Insignificant or what?!

Actually I am and I am not. Same for you. We are all significant and insignificant.
How do we know this?

The Lord is addressing all of Israel in chapter 43 as He offers reassurance, ‘He who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’

This was meant for the whole nation of Israel; all twelve tribes. This is also very personal too; ‘I have called you, Sarah, Heather, Peter, etc’. You and I are not insignificant because He has called us by name. The Lord will also be with you; ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.’

Notice the ‘when’ and not ‘if’. Expect the waters, they will rise. Yet we will not be overwhelmed because He is with us. It does not always take a lot of water to be overwhelmed. Something that seems relatively minor can overwhelm us. When this happens we are to go or return to the Lord. He will be with us.

The next sign that we have to disprove our insignificance is found in the baptism of Jesus which is what we are remembering today. For many of us baptised as babies we may not see our baptisms as a moment of epiphany. Yet it is! We can hopefully find that moment in the baptism of Jesus for ourselves.

The crowd who were listening to John the Baptist that day were full of expectation. They questioned whether John was the Messiah. Notice that Luke adds the detail that the questioning came from the heart. There was a deep need for the Messiah to come. People were needing hope and a future; they were hungry. John answers the crowd with the reassurance that one more powerful is coming who will baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire. John had been preaching about repentance; the need to turn around, walk away from the sins that separates us from God.

Jewish law dictated that the people had to perform ritual washing when they had been defiled. This was the religious practice after normal bodily functions, like menstruation and childbirth for women, ejaculation for men or contact with a corpse. Bathing was required to remove various impurities.

John’s baptism of repentance transformed the ritual washing for physical impurities to moral impurity; those things that water cannot wash away. Baptism took place publicly as those who witnessed became responsible for helping the baptised to live the life that baptism signifies.

John had previously referred to his listeners as a brood of vipers. He was not preaching a message of fluff and ‘just be a good person’, or ‘as long as you don’t hurt anyone else’. John was preparing them not for salvation but for repentance, he was preparing them to encounter Jesus, the only one who could bring them salvation.

Picture that scene for a moment: the crowd of people have confessed their sins and go down into the River Jordan to be baptised. Then Jesus comes along and stands with his cousin on the bank. In the next moment Jesus and John are standing in the water too. Jesus is baptised; drenched in the same waters where they had confessed their sins. This is all about symbolism but do you see Jesus almost wearing the sins they had confessed in those waters? In the waters of baptism our sin is washed away through the work of the Holy Spirit.

This is the baptism that Jesus offers us. There is power in the water of baptism. Do we live like there is? What an amazing privilege it is to be baptized. We never have to feel insignificant again. We are called by name into the deep waters of baptism where He is always with us. He took on our sin and paid the price for us.

After Jesus was baptised heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove. The voice of God ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ This little glimpse of heaven! Jesus was about to be taken into the wilderness for his 40 days of temptation. I would like to believe that the sound of that voice stayed with him.

In the vastness of space and time, in the brevity of life we are insignificant yet we are called by name. We belong to God. The voice that called down from heaven is the same voice that calls our name. God is with us when we pass through the waters and the rivers and in the deep waters of baptism. We are significant to God and to each other.

May our prayer be to walk into our significance as God’s chosen children. Baptised in love and grace; knowing full-well that we are His beloved and with us He is well pleased.

Christmas 1: Happy New Year!

Details

Christmas 1
31/12/23

Isaiah 62:10-62:3
Luke 2:15-21

Lord Jesus, Light of light,
you have come among us.
Help us who live by your light
to shine as lights in your world.
Glory to God in the highest.
Amen.

Happy New Year Church Family! Blessing on your 2024. How are we feeling about the turning of the calendar? None of us can be too certain about what 2024 holds. That is either good news or bad news depending on how great your need for certainty is. The world and its various governments are not proving to be much help. Mother Nature is adding to the chaos. We have personal challenges and situations that can make life difficult.

On New Year’s Day 2020 I posted this quote from the American bible teacher and writer Beth Moore on Facebook: ‘We have no idea what the coming year holds but this I can promise you based on the unsurpassed authority of Scripture: our God’s going to be faithful. He’s going to be good. He’s going to love us and be our light in the darkness. He’s going to keep His word. He cannot do otherwise.’

This is still very much true as we head into 2024. Many of us have no idea what is coming. We can be sure though that God will be faithful, He is going to love us, He will be our light and He will keep his word. Amen!

While we may be straining at the lead into 2024, I was rather pleased at the Gospel reading we have this morning. Have we not just heard this story?! We might want to move on and look ahead; it is New Year’s Eve after all! The lectionary wants to keep us grounded in the Christmas story for one more Sunday. What might Mary and the shepherds have to say to us on the cusp of a new year?

Luke in his Gospel, writes about the people who respond spontaneously to a divine message with trust and unselfconscious enthusiasm. Mary is the most supreme example of this. Mary has already been visited by the Angel Gabriel and given birth to Jesus. Mary knew that her baby would be special and different; probably not that special and different until the shepherds appeared.

She is likely beginning to understand all that she has been told and there is much more to come. The arrival of the shepherds forces her to ponder what it all means. What she was told in private is now being made very public.

There is something in how Mary accepts the news she is given; I do not think it was automatic ‘this is amazing!’ Her pondering and reflection indicates that we too, probably more than we should, can ponder and reflect on what God is saying to us. We must live out our faith so that it is evident to those around us. This takes some pondering, reflection and prayer.

The shepherds at first are afraid of the angels. This is the common experience of those fortunate souls who encounter angels. It would probably take a big shock for a shepherd to become fearful; they lived in the outdoors and protected the sheep from predators that sought to kill and eat them. They lived in a constant state of uncertainty. Shepherds would not expect a sky full of angels.

The initial fear of the shepherds is quickly turned into excitement and energy. We learn about them from their reaction: they did not question or disbelieve, or react with cynicism, or drag their feet or ponder. They take the message and they act on it.

How do we act on the Good News of Jesus?

The shepherds hurried to see the baby. Are we in a hurry to tell people about Jesus? The shepherds became the first witnesses as they told everyone in earshot what they had seen and heard. It was as simple as that. There was no great theological debate or treatise. No lectures or sermons. Just a report of what they had experienced. Telling people about Jesus does not need to be anymore complicated than that.

In the world (most broadly) and in many lives (most specifically) there are many people living in darkness. The Good News of Jesus is needed more now than ever before. What difference does Jesus make to you? This might be the question to ponder as we move into 2024. What difference do you want Jesus to make to you in 2024?

Christmas is a time of hope, hope that lasts; hope that is beyond what we can imagine and it overcomes our limited vision. Jesus is the light of the world that overcomes the darkness.

Isaiah 61 is talking about a time when God’s favour will come and a messianic figure (the Messiah – Jesus) will bring freedom and health to his people. There is a vision of a future where every nation shall see the glory of God. God will do great things not only for his people but for the whole earth.

John Pritchard, former Bishop of Oxford wrote, ‘Christmas is that wonderful time when we enter into another world. Just temporarily we bask in a different glow, and old hopes are reinstated, and the world is a little less chilly. But if it’s true that at Christmas we enter into a different world, it’s also true that for Christmas to be authentic another world has to enter us. ‘Where meek souls shall receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.’

As we take a last look at the Christmas story may we know the hope and salvation in the baby Jesus as told to the shepherds by the angelic host. Hold onto that hope and share the message of salvation.

I hope that for New Year’s 2024 we want the dear Christ to enter in. Let us pray to overcome fear and complacency, cynicism and lack of faith. Let us continue to pray for peace and justice in those places where it is so badly lacking.

I will finish by reading Psalm 148 which is set for today…

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!

2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!

3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!

4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.

6 He established them for ever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.[a]
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,

8 fire and hail, snow and frost
stormy wind fulfilling his command!
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!

10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!

12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.

14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!

Christmas Day: Comfort in the Manger

25/12/23

Christmas Day – Set 1

Isaiah 9:2-7

Psalm 96

Titus 2:11-14

Luke 2:1-20

Lord Jesus, Light of light,

you have come among us.

Help us who live by your light

to shine as lights in your world.

Glory to God in the highest.

Amen.

It is good to hear that story again! We can read it any day of the year of course. But somehow it feels better, maybe more real on the day.

There are so many moving parts:

The Government: those with power making those without power move around to be registered like cattle,
The loyal and devoted Joseph and the young, heavily pregnant Mary awaiting the birth of their firstborn son
The inn and the innkeeper (probably a family home) with no empty space
The shepherds living in the fields, watching over their flocks by night
The angel of the Lord and the great multitude. Glory to God in the highest heaven indeed!
The wisemen came a bit later so don’t get a mention today – this isn’t a bad thing! It helps us to remember that Christmas is a season and not just one day.

I am not sure which parts of this story warms the cockles of your hearts the most.

Mary & Joseph & Jesus

I love this little line tucked into verse 6: ‘the time came for her to deliver her child.’ The time came. Again, we can receive Jesus at any time and anywhere, but he was grounded in a time and place.

Mary and Joseph did not have an easy time but they remained faithful despite all the uncertainty they faced. They believed the angel who visited them to tell them about the baby. They travelled to Bethlehem on the orders of the Roman government.

We don’t know if they travelled on a donkey or not – but it is a nice idea!

I do not think that any parent could imagine that the description of their child would include: ‘For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Most babies are cute, good eaters, bad sleepers, or take after mum or dad or great aunt Beatrice.

The baby born unto us has come to bring us hope and is the tangible sign that God really is with us. Not against us or indifferent to us – but with us. God with us brings us hope.

With the coming of Jesus to earth, God has ceased to be distant and removed and too awesome to encounter. Instead, with Jesus’ arrival God becomes intimately involved in his creation and in our lives too. And when God is with us then there is hope.

Angels & Shepherds

I love to picture the angels and the shepherds in the field. The Good News coming to those on the margins, the outsiders first in a burst of light better than any firework display we could imagine.

There was nothing subtle about this announcement. It was a dark, probably ordinary night for those shepherds. Nothing but a few baas here and a few baas there, the stars for light, each other for companionship.

Then this great angel appears with the glory of the Lord shining around them. Utterly overwhelming! When was the last time you were truly overwhelmed by something good?

I know people who have been utterly overwhelmed by bad stuff – at home and abroad. War & violence in Ukraine & Russia, Gaza & Israel. It was sad not to see a Christmas Tree in Manger Square today. Rather a nativity made of rubble. Unemployment, sickness, divorce, death. Many people at Christmas find themselves utterly overwhelmed by the darkness of this world – more than usual.

Christmas is a time of hope, hope that lasts; hope that is beyond what we can imagine and it overcomes our limited vision. Jesus is the light of the world that overcomes the darkness.

John Pritchard, former Bishop of Oxford wrote, ‘Christmas is that wonderful time when we enter into another world. Just temporarily we bask in a different glow, and old hopes are reinstated, and the world is a little less chilly. But if it’s true that at Christmas we enter into a different world, it’s also true that for Christmas to be authentic another world has to enter us. ‘Where meek souls shall receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.’

Wherever you find yourself in the Christmas story this day – spend some time at the manger, bow a knee and gaze again at the baby who came at the right time and in the right place to bring us hope and be with us.

Advent 4: Gabriel & Mary

Advent 4 – Year B

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Psalm 89
Romans 16:25-end
Luke 1:26-38

Today is a busy day. It is a relief that the 4th Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve do not fall on the same day very often! It has gone by way too quickly.

The Gospel readings for Fourth Sunday always revolve around Mary as she completes the picture of our Advent journey. It seems that at this time of the year, we Protestants are okay to talk about Mary and even have a statue of her in church without great resistance!

I was looking back over the lectionary to see which stories of Mary are used on this particular Sunday. Year A is Matthew’s gospel account of the birth of Jesus in which Mary does not speak. Year C is Luke’s recording of the Magnificat. In full voice Mary proclaims the greatness of the Lord who has looked with favour on her lowly self.

Year B (this year) has set Luke 1 which is the Annunciation; when Mary was visited by Gabriel who brings her the good news that she will bear a son. We hear Mary’s voice in this account as she and Gabriel discuss the situation.

One of the many things to appreciate this season is how the story of the first Christmas comes alive. We see it in the pictures on Christmas cards; we hear it in the words of Christmas carols; we see the drama played out in Christingle and Crib services.

Sometimes if or when we pick up the Bible to read it we can lose the sense of awe and wonder. Over the past 4 weeks, a small group of us have been meeting to look at the various characters in the Advent & Christmas stories – John the Baptist, Mary, a bit of Joseph and finally the angels, shepherds and wise men this past week. We have been taking a closer look at the many aspects of these people. Together we have looked at some of the assumptions and shared our own knowledge, thoughts and ideas.

In that spirit I would like to highlight a few parts of this amazing story this morning.

The angel Gabriel. Gabriel is a fascinating character; he is a Messenger of God. In any artistic depiction, Gabriel looks to be tall with huge white, feathery wings. He often has a trumpet or a lily in his hand. Angels are created beings of God as we are. There is no evidence to support angels being recycled souls of our dearly departed; however comforting this notion might be.

Gabriel appears in the Old Testament as he was sent to explain the visions that the prophet Daniel was having. Gabriel has been around for a few hundred years at least. Gabriel is now back on the scene. Six months before greeting Mary, God sent Gabriel to Jerusalem to foretell another unexpected birth to an elderly priest named Zechariah whose aged wife Elizabeth would bear John the Baptist. Prior to these visits approximately 400 years had passed since God had sent any message to earth. Then twice in 6 months Gabriel is called into service with life changing news for the most unsuspecting of people.

Now we move on a few verses and turn our attention to Mary. Mary the Virgin, maybe 13 or 14 years old, engaged to be married to Joseph. He was not a local though as his family came from Bethlehem, the house of David. Bethlehem is about 80 miles (a 2 hour drive or 5-6 day walk) from Nazareth.

How and why did Joseph’s family end up in Nazareth? It was not a particularly desirable place to live. People then did not tend to move around very much; you stayed where you were from. However the Bethlehem connection is rather central to the story.

Gabriel’s opening to Mary of ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you!’ I wonder what Mary was doing at that moment. Was she alone? Was she in her bedroom or our carrying water?

Mary is perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. There is a lot of meaning here: Mary is deeply agitated, she is taken aback, disturbed, anxious. One explanation that I particularly liked was ‘stirred up throughout’ by the appearance of Gabriel.

Some of us here know what it is like to be ‘stirred up throughout’. I know a lot of people who have been stirred up throughout this year. That news that comes unexpectedly that moves adrenaline at lighting speed: good or bad that shakes us to the core.

It is not just by Gabriel’s appearance but his greeting, his words that have caused her reaction. Mary’s reaction could be that she knew that this greeting was coming with an overwhelming challenge.

Paula Gooder in her Advent book ‘The Meaning is in the Waiting’ writes, ‘Gabriel’s greeting is somewhat reminiscent of the ancient Chinese proverb ‘May you live in interesting times’, which can be seen as either a curse or a blessing. In the same way, Gabriel’s greeting can either be seen as good or bad: to be in receipt of God’s favour, especially beloved and granted his presence, can only mean that Mary’s life is about to be turned upside down. She is surely right and sensible to be disturbed by this greeting.’

Gabriel then declares ‘Do not be afraid!’ Yeah okay! The phrase ‘Do not be afraid’ appears 366 times in the Bible. One for each day of the year and an extra for Leap Years. Do not be afraid is then followed with the sweet words ‘you have found favour with God.’ How did she do that? A 13-year-old girl from a poor, backwater town. What was it about Mary?

We can do all the religiousy, churchy stuff in the world but this does not mean we have found God’s favour. It isn’t in what we do; it is in who we are. We were created by God out of God’s love for us. In spite of everything that is unlovely in us. We can still find God’s favour. What we do should be an offering back to God out of our love as thanksgiving for his love.

Mary then gets the news that she is going to conceive and bear a son whom she will name Jesus.

Jesus. This was the first proclamation of our Saviour’s personal name since the beginning of time. Jesus. The very name at which one day every knee will bow. The very name at which every tongue will confess. A name with no parallel in any vocabulary. A name with power like no other name. Jesus.

Gabriel tells Mary, ‘He will be great’. Oh yes he is.

Gabriel then carries on with some details of what is to happen. Mary’s concern is for the practicalities: she obviously knew where babies came from. We see something of her innocence too. Gabriel has the answer for Mary, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you’. Come upon here means ‘to arrive, invade, resting upon and operating in a person.’

For nothing will be impossible with God, says Gabriel. If it is of God then nothing is impossible. Sometimes it is us who need a little more courage or imagination.

It is after she heard ‘that nothing is impossible’ – that Mary says ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ I sometimes wonder what our lives, our families, our community and our world would look like if this was our response to God. ‘Here am I’. And not just when the news is good or happy or the request is something that we really want to do. What about when the news is uncertain or just plain hard, comes with a price tag we do not want to pay. Or the inconvenience doesn’t seem worth it. ‘Here am I.’

As we finish out this Advent season and rush (in a matter of hours) into Christmas:

I hope that you will know the Lord’s favour upon you.

I hope the name of Jesus falls sweetly on your ears and off your tongue.

The Lord is with you. Nothing will be impossible with God.

Do not be afraid – The Lord is with you.