St. Luke. 1:26-38. “Annunciation to Virgin Mary: Taking Risk for the Kingdom of God”.

St. Luke. 1:26-38.

Today we pondering upon the theme, “Annunciation to Virgin Mary: Taking Risk for the Kingdom of God”.

Let me read verse from the Gospel Portion today Luke. Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”.

Let us pray, God of true wisdom, as we engage ourselves with your words be with us and envision us with new imagination and commitment. Amen.

The study of the gospel according to St. Luke is a richly rewarding experience. As theologian from the margins he tells the story of the insignificant people such as women, children, lepers, outcasts and gentiles. As a sociologist he deals the issues of the lower strata and describes how they will be in the kingdom of God. He is best story teller and a genuine communicator because he tells the redemptive history of God by narrating many figures of Jesus’ time. He presents Jesus in a wider canvas of God’s historical interventions. Luke is a good story teller and has the penetrating insight of a prophet. As a result, the Gospel is engaging and offers a perspective on the redemptive events of Jesus’ ministry. Luke’s distinctive attention to God’s work among ordinary people continues to be evident. The infancy narrative features the role of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary rather than Joseph is the principal character in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus. The angel Gabriel appeared first to Zechariah, an old priest going about his duties in the Temple, and then to a young girl not yet married. God chose the lowly rather than the high and mighty to fulfill the plan of redemption. Instead of sending Gabriel to a queen or princess, God sent the angel to a young girl betrothed to a carpenter. They lived in an insignificant town in an unimportant province of the Roman Empire.
This Sunday is dominated by the presence of Mary, who places herself before God in her conditions as a lowly one, someone who believes God because God is the only God. Let me explore three insights from the above read text.

God’s Redemption through Powerless. Redemption starts from Nazareth not from Jerusalem. Nazareth was a little village, despised among the Jews. Story of God’s mighty works does not involve Emperors like Herod but a devout old couple and a woman form the low status. The world’s standard leads us to attribute power and worth to the royal functionary, who was but a puppet of Rome. God chose instead the poor and humble as the venue for the great work of redemption. History would remember the dominant figures as Powerful. But the old, the poor, the humble, and the insignificant are not to be overlooked; they are God’s chosen people, redemption history starts from there. Midwives described in Exodus Shipra and Pua are the best examples of this kind of God’s engagement. Redemption means decolonizing the colonized world. Sinful powers or colonizers will be in search of power and glory and they look things from an elite and rich perspective. They could not experience the pains, struggles, and tears of the majority. The images they have, the imagination they have are the emperors. The images, imaginations and visions of God are subaltern, grass rooted and ordinary. V.28 says, O favored one, it means you are the recipient of a gift or a privileged one. The angel explains this with the additional phrase; the Lord is with you. God’s redemption history by putting down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree; God has filled the hungry with good things, and rich God has sent empty away (1:52). God do these things by using the powerless, meek, weak and lowly. Where do we stand? Are we the mini conquerors, invaders, or the agents of powerful neo-colonization or we are with the people who are eagerly waiting for justice, peace, and redemption. Then we could experience God’s annunciation like Mary experienced.

A Paradigm of God’s Discourse with Humanity. The discourse between Mary and Gabriel is the paradigm of the God’s liberative discourse. In this discourse God trusts Mary and, in turn, she places her trust in God, who converts her in to a person of faith. There is no reason for fear; surrender is the response to the call. See the content of the discourse, it is nothing but redemption of the creation (V.32-ff). The Lord looks upon Mary asking her faith and this faith inaugurates the discourse. This discourse led towards the salvation of all. This discourse reveals that God would enter human life with all its depravity, violence, and corruption. Therefore, the discourse ultimately is an announcement of hope for whole creation. Discourses are meaningful only when we see the others as equal instead of seeing them inferior. Genuine discourses carry the message of liberation and it enhances life. The real discourse creates a public sphere, it criticizes the royal consciousness, it energizes people to go beyond the numbness of the world, and it is redemptive. True discourse creates community and it empower the powerless. Discourse with God energized Mary to go beyond the numbness of the world (means silent spectator in the midst of false spirituality and powers of death). Do we ever experience this kind of discourse? What is the nature of our discourse with God and others? Is it criticize the royal consciousness or sinful consciousness? Is it redemptive?

An Empowered woman and a true disciple. Mary’s trust and humility do not prevent her from initiating a discourse with God’s messenger. She does not simply listen and accept the announcement. The power of the spirit prompts her active participation. It is the collaboration of someone who knows she is in God’s hands. Mary said, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”. This 12 or 13 year old girl from a backwater village in a small part of the Roman empire quite simply says ‘yes' to God and risks all the consequences. Mary’s yes to motherhood communicates the Messiah to us. Thus, Mary has her place in the history of salvation. Mary’s motherhood is more than a personal gift; it is a gift to humankind in Mary. Some commentaries suggest that Luke is showing Mary as the first Christian disciple in this story. Obedience is more than just doing what we are told, it is the recognition that we are not our own, we are not totally autonomous individuals and that ultimately we are God's. Mary’s true commitment inaugurated the new era of salvation. Mary’s commitment starts from here and it continued till the death of her son on the cross. What we learn from her commitment? Mary’s commitment does not contain any economic motive but it is a political act since it challenges the powerful. It is not with any hidden agendas but it is transparent in nature and it is for others. One of the philosophical questions, which have occupied thinkers for centuries, is that human authenticity. What is authentically human? Human living is different from any other in that it is essentially other-directed. And the intentional absence of the other is hell. In contrast, the highest form of self-transcendence is the self-surrender to another in love, which is the abiding imperative of what is to be human. Thus transcending oneself, one becomes oneself. Mary surrendered herself to God and she finds herself and the premise and nature of her engagement with God. We are called to live for others and we are asked to share our gifts for the redemption of the whole creation. Mary’s motherhood is more than a personal gift; it is a gift to humankind in Mary.

God chose Mary, as a channel of redemption, even though she is powerless. God’s redemption never starts from the royal consciousness but from pure in hearts. God’s discourse is redemptive, it criticizes the royal consciousness and it enhances life. True discipleship means taking risks for God and it is always other directed not intentional absence from others.

May the God of Mary help us to be the agents of God’s intervention in the midst of hopelessness and chaos.