When I was in high school, there was an afternoon, after school, that I was walking down the empty hallway with one of my teachers. Her name is Terri, and mine is Kerri, and so when someone came up behind us and said what we each thought was our name, we both stopped and turned around.
When I saw that the person speaking was another teacher, and not one I had for class, I assumed that the request had been for Terri, and so I started walking away to give them space to talk. But, to my surprise, the other teacher said, “Wait, Kerri, I’m actually looking for you.” Me?! Really?! Why? What could this possibly be about?
I imagine that many of you have had similar experiences of being caught off-guard by a greeting. “Are they talking to the right person?” we wonder. “Surely there has been some mistake?” Perhaps sometimes it really is a case of mistaken identity. But, at other times, what follows the greeting is an expression of thanks for some forgotten deed that left a big impact, or a request related to your unique gifts and talents.
Today’s Gospel reading is focused on one such greeting, as the heavenly messenger Gabriel appears to Mary and says, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Now, most people in the Bible react with fear when encountered by an angel, and rightly so. Zechariah certainly was afraid when Gabriel appeared to him a few months prior in the temple - terrified, in fact; overwhelmed by fear.
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| Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash |
Mary, though, is not afraid, but instead perplexed by Gabriel’s words as she ponders what sort of greeting this might be. Favored? Me?! Surely there’s been a mistake. What could this mean? Mary, after all, was young, and female. She was not wealthy, had no status, did not work as a priest or in some other role where God’s presence and favor would make sense.
And yet, Gabriel continues. “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” No mistaken identity or wrong address here - it’s you, Mary. You have found favor with God. God is with you - young, female, poor, powerless. Yes, you.
If you thought Gabriel’s greeting was perplexing, just wait until you hear what he has to say next. Not only has Mary found favor with God, but now she will conceive and bear a son. And not just any son, but one who will be called Son of the Most High; one who will reign on the throne of David over the house of Jacob; one whose kingdom will have no end. Perplexing, indeed. Mary is so very, well, ordinary. And all that Gabriel has said? About as far from ordinary as you can get.
How can this be? How is it that someone like Mary could bear God’s Son? How is it that someone like Mary could be called favored, and be assured of God’s presence? How is it that we have found favor with God?
This greeting is for Mary, but I think it’s also for us. You see, Mary isn’t called favored, isn’t assured of God’s presence because of all the good things she’s done. Instead, Mary is called favored because God has chosen her, and has declared her to be so. She receives the reminder that God is with her not because she’s earned it, but because of who God is.
The same is true for us. We have found favor with God because God has chosen us, and loved us, and delighted in us. Our age, our gender, our sexuality, our job or prayer life or intelligence, our health or ability or level of exhaustion - none of it excludes us from experiencing God's presence or God's favor. However perplexing it may be, it’s true - you have found favor with God.
It seems to me that “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” sounds an awful lot like, “Child of God, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”
In the waters of baptism, we receive God’s favor, forgiveness, and grace apart from any merit or work of our own. Sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ, we are called God’s own and joined to God’s kingdom that has no end.
It seems to me that “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” sounds quite a bit like, “This is the body of Christ, given for you.”
In the meal we share, we are joined to God and to one another as we receive the very presence of Jesus in bread and wine. Together we experience a foretaste of the feast to come, as we await that day when we will gather in the presence of God’s throne, in the kingdom that has no end.
Gabriel’s greeting to Mary names a reality that is already true. However perplexing these words might be, Mary has found favor with God, and God is with her. And it is God’s favor and presence with her, God’s promises and God’s faithfulness, that empower Mary to respond, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
When we are similarly perplexed by the pronouncement of God’s favor, we too are reminded that nothing is impossible with God. Like it did for Mary, God’s favor and presence with us empower us to answer God’s call to us to love and serve our neighbors in many and various ways. “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
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