The Gospel for December 22, 2004
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.’ And the angel left her. -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
A Study
Perhaps the most glamorized text in the New Testament, this 13-verse excerpt from the gospel attributed to Luke is the most we know about a virgin conception.
A Reflection
There were a few things that Gabriel seems to have omitted that would be important to a human being, like when all the good things are going to happen, and how we'll know.
But, if I had ever been visited by an angel like Gabriel, I'm sure I would be writing this in an entirely different vein. Without his visit, I act like a Sadducee most days, in my "show me" mode, even though I can be Pharisaic and proffer belief after enough reflection. I would like to have Peter's faith and Peter's resolve (and perhaps a little less of Peter's hair-trigger), but I have to be the person I am, and pray to become the person I'm called to be.
Being 100% human, I have this DNA-inspired desire, however, to be in charge, as part of my self-preservation program. The "hardware" (OK, "wetware"?) design is God's, but the control program is mine to change. If I refuse to acknowledge authorship, it's as if I give in completely to other-control, and I'm just a puppet. I still reject the concept of God as puppet-handler, and I'm sure not going to hand the controls over to non-God.
When I react thoughtlessly, hurting someone else, who was in control? Like riding a bicycle, how I react wasn't in the programming when I was "new in the box." I had to teach myself how to ride the bike, and I'm fairly certain I taught myself how to react. There was a time when I couldn't drive (my wife might say that hasn't changed much!) and a time I couldn't fly an airplane or a helicopter. But I can do all those things now; and the majority of the activities are not conscious actions, but unconscious reactions to external stimuli.
So I claim that we teach ourselves how to react. And that means that we can re-teach ourselves how to react the way that Jesus taught us. We need to un-learn the way our primitive I'm-in-control-here survival instincts want us to (with a little help, I think, from the evil one).
"Let it be according to your will."
A Collect
Almighty God, grant us the simple faith of Mary that we may receive you in our hearts and show you forth in our lives. Amen.
9:55:23 PM 
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