Luke 1:26-38

     I love the story of the Annunciation.  The Feast Day is March 25, 9 months of course before the Feast of the Incarnation, the Nativity.  I always remembered the Annunciation since March 25 was my parents’ wedding anniversary, and one of my cat’s birthdays.  This is one of the great stories of the Bible—when the Angel Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her she will be the God-bearer, the Theotokos. Mary is a young, poor, Hebrew woman whose name in Hebrew is Miriam, reminding us of Miriam in the Hebrew Bible. 

     Unlike the many men who were called by God to be prophets, and who stumbled in giving their answer, Mary has a remarkable answer to Gabriel’s news that she will be the Theotokos: her answer is simply “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  Mary answered obediently knowing the implications for her family and society.  Her ultimate response comes when she visits Elizabeth and sings the Magnificat as I mentioned last Sunday.

     Mary is one, who has often been overlooked in the Protestant Church, but she is an important character in the story of salvation history and she is important in our faith story as the bearer of God. We are reminded that Luke wants us to know that God came to a young, poor, pregnant, unmarried woman in a culture where women who were alone were little accepted.  But Luke wants us to know that this very ordinary young girl with no status or position of power or privilege is the one whom God calls to be the Theotokos. 

     Fortunately Mary was not overlooked in the Catholic Church and because of that we have great Christian art depicting the Annunciation and many more paintings depicting the Madonna and child.  In the National Gallery alone there are almost 90 images of the Annunciation and more than 200 of the Madonna and child. Clearly this has been a subject of Christian art through the centuries.

One of my favorite paintings of the Annunciation is by Jan van Eyck around the early part of the 15^th century.  I had admired his work in Belgium once upon a time and his great details and stunning colors are equally admirable in the Annunciation at the National Gallery. The story of the Annunciation lends itself to a richly detailed realistic setting, which the van Eyck painting does well. 

Now we don’t have the PowerPoint screen or HD plasma TV screens in the sanctuary, so you’ll just have to use your mind to see this painting or take an hour or so to visit the NGA this week.  Anyway, the Annunciation is filled with mysticism and is one of the most fascinating motifs of the entire Gospel of Luke.  Many artistic interpretations of this story abound.  The sensibilities of sculptors and painters have focused on Mary’s psychological reaction, the fascinating nature of the angel, the will of God, the decoration of the setting, the scene’s effect on other characters and many descriptive details.

The van Eyck painting, for example, sets the Annunciation in a large church recalling the symbolism that identifies Mary with the Church. Many details can be read allegorically, has been centered under the middle window. The archangel Gabriel is sumptuously dressed in embroidered vestments and bears the staff of the gatekeepers who were charged with protecting the churches.  The historiated pavement of the church displays biblical scenes in which God’s power is manifest: David beheading Goliath and Sampson toppling the columns.  God the Father is imaged in a stained glass window in the background and a ray of light carries the Holy Spirit as a dove from the left above the angel.  I’m sure you can depict this by now.

     But the best part is Mary. Her attitude is one of pious acceptance.  She replies to the angel’s greeting of “Hail Mary, full of grace” with the words “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.” Or as our NRSV edition has it: “Here I am the servant of the Lord.” 

     A wonderful contrast to this early 15^th century painting in the West Wing of the Gallery is a sculpture byJacob Epstein from 1926 of the Visitation he calls it, when in fact it is an Annunciation, located in the sculpture garden of the Hirshhorn.  Mary is withdrawing into herself.  The sculpture is primitive and shows a peasant girl with no halo or colorful robes or blue garments.  She is in modern dress with braided hair and seems African American.  This sculpture which is life size is a fascinating contrast to the gold and blue and royal color and detail of the van Eyck painting.  But I was struck by the power of the primitive form and the humility with which Mary is presented.  Her pregnancy is real and one can imagine her predicament as a real, pregnant teenager in the Middle East of the First century.  Epstein’s naturalism, character and expression pull the viewer in.

     SO, why focus on the Annunciation in Christian art?  Well, what works for me is to be drawn into these art forms and see the Christian story and feel its power working even in me.  We see that Mary’s ordinariness allowed God to make it absolutely clear that Jesus was truly and fully human and was just like us.  What we know of Mary is little, really, from the Biblical narrative.  Yet we know of her humility and her faith and her obedience to God.  She was completely herself. She was not pretentious or boastful and certainly she did not go running to her cousin Elizabeth proclaiming “Guess what just happened to me!”  Mary is obedient in the biblical sense and she hears what God has to say to her and says, “let it be with me according to your word.”  We need Mary in our lives as a spiritual guide. She is someone who says yes to God by saying “Here am I.” We all need God-bearers in our lives, people who have said “Yes, Here am I.”

     I would close with words from the Medieval mystic, Meister Eckhart, who said,

We are all meant to be mothers of God. . .What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine son takes place unceasingly but does not take place within myself? And what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to Him in my time and my culture. This then is the fullness of time: when the Son of God is begotten in us.  There are a few days left before Christmas.  Shop if you must, but take some time out as well and prepare your hearts for the Son of God to be begotten in you that when Christmas comes, you will be ready to sing “Glory to God.” 
 

     Amen