Today being the 4^th Sunday of Advent we concentrate on the figure of Mary the mother of Jesus.  Over the years the Church has tended to elevate Mary above being a mere human being to someone much more significant.  In doing so it is easy to lose sight of just how God works.  The film The Nativity Story reminded me that in fact Mary was a normal teenager of her time, helping her parents at home, caring for younger siblings, spending time with her friends, wondering about who she might marry.   Then suddenly her world changed as she had that special visitor who told her that she was to be the mother of the Son of God.  It is easy not to really take in what this must have meant for Mary, so used are we to hearing the story.  Today I want to explore this a little and see how we can learn from her story and God’s way of working.

First, however, I want to look at our OT reading which came from Micah and is looking to the future for God’s people. It speaks of a new ruler of Israel coming, but not from Jerusalem where the Kings had historically lived and reigned.  Indeed earlier in Micah (3:12) we read of the destruction of Jerusalem, being ploughed as a field and left as a heap of ruins.  Instead an insignificant little place, Bethlehem, just a few miles away will be the birthplace of the new ruler of Israel.  Bethlehem had been the hometown of one king, King David and the new ruler was often referred to as the new David.  From insignificant beginnings was to come a mighty king, but as is often the case with God, that great King wasn’t quite what Israel was expecting.

As we have learnt over the last few weeks, Israel had spent over 400 years waiting for God to speak and when He did so it would seem that he chose a rather unlikely prophet in the form of John the Baptist.  In reality though God had been at work some 30 years before John appeared out of the Wilderness.  But He had yet again chosen an unexpected way to speak to Israel.  First He had given a son to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age and then He had sent a heavenly messenger to a teenage woman living in Nazareth.

I wonder what went through Mary’s mind as the angel Gabriel delivered his message from God:

”Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you!”

I suspect the words ‘greatly troubled’ or ‘much perplexed’ don’t even begin to cover it, particularly when Gabriel told her just what God had in mind.

Just think about the Incarnation: in a little town that most people in the Roman Empire had never heard of, a peasant woman had been told that she would give birth to the Son of God.  And perhaps because that is so difficult to take on board, so at variance with the way that we expect things to happen we try to elevate Mary to royalty.

Earlier this year I spent a few days in Florence looking at the wonderful art there but over and over again I had this battle against Mary the Queen of Heaven because I feel that this is so against the gospel presentation of Mary.  She was chosen by God to bring His Son into the world and that is obviously quite mind blowing as a concept.  But surely the point is that God uses ordinary people to bring about the extraordinary.  If we get away from that concept we are in danger of not understanding how God works.  He can use any one of us for His work. I have no doubt that many of us, like Mary,  have had an experience of God that unsettles and perplexes us.  God so often surprises us as He has done with His people through the ages.

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,”

says the Lord, we read in Isaiah.  We know that intellectually but God often catches us out as we fail to really take that on board.  It is not who we are in the world that is important but that we listen to God and obey His direction.  Mary is special because she did that, because she surrendered to God’s will for her, whatever the cost.

When we do listen to God and accept His direction, we want to tell others and show them that we have changed.  For some this will be sealed by baptism which is an outward mark the beginning of our faith journey and of yielding our will to God. Today Rhodri’s parents and godparents will be doing that on his behalf.  As we take part in this ceremony let us take time to offer ourselves anew to God and ask Him to guide our steps.  In so doing may our souls praise and submit to God so that His will be done through each one of us today, tomorrow and for ever.

Amen.