{"id":1310,"date":"2008-12-20T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-20T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/12\/homily-for-december-21-2008-fourth-sunday-of-advent.html"},"modified":"2008-12-20T11:30:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-20T11:30:00","slug":"homily-for-december-21-2008-fourth-sunday-of-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/12\/homily-for-december-21-2008-fourth-sunday-of-advent.html","title":{"rendered":"Homily for December 21, 2008: Fourth Sunday of Advent"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Shortly before I was ordained, a teacher asked my class if anyone knew the one moment in scripture that was depicted more often in art than any other. <\/p>\n

Everybody agreed: it must be the nativity. <\/p>\n

But we were wrong. It\u2019s this moment we encounter in today\u2019s gospel. The Annunciation. Artists have painted it, sculpted it, and imagined it more than any other. It towers over the popular imagination. <\/p>\n

You can speculate on the reasons why. It\u2019s certainly dramatic: this is the true beginning of the life of Christ, the very moment when our salvation began. And it is a perfect marriage of heaven and earth, the human and the divine. <\/p>\n

But there is something else to it that I think speaks to us in a powerful way in the 21st century. <\/p>\n

It is this: the Annunciation is wildly, defiantly countercultural. It is rebellious. It is a challenge that is offered \u2013 and, to our amazement, accepted. <\/p>\n

Gabriel comes to a virgin and tells her something stunning. She will bear a child. It is an event she never anticipated, one she never planned for. She\u2019s practically a child herself, in a poor town, and she is being told that God wants her to play a critical role in salvation history. The angel makes clear: what is about to happen to her will change the world. <\/p>\n

And in that moment, Mary utters her first words in the gospel\u2026words that speak for all of humanity, in all our confusion: <\/p>\n

\u201cHow can this be?\u201d <\/p>\n

She seeks an answer, an explanation, some plausible reason for something so implausible. <\/p>\n

How many of us have asked the same question? <\/p>\n

How often have we struggled to understand God\u2019s plan in our lives? <\/p>\n

How many of us have been blindsided by events we never expected \u2013 a twist on life\u2019s path that we never saw coming, for better or for worse — and asked ourselves, in fury or despair or bewilderment: <\/p>\n

How can this be? <\/p>\n

And here Mary is told, simply: <\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is impossible with God.\u201d <\/p>\n

And that is enough. <\/p>\n

That is all she needs to hear. She will accept God\u2019s will and she will carry it out. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u2013 in every sense \u2013 extraordinary. How is it that someone so young can so easily say \u201cYes\u201d to what will undoubtedly be difficult, and painful, and maybe even scandalous? The very idea of it is a shock. It goes against our culture. <\/p>\n

We live in an age when it\u2019s so easy to say \u201cNo.\u201d We can make life what we want it to be \u2013 even if that\u2019s not what it should<\/i> be. <\/p>\n

You can fight aging with botox, avoid dieting with liposuction. You can make a baby in a Petri dish. You can get a mortgage for an overpriced house with a three-car garage that you can\u2019t afford. And, if it all becomes too stressful, society tells us that you can get rid of anything that\u2019s just inconvenient \u2013 even an unborn child. <\/p>\n

But Mary didn\u2019t. Mary wouldn\u2019t. She listened to another voice. The voice of an angel. When Mary asked the question the world asks so often of God \u2013 \u201cHow can this be? \u201c\u2014 the answer ignited in her a fire. The fire of the Holy Spirit, the fire of possibility. <\/p>\n

The answer is this: it can be because God wills it to be. Nothing is impossible with God. <\/p>\n

How often we forget that. How often we disbelieve it, or mistrust it. <\/p>\n

But the lesson of the annunciation is so clear. <\/p>\n

At this dark moment in time, at this darkest time of the year, what is being announced is hope. Mary, we\u2019re told, was troubled at what she heard. But what follows is a message for all of us. In our moments of confusion, when we are troubled by what God brings to us\u2026nothing is impossible. <\/p>\n

Angels will speak. The Spirit will come. A light will break through the skies and guide the world to a savior in a stable. <\/p>\n

How can this be? <\/i><\/p>\n

It can\u2026because nothing is impossible with God. <\/p>\n

On this final Sunday of Advent, Mary is challenged. And so are we. The gospel asks us to look deeply at the unexpected, and the miraculous, and the mysterious. <\/p>\n

It asks us to consider possibility. And it asks us to look into our own hearts.<\/p>\n

How do we respond to the Gabriels in our own lives?<\/p>\n

How do we react when God suddenly knocks on our door to announce a change in plans?<\/p>\n

When the doctor calls\u2026<\/p>\n

When the market fails\u2026<\/p>\n

When a child becomes ill\u2026or a parent is bedridden\u2026or the pregnancy results aren\u2019t what you thought they\u2019d be\u2026or wanted them to be. <\/p>\n

We may find ourselves brought up short by life. We may feel disappointment, confusion, maybe even anger. And we may ask those words that Mary asked so long ago, \u201cHow can this be?\u201d <\/p>\n

How will I get through it? How will I manage? <\/p>\n

The answer is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago. <\/p>\n

And that is what we cling to. <\/p>\n

It is possible. <\/p>\n

Because nothing is impossible with God.<\/p>\n

Illustration: “The Annunciation” by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1896.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shortly before I was ordained, a teacher asked my class if anyone knew the one moment in scripture that was depicted more often in art than any other. Everybody agreed: it must be the nativity. But we were wrong. It\u2019s this moment we encounter in today\u2019s gospel. The Annunciation. Artists have painted it, sculpted it,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies"],"yoast_head":"\nHomily for December 21, 2008: Fourth Sunday of Advent - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/12\/homily-for-december-21-2008-fourth-sunday-of-advent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Homily for December 21, 2008: Fourth Sunday of Advent - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shortly before I was ordained, a teacher asked my class if anyone knew the one moment in scripture that was depicted more often in art than any other. 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