Reflection from Rev Hilary Kemp
Luke 1.26-38
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (NIV)
Reflection
This passage always makes me burst into song – if not aloud then at least in my head:
The angel Gabriel from heaven came,
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame;
All hail, said he, thou lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favoured lady, Gloria!
Only… when I was growing up, we always amended the lyrics of the last line to:
Most highly flavoured gravy, Gloria!
Highly flavoured gravy is a must for Christmas dinner – it’s the thing that pulls all those amazing flavours together. In our house that’s turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips in brown sugar and balsamic vinegar, sausages in blankets, sausage meat & orange stuffing, forcemeat stuffing, sprouts in sage and chestnut butter, julienned carrots, braised red cabbage with cranberries, roast onion and garlic, cranberry & orange sauce and bread sauce… I think that’s it… without thinking about what’s for pudding – which this year for us is a whole other feast as my brother’s wife is a puddings expert and she is bringing several options!
It is generally accepted that Mary was between 13-17 when this visit from the Angel Gabriel occurred. I wonder how incomprehensible this message was to this young girl? And yet she quickly made that incredible response: May your word to me be fulfilled.
As we approach Christmas I hope that we can take time to consider what our response is to the birth of the Christ child. It is so easy to get absorbed in the rush of preparing for Christmas that we can lose sight of what it is really about.
I challenge you to spend five minutes each day between now and Christmas Day truly stopping. Stopping to spend those five extra minutes with the God who is desperate to spend time with you, with the God who sent his son to be born as a vulnerable human in that stable and to die for you on the cross and rise again so that you could have a relationship with him.
He is the one who gives the flavour to that highly flavoured gravy…
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
Common Worship: Collects and Post Communions, material from which is included here, is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2000