Luke 1:26-38

We have such a beautiful Gospel reading today: this last Sunday before we celebrate Christmas-the last Sunday of this wonderful, mystical season of Advent, when we all wait and watch with such anticipation for something truly miraculous to occur in our midst. What an amazing picture this Gospel reading gives us: a young woman in a dusty little town, going about her daily life, and suddenly being visited face-to-face by an angel of God! It's a pretty miraculous story.

There have been so many depictions of this event in Christian art: El Greco's The Annunciation comes to my mind. This painting features a quite serene Mary kneeling, apparently at prayer. I've read commentary that she's actually reading from the book of Isaiah-an allusion to the fulfillment of prophecy. She is being greeted by the angel Gabriel, who is literally astride a cloud as he sweeps into the room, all to the accompaniment of an entourage of cherubim, who are literally tumbling from the heavens on a shaft of light!

Leonardo daVinci's rendition of the event has much less pageantry and fanfare but, again, it depicts Mary as very calm, very serene, being greeted solemnly by a kneeling angelic figure.

There is the depiction we have in contemporary popular art, too. I'm thinking of the film, The Nativity Story, starring Keisha Castle-Hughes, that lovely, young actress from The Whale Rider. She plays a slightly less regal, teenage Mary, helping her family scratch out a living in the town of Nazareth, who encounters Gabriel while out in the fields. She hears a murmur, a rustling-perhaps it'sjust the breeze through the wheat-and then, in a spectacular, supernatural moment, she sees and hears an angel tell her that she is favored by God and that she will bear the child of God into the world. After some initial trepidation, Mary responds, again in a calm and serene way, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word," and the heavenly messenger departs in the form of a white dove.

When I think of Gabriel's visit to Mary, I wonder. What was it really like for her-what was it like to hear God speaking through an angelic messenger? Was Mary as unruffled as we usually depict her, despite the perplexing nature of what was happening to her? Or was she completely petrified and utterly confused? Did she really even see anything? Did she really even hear anything? Or did she just feel it all in her heart? I wonder. In the end, though, what the story leaves us with is Mary's acceptance of God's call to her and, in that moment, I think, Mary became a saint.

The story of the Annunciation makes me think of one of my favorite stories from the Hebrew scriptures: the story of young Samuel and his first encounter with hearing God's voice. It holds a very special place in my heart. Perhaps you remember this story, too. I'll give you a little bit of the back-story first.

Samuel's mother Hannah was married to Elkanah. Elkanah's other wife had given him many children, but Hannah had not been able to conceive. Despite Elkanah's declaration to Hannah that his love for her was greater than his love for ten sons, Hannah felt that she had failed somehow. So, she prayed fervently to God to give her a son, and she promised that she would give the child back to God if only her prayers were answered. And when she did conceive and give birth to Samuel, she kept her promise and gave Samuel to Eli, the priest at Shiloh.

Now, the story that I want to share with you tells us that one night after coming to live at Shiloh, Samuel was awakened by a voice softly calling his name, "Samuel, Samuel." Thinking that it was Eli, Samuel went to Eli and said, "Here I am." But Eli said, "I didn't call you. Go back to sleep." A second time, Samuel was awakened by the whispering voice, "Samuel, Samuel," and he went again to Eli. Again, Eli told him, "Go back to sleep, Samuel. I didn't call you." Yet a third time, Samuel heard the voice, and again he went to Eli. Now, I don't have children, but those of you with children can probably imagine that Eli was getting a little grumpy by now, having been awakened by this little boy three times for no apparent reason. But by now, Eli started to understand what was going on, and he said, "Samuel, I didn't call you. Now, go lie down, and when the voice calls to you again, say ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'" Samuel went back to his place and fell asleep. A fourth time, Samuel was awakened by the voice gently calling his name, and he answered as Eli had told him, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening." And in that moment, Samuel became a prophetof God.