Gabriel’s Search

Luke 1: 26-38
Adapted from Al Henager, Fordyce, Arkansas “Mary, Mary, *En Contrari*”
I have often wondered how many
‘Mary’s’ Gabriel had to approach before he
found one that was willing to do the job.
God says to Gabriel, “I need you to find
a maiden among the Hebrews, who is
willing to conceive a child. She must be
pure, honest, steadfast, and above all
*willing*. Here is a list of possibles.”
Gabriel journeys to earth, to Judea.
“Hmm, Mary, Mary, Mary. These are all
Mary’s! Well, let’s see. The first is Mary of
Jerusalem of the House of Jacob the
candle maker. Logical, the Holy City.
Maybe I can get it done on the first try.”
Gabriel finds the home of Jacob the
candle maker, and what good luck! Mary
is home, sewing in the window light.
“Such a lovely girl, got to be the one.”
“Greetings favored one! The Lord is
with you.”
The daughter of Jacob takes one look at
the vision and runs screaming out into the
street.
Don’t we all do that at times? God gives
us a unique opportunity, some humble
chance for greatness, some chance to
minister or to share or to serve, an exciting
opportunity & we run screaming in the
other direction.
God’s will can be frightening, an
interruption that disrupts life. You have
your life so squared away. Your routine,
your traditions. Yet, when God comes, he
rips into your comfort zone. Your world is
turned upside down. It can be frightening.
Gabriel says, “Well, So much for that
one. O.K. next is Mary of Bethlehem,
daughter of Simon the Rabbi. Of course!
That’s it! Bethlehem. The prophecy said
Bethlehem.
Should have started here in the first
place!” But at the house of Simon the
Rabbi, Mary is not there. Mary’s mother
says she is at the synagogue. “I’m
impressed. The middle of the week and at
church already!”
And Gabriel goes to the synagogue.
Mary is reading one of the scrolls. Gabriel
thinks, “What a unique girl. Few girls in
this time can read, never allowed to read
the sacred scrolls. This must be the one.
Beautiful. Intelligent. Faithful. Not bad,
not bad at all.”
So Gabriel speaks, “Greetings favored
one! The Lord is with you.”
Mary turns with a start, “Who are you?
And what are you doing here? why are
you so bright? What’s all this about?”
Gabriel gets defensive, “I am the Angel
Gabriel. I have been sent by God.”
“An ‘Angel’? Do you have some I.D.?
Sent by God? Anybody could claim to
be sent by God. Things like that just don’t
happen. These myths contain truth, but
they are not to be taken literally.”
Gabriel finally gets a word in, “Wait, wait,
hold on just a minute. I have a message.
You will be the mother of God’s son.”
“Now that’s a new one. How could I?
not married; don’t want a man in my life
right now.”
“But wait, says Gabriel. “You don’t need
a man. You will conceive by the Holy
Spirit.”
“Immaculate conception? Impossible.
Gotta have a man and a woman for
procreation. That’s a fact. And conceived
by the Holy Ghost, quaint thought, but
hardly one you can expect an enlightened
person to swallow. I don’t know who you
are, but you are no angel to be telling tales
like that. Now, you run along, I need to
return to my studies.”
And Gabriel can’t wait to get out of there.
2
Sometimes we get so caught up in our
enlightened world view that we miss the
realities of the spiritual world. When God
comes to us to enter us and call us to a
new life with fantastic possibilities, we
retreat to our comfortable world, and we
ignore the Holy Spirit. We squelch the
power of God’s Spirit in our lives.
We want everything in scientific,
intellectual terms. To enjoy the mystery of
the moment, to bask in the wonder of not
knowing, yet knowing we are in the will of
God, we’ve lost that.
Gabriel despairs over finding the right
girl to become to the mother of God’s Son.
“Next is Mary of Nazareth. Might just skip
this one; can anything good come out of
Nazareth? This town is so small, she’s
the only Mary who lives here.”
Gabriel approaches Mary, thinking, “I
don’t want to frighten this one off.” softly,
gently, Gabriel says, “Greetings, favored
one! The Lord is with you.”
Mary looks puzzled, pondering what this
greeting means.
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favor with God. You will conceive in
your womb & bear a son, & you will name
him Jesus.” Gabriel wonders when Mary
will interrupt, but continues, “He will be
great, & will be called the Son of the Most
High, & the Lord God will give to him the
throne of his ancestor David.”
Gabriel thinks, “I have never got this far
with one before.” & says, “He will reign
over the house of Jacob forever, & of his
kingdom there will be no end.” Gabriel
stops to let all this sink in.
Mary replies, “I see. And how can this
be, since I am a virgin?”
“A reasonable question. The Holy Spirit
will come upon you, & the power of the
Most High will overshadow you; the child
to be born will be holy; he will be called
Son of God.
Your relative Elizabeth in her old age
has also conceived a son; and this is the
sixth month for her who was said to be
barren. Nothing will be impossible with
God.”
Gabriel muses, “I wonder how she will
take this.”
Mary responds, “Well, here am I, the
servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word.”
“We have a deal then?”
Mary says, “if God wants to use me as a
servant in any way, I am willing.”
“Remarkable! Well, then we’re done.
Sorry to rush off, but the Father wants me
to report back ASAP, & this assignment
has taken longer than planned. Bye,
now.”
How different life would be if we were
open to God’s opportunities for us! How
wonderful it would be
if we faced all of life with the anticipation
of Christmas.
how many times have we had a great
opportunity, but either ran screaming away
or explained it away intellectually. Or we
were too busy with other concerns.
Don’t let that happen. Be open to God’s
will and to God’s messengers.
In this new year God will send a
messenger to each of us with remarkable
opportunities. How will we respond? God
is calling on us to try new things, to do
things differently. To some it’s frightening,
scarier than an angel or stranger than the
thought of conceiving of the Holy Spirit
and bearing God’s Son.
How will we respond?
Lord, keep surprising us, that we keep saying
no to whatever makes it more difficult to say yes
to you.