“And the angel left her.” This is the final line from the story of the Annunciation of Jesus’ birth in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:26-38). The story of the Annunciation is the most frequent gospel reading during the month of Advent. A messenger from God somehow informs Mary that she will be the mother of the Son of God, whom she will name Jesus. Mary asks about how this could come about. She is engaged with all the rights of a married person, but she has yet had no “relations with a man.” The angel replies, “Leave that up to God, who alone can do impossible things” – at least impossible for our minds to comprehend. When Mary states, “Let it be as you have said, I am God’s willing servant,” the angel departs, without a further word, stage right. I find this exit very stark, even cold.
Think about it.You’ve had dreams and plans for how your life would play out. You are about to be married to a good man, a hard worker, honest and faithful. Suddenly all that seems to be turned upside down. And you’re not even able to get a hint on how this astonishing promise will unfold. You don’t question or doubt your, “Yes,” but now you are left alone to explain this potentially socially-awkward situation – unmarried and pregnant. Especially since “adultery,” when discovered, was subject to being stoned to death. The angel left.
Mary hurried out of town to visit her older, wise relative, Elizabeth, whom the angel informed Mary was miraculously six months pregnant with a son of her own (who would grow up to be John the Baptizer). Maybe Elizabeth had some counsel for her. At least the long journey and time away would give Mary a chance to reflect on how to proceed, before the pregnancy began to “show.”
Of course, everything turns out incredibly well. As happens when we give God enough room to do grace-full work. But often, it seems, after we commit ourselves to a difficult path because we understand that this is what God desires of and for us, the initial comfort and consolation disappears and we are left (so it feels) alone to work things out. This is not easy. Social pressure, short cuts, compromises emerge and offer their wonderful solutions to “take care of our problem.”
At this point we need to check deep inside and rediscover, or remember, those moments when we had the felt-sense of God’s powerful and caring presence, when we knew, without a doubt, that God was totally faithful, no matter what. Sometimes we need the angel to leave us to grow up in our believing, beyond anything we thought possible.