Announcement to the Virgin Mary Homily Help

THE ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE VIRGIN MARY
BOOK OF OFFERING PAGE 27
READING: GALATIANS 3:15-22
GOSPEL: LUKE 1:26-38

Preaching Note:
“…The witness of the apostles and the Fathers of the fourth century following them – the supposed architects of our “Trinitarian theology” (I put this phrase in quotation marks, because none of them thought of themselves as elaborating a “Trinitarian theology”) – is simply that what we see in Christ, as proclaimed by the apostles, is what it is to be God, yet other than the God whom Christ calls upon as Father and makes known through, and is himself made known by, the Holy Spirit. It could not have been otherwise, not could it now be, for this is how the God of the Christian faith is. …
…A further modification resulting from putting a “premodern” theology in “modern” clothing is that it obscures the person of Christ and his Cross. It became almost the consensus position of theology at the end of the last century that to be in the image of God is to be a person in communion, imagining the three persons in communion in heaven: Christ has been put out of the picture, except insofar as he is one of the persons in communion in heaven. But, the New Testament, and the Fathers following the apostles, are emphatic that Christ alone is the image of God, and that to be in the image of God is to be conformed to his image, by being crucified with him, taking up the Cross.” – Fr. John Behr, The Mystery of Christ: Life In Death

READING: GALATIANS 3:15-22

The Law Did Not Nullify the Promise. 15 [a]Brothers, in human terms I say that no one can annul or amend even a human will once ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant.[b] It does not say, “And to descendants,” as referring to many, but as referring to one, “And to your descendant,” who is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: the law, which came four hundred and thirty years afterward,[c] does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to cancel the promise. 18 For if the inheritance comes from the law, it is no longer from a promise; but God bestowed it on Abraham through a promise.[d]
19 [e]Why, then, the law? It was added for transgressions, until the descendant[f] came to whom the promise had been made; it was promulgated by angels at the hand of a mediator. 20 Now there is no mediator when only one party is involved, and God is one. 21 Is the law then opposed to the promises [of God]? Of course not! For if a law had been given that could bring life, then righteousness would in reality come from the law. 22 But scripture confined all things under the power of sin, that through faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.
What Faith Has Brought Us.[g]
Footnotes:
a 3:15–18 A third argument to support Paul’s position that salvation is not through the law but by promise (Gal 3:1–14) comes from legal practice and scriptural history. A legal agreement or human will, duly ratified, is unalterable (Gal 3:15). God’s covenant with Abraham and its repeated promises (Gn 12:2–3, 7; 13:15; 17:7–8; 22:16–18; 24:7) is not superseded by the law, which came much later, in the time of Moses. The inheritance (of the Spirit and the blessings) is by promise, not by law (Gal 3:18). Paul’s argument hinges on the fact that the same Greek word, diathēkē, can be rendered as will or testament (Gal 3:15) and as covenant (Gal 3:17).
b 3:16 Descendant: literally, “and to his seed.” The Hebrew, as in Gn 12:7; 15:18; 22:17–18, is a collective singular, traditionally rendered as a plural, descendants, but taken by Paul in its literal number to refer to Christ as descendant of Abraham.
c 3:17 Four hundred and thirty years afterward: follows Ex 12:40 in the Greek (Septuagint) version, in contrast to Gn 15:13 and Acts 7:6, for chronology.
d 3:18 This refutes the opponents’ contention that the promises of God are fulfilled only as a reward for human observance of the law.
e 3:19–22 A digression: if the Mosaic law, then, does not save or bring life, why was it given? Elsewhere, Paul says the law served to show what sin is (Rom 3:20; 7:7–8). Here the further implication is that the law in effect served to produce transgressions. Moreover, it was received at second hand by angels, through a mediator, not directly from God (Gal 3:19). The law does not, however, oppose God’s purposes, for it carries out its function (Gal 3:22), so that righteousness comes by faith and promise, not by human works of the law.
f 3:19 The descendant: Christ (Gal 3:16). By angels: Dt 33:2–4 stressed their presence as enhancing the importance of the law; Paul uses their role to diminish its significance (cf. Acts 7:38, 53). A mediator: Moses. But in a covenant of promise, where all depends on the one God, no mediator is needed (Gal 3:20).
g 3:23–29 Paul adds a further argument in support of righteousness or justification by faith and through God’s promise rather than by works of the law (Gal 2:16; 3:22): as children of God, baptized into Christ, the Galatians are all Abraham’s descendant and heirs of the promise to Abraham (Gal 3:8, 14, 16–18, 29). The teaching in Gal 3:23–25, that since faith (Christianity) has come, we are no longer under the law, could be taken with the previous paragraph on the role of the Mosaic law, but it also fits here as a contrast between the situation before faith (Gal 3:23) and the results after faith has come (Gal 3:25–29).

GOSPEL: LUKE 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,[a] and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”[b] 35 And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived[c] a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; 37 for nothing will be impossible for God.” 38 Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Footnotes:
a 1:32 Son of the Most High: cf. Lk 1:76 where John is described as “prophet of the Most High.” “Most High” is a title for God commonly used by Luke (Lk 1:35, 76; 6:35; 8:28; Acts 7:48; 16:17).
b 1:34 Mary’s questioning response is a denial of sexual relations and is used by Luke to lead to the angel’s declaration about the Spirit’s role in the conception of this child (Lk 1:35). According to Luke, the virginal conception of Jesus takes place through the holy Spirit, the power of God, and therefore Jesus has a unique relationship to Yahweh: he is Son of God.
c 1:36–37 The sign given to Mary in confirmation of the angel’s announcement to her is the pregnancy of her aged relative Elizabeth. If a woman past the childbearing age could become pregnant, why, the angel implies, should there be doubt about Mary’s pregnancy, for nothing will be impossible for God.

HOMILY
The Rebirth of Images
By The Rev. Charles Hoffacker
A promise of national security, and a woman pregnant before marriage. These two seem utterly different, unrelated. They appear to come from different worlds. But there is a bridge between them, and it is one we may want to travel. In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The kingdom is to be safe. This safety will not be the result of a powerful army, or astute statesmen, or a booming economy. Instead, security will come from a different direction. It will come as God’s gift in the form of a ruler endorsed by God. The kingdom will be blessed with this favor from on high.
This is what Nathan the prophet hears in a dream. He knows the message to be nothing less than the word of the Lord. Obediently Nathan delivers this message to King David. It is from David’s offspring that the promised ruler is to come, the one endorsed by God.
Today’s gospel tells a very different story. A young woman abandons her safety, her future. Engaged to be married, she becomes pregnant, but not by her fiance. The society where she lives is a strict one. There is zero tolerance for unwed mothers and unfaithful women. Hardly more than a girl, she has placed herself on the margins, outside the circle of community acceptance.
Why did she let this happen? Mary did not become pregnant in the usual way. A heavenly messenger appeared to her, announcing that she was to have a special baby, not as the result of human desire, but by her acceptance of God’s invitation. So it was that Mary chose to abandon her safety. For this was to be a holy child.
A promise of national security,and a woman pregnant before marriage. Two very different stories. Indeed, they appear to be opposites. In one story, safety is gained. In the other, it is lost. But there is a bridge between the two.
This bridge is the one that unites the Old Testament and the New. The English theologian Austin Farrer gives us a name for this bridge which I think is as good as any. He speaks of the rebirth of images.[See, for example, Austin Farrer, The Rebirth of Images: The Making of St. John’s Apocalypse (State University of New York Press, 1986).]
The rebirth of images. This is what happens when we move from the Old Testament to the New, from the story of David to the story of Mary. The images are reborn. That is to say, they appear again, but they look different, and the difference can surprise us.
Let’s consider some of the images from the story about the promise of national security. We hear about a king and his realm, a throne, a commitment made and kept. We hear about a dynasty established, a royal house.
These same images reappear in the story about the woman pregnant before marriage.
We hear about a king and his realm and his throne even as we did before. But the king is an unlikely one. Yes, he is David’s descendant, but he’s mysteriously conceived, and born to an obscure couple seeking shelter in a stable. His realm is not a territory on any map. He has not time to rest on his throne while he lives on earth.
God makes a commitment and keeps it. Yet it is hard to recognize God’s commitment in the life of Mary’s son. It was hard for his contemporaries, and it is difficult to recognize today. The ability to recognize that the promise is kept is what we call faith.
A dynasty is established for the realm. There is a royal house. Yet this is no conventional kingship. The realm in question is anywhere that God’s reign is recognized and welcomed. The royal house is a large one. It includes even you and me, who are made royal heirs by our baptism.
This rebirth of images, strange and full of surprises, is the bridge that connects the New Testament and the Old. Images from the Old appear in the New, but they are significantly different, reborn, made new and fresh.
Here is how to relate the two testaments. Don’t throw out the Old. Don’t homogenize the two or treat them the same. Instead, see the Old as born again in the New. See the New as the old made new and fresh and brought to its fulfillment. The New Testament is the old resurrected, and brought to a form that surprises and startles, even as Jesus, risen on Easter morning, was at first not recognized by those who knew him.