What is your favourite part of the story which unfolds during Advent each year?
Do you appreciate the words of the prophets as they look forward to the coming of a Wonderful Counsellor and a Prince of Peace?
Do you smile at the thought of Zechariah explaining that he had seen an angel without using words?
Does your heart warm as you reflect on the joy of Elizabeth as she discovers that she is expecting?
Do you feel for Joseph as he wrestles with the news that Mary is pregnant?
Over the years, the encounter between Gabriel and Mary has been re-imagined again and again. In song, in drama, in poetry. What must it have been like for the angel, carrying such an incredible message to one so young? And what was it really like for Mary?
The words of Gabriel have always struck me. Luke 1:37 can be translated in two ways. "For no word from God will ever fail" or "for with God nothing will be impossible". Both are staggering truths. Firstly, God's promises are a certainty because his word will never return to him empty-handed. Secondly, whilst we find things impossible, God does not.
If we take a step back and look at our denomination, there is a temptation to feel that we are trying to do the impossible - to reverse years of decline, to combat the adverse effects of the pandemic, to reach out to younger generations and to speak good news to a world that is uninterested.
At a local level, it may well feel like there is no way to resolve the issues that have arisen around buildings, or unions, or the lack of people. We might have a clear idea of what we want but not have any real sense of how to get there. We might be stuck and the word IMPOSSIBLE looms large in our thinking, which is so discouraging.
In the psalms we find the prayer - 'teach me your way'. If we lean in to the words shared with Mary, trusting them to be true, then perhaps our impossible situations are not impossible to God. Could we bring them to him in this season of Advent, praying 'teach me your way'?
Tomorrow night we gather for Edson's induction at Aberdeen Hillside and then on Monday we are in St Andrew's Lhanbryd and Urquhart for Michael's induction. Please join with us as we celebrate with these congregations and their new ministers.
Rev Stella
