The Announcement of a Birth

We all have experiences of the announcement of pregnancies: ‘Mum I’m pregnant’; ‘we’re having a baby’, or in our case a step further on the sonographer saying, ‘one head and another head’…..

But, the simple announcement is not often straightforward; human lives and relationships are complex and fraught with difficulty as well as with joy and frustration and even tragedy. We all have knowledge of the complications too; for some the inability to have children, or a miscarriage, the loss of children; for others the joy and challenge of adoption or fostering children.

Bringing children into the world, let alone bringing them up, is an exercise in experiencing the pains, sufferings, joy and delight of God’s relationship with his people. It should perhaps be no surprise to us that at the heart of the story of God’s relationship with us, his people, is the announcement of a birth. For there is no greater metaphor, no more complex and demanding role, no more poignant or dangerous moment than that of the moment of birth: the fragility and beauty of life and the pure miracle that is life are evident so strongly in that moment.

And so it is that we come to Mary, and the announcement from Gabriel that she is to have a baby. Most of the time in life, especially in our advanced and technological democracies we have the illusion of choice and control. My own experience of pregnancy and child birth is the opposite experience; you have to wait and let nature take over. There is no control and little choice – we are given life and the process surrounding it. That experience of life as gift necessitates renunciation of control. Mary is surprised and perplexed, but she accepts God’s word to her and lets it be.

Sometimes in life we will encounter an event or experience, perhaps one of tragedy or joy that will leave us speechless. It will leave us floundering, in chaos, perplexed and out of our depth. There are times when life takes over, we cannot control or understand it; at those times we must seek God’s word to us and let it be; only desire that we might continue to serve God, as Mary does.

Mary was given a comforter and friend in Elizabeth, for whom something extraordinary was also happening. The shock and the strangeness of her situation was softened by her story being connected to Elizabeth’s. Having a companion who is connected to our own particular story is vital if we are to persevere in life. We need to be connected to others who too are experiencing the strange and perplexing narrative of a life lived in God’s hands; so that the joys and the pains can be shared.

The announcement of new life, the gift of a child, is a precious as well as a deeply vulnerable moment. It is in that way that God chooses to communicate more of Her nature to us: a Mother as well as a Father. The Annunciation is the continuing revelation of God’s tender loving care for Her people – and for ever more the nature of the Christian God will be connected with the image of a mother tenderly caring for her blessed child of promise. As Christians we must remember that God comes to us as a mother tenderly gathers her children, and share in that compassionate love with one another.

Text: Luke 1.26-38