Behind the High
Altar at Southwark Cathedral there lies a Lady Chapel, where you will find a
beautiful image of the annunciation over altar.
It is a copy of a work in the National Gallery by the Florentine artist
Filippo Lippi which he painted for the Medici family in1450. It also illustrates this morning’s Gospel.
The Angel Gabriel, bearing
a Lily, kneels in the grass. His golden,
feathery wings flow out behind him. His
head is contained within a golden halo and he looks intent Mary. Opposite him Mary sits indoors, listening to
his words, looking down at the ground, drawing her blue cloak across belly.
The Annunciation is
a one of the most powerful subjects of western art, capturing the imagination
of Lippi, Fra Angelico, da Vinci and many others. Too often, however, we view these treasures
of European art in brightly lit galleries amongst chattering tourists and we
can be blinded to truth which is portrayed.
In such a context we can be forgiven for merely seeing a beautiful
renaissance work or a calm, classical scene.
However the truth of the matter is that the exchange between Gabriel and
Mary is shocking and scandalous.
On the right, we
see Mary a teenage girl betrothed, as good as married, to the carpenter
Joseph. She is perplexed and bemused by
what she hears “ponders what sort greeting this might be.” And well she might. Birth in first cent Palestine was often a matter of life and
death. To go through it alone and
abandoned to shame and disgrace would have been a
double burden.
If this news of a
pregnancy were not worrying enough, the angel tells her that her child will be
called Jesus, meaning Saviour, and that through him God will fulfil promise to
David. The one we hear of in our Old
testament reading this morning. Th
promise to make of David a great nation and to establish a Kingdom without end. “How can this be” she replies, fear and confusion
running through her head. The absurdity
of it all, the risk, the shame. It is
little wonder she recoils from the angel, looks away and covers her belly.
Meanwhile, on the
left picture the angel too is pensive, as he looks at Mary. As a heavenly messenger he seems to be
looking deep into her soul. His hand is
ready to bless as he explains that she has been favoured, that she should not
be afraid and he proclaims that nothing is impossible for God. And so he kneels, he looks and he waits…
But there is a
third element to this image. An element the
viewer too often misses and it is the space between Gabriel and Mary. The space between outside and inside, between
eternity and history. For here hanging
in this space is the greatest scandal of all.
For as Mary ponders and the angel waits, The promises of God hang in the
balance between them.
The promise to
David, the hopes of the patriarchs & prophets, the miraculous possibility
that the disobedience of Adam might be undone.
All this hangs in the balance awaiting Mary’s response. For in this moment, it is not only Mary that
is at risk but God and his desire for the salvation of the world.
So what do we learn
of Almighty God in this intimate exchange?
Well, it would seem that ours is not a God who forces himself on us. Instead we see a God who woos us with his
love. Who begs us to be one with him. And who invites us, with Mary, to be his
partner in redemption.
And in this most
vulnerable moment a child is conceived. A
child whose boundless love- will be the salvation of the world. Amen.
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