Today's gospel reading from Luke was also the reading for the fourth Sunday in Advent. It tells of Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth after the angel Gabriel has enlisted her to be the mother of Jesus. Luke's gospel begins in interesting fashion. The only ones who speak of the wondrous things God is doing are Gabriel and these two women (although I suppose we could say that John gets in a bit of pre-natal prophecy from the womb today). Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband, was struck mute for failing to believe Gabriel, and Joseph never gets to speak in Luke's gospel.Luke's gospel is quite friendly to women. He will later tell of two sisters, Martha and Mary, who are visited by Jesus. Mary sits at Jesus' feet in the pose of a disciple. Women were not supposed to do such things, but when Martha objects that Mary is not helping her do the work expected of women, Jesus says that Mary has made the correct choice.
Today's reading explicitly states that Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit when she speaks. And Mary's words are clearly prophetic. The announcement of the wonderful things God is doing is made on the lips of a most surprising prophet. The surprising ways of the coming Messiah are already prefigured in the surprising way his arrival is announced. All preconceived notions of how God should act or what channels God must use turn out to be of no interest to God. It seems that the Kingdom has little interest in human doctrines, theologies, and traditions. God will not be bound by our small thinking.
I do not think it is possible to be Christian without having theology and doctrines. We cannot be Christians in any profound sort of way without having doctrines and traditions to guide us. But we should realize that our best attempts to live as Jesus calls us never capture the fullness of all God is up to. God and God's plans are bigger and more wonderful that we can fully conceive. And I think that sums up the wonder of Christmas for me.
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