2 mins

A new place

The Rev Richard Baxter considers the messages of Luke 1:5 to 2:20 and Matthew 1:18-25 and the example of Gabriel in the nativity story.

THE nativity story offers various options to reflect on people in new places – Mary and Joseph dislocated from familiar Nazareth to overcrowded Bethlehem; the normally rural shepherds visiting the town; or the magi encountering a culture they hardly understood.

However, for a slightly offbeat approach to the story, this month our focus is on Gabriel. For obvious reasons, what we can say about Gabriel’s normal environment is limited, but in the nativity story it is apparent he is in new and different settings. Gabriel is only named in the Zechariah story and annunciation story, but let’s assume he’s also the angel in Joseph’s dream and one of those appearing to the shepherds.

Every time he turns up, people are terrified. Zechariah is afraid, and eventually lost for words. Mary is deeply troubled and has to be told not to be afraid. Even sleeping, Joseph needs his fears allayed, and the arrival of Gabriel and friends terrifies the shepherds. It must be deeply wearing to be someone whose mere appearance is enough to create fear among others. People who look different, whether because of racial differences, disfigurement, facial injury or through other causes know the irritation of unwanted stares, indiscreet questions and unfair assumptions, and would welcome more consideration from all of us.

Angel means messenger, so it must have been irritating for a messenger to be questioned. Zechariah doubts the message about his son John. There is more than a hint of annoyance when the angel says: “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God who sent me to you and told me to tell you this good news.” Perhaps Zechariah is lucky to get away with nothing worse than nine speechless months! It seems that a choir of angels is not proof enough for the shepherds of the message they are hearing. The back-up of finding a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger is also needed. At least Joseph seems to accept his angelic dream at face value, and Mary, despite her initial fear and some very practical questions - “How can this be ….?” – takes Gabriel at his word. “I am the Lord’s servant; may it happen to me as you have said.”

As always, the missing elements of the story include fascinating details we’d love to hear. What did Gabriel think about the setting where he visited Mary? Was he shocked that this woman in this place could be at the heart of God’s plan? Was he confused that the great birth announcement takes place in the middle of a field with almost no-one there? Did he have to pinch himself to believe he was saying God’s son would be found as a baby lying in an animal feeding trough? We don’t really know. But he would not be the first newcomer to compare his new location unfavourably with the place he had come from. He also would not be the first one to scratch his head in bemusement trying to work out exactly what God was up to, and whether he had completely misunderstood his purpose! The nativity story, however strange and difficult, brings all of us to a new place – a place where God is deliberately and constantly present with us.