A few years back, I came across the work of an author named Drew Jackson who wrote a book called God Speaks Through Wombs (Intervarsity Press, 2021). In this book, he takes biblical texts that we have heard time and time again through our church cycles (and if you’ve been in church a long time like I have, the texts can feel pretty worn and meh sometimes) and offers fresh interpretations.
So when we hear in our gospel today the very familiar story of the Annunciation (Luke 1) where the angel Gabriel visits Mary, we may need some alternative texts to help it come alive.
What appears below are some compiled excerpts from Jackson’s first few poems in the book:
In the days of Empires and puppet regimes,
God speaks through wombs,
wrested and discarded because they were unviable.
This is what they do:
the Rome’s,
the Babylon’s,
the USA’s,
the men –
[They] toss to the side, as detritus, what they’ve deemed unfit to be utilized.
but God speaks through wombs, birthing prophetic utterances.
Divine favor is placed on what we have disgraced.
South Central Galilee.
God comes to the South side.
Selah*
Not to gentrify. Not to church plant. But to plant the seed of righteous revolution.
Salvation is from the south side, not from those from the outside.
Selah
Young. Brown. From that side of town.
And now with a baby on the way
You call her blessed?
I’ve heard her called worse things.
No wonder she is troubled by this greeting.
But they can’t see what you see
What do they know?
She is Holy. Theotokos (God-bearer).
Overshadowed. The spirit hovers, and say she is covered
Ready to birth new creation. Delivering us salvation.
*Selah – A Hebrew word which means a rest or a pause, particularly to consider a truth that has been said
As you read these lines, what stands out for you? Are there words or phrases that bring a new perspective to the story?
What I appreciate about Jackson’s work is that he invites us to reflect on the Word in our world (as he has done) and to think about what is happening right now. What would the scriptures look like in our context? While revelation can feel like it happened so long ago, it is also happening here and now. In fact, Jesus often reminded his followers (who also read ancient texts) that the texts they were reading were coming alive in their midst and to not miss the revelation.
In today’s story from Luke, we hear about an angel coming to visit a relatively poor, young, unwed, Jewish teen living in Roman occupied Palestine. She has no social standing, comes from some backwater town and has done nothing extraordinary in her life. Yet she is invited to take up and believe in something very risky, something very important and something seemingly impossible.
And she says, “Yes,” to becoming the “God-bearer” in this world. With all of her questions. With all of her uncertainties. With all of her doubts. And with no “credentials.” In fact, according to the power brokers of the day, she was a nobody. Someone who didn’t matter.
“Divine favor is placed on what has been disgraced…”
While Mary’s role was a unique one, the theme of her story is not. God is continually inviting people to become God-bearers in the world. And God especially invites people without credentials, people without social status and people without adequate preparation to take up very important roles.
God speaks through wombs.
Maybe something is being spoken into your life these days that is hard to believe or seems impossible.
Maybe you’re feeling called to do or say something but self-doubt or your “authority” to do or say it (by the world’s standards) raises fear.
Maybe the weight of empire and oppression have you hungering for revolution but you do not know how that can come about.
Maybe there is a revelation coming from an unknown source or circumstance in your life and you just can’t quite see God in it (because it is not familiar).
These are all Advent themes.
As we go through this week, may we believe that God is, in fact, working in our world – whether we recognize it or not – and say “yes” as fully as we can to our own God-bearing in it (even if it seems impossible, scary or insignificant). We all have a role to play, and now is the time to play it.
Note: One of the current applications of the scriptures to our context that I find very moving and compelling comes from Rev. Munther Isaac who is a pastor in Bethlehem and has written extensively on the destruction of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the moral imperative for Christians to get involved. In 2023 he made famous a nativity scene that showed the baby Jesus being born “under the rubble” and delivered what has now become a famous sermon on the topic.
To see an image of Christ in the Rubble by Kelly Lattimore, click here.