Christmas Question

When I thought about taking a fresh look at the Christmas story I wanted to look at more than Luke chapter two. The verses we always hear on Christmas Eve. I wanted to see how Mary and Joseph found out they were going to be the parents of the Son of God. So that’s where we start today as we try to get our wonder back and friends as you read the scripture below, it’s chalked full of wonder, promise.

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In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 1: 26 - 38

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I’m hoping that we all can agree that whether the angel appeared as describe in scripture or as depicted in Renaissance paintings, it would be an unsettling encounter. I mean imagine, you’re just going about your normal everyday actives and then BAM! - there’s and angel talking to you.

And the conversation isn’t just a simple one either, but one explaining how you are going to give birth to God’s son! I mean come on!!!

We get to know very little about Mary’s reaction to all of this. We know she must have appeared scared since Gaberial told her to “Fear Not”, but as for what she was feeling as Gaberial was telling her what was to happened we have no idea.

I don’t know about you, but if it were me I would have so many questions about all of this. I mean Mary asked a good starter question. You always want to the logistics - but what about everything else. Some great follow up questions might have been: “How do I tell Joseph or my parents?”, “What do I do about the townspeople judgement?”, “How do you raise the Son of God?”, “Why me?”.

But Mary doesn’t ask any of those things. She listens to Gaberial explaining how it is going to happen and then says, so seemly simply, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your words to me be fulfilled.”

Wow!

Mary’s faith must have been so strong. Strong enough not to worry about all the trials she would face with raising God’s son. Strong enough to care more about being a servant to God than to herself. Mary’s response gives us all something to think about. It certainly makes we think about my responses to God’s requests in my life. I hope one day I might emulate Mary’s faith. That when God asks me to do something for him I would respond the way Mary did, “I am the Lor'd’s servant. May your words to me be fulfilled.”

In twelve verses Mary’s life was forever changed. And God was able to use her obedience to change ours. She had no idea the lasting impact her obedience would have and in all honesty neither do we. We don’t know how our obedience to God’s plan will impact the future, but I suppose that’s were faith comes in and a wee bit wonder.

To Everything There Is A Season…

Kiley Ann