Let it Be...a Lesson from Mary

Tonight is the last Sunday of Advent and I am sitting here thinking of one thing: The response that Mary gave Gabriel. 

Luke recounts the foretelling of the arrival of Christ. An Angel that we now know as Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive a child. Now it would not be unfair to say that the presence of an angel and the news he brought was met with some trepidation. 

Mary, according to some apocryphal texts, and even some Jewish traditions state that she was probably 12-16 years old--which is a societal norm for the time. Many state that Joseph had already been married, was a widower and had children. However, we really don't know if that is true or not, so it does not matter for this article. 

But what really sticks out in my mind as I look at this story is Mary's response. 

Luke 1:34: Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ Then after Gabriel explains, Mary said in verse 38, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ 

The first question Mary asks is "How?" she doesn't say "Oh, no Angel boy, you got the wrong gal!" or may excuses, she literally says "how can this be?" Mary hadn't known a man sexually. She was betrothed to be married, but was still living in her father's home. Had she been sexually active he would have shunned her. 

There is a lesson to be learned here. 

When God shows us his will for our lives, even though we don't know how it will happen, all we have to do is say "how?" Often times we have our own plans for our lives. We know what we want, but we don't always know how to get to that point.  In fact, as Tiffany Lyons says "Sometimes God moves us in a direction we didn’t see coming. It is at these times that we need to know what our answer is going to be. Are we going to say yes to God or not. I believe that Mary had a posture of saying yes to God even before this major plot shift happened. Let’s get into a posture of saying yes to God." 

Mary believed that God was going to do what he said he was going to do. Just look at the second part of her answer "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ After all, Mary had heard this promise of the Lord, Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." and she believed it too!

My question tonight is are you in a place where if God tells you to do something or that something is going to happen, you are just going to ask "how" and then say "Let it be!"?

Radical Advent

Two of my favorite seasons in the church calendar are not Easter and Christmas. Rather, I get excited over Advent and Lent. What a lot of people don't consider is that Advent is supposed to be a radical experience. We are literally preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ. We light candles in church that have a great variation of themes, though I lean towards the Catholic Rite of what the candles mean. 

Advent, the Latin word for “arrival,” reminds us that God stepped into human flesh. Emmanuel. God is with us and for us.

Advent reassures us that God hasn’t abandoned us or our fallen, broken world.

The prophet Isaiah expressed hope for God to deliver his people during a period of turbulent divisions. And in the midst of these divisions, God promised them a Savior: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

Advent reminds us of the extravagant lengths God has gone to rescue us and restore our world.

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:1) Every where we look, the world is dark and people are walking around in the dark. God during Advent is calling us out of the darkness in our life, so that He can search us and create in us a new being. (1 Peter 5:7) God searches our depths, turning our faces toward eternal light.

Advent guarantees that God has the upper hand even when the opposite seems true.

Scripture assures our residency in heaven though our fallen, broken lives contribute to our fallen, broken world (Philippians 3:20-21). And our enemy (the devil) prowls the earth, seeking to kill and destroy (Peter 5:8-9). When God sent His son Jesus Christ to live among humanity, He did so in order to reconcile us to Himself. This year has been hard on my family. Since the pandemic started we have lost 9 family members, 7 of which I was close to and it's been tough. Yet knowing that God is right here in the midst of my suffering has made it tolerable. 

Advent calls us to respond in radical love for God and our neighbors.

Emmanuel calls us to love God and our neighbors to our greatest capacity. Living by faith means stepping out in courageous acts of compassion.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:30-31)

Early last year, my neighbors started a prayer vigil for our community. It has been an honor to have neighbors that I know I can count on. 

The baby born to a virgin in a manger, over 2,000 years ago, guarantees that God is for us, not against us. God sees. God cares. Emmanuel has come to redeem us and our fallen, broken world. And we can be assured that He is in control of everything present and all to come.