Is it even possible to imagine such a thing…a young teenager…confronted by an angel, who says God has chosen her to be a mother of his only begotten son. What do you think of such a startling announcement? Or is it too surreal? Unbelievable? Ridiculous?
If we really think hard about this and about Mary’s response, it is Mary who is at the center of the Christmas story. It is her faith that allows Christmas to
happen. And it forces us to ask the question…what constitutes a faithful response?
When faced with the unexpected, unsolicited and often undesirable situation or circumstance, what does it mean to respond in faith? Begin with Luke’s account:
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, “Rejoice, so highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
The angel Gabriel appears to Mary in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and thus there is a connection between Elizabeth and Mary and between John the Baptist and Jesus.
That may be a good place for us to start thinking about what constitutes a faithful response to the unexpected happenings of life . . . to believe that somehow and maybe some way, there’s a connection between what happens to us and how God is at work in our lives and in the world. Scripture tells us “all things work together for good for those who love God . . . to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8)
So when the angel appears to Mary, she didn’t run away or ask him to leave her alone; instead, she listened and tried to understand the meaning of it all. She was greatly troubled and considered what kind of greeting this could be. But I would say this might be the first ingredient of a faithful response . . . not to run away, not to scream in anger, not to strike back when things don’t go our way, but ponder how something unexpected and maybe even terribly challenging or an unforeseen circumstance might strengthen us in faith. Do we really believe that nothing happens, good or bad, outside the providence of God’s grace and love? Can we use unexpected events as an opportunity to lead us to a closer relationship with God and those around us?
This is not to say that we can’t question what is going on, as Mary did. Mary was baffled and she asked, “How can this be?” It doesn’t make sense.
This might also be part of what it means to have a faithful response. It allows for the fact that there’s so much more to God’s creation and God’s will than we can ever know or fully comprehend.
We have a person in this community who has been a friend to mine for over 40 years. She is an amazing person who has given so much to the world and she is slowly dying from ALS. Little by little her body is disintegrating. Once, when she was still able to talk, I asked her “How can you be so positive and even cheerful?” She said that she felt blessed…with her family, her faith community, her ability to be able to afford great care and more. I think that facing the reality of the fragility of life, she sees her life in perspective to the whole of God’s creation. She is actually grateful. And that is an amazing and faithful response . . . looking to God without having all the answers.
I seriously doubt that Mary had any idea what the angel was talking about. Still she listened, and when he finished, she bowed her head and said, “let what you have said, be done to me.” A response such as this is born out of humility and trust in God. And the good news is that such a response is possible for all those who turn to God in faith. Nothing is impossible with God!
In her reflections on Mary, Barbara Taylor writes, “ Mary wins her place in history not for her cleverness, not for her beauty, not even for her goodness. She becomes the most important woman in the world simply because she is willing to say yes to an angel’s strange proposal, without a clue where it will lead her. Doing so, she becomes the prototype for all of us who are also invited to bear God into the world.”
We too are asked to STEP OUT IN FAITH. How are we going to respond? How are we going to bear God into this world in all of life’s offerings and challenges?
