Just An Ordinary Girl

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful season of Advent. I am enjoying this countdown to Christmas, but I find myself fighting the same battle every year. I struggle ever year to not get caught up in the busyness of all I have to do. I must discipline myself to remember that the parties, the gifts, the programs, and the lights all point to a moment in time in which God came near. Everything we are engaged in as we prepare for December 25 points to God’s answer of Isaiah’s prayer:

O that you would tear the heavens and come near… (Isaiah 64:1)

One night in an unsuspecting Judean town, God did come near. He came so close, in fact, that a young mother in Bethlehem was able to wrap Him up in swaddling clothes and kiss His face.

Take a moment and re-read Luke 1-2. I invite you to hear the story of that young mother. I invite you into her world. We don’t know much of her other than the limited details that appear in the Christmas narratives and a handful of references throughout the Gospels. However, the more I think about Mary and her role as theotokos, or “God bearer”, I want to know her more. I want the kind of faith that would submit to this mysterious plan of God to save the world.

We forget Mary’s side of the story. We forget: that which ultimately would save the world turns Mary’s world upside down. Even though the angel's message rocks Mary's world, she displays a faith that is OK with that whatever God wants to do. May we confess with Mary:

May it be to me as you have said. (Luke 1:38)

This is the confession of an ordinary girl with extraordinary faith.

Good News and Bad

How many of you have ever had someone say to you: “Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?” When someone begins a conversation with me that way I get nervous. I imagine we all squirm in anxiety when it’s our doctor, banker, attorney or accountant who is beginning a conversation that way. I’ve found that the order in which we hear these tidings does not matter. Sometimes they cancel one another out, but most of the time the bad news trumps the good.

As a pastor charged with the responsibility of preaching the Word of God, I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first? Do you want to hear about the economic crisis, the unemployment rate, the famines and food shortages in the world, and the recent death of family members that have touched our congregation?

OR…

Do you want to hear the Good News? Do you want to hear that there is one coming? Do you want to hear that God has a plan? Do you want to join the millions upon millions that have gone before us who have dared to believe that God’s Good News will trump all the bad? Like John the Baptist in the wilderness, I have some Good News to share with you. There is one coming who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. In the hustle of this season, I pray we recognize him.