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.
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