Brad
Sullivan
4
Advent, Year B
December
24, 2017
Emmanuel,
Houston
Luke
1:26-38
Strength and Courage: Mary, the
Mother of Us All
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word.” Those are some
remarkably brave words from a remarkably brave young woman, Mary, the mother of
Jesus. Likely fourteen or fifteen,
Mary’s life was going pretty well and pretty much according to plan, prior to
the angel Gabriel’s visit. She was
betrothed to a good man with a good trade, a carpenter, so Mary’s future was
looking pretty secure. She was likely
expecting to become pregnant shortly after her marriage to Joseph, to start a
family, and live a good secure life as wife to her husband and mother to her
children. Life was indeed looking pretty
darn good and on course for Mary, all going well according to the ways of life
in her time.
Then the Angel Gabriel showed up and pretty well turned
things upside down and sideways, and jumped the train of her life completely
off the tracks it had been on, The young
woman, Mary, was told that she would be impregnated by the Holy Spirit prior to
being married to Joseph, her betrothed. As
change of plans go, that one was pretty drastic, and risky.
What must have been going through Mary’s head when she
received this news from Gabriel? Would
Joseph believe Mary when she said, “No, I didn’t cheat on you; it was the Holy
Spirit that made me pregnant.”? Uh-huh. Joseph was a good guy and all, but he wasn’t
an idiot, and such a far-fetched explanation, while true, probably wasn’t going
to go over so well with her betrothed. Was
she going to be killed for being found pregnant prior to her marriage? Very likely.
Even if she was allowed to live, life as she knew it, the security of
her husband and future family, was all likely gone with the advent of Gabriel’s
message. Mary was likely facing a life
of shame and rejection, living with Mom and Dad, if they would still have her,
which was not certain; a life of possible prostitution just to get by; or a
life of marriage to a guy who wasn’t as good a man as Joseph but was at least willing
to take her on as damaged goods.
Fortunately most of us don’t view women that way anymore, but that was
kinda the way things were back in those days.
Then, of course, there was the other question of, “What the
heck?” “What am I going to do with God’s
baby?” “What does that even mean that
the Holy Spirit will impregnate me and the child will be holy, the Son of God?” “Do not be afraid,” Gabriel said. Yeah, good luck with that. Mary must have been terrified, and I can
imagine Mary being left with an almighty, “Huh?”
In the midst of all of this questioning, and wonder, this
fear and uncertainty of the total derailing of her life, Mary said, “Here am I,
the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Remarkably brave words from a remarkably
brave young woman.
Mary’s words bear a striking resemblance to Jesus’ words in
the garden of Gethsemane. As Jesus was
facing arrest, torture, death, and the total disillusionment of his followers,
he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup
from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it
be with me according to your word.”
Jesus was the Word of God, God’s eternal Son, and as such, obedience
to and love of the Father was part of his nature and character. Jesus was also a human being, however, and as
such he was filled with all of the fears, doubts, and uncertainties which we
all face. As a human being, Jesus seems
to have learned bravery and submission to God’s will through his mom.
Mary was Jesus’ mom, and as Paul reminds us, we are all brothers
and sisters of Jesus, with God as our Father, which means that we also share
Mary as our mother. The lesson she
taught Jesus to be brave in the midst of fear, doubt, and uncertainty, is a
lesson she teaches to all of us as well.
“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your
word.”
So, in times of fear, doubt, and uncertainty, what does
God’s word tell us?
When worried about money and possessions, and will we have
enough, Jesus says,
Do not be afraid, little flock, for
it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make
purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven,
where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:32-34)
Part of our mind says, “Are you kidding me? How can I control what’s coming if I don’t
worry and fret about it?” Then our
mother’s words come back to us, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be
with me according to your word.”
When there is too much going on, too much to do, and not
enough time, God’s word says, “In returning and rest
you shall be saved; in quietness
and in trust shall be your strength.”
(Isaiah 30:15) Our fears may say
we are too busy to pray, but Jesus teaches that we are too busy not to
pray. “Here am I, the servant of the
Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
When enemies rise up against us, and we have contention and
strife with those we know, Jesus teaches, “Love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke
6:27-28) As our hearts break, we desire
vengeance, and want to defeat those we view as enemy, Paul’s words also guide
us, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for
building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who
hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit
of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath
and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to
one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has
forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:29-32) “Here
am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
When there is darkness in our world, and we begin to lose
hope, God has told us,
In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing
came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the
light of all people. The light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)
We can’t always see the light, but we trust in the light of
Jesus, especially in times of darkness, heeding again the words of Mary, our
mother, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to
your word.”
God’s way is not always the way we want or the way we think
our life should go. There is a giving up of self, a dying to self, in order to
say, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your
word.” Those words are, however, are
strength and courage. Those words are
how we truly become ourselves. Our
mother taught us that. Mary, the
remarkably brave young woman whom God chose to be the mother of Jesus, has
shown us the strength of submission to God’s will and the courage to follow
where God leads, despite our fears, doubts, and uncertainties. When life does not go the way we think it
should go or the way we want it to go, Mary, has shown us the strength and the
courage to say, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me
according to your word.”
