|
Luke 1
26In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end."
34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail."
38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her.
Mary's question to Gabriel is a compelling one indeed...How will this be ? I think one can say that this question is a universal one in so many ways.
How can peace come about in a world continuously torn by hostility and violence?
How can we believe in goodness when we see so much hurt being done in our world?
How can we have hope when every day brings some global encounter which seems to bring us to the brink of another major conflict?
How can we have hope for our personal futures when the economy continues to struggle and pundits tell us we are years away from any real recovery?
How can we celebrate the spirit of this season when each of us knows persons whose lives are wracked by pain or disruption of security or fractured relationships or uncertainty?
Theologians and spiritual thinkers rightly remind us that we cannot ignore the darkness of this world even as we passionately get swept up in this season's joy, hope, peace, and love. To forget the suffering all around us is to do disservice to the many for whom Christmas 2011 is no real celebration at all.
The hope to which our text and the Advent season speak is no Pollyanna hope. It is not a promise that everything will be rosy and all the world will stand hand in hand singing, We Are the World. The hope of this season, and the assurance given Mary, is that God is ever vigilant and creative in bringing seeds of promise, possibility, and even miracle. God is ever weaving His divine intention in our world and in our lives, even in our most dreadful moments and experiences.
Do I wish and do you wish that God would allow a lot less hurt, pain, evil in this world? Certainly! But I also embrace the spiritual truth of this holy season that God promised a young maiden back then and He promises us now that He is ever at work to redeem our present time and to empower us to hope otherwise inconceivable.
The message for Mary and for us remains...God near us. God among us. God with us.
A Special Opportunity - The Advent Prayer Stations, December 18-25
Beginning this Sunday and continuing to Christmas Day are the Advent Prayer Stations in the Mike Wilson Fellowship Hall. There are seven stations that move through the Christmas story from the angel visiting Mary through the wise men visiting the Christ child. Each station is designed to cause us to think of the story in a new way. The stations are also designed to be fairly interactive, and families are encouraged to experience them together.
| 
