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| Madonna and Child, West Bank |
"Greetings,
you who are highly favored.
The Lord is with you."
+ Luke 1:28
The Suspense of Mary's Yes
A Courageous Response Echoes Through Eternity
By Malcolm Guite
Text: Luke 1:26-38
Text: Luke 1:26-38
In Luke chapter 1, we are presented with a beautiful account of how the angel came to Mary, how she heard Gabriel, and how she responded in courage:
"I am the Lord's servant.
May your word to me
be fulfilled."
The words contained here should fill every faithful reader with awe and wonder, but above all with gratitude. These few verses in Luke are one of the great hinges – or momentous turning points – of the whole Bible. They are an answer to that early tragic turning point in Genesis: the moment of Eve's disobedience.
Eve's choice had terrible consequences for all of us. Her yes to the serpent foreclosed and diminished our true humanity – though of course, the serpent had promised just the opposite!
But if Eve turned her back on God, and turned all of us with her, then Mary turns to face him willingly, and her courageous yes to God welcomes Jesus into the world.
As we read these verses,
we almost hold our breaths
and reenter the drama
of that moment:
God offers to come
into the world
as our savior, and
What will she say?
Will she offer her whole life
to be made new,
to be changed forever?
Or will she shy away
from the burden?
We should sense an awesome hush, an agony of suspense, between verses 37 and 38, and then as we hear Mary's response, we should feel great relief and rejoicing. Mary's yes not only changes everything forever but also models for us our own Christian life. Now we too are called not to be afraid to be open, to say to God,
I too am your servant.
Let your word to me be fulfilled.
In the sonnet below,
I have tried to evoke a little of the suspense
and importance of this moment.
"Annunciation"
We see so little, stayed on surfaces,
We calculate the outsides of all things,
Preoccupied with our own purposes
We miss the shimmer of the angels' wings,
They coruscate around us in their joy
A swirl of wheels and eyes and wings unfurled,
They guard the good we purpose to destroy,
A hidden blaze of glory in God's world.
But on this day a young girl stopped to see
With open eyes and heart. She heard the voice;
The promise of His glory yet to be,
As time stood still for her to make a choice;
Gabriel knelt and not a feather stirred,
The Word himself was waiting on her word.
During this time of year when we say,
Merry Christmas!
we share with each other that we can
Why? Because Mary knows
is more than enough.
Mary, the first to receive Christ,
shows us the Way.
Here are links to other recent Advent articles:
Immanuel: God Present with Us, for Us; The Bold & Courageous 1st Advent Hymn; My Honest Advent; Advent Films Reflections: A Quiet Place, Arrival, Children of Men, Joyeux Noel; Praying with Mary and Jesus; Making Room for Limits; Making Room for Outsiders; Experience God-with-Us Today in Your Fears; Waiting is the Womb in Which We Are Formed; Christ with Shopping Bags or Generous Christ?; Advent Film Series Reflection: All the Light We Cannot See; When We're Afraid, God Pursues; He Is Not One to Leave Us Hurting; The Good News About Our Bad News; A Season of Decrease; There is Great Joy in Our Darkest Hours; In the Wilderness with the One Who Is Wilder; Be Not Afraid
Blessings of peace and presence for you,
Rev. Mike “Sully” Sullivan
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