Slideshow image

And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. – Luke 1:38

It may be strange to talk about Christmas-time stuff in the middle of Lent. But, for centuries, the Christian Church has celebrated today, March 25th, as the Feast of the Annunciation. This is the day that Christians said Gabriel came to Mary to tell her what God’s plan was for her. Though she was betrothed to a man, though she was a virgin, she would bear the very Son of God as her own son. It is, for this reason, the church has historically called her Theotokos, “the God bearer.”

One wonders what thoughts and feelings were running through Mary’s head. We don’t know what she understood, if she understood anything at all. To this most unexpecting and unassuming of women came God’s heavenly messenger, Gabriel. I say “woman.” But Mary may have been only in her early to mid-teens. I imagine Gabriel coming to my niece who is only in 8th grade. How could someone so young, so naïve, be called to bear the weight of the savior of the whole world? Did Mary even know what she was getting into? Did she realize the shame that she would endure for being pregnant and not yet married? And how could she possibly know that the dear son she would bear would Himself bear the sins of the world on a cross?

Nevertheless, Mary responds “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” She doesn’t put up a protest. She doesn’t argue. She places herself under God’s word. When she does so, Mary models the posture of faith for us all.

I would venture to say that none of us will be called to bear such a burden as being parent to God-made-flesh. But even so, there are times when we don’t know what God is doing in our lives. We don’t understand where God is leading us or calling us to. Yet, as people who live by faith, we are called to say the same response to God, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” We say so knowing that God’s will is good. He is for us. His word speaks forgiveness and life upon us. Let it be done to us according to His word.

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.

- "The Annunciation" by Malcolm Guite, Sounding the Seasons: 70 Sonnets for the Christian Year.