Mary’s assignment

When the angel Gabriel appeared to the young woman Mary she had no warning. He came unannounced to this small town, Nazareth, in the region of Galilee and spoke directly to Mary, a virgin who was pledged to marry to Joseph, a descendant of King David.

Can you imagine?

When the angel Gabriel appeared to the young woman Mary she had no warning. He came unannounced to this small town, Nazareth, in the region of Galilee and spoke directly to Mary, a virgin who was pledged to marry to Joseph, a descendant of King David.

Can you imagine?

In one moment, with the angel’s interruption, the whole trajectory of Mary’s life shifted. With Gabriel’s announcement came an assignment. Their dialogue from the Gospel of Luke 2 follows:

    “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

    The angel almost in an anticipatory way said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High…”

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered with an assurance explaining how, “The Holy Spirit will come upon 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.”

The angel continued offering something that almost seemed out of context or irrelevant at first.
“Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who is said to be barren is  in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

[What? Whatever he intended connecting the power of God to create life in a virgin and in a woman past child bearing age was followed by Mary’s acceptance.]

“I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

And that was it. All done. An appearance. An announcement. An assignment. An assurance. An acceptance.

Did Mary have a choice? What would have happened if Mary had refused to cooperate? What if she had not accepted the assignment God was giving her to carry the Son of God and give Him entrance into the earth? Did God in His Sovereignty know she would say yes? Did He handpick this special vessel to house and give birth to His son? From eternity past had He known and created Mary with a bent toward obedient submission to His will?

Did she completely comprehend all God was asking her to do? Did she fully know the suffering that was ahead? Whatever she knew at that moment, Mary followed her acceptance with a profound  outpouring of praise from the depth of her soul revealing an inspired awareness that God was entrusting something sacred to her. She sings to the Lord God of heaven.

What if she had not cooperated with this divine condescension? She would never have been able to freely offer such profound praise that poured out of her soul. She would never have been able to live out the calling God specifically chose for her to live. She would have spent the rest of her life in ordinariness and obscurity missing being such an integral part in God’s Redemptive Story.

As I reflect on the players, especially Mary, in the Advent story I cannot help but wonder about these questions and integrate them into my life and context. What is my response to God’s invitations to me? What part has He called me to play in His redemptive story? Do I live into God’s power to do the impossible? Do you? May our reflections this Advent join Mary in deep praise of the Most High God for the assignments He is giving us.