No Fuss Required

OPENING PRAYER:

Eternal God, with all that’s within me, I bless your name. Your ways are from of old, your works are ever new.

READ: LUKE 1:26-38

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary 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?”

35 The 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[a] 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.

Footnotes

[a] Luke 1:35 Or So the child to be born will be called holy,

LUKE 1:26-38

REFLECT:

How do you respond to God’s call? Try to ignore him? Make a fuss and say you can’t possibly? Or just quietly get on with it?…

In the drama series The Crown, one of Her Majesty’s trademark phrases is ‘hmmm’. I translate it as: ‘I’ve got that but I need to think about its implications.’

Today’s reading introduces us to Mary. A very different woman from the Queen with a very different destiny. But there are surprising similarities. They both know they are called by God, and with his help they both grow into their roles.

I like to think that Mary was chosen by God as someone who wouldn’t fuss. Yes, she is greatly troubled when she hears the angel’s words (v 29). And she genuinely cannot see how this can all be possible (v 34). But her faith is such that she doesn’t take much convincing to turn her negative into a positive. She was ready and waiting, steeped in the Scriptures. There must have been all kinds of questions in her head, but she only asks the one. She must have felt very alone when Gabriel left her to digest the news and get on with it… But, as with us too, God is never far away.

APPLY:

Pray today for all the people who are quietly getting on with what God has called them to, however difficult or strange it may seem at times. Include yourself! Ask for his blessing.

CLOSING PRAYER:

Merciful God, Mary’s response to the “tough ask” is humbling. Enable me to respond as Mary did when I have daunting challenges before me.

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