To Be Like Mary

Dear Christa—

Luke 1: 26-38  - To Be Like Mary

One of the most striking things about Mary is that she believed the angel Gabriel. She does ask how she could be a virgin and have a baby, but she doesn’t doubt that it will happen.

Gabriel tells her two significant things. He tells her that God Himself will place Himself in her womb through the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, he tells her of Elizabeth’s pregnancy and states, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary was young and she simply believed God. As I get older, sometimes I feel more like Zachariah than Mary. It should be just the opposite. With a history of seeing God’s work over the years, one would think we’d grow more confident with age, but that’s not always the case.

As we become more knowledgeable of the world and see the spiritual and physical struggle between good and evil, we can become somewhat jaded. At times we feel like protecting ourselves from God’s plan when woe and destruction comes our way. We, in a sense, make theological excuses for God when it appears He is not at work.

We get comfortable with our surroundings and don’t expect God to work in powerful ways. We can resist stepping out in faith and belief that God is all-powerful and He actually does powerful things instead of just being able to do powerful things. To grow old in our American Christian culture can dull instead of sharpening our faith.

Maybe that’s why I like working around teenagers who see risks as adventurous—who are more willing to “put God out there” so to speak, who are willing to live a not so guarded Christianity.

Oh, to be like Mary—to simply respond, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

—the parishioner who doesn’t do anything