March 25th Reflection by Bill Lynch

Annunciation of Our Lord
Luke 1:26-38 (NRSV)
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Reflection
What? What does this have to do with our Lenten journey? I'm going to stretch it here a little, but this passage spoke to me. Just one Sunday from now in 2012 we will celebrate Palm Sunday. Jesus coming to the crowds at Jerusalem. In this passage we see how God selected Mary to conceive, carry and give birth to our Savior, Jesus. Mary didn't expect this honor. I would think in some ways at first the angel horrified her. Would this take place through rape by an angel. Not so much different from the issues of angelic beings with humans in Genesis? Both acts that were not acceptable to God. But, the angel said that God has chosen Mary. How confused Mary must have felt.

Taking it all in Mary accepted the message from  the angel. The Holy Spirit came upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. Mary had been overshadowed or separated for God. Her child, Jesus, would be holy or divine, and Mary accepted this message and this work that God had blessed her with. Mary's fear had turned into an honor to serve God. Jesus would be part of Mary, in the very center of her life and flesh. God had chosen Mary and she felt and lived the grace and love of this choice.

Back to our Lenten journey. As we approach Palm Sunday, we too have spent time in the wilderness, dealing with temptation, hunger, pain, suffering, and human emotion. We too have seen sin and evil. But mixed in with all of this, we too have experienced the overshadowing of God. Jesus ministry was to begin after his wilderness experience. Palm Sunday is his experience of the beginning of the fulfillment of a major part of Jesus call to earth.

As you and I approach Palm Sunday, Jesus approaches us in his glory. We begin to take on the journey of Jesus. Jesus ministry becomes a part of our lives. In some ways, like Mary, Jesus becomes a part of us. We begin to take on the empathy of the range of human emotions that come with the celebration of coming out of this wilderness of temptation, to the joy of Palm Sunday, to the betrayal, denial, suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday. We too, take part in this celebration, betrayal and denial. We too sin against Jesus by nailing him upon that cross with our sin and Jesus becomes part of our lives and part of our beings.

But God took all of this and treated it with grace. Just as we take in the bread and wine into our flesh and it becomes part of our bodies, we take on Jesus and he becomes part of our bodies and our soul. Just as Jesus became part of Mary, he has become part of us through our Lenten journey. We have been chosen and selected and blessed and separated and called to be a servant of God through Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit we take on the call of God with joy and thanksgiving for all God has done for us. Now that's some grace! Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, just as you selected and came upon and within Mary, so too select and come upon me that I may fulfill the call that you have given to me... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen