December 18th - Reflection

Fourth Sunday of Advent
Luke 1:26-38 (NRSV)
The angel appears to Mary
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
I wonder if Mary thought she was going to be raped? Did she know about the Holy Spirit? She basically asked  the angel how she was going to get pregnant since she was a virgin. If she didn't know this "Holy Spirit" maybe she wished him to be hansom. And then she would be overpowered. Will there be two guys? One to hold Mary down and the other to do the act?

All pretty ridiculous thinking, but in some worlds I think it would be possible for one to think these thoughts. I'm sure there are those that know nothing of the Holy Spirit even in Christian countries. I'm sure that some walks of life would lead to this thinking. I'm sure God calls these people to miraculous changes in life that would lead and guide the people of the world.

But this is not the way with Mary. Mary was a child of Jewish parents and born in or around Jerusalem. Her cousin Elizabeth was the wife of Zechariah the priest from a line of priests associated the Abijah. Just with this background alone, I think Mary would know about the Holy Spirit. In fact I would think Mary to be faithful to Jewish customs and culture. So Mary would be surprised and cognizant of what was going on with the angel, but extremely shocked by the message.

So what about this whole idea of the power of the Most High will overshadow Mary? Think back to Exodus and the Tabernacle. Then God appeared to the people in the form of a cloud that would overshadow the Tabernacle. The Israelites always knew God was present with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. So here God would descend upon Mary and overshadow Mary. Mary is called by God for this wonderful purpose of giving birth to the Savior of the world Jesus Christ.

People today are likewise called and overshadowed by the Power of God. God does wondrous things through his people, even those that may not know God. Even those that may think the Holy Spirit is some hansom man coming their way. God has a ways to make the least the greatest and a way to make the lost found.

As God's children we should be joyful, willing and ready to fulfill that call and look forward to that moment, no matter how scary it may be, when God overshadows us and uses us in his kingdom. What joy Mary must have felt when she recovered or maybe recovered enough to praise God for all that has been done.

A Savior is to be born. Born in human flesh. God is coming as flesh and blood to save the world! Thanks be to God!

Prayer
May your power overshadow me this day that I may be a vehicle for all the world to see your saving grace... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen