Mary the mother of Christ
.
Luke 1:26-38
26. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27. to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28. And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" 29. But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32. 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 father David, 33. and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34. And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" 35. And 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 called holy, the Son of God. 36. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37. For with God nothing will be impossible." 38. And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
In some faiths, Mary the mother of Christ is held in almost as high regard as Jesus himself. She is worshipped and prayed to and adored. She is truly a “key player” in the salvation story! She deserves our gratitude and admiration for her obedience and for her faith and for her courage.
Last Sunday our church honored mothers (and all women) in the way we usually do – by giving each woman a carnation in recognition of the fact that all women serve as our mothers in some fashion. And I started thinking about Mary. I thought of how the angel came to her to tell her God intended to use her in the fulfillment of the scripture. I wondered if she immediately responded in faith and obedience, or if she needed time to think and to sort out her feelings and then obeyed.
What matters, though, is that she did obey. Of course God would have found another to use for his plan, but He didn’t need to search any farther. What kind of mother was she? Probably not that different from most mothers today. She loved her son beyond words, I’m sure. And she prayed for him and his future. I don’t think she knew all along what God’s ultimate plan was for her baby--she may have believed that he would be a ruler in the literal, human sense as was the interpretation of her contemporaries. I bet she just thought he was “different.” So wise, so odd, so old for his age, so busy, so anxious to get on with living . . .
In my denomination, we don’t talk about Mary much. Primarily at Christmas time. While I don’t believe we should pray to her—she certainly deserves more credit and recognition than we give her. But that’s what being a mother is all about, I guess. Mothers do so much that goes unnoticed, unappreciated, unspoken – it’s who and what we are and do. It’s what is expected – ideally – of mothers. We are given a gift – just like Mary was – and we give a gift – just as Mary did. We are to shape and teach and love our children so they can become the adults God intends them to be. And it’s not always easy. In fact, sometimes its downright exhausting and unattractive. It’s not always happy and fun and full of music and dancing barefoot in the grass. It’s often bittersweet, and hard work, and getting the grass stains out of that best pair of “church pants.”
Did Mary have some enhanced ability to allow her son to grow up to be so different than the other children? Did she have a larger capacity for patience and hope than I? Did she have great inner strength and fortitude that surpasses mine? Or was her faith all she needed?
Someone smarter and wiser than I will need to answer those questions, but I think on future Mother’s Days it would be appropriate to honor and recognize the most important mother in human history – rather in
all of history.
I hope you spend your day striving for Mary’s obedience, and that today and every day your faith will be all you need to do what needs to be done.
Mary
