Luke 1:14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
Announcements. They come to us everyday from a thousand different sources. We automatically filter the ones we choose to believe or deem important from the incredible ones or from those that seem to bear no relevance to our lives, like pushing the mute button on the TV controls during commercials. It is so easy for me to then let my mind go to the business at hand, the to-do lists, and the burdens of everyday living, just like Zechariah’s daily temple chores.
Yet, over and over the Bible is full of announcements. And, it is full of stories of those who, like me, are sometimes just too busy or too incredulous to pay attention to the messages. Even as early as Genesis it seems that God’s people did not trust or hear what God asks of us.
As for me, a difficult childhood taught me early on not to trust what the authority figures in my life were telling me. So, I understand Zechariah’s wariness at Gabriel’s announcement. And, I marvel at Mary’s complete trust in the message of incarnation she receives. I, like the travelers on the road to Emmaus, have failed at times to see my Lord. I have always understood Thomas’ doubt. But over and over again God calls me. When I ponder the blessings of St. Julian’s, the cool weather, the silliness of our cats, and the delightful play of Mason’s humor, I am aware of God’s
blessings to me. As God has truly blessed me, God also calls me, as God called Zechariah, to submit to, to trust and to do God’s bidding.
So, as the nights lengthen and the waiting begins I too, like Zechariah, must be silent and listen for God’s announcement. This does not mean that I will always succeed as I want; certainly Elizabeth’s boy, John the Baptist, met a difficult and early death. What God does promise is that I will be given what I need if I listen for and carry out God’s will. As God fulfills that promise, I understand the relief in Elizabeth’s voice as she rejoices at finally receiving the blessing of a child and submitting to that blessing. And yet, the story does not end here.
I am also called by the promise given to Mary of a savior and to join her in the joy of her hymn of praise. Hers will not be an easy journey, for she will carry the stigma of a child born out of wedlock the rest of her life. She is the only person present at the incarnation, the birth and the death of the savior, her son. She is not necessarily given what she wants, but certainly what she needs. Hers is a complete submission, and she rejoices. Surely as a good Jew she may have thought of Psalm 67 as she gave voice to her Magnificat. For that Psalm tells us to praise God and call upon God’s graciousness to us as a people, so that all will know that God is riotous and just. My prayer continues to be that of Mary’s, and Elizabeth’s, hearing and submitting to God’s will for me in my life and the power to carry out that will.
Marty Terry
0 comments:
Post a Comment