Luke 1:26-68 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.’
Do we expect our young teenage girls to be called as Mary to God’s mission? Calling Mary is what God through Gabriel did just as God called Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets before her. Gabriel called to her singular life’s task: she was to give over her body, her future and her life to God’s mission. Accounts of persons being called by God is one of Luke’s recurrent themes. Even though most of his accounts, like Paul’s so-called conversion on the Road to Damascus, occur in Acts, the Annunciation is an account that happens in Luke’s gospel. But Mary’s calling is unique. No one before her was ever called to bear and be the mother of God’s son. She will nurture him as he learns to walk and talk, as he becomes a boy, a teenager and then a man. She will rear the incarnate God to maturity. But for Luke, Mary means even more. She stands for him as a metaphor for the ideal believer—for the one who surrenders fully when God’s spirit comes upon them. Through Mary’s story, Luke asks us whether we could surrender as fully as did Mary to God’s calling.
Do we expect our young teenage girls to be called as Mary to God’s mission? Calling Mary is what God through Gabriel did just as God called Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets before her. Gabriel called to her singular life’s task: she was to give over her body, her future and her life to God’s mission. Accounts of persons being called by God is one of Luke’s recurrent themes. Even though most of his accounts, like Paul’s so-called conversion on the Road to Damascus, occur in Acts, the Annunciation is an account that happens in Luke’s gospel. But Mary’s calling is unique. No one before her was ever called to bear and be the mother of God’s son. She will nurture him as he learns to walk and talk, as he becomes a boy, a teenager and then a man. She will rear the incarnate God to maturity. But for Luke, Mary means even more. She stands for him as a metaphor for the ideal believer—for the one who surrenders fully when God’s spirit comes upon them. Through Mary’s story, Luke asks us whether we could surrender as fully as did Mary to God’s calling.
Mason Terry
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