Luke 1: 26-38
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me
according to your word.”
Let us pray: Almighty and eternal
God, so draw our hearts to thee, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so
control our wills, that we maybe wholly thine, utterly dedicated unto thee; and
then use us, we pray thee, as thou wilt, and always to thy glory and the
welfare of thy people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
There are these fork-in-the road moments that happen in our lives on
occasion, the big decision events. Maybe
not quite as huge on the cosmic stage of eternity as the choice that Mary has
in front of her. But big at least in our
world here and now. We have a choice to
make, and we are aware with some clarity that what we decide will have a
significant impact on our lives. Of
course, sometimes the little decisions we make, even without thinking much
about them, turn out to have huge consequences.
That happens all the time too. I
decide to go to the grocery store today rather than tomorrow, and then while
I’m stopped at the light I get rear ended by an uninsured driver. Small decisions, but larger consequences. But I’m thinking here this morning of the
kinds of questions we sometimes have before us when we know with clarity right
away that we’re standing at a cross-roads moment. An eighteen year old high school senior
weighs acceptance letters from several top choice colleges. A mid-career executive has a job she likes,
but almost out of the blue she has another offer that looks really attractive,
a big step up--but that would involve picking up the family and moving across
country. A young man has been dating a
young lady for a year or so now, and the relationship seems to be moving in a
serious direction. But, is it time yet
to buy the ring? To pop the question? And if he does pop the question, then the
ball of course is in her court. Big
decisions.
We can all imagine moments in our own lives like that. Some more dramatic than others, but something
that we know right away is going to be really important, even if it’s true, as
it is always true, that we can’t really predict what all the consequences of
our decisions might actually be.
So what to do? For Christian
people there is either spoken or unspoken the thought that “I’m going to need to pray about
this.” A time of reflection, where we
put the decision to be made, and ourselves, and all those who would be affected
by the decision before us, those we know about and those who will be affected
whom we may not know, at least directly—where we put it all for a moment in
God’s hands. Perhaps to ask for
clarity. Perhaps to ask for protection. For wisdom in discernment. For peace.
Some folks make this a regular practice even when the smaller decisions
are on the table. But for sure when we
really think there’s a lot at stake, it’s key.
Susy and I are making our way through the second season of the
television series, The Crown, and it’s notable that we see the young Queen
Elizabeth kneeling in prayer at her bedside each night. Which I understand has been her practice
since early childhood and continuing to this day. When you have a sense of responsibility, of
duty, of the importance not just to yourself but to others, that you get things
right. As the old hymn says, “take it to
the Lord in prayer.”
Sometimes we might think particularly of looking to Scripture for
guidance in this reflection. Probably
the most significant act within prayer for any of us. Which is what Mary says in response to the
Angel. Mary, who is in some sense lifted up in St.
Luke’s gospel and in the long course of Christian history the model and
example, the first Christian. “Let it be
to me according to your word.” God
speaks. God’s Word given as this gift,
to shape our minds and hearts and wills.
For Mary, the word of the Angel calling up the whole great story of
Israel, the Law and the Prophets, all streaming together to this point, and the
whole created world waiting breathlessly for her response, her assent.
What the Psalmist
wrote in Psalm 119: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my
path.” Of course, we don’t all have the benefit of a radiant Angelic Being
standing before us. But we do have God’s
Word, which is the key thing. “Let it be
to me according to your word.” Sometimes
it seems to take some effort and care to hear the word, or to discern its
meaning in our lives. Perhaps in some cases there are pretty direct connections
and applications. Thinking about a
specific word in the Ten Commandments.
Thou shalt not steal. Something
like that. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt not commit adultery. I know sometimes we try to make it
complicated, with nuance and levels of definition and meaning, and sometimes it
is complicated. But when I run too far
in that direction I find it sometimes necessary to take a look in the mirror to
say, “Methinks thou dost protest too much.”
Is it really so complicated, or am I just stalling because what God is
saying and what I am wanting him to be saying turn out to be different
things? Of course, sometimes the word
seems to come indirectly. It’s less
about some specific instruction, and more about character, value, heart and
spirit--something at a deeper level. I
find for me sometimes in those crossroads moments maybe there’s a story from
Scripture that might come to mind. A character, a situation, an image of
poetry. The time when Joseph has in his
power to bless or to destroy the brothers who so long ago sold him into
slavery. The time when Ruth chose to
follow Naomi instead of returning to her own family. The time Elijah was called to stand in
solitary witness against the murderous apostasy of King Ahab and his Queen
Jezebel. The time in the wilderness when
a little boy came forward in the midst of a hungry and restless multitude to
offer his simple lunch bag to Jesus, with truly no idea what would happen next.
The story may not give us a specific direction. Thou shalt not do this. Thou shalt do
that. But the pattern of the story, even
just a word, an image, begins to shed some
light on the question I am asking about our lives, about what we do next. There is something so powerful about Mary’s decision. I guess partly because as we stand at the
edge of the scene and overhear her word of acceptance and agreement, we know so
much more of the story than she knew. Just
because we’ve prayed about it, opened our ears and our hearts to his Word,
sought his guidance—that doesn’t necessarily mean joy and peace and success as
outcomes. Jeremiah found himself at the
bottom of a well. And on the journey
from this moment, Mary would find herself very soon, very soon, at the foot of the Cross.
But this is about trust.
Faith. The last moment for us in
Advent, almost literally here on this 4th Sunday, with Christmas Eve
about to happen as soon as this service is over and Penny and the Altar Guild
can begin to change the paraments to white for this afternoon’s services. The last word of Advent, which has been a
season about what we are expecting, what we are hoping for. The Birth of the Christ Child, the Second
Coming of the King in his glorious majesty.
And in and with those, all the expectations and hopes of our particular
lives.
In some 19th century illustrations the Angel Gabriel comes
to Mary as she is hanging laundry on the line in the backyard of her Nazareth
home, transforming the scene with his radiant presence. Most
of the time the decisions we have come in less dramatic ways. But the prayer for us is that we would in all
our decisions and all our lives tune our ears and our hearts to recognize the
Father’s voice. To seek his wisdom and
guidance by placing ourselves in the care of his Word, through all the Advent
of our lives.
Almighty and eternal God, so draw
our hearts to thee, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control
our wills, that we maybe wholly thine, utterly dedicated unto thee; and then
use us, we pray thee, as thou wilt, and always to thy glory and the welfare of
thy people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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