Season of Advent

Every December growing up, my home congregation joined together with the Catholic Church in  town and put together a Christmas cantata.  My mom sang in the cantata every year and finally let me join in when I started high school.  One of those first years, I had the wonderful opportunity to sing a duet with my mom as a part of the cantata; she sang the part of Elizabeth and I sang the part of Mary.  The text for my portion was today's text, the Magnificat, Mary's Song of Praise.  I would have been right around Mary's age and to be honest, I don't think at that time I really understand the gravity of the words that I was singing.  I was mostly just concerned about singing the right words and notes and not completely derailing the entire cantata.  Reflecting now on this text and the entire event of the annunciation, things are coming together.

 

Although it's not a part of today's reading, I had to look back a few verses to remind myself of what happens before Mary sings her song of praise to God.  And you know what? It's nuts.  In not very many verses, the author of Luke tells us that Gabriel came and told Mary that God chose her to bear the Savior of the entire world, and do you know what she said? "Here am I." You know what I would have said? Probably something that I can't type here.  I would have had a lot more to say to Gabriel, most likely starting with "How did you get into my house?" followed by, "You've got the wrong girl."  My first response would not have been Mary's.  

 

I think it would be easy to read Mary's response to Gabriel's message as obedience.  God decreed it, Gabriel said it, so Mary did it.  But it is much more powerful for me to read her response as trust.  Mary trusted that what God had planned for her was not asking too much; God did not have the wrong girl.  And in that trust, there is peace.  A peace that comes with knowing that even if the plan seems difficult (like bearing God's son), or if the plan seems uncertain (like every second of my life), we are not journeying alone.  And after visiting Elizabeth and having this prophecy confirmed by her, what did Mary do? She sang.  And that is something I can get on board with.  She didn't ask any more questions and her song doesn't seem to reveal any doubts.  Mary praised God, "for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant."  

 

There have been many times in this place when I have questioned what I am doing here.  There are days when I don't feel qualified enough, days when I feel like maybe I jumped in too deep.  But reading this song, reading about the trust that Mary had in God, I am reassured.  I don't mean to say that all of my anxieties or uncertainties have just disappeared, I only mean that maybe if I spend more time trusting God in this moment, I will have less energy and less time to worry.  In these last days of Advent, I pray for trust like Mary's; trust in the fact that God has chosen all of us to be God's hands and the reminder that without the gift of Jesus, nothing is possible.

 

-Sarah