Walking, Waiting, Watching Alongside Mary

I wonder if the rhythm of riding a donkey toward Bethlehem mimicked the motion of the babe in Mary's womb or the rhythms of her labor in a stable or the rhythms of rocking Baby Jesus to sleep before placing him in the manger - a feeding trough filled with straw for the animals? Almighty God chose a young peasant woman of faith to carry God's Son - doing what is impossible for us. But in Mary, we have a very real woman giving very real birth to a very human baby. This is an experience most of us can share whether we are women who have labored toward birth or we are men standing by a woman's side in the labor room or whether we are the proud and anxious grandparent or sibling or aunt/uncle awaiting anxiously for the birth and our turn to hold the new baby.

"Carols and Lullabies" by Conrad Susa is Trinity's musical worship this Sunday focusing on Mary as a central figure in this well known Christmas story. "The Magnificat", Luke 1: 46 -55, is Mary's response to God's call to her to bear the Babe of Bethlehem. In this hymn of praise, Mary magnifies the Lord and rejoices in God's call to her, knowing that it is a significant challenge, full of unknowns. Mary recognizes that God has blessed her as a servant of God and that her holiness is dependent on God's own holiness and God's choice of her. Mary reminds us that God has a pattern of selecting the lowly ones to shame the powerful, whom God will scatter in their arrogance. Mary reminds us that God's pattern is to fill the hungry with good things and to send the rich away empty. Mary praises God for the Almighty's mercy which has been God's pattern from the time of Abraham onward.

Where and how are we challenged by this story? Are we too rich with things to be hungry enough for God to choose and challenge us? Are we so powerful in our lives that we're threatened to be the ones who are brought down from our thrones?

Where and how are we blessed by this story? Can we turn toward trusting God as fully and faithfully as Mary does? Can we be as obedient as Mary when we hear God faintly or forcefully calling us? Can we praise God loudly enough with our words and actions for our neighbors to hear?

Someone recently said to me, "Christmas is primarily for children." I disagree. The presents under our trees may be primarily for children. But the story with its challenges to us is for ALL of us. This story is full of promises for us to continue living the story with our lives.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Shelley