"From the first bird of the morning
'Till I lay me down the day
I walk this road and pray for light to show me the way
The heavy load I carry
My treasure and my loss
I weary and I fall, who will hold me?
Longer than shadows, Closer than emptiness
Oh...mighty this love, Oh... mighty this love
It led me to peace at the river
It woke me in the rage of the wind
Called me up to the mountain, back through the valley again
I knew it in the touch of my Mother's hand
I crumbled and it held me fast
My first song of the morning, it will be my last"
Mighty this Love by Peter Mayer
Christmas is only 9 months from today. So let me be the
first to wish you a Merry Christmas (or at least a belated one for 2003). The
church has celebrated this date as the time of the heavenly birth announcement
or annunciation to Mary the Mother of our Lord. Mary's response to this
earthshaking news was to ask a point of clarification and then to state, "Let
it be with me according to your word."
I think about those words as an amazing way of accepting
this mission improbable. When one examines most of the "call" stories
in the Bible, the events of God calling people like Moses or Jeremiah, et al.,
the usual response was, "God, you have the wrong number." But here,
Mary accepts the call to be a channel of God's love and plan. She says, "Let
it be with me according to your word."
Here's the way the Gospel of Luke reports the story,
"In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God
to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name
was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28And he came to
her and said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.' 29But she was
much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The
angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And
now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord
God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.
33He will reign over the
house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.' 34Mary said
to the angel, 'How can this be, since I am a virgin?' 35The angel said to her,
'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called
Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also
conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.
37For nothing will be impossible with God.' 38Then Mary said, 'Here am I, the
servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.' Then the angel
departed from her." Luke 1:26-38
The point of telling you all of this today is that God is
always inviting us to be a co-spiritor for life and grace. You might encounter
an angel today who has a message for you, an assignment. This angel may find
you in the kitchen at your house, on a bus ride or at a daycare center. This
angel may not look like some cherub or harp-playing Pillsbury Doughboy, but
keep your eyes and ears open. And most of all your heart.
May we, like Jesus, "walk this road and pray for light
to show me the way"
And may we be like Mary who sang "Let it be with
us according to your word"
rtg
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