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REFLECTION
by Andrea Taphorn
God chose Mary to carry the King and she sings in joy and affirmation. An angel comes to a young unmarried woman named Mary who had her whole life in front of her. She may have had dreams for herself that didn’t involve this interruption from heaven, but Jesus has come to her and didn’t ask her to make room. Mary was not asked to save the world. She was granted faith to receive and carry Christ, the Savior of the world. The whole thing is quite precarious. She is engaged, but this baby is not from Joseph, but rather from the Holy Spirit. This news creates for Mary situations that could cause her great danger, but to this life altering, life threatening news, Mary says, “yes.” Can you believe that?
This story strikes conviction into my heart, as we begin to
close out a year of heartache and loss and separation. We have our own sets of
issues that are precarious, and concerning, and life threatening. And Jesus is
coming to this weary world of 2020 and may find a big ugly “no” sitting at the
helm of our hearts—a no to carrying Christ, the hope of the world. It just
feels too big of a burden to bear. It doesn’t feel like the churchy answer, but
it does feel like the down to earth, weary world of 2020 answer.
If we take a second look at Mary’s “yes” that
spilled out of her mouth in song. This yes was sheer gift. Mary was given the gift of faith. And faith is not mustered, it is granted.
This is good news for us today, where we have mustered a lot in 2020. If your heart is anything like mine, you might just be all muscled out and in need of a gift. Jesus is here today and knows the state of our world and the state of your heart. Jesus knows your loneliness. He knows the achy spots in your heart. He knows how your lips are quietly turning blue from sadness and loss and fear of more loss. And the swirling question in your brain of “when with this end?” And the anxiety of carrying this much anxiety for this long.
Maybe the world does not even know the half of it, but God does. He knows all of it. He knows without you saying a thing, without you alerting the world to your situation. Jesus has moved in. You do not need to ask him to. He's here. He is resurrecting your life from the dead, by taking every single one of your “no’s” upon himself and in its stead, He is giving you His: “Yes. Yes child. You are mine.” He is placing the gift of faith at the very helm of your heart. He is breathing his strong and sure and saving breath of life into your lungs.
Your life is precious to him. Oh, this
Jesus. He is relentless. Come what may both today and tomorrow. Jesus has come to
set you free to sing with Mary, to live on this weary earth as a child of the
king. How surprising to find out you are not carrying Him? In fact, He is
carrying you. And He will carry you each step of the way and continue to breath
his life into you until He calls you home with him forever.
UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER
MONDAY - HUMILITY:
Soften our hearts to one another. Give us eyes to see our common humanity, each
of us and all of us created in your image, and give us the gift of empathy, to
care deeply about one another.
