Advent 4 B

What is it about Mary that so grabs our imaginations?
She said "Yes."

4 Advent B

Given at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church

12/22/96

By Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

Luke 1:26-38

            What is it about Mary that so grabs our imaginations?  There is an article about her in this week’s TIME magazine that traces her ups and downs in popularity during the 2000 years since that fateful day when she said “yes” to God. What is there about this young woman? Why is her story so powerful, so moving?

            I think people are touched because her story is the story of self-surrender, which is the highest form of discipleship. She personifies the ones who have offered themselves, their egos, their separateness, to God. She embodies what Jesus referred to as the “least of the kingdom,” the ones who humbly offer themselves to God.

            She was nobody special, trying to live a good normal life, and an angel appeared announcing a miracle - she will give birth, even though she is a virgin. Now looking back on this we can call her blessed, but for her, what a difficult thing was being asked. She was betrothed to marry, if she got pregnant what would happen to that. Even worse, when the town’s people discovered that she conceived before marrying Joseph, she could be stoned. Surely she could expect to be excluded, looked down upon, whispered about. Who would want to go through that kind of experience? I certainly wouldn’t, would you?

Yet, when she hears what the angel has to say, she consents. She says “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” In today’s English, she might have said, “Okay, whatever you want.”

            To be able to say, “Okay God, whatever you want with my life,” is not an easy thing to do. How difficult it is for each of us. We all have plans, expectations, and images of ourselves. We don’t like it when God’s plans contradict our own. When we find we have lost a job for no fault of our own, do we get angry, get depressed, or can we say, “Okay God, whatever you want. Perhaps there is something else here for me to learn or do.” Are we able to trust that the God who sends us difficult tasks, will also be the God that sees to it that our real needs are taken care of?

            Buckminster Fuller, the genius best known for his geodesic dome buildings, struggled with the meaning of life when he was in his twenties. Faced with unremitting failure and the need to support a wife and newborn child, he walked to the shores of Lake Michigan, determined to either find the meaning and purpose of his life, or, failing that, to drown himself that very day.

            After some hours of intense meditation, the realization came to him that the universe is the product of a higher mind that is striving to create order out of disorder. If there were ever to be such a things as a “meaningful life” surely it would be found in trying to serve this higher mind in any available capacity. This is what he resolved to do. In other words, he surrendered his life to God.

            His second realization was just as critical as the first; he realized that as long as he was doing his best to serve this calling, then the higher power would naturally reciprocate by supporting him in his earthly existence in whatever way it deemed necessary. His livelihood, in other words, was no longer his problem. By becoming wholly dependent upon God, he had become God’s charge. Buckminster Fuller never again undertook a project with the aim of earning money. And although he went through many periods where money was in short supply, the basic needs of himself and his family were always taken care of.

            “Ok, God, whatever you want.” To trust that if we surrender to God’s loving will for us, God will also take care of our needs. To really surrender - to really trust God. That is what Mary did. That is why she is so special to us, because we all in some way want to be able to surrender, want to be able to trust God, but we all find that difficult. To have a symbol of such surrender, in Mary, is one of the gifts she has given to all of us. To read Mary’s story reminds us of the power of surrender.

            When we let go of our fear (remember the angel said to Mary “Do not be afraid.”), when we let go of our need to feel that we are in control of our lives, our destinies, when we let go of anger when things don’t go the way we think they should, when we let go of our need to plan our futures, when we empty ourselves of our ego needs, then we become fertile ground in which God can implant the light of Christ, so that we may become pregnant with God’s love and birth Christ’s love into the world.

            Surrender, letting go, and trusting God. That’s what discipleship is all about. Surrender, letting go, and trusting God, that is what giving birth is all about. Surrender, letting go, and trusting God IS how we prepare for the birth of Christ, in our hearts, in our lives and in the world.