Mary's Response to an Angel Visitor

"The Annunciation" by Paolo de Matteis

The Magnificat, or the Song of Mary, is found in Luke 1. Here is the beginning:

⁴⁶And Mary said,

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

⁴⁷And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

⁴⁸For He hath regarded the low estate of His

handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all

generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹For he that is mighty hath done to me

great things; and holy is His name.

(I apologize to those who prefer the more modern translations, but I like this one in the King James.)

This is famous as the response of Mary to the news that she will bear the Savior. Her song is often contrasted with the answer of her cousin's husband Zacharias, who received the news that his old and barren wife would bear John the Baptist. He said, "How can I know this is true?" to the angel Gabriel, which was a bad move on his part.

Zacharias gets struck dumb for nine months after that little breach of etiquette. Although there's no Emily Post for Angelic Visitations, it does appear that as a Levite and high priest he should have known better.

However, in re-reading the account in Luke, I noticed that the Magnificat does not in fact follow the Annunciation, but instead it occurs after the Visitation.

"The Visitation" By Edward Von Steinle

Putting that in normal language, the Song of Mary is not the Virgin's response to the angel Gabriel at all. She doesn't sing it until she goes to see her cousin Elizabeth.

She doesn't produce this beautiful song of steadfast faith until after she's had time to absorb the shock of being visited by an angel and getting pregnant by the Holy Ghost and all. Plus, it's also after Mary receives confirmation of the word of the angel through her cousin, who calls her "the mother of my Lord."

All Mary says to the angel Gabriel is, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

One could interpret that as a shell-shocked, "Um. Okay." (speaking of more modern translations...)

So although it's certainly true that Mary had great faith, greater than the priest Zacharias of course, she was not some idealized paragon who immediately spouted poetry upon hearing the most shocking news anyone had ever received. She took her time and allowed God to work through her, and when the time was right she was ready to sing her beautiful song.

In other words, the greatness of Mary's faith was not found in her own abilities, but in her willingness to allow God to demonstrate His power through her. And God was patient with her, allowing her to seek the comfort of her cousin Elizabeth and giving her time to learn to accept the strange new thing that had happened to her.

This should be a comfort to those of us who aren't quite ready to sing praises to the Lord after an unexpected turn in life sends us reeling. God understands that we need time, and He is patient with us as well. He wants us to submit to His will, but He doesn't force us.

But if we are able to respond, "Behold the handmaiden of the Lord," He'll bless our timid acquiescence with abundance.

He will take our, "Um. Okay," and turn it into poetry for His glory!

Rest and Trust

"Mother and Child" by Mary Cassatt

My three-year-old daughter loves to sit in my lap.

She will call out "Sit with me, Mommy! Sit with me!" while I'm doing the dishes or reading the mail or working on the computer. All she's asking me to do is sit on the couch and let her rest in my lap. That's it.

She has no other agenda when she calls for me to sit with her. Small children live in the moment. She is not like me, thinking of the dinner that must be made soon, and why is the cell phone company still billing me wrong, and oh my goodness when will bedtime get here?

She just wants to be with Mommy.

Psalm 131 says:

¹ My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
² But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³ O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

That's what we should be like with God. Instead of worrying about what's coming next in life, we should simply rest in Him.

My little girl does not concern herself with dinner because she knows Mommy will take care of it. When she is hungry, she asks me for food, and she is certain she will get what she needs.

If only I could be like that with God!

Lord, help me to rest and trust in You, like a child trusts in her mother.

Watch and Pray

My Sunday School lesson yesterday came from Mark 13:32-37.

I found it really meaningful, so I'm just going to crib directly from it, instead of trying to rephrase it.

First of all, the Scripture reading:

(image from daves-little-blog.blogspot.com.)

³² “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even

the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

³³ Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when

the time is. ³⁴ It is like a man going to a far country,

who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and

to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.

 ³⁵ Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master

of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight,

at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—

³⁶ lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.

³⁷ And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

A Reflection from "Living the Good News" 27 Nov 2011
(livingthegoodnews.com)

When Jesus warns us to be constantly alert, we might
take that ominously, as though some distant, punitive
deity is waiting eagerly to pounce on our slightest
mistake. But we can think of this gospel more positively.

(images from http://www.visualintel.net/)

Our news reports are filled with pictures of families

awaiting the return of spouses, offspring, siblings and

parents from war in Iraq or Afghanistan. When the buses

roll in, sometimes at odd hours of the night, gyms are

packed with welcome banners and fluttering flags. As

each beloved soldier emerges, families and friends explode

with joy. The same phenomenon occurs at airports.

Observe the faces scanning each arriving passenger, then

see them light up as a familiar, beloved figure emerges

into the waiting area.

Do we await Christ’s coming with the same happy anticipation?

Would we rush delightedly into his arms if he

appeared suddenly at our doors? “I’ve waited so long

for you!” we might cry. “And I’m so glad to see you.”

If we don’t think of a reunion with Jesus that way,

why not?

Seeking the Lost

The other day I was at the park with my three-year-old twins and they were gathering up leaves.

They made the leaves into bouquets and carried them around. Whenever one leaf escaped from the bundle and blew away they'd hurry over to pick it up and restore it with the others.

It made me think of Luke 15:

³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of

you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he

not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go

after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it,

he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home.

Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says,

‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you

that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in

heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine

righteous persons who do not need to repent.

They cared so much about the leaves that they couldn't stand to see even one get lost. They would not rest until every leaf was in the bundle.

This is the way God the Father cares for us, seeking each one until he or she is restored.

As Jesus Himself said in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Now that's amazing!

An Overwhelming Fragrance

        Lalique perfume bottle from djltrading .com


My daughter broke a bottle of perfume in the downstairs bathroom the other day. She cleaned it up, but the perfume smell remains.

It's a really small bathroom too, so the smell is VERY strong. Fortunately, it's a nice perfume.

But it made me think of a Bible story, found in Mark 14:

³ While Jesus was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head.
⁴ Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
⁶ “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. ⁷ The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have Me. ⁸ She did what she could. She poured perfume on My body beforehand to prepare for My burial. ⁹ Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Can you imagine the fragrance that must have filled the room when this unnamed woman broke a whole jar of perfume? (Maybe THAT'S why those present were rebuking her...)

But what she did was an outward and very physical sign of what was inside her heart, which was a desire to honor Jesus.

How would it be if the fragrance of my own heart, so to speak, were filling this room? What would people sense if my own love for Jesus were phyiscally present every day, like the smell of that perfume lingering in my bathroom?

In 2nd Corinthians 2:14-15 Paul writes:

"But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God."

I just pray that my own life's fragrance is pleasing to God.

Is Positive Thinking the Answer?

Today’s verse is Philippians 4:8.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

What is this verse telling us to think about?

I’ve always heard it read as just advice to look at the positive things in life, but what if it’s more than that?

Perhaps it’s an instruction to meditate on ONE thing.

Is there one thing that embodies all of these traits?

There is only One who demonstrates all these: Truth, Nobility, Righteousness, Purity, Love…

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and

the life. No one comes to the Father

except through me. (John 14:6)

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives

in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16)

So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good?

No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Matthew 19:17)

So it follows that the only One truly worthy for us to meditate on, is God Himself.
 
It's not just about positive thinking, it's about God-centered thinking.

If we were able to truly follow the directions of this verse, our lives would be transformed.
If we are meditating on Him then there is no room for sin.

(above image from amazon.com)

Am I Giving or Getting Taken?

"Open Hands" by Patricia Awapara from fineartamerica.com

Yesterday a woman asked me for money in McDonald’s.

Well, actually it was a lot longer conversation than that, involving he fact that her car was out of gas, she was from out of town, and her ex-husband was threatening her. But the point of the story was that she needed money to fill up her car and get home.

I had no way of knowing if any of this was true, of course. You always hear about people getting conned with sob stories like this, don’t you? I don't want to "get taken."

This is something I’ve had trouble with in the past: How do you know the guy on the street corner with the cardboard sign really is hungry, or if he’ll just take your dollar and use it to buy drugs? I used to wrestle with this idea a lot. If I give the guy a dollar, am I contributing to his dependency? What is the right thing to do?

And there was a harder question to answer as well: Was I just using this whole thing as an excuse because I'd rather just keep my money?

One day I received a clear message from the Bible on the subject.

“But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” (1st John 3:17-18)

This really hit home for me, because I felt like whenever I did NOT give to someone who claimed to be in need, I had to shut up my heart, to steel myself and say, “No, because he won’t really buy food with the money. He‘s not REALLY in need.”

But God doesn’t command us to give to those who deserve our help, or those who behave properly. In fact, Jesus Himself said:

“Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:42)

And He doesn’t require us to be responsible for what others do. In Ezekiel 33 God makes it clear that the prophet’s responsibility is simply to be obedient to what God has commanded HIM to do, and not worry about what the other person does after that.

In short, it didn’t MATTER if this woman was telling me the truth or not about her need. When I felt a tug on my heart to give to her, I was required to obey God’s command and simply give.

It wasn’t about her and her need for money at all. It was about me and my need to learn generosity.

Now I understand that it’s not always practical to go around giving money away. I would run out of it pretty quickly that way.

But I have to remember to cultivate and attitude of generosity and obedience. And when I feel God is telling me to give, I should give with an open hand, and not shut up my heart.