Luke 1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He 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. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The 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. 36 And 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. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then 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 1:39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Luke 1:56 And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.
How would you tell someone you are going to have a baby? One YouTube video I saw featured a woman who told her husband to look in the kitchen for a bun. He’s opening the microwave, the drawers, the refrigerator. Finally, he finds the bun, in the oven, but he looks up just puzzled, clearly not getting the clue. When someone gives you unexpected news, how do you respond? Do you stand there scratching your head? Do you freak out? In our passage for today, an angel shows up to tell Mary she will have a baby. Her conversation with the angel, and later her visit with her cousin, Elizabeth, reveals how we can respond to the unexpected, and help others to do the same.
First, stay receptive. The story is told of a young man who was graduating from high school. His dad was a deeply devout man, but the young man wasn’t so crazy about the faith. He was, however, crazy about cars, and his dad had an original Mustang convertible in mint condition—so beautiful. At the end of the graduation party, the dad took his son aside and gave him a box. The young man opened it with great anticipation, only to find to his disappointment that it was his dad’s well-worn old Bible. He gave his dad a hug, thanked him and put it with his other graduation presents, but in his heart he thought, “Dad just doesn’t understand me.” The young man went off to college, and when he came back, his dad asked him if he’d had a chance to open his Bible yet. “I’m sorry, Dad. I just haven’t had the time,” but what he thought was, “He just doesn’t get me.” Not long after, the young man’s dad passed away, and after the funeral, the young man was going through things and found the box with his dad’s Bible in it. He sat down on his bed and let the Bible fall open. In the crease, he found the keys to his dad’s beautiful, original Mustang convertible. When we receive something unexpected, do we dismiss it or reject it because it’s not what we expected? What I love about Mary in our passage, is that she stays receptive. She may be upset or troubled—more than perplexed, don’t you think?—but still she waits to hear more, asks how this can be, and with humility says, “…let it be with me according to your word.” In the face of the unexpected, Mary stays receptive and receives the blessing.
Second, nothing is impossible for God. One of my friends, Bob Samsela, is always getting dragged along shopping by his wife. He said to me that it’s impossible for him to enjoy shopping, but I think he found a way. You see, just the other day, Target sent his wife a letter. It began like this:
Dear Mrs. Samsela, Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior anymore and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Samsela are documented by our video surveillance cameras.
1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of hemorrhoid cream and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.
2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals
3. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M's on layaway
4. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area
5. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose
6. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme
7. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, said in a small voice, 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'
See! It’s not impossible for Bob to have a good time shopping with his wife—he just may be having a good time…differently. But we are like that with God sometimes, aren’t we? God calls us to go deeper, to try something new, to do something we aren’t big fans of, and we decide it’s impossible, and so we kind of make it up from what we think would be fun. God says the world could be/should be a place where kindness is shown, justice is done and hope wins, and we say, “It’s a pipe dream. You’re not living in the real world.” In contrast, Mary seems very chill, very relaxed. “Let it be with me according to your word.” It’s almost as if Mary accepts the idea that God can do the impossible, and then joins God in that impossible.
I still can’t get that poor guy out of my head, the guy whose wife tells him to look for a bun and he finds it in the oven. She knows she’s pregnant, and she’s trying to do something cute and fun. “It’s a bun…in the oven. There’s a bun in the oven.” And then, in the video, she begins to realize, he has never heard someone say that to mean someone’s pregnant. Finally, she has mercy on him and says, she’s pregnant, and the lights come on and the smile comes out and he hugs her. For centuries, God said “I love you!” to the Israelite people, but they didn’t quite get it, and sometimes it came in forms they didn’t expect. Finally, God had mercy on all of us and sent Jesus to say, “I love you!” plain as day, a baby born in a stable who grew into a man who hung on a cross. When God calls, how often do we not get it? How often does God’s call come in ways we don’t expect? In the face of the unexpected call of God, Mary stays receptive and trusts God can do anything. She understands the incredible promise of potential, and says, “Let it be with me according to your word.” and so she finds peace, and becomes a blessing. May it be so with us today.