Read: Luke 1:26-38
Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! (v. 28)
Mary was an unmarried teenager when the angel Gabriel appeared. I once heard a preacher observe that in the original Greek, Gabriel’s greeting means something like, “God is about to do you a favor!” Mary wonders what kind of greeting this might be (v. 29). She’d be right to be skeptical: the favor God has for Mary is that she will have a baby by the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, God is about to turn Mary’s life upside down.
I am quick to ask God for favors. However, I tend to have very specific favors in mind. My prayers come out kind of like Christmas lists. I am happy to tell God what I want. I am reluctant to say what Mary says: “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (v. 38). But Mary’s response reflects a love relationship. Mary trusts that God’s plan, however disruptive, is an expression of God’s love for her and for the world. Mary also loves God enough to say yes to his plan—no matter how disruptive it might be.
God’s plans are disruptive. God is in the business of delivering people into new life. A new life almost always comes at the cost of an old one. At times when it feels as though your life is being turned upside down, remember Mary. Remember how she said yes to God’s disruptive plan. And remember the unimaginable good God can bring through any faithful servant.
As you pray, say yes to the God who loves you.
Ben Van Arragon is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America. After twenty years of congregational ministry, he now serves his denomination as a pastor wellbeing consultant in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
