Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
This week, rather than moving on from the Christmas story we’re going to take some time to revisit it and let it soak in. Today we start with the astonishing exchange between Gabriel and Mary. The main part of this exchange is Gabriel revealing what is going to happen to Mary and just who her son is. As astonishing as this news is, so too is Mary’s response, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.’ We do not know what God has in store for us this coming year, although it’s not going to be as dramatic as Mary’s, but whatever it might be, this is the perfect response.
Spirit, give me the faith to reply as Mary did when the Father calls, I am the Lord’s servant, may your word to me be fulfilled.
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