Luke 1:29-30 (NIVUK)
29 Mary was greatly troubled at [Gabriel’s] 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.
What is it about the angel’s greeting that Mary is troubled by? ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you’ (28) sounds a positive message. Perhaps she feels dissonance because she doesn’t feel highly favoured? Perhaps she hasn’t experienced God being with her, at least not in ways that she’d expect or recognise? Or maybe she’s simply thrown by being visited by an angel; it’s not something that tends to have a slot in our diaries or to do lists! But don’t all of these possibilities reflect the nature of the Christmas story? If you were to come up with a story of God coming to earth, this isn’t the story you’d write…
Rule breaker, expectation upturner, status ignorer, gracious lover, help us to see beyond what is routine and normal, and what we believe is how things are, so we can see the astonishing things that you’re always doing.
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