It’s
the week we reflect upon Mary in a scriptural and funeral-type way. I rarely
talk about Mary the mother of Jesus. I am sure that has something to do with my
Catholic friends and not wanting to cause offense just for the sake of doing
it. I will admit I had one deep conversation with several Catholic families
that attended our pre-school. I tried to make sure the conversation ended
peacefully despite the theological debate. No point in hurting someone based
upon the theological differences. That really gets us nowhere in life. Yet, despite
the conflict that surrounds Mary, there is something very important to
understand about her role in the Christmas story. So often the image of her in
the stable gets stuck in our head and that is the only image we see. Let me
just pose this question – how often have you seen a pregnant Mary? As Mindy and
I get closer to the due date of our fourth child, I am reminded again of the joy/awe
of a “moving” baby. My unborn daughter is not just sitting in Mindy’s stomach,
but she’s kicking, and punching, and moving like crazy! I am not sure why we
don’t see images of Mary like this, but it reminds us that she was an ordinary
girl who God transformed into His Extraordinary Servant.
Let’s
reflect on the power of the angel Gabriel’s announcement, and how it would
transform Mary forever. No longer was she going to know the life she had
before. Putting that in the context of
my life, it would mean one of my girls would be transformed to serve God in a
unique way early in her teen years. Whoa! I can’t imagine what Mary was
thinking or how she processed it all. She knew that her people had been waiting
for the Messiah for years. She also had to know that based upon society’s view,
being pregnant without a husband was not good. Yet, amazingly, Mary is willing
to be transformed and to serve as an Extraordinary Servant! She willingly trusted God to lead and guide
her. As time went on, she (and Joseph) certainly faced the challenges of
Extraordinary Servanthood. Her journey is just the beginning of the many people
Jesus would transform on earth. It all started with this little kicking,
moving, baby, in the womb of a girl, whose life was transformed forever because
of the life inside of her.
Over
the last several weeks I got to spend time with one of our members who was
close to her passing, Mary Evans. Mary has been a member at Mt. Calvary for
many years. She was often quiet, but when the time was right, she made her
voice heard. Mary used to come to the Easy Access service – the service we hold
for our shut-ins once a month so they can come to Mt. Calvary with a little
more ease. A few years ago we revamped the service, adding even more
traditional elements that many of them grew up with. As time passed, Mary spoke
up and asked why we didn’t ever sing the Doxology? Well, now we close every Easy
Access service by singing the Doxology – praise God from whom all blessings
flow. As I reflect on the life of Mary Evans, I see that extraordinary servant
praising God from whom all blessings flow. In one of our closing conversations
we talked about the people she loved in life, and I had the chance to ask her
if she was at peace. She responded she was. Mary was having extra help to
breathe at this point, and these closing statements were words of praising God
for all the blessings He had given her. Like Mary from scripture, we cannot
anticipate the many challenges we will face in life when we are transformed by
Jesus into Extraordinary Servants. Yet, we know that this is the season to
prepare again for the blessing of the life of Jesus, and how we are forever
changed because of His grace and mercy.
No comments:
Post a Comment