Annunciation of the Lord
Wednesday, March 25
Read: Isaiah 7:10-14; Psalm 45 or Psalm 40:5-10; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38
“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 1:38
The Annunciation, the event in which the angel Gabriel told the very young and unmarried Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God, might at first seem like a strange text to read during Lent. We are used to hearing this scripture read during Advent, when we anticipate the coming of Jesus, not at Lent, when we reflect on Jesus’s journey to the cross and our own life of faith. When we read this scripture during Advent, we usually focus on the words of the angel and the news of the long-awaited birth of the Messiah. Maybe our Lenten reading, though, is a time to shift our attention to Mary’s actions instead.
As you read the passage, try focusing on Luke’s descriptions of Mary. Can you picture her expressions? Notice how she is “perplexed” by the angel’s words and has to ponder what his greeting will mean for her. Seeing her expression, the angel tells her not to be afraid. Is her face betraying that she is fearful about what God might do now that God is speaking into her life?
Mary does not explicitly disclose her confusion and uncertainty, but she reveals it a little bit by questioning the angel, trying her best to understand how any of this was possible. We are not told whether the angel’s answers satisfied Mary’s questions or left her further confused, but the Gospel does tell us what she then replied: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
Perhaps this is why the Annunciation is presented to us during Lent; maybe in Mary we are offered a template and a comfort for those times when we, too, do not fully understand what God is asking of us or how it can be possible. Mary’s calling was extraordinary, but we still may recognize some of our own experience with God in hers. What earnest Christian has not found herself perplexed at the words of God, or pondering their meaning? What sincere Christian has not felt fear, sometimes, when confronted with the realization of what God wanted him to do?
Maybe your life, like mine, has had periods when you were confused about what God seemed to be asking of you or times when you couldn’t figure out why God was acting the way God did. Those times can be full of anxiety because the world seems to demand of us explanations, a firm understanding of the situation, and a well-developed plan going forward, yet God seems to prefer, instead, to walk alongside us and reveal the way as we come to it. In times when the calling is clear, but the way is not, let us reflect on what is not asked of us: we are not asked to fully understand, or to have a strategic plan, or to be able to imagine where it all will lead. Instead, one simple response seems to be enough for our God: let it be with me as you have said.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, thank you for Mary and for her example. We do not always understand you, and often we are perplexed by your words. In our times of fear, uncertainty, or confusion, remind us that we don’t have to understand everything in order to be faithful. Help us to welcome your work, whatever it may bring, into our lives. Amen.
The Reverend Dr. Kelsey Grissom is Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at Huntingdon College and an ordained elder in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church.
