Facing the Impossible? (Luke 1:26-38)

Luke 1:26-38 ²⁶ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." ²⁹ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³² He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³ He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." ³⁴ Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" ³⁵ The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. ³⁶ And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God." 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. 

Similar to yesterday's blog, we see the Holy Spirit empowering Mary to take part in the impossible mission of God.  Seriously, a baby conceived by the Holy Spirit?  Pretty impossible.  And yet, this same Holy Spirit empowers us to do the good works God has planned for us to do!

Interestingly, it appears that Mary has a choice here.  She can trust what the angel says knowing full well how impossible it is.  Or she can decide she is just not that committed, not really into the mystical things of God, or not willing to be an unwed mother in a society that will ridicule her.  Allowing herself to become pregnant is rejecting society's plans for her - it will make her an outcast - she will no longer have good standing in her community or with her fiance.  He will have the right to divorce her - even stone her.  When we embrace Jesus - when we take part in God's mission, this is often the case.  Our priorities will no longer match with what people want and expect of us. Think again if you think following Jesus is easy...  if so, you might not have studied his teachings authentically. 

But Mary says, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."And she opens herself to embracing Jesus... to giving birth to him, to feeding him, to nurturing and caring for him, to raising him in her home, to sharing her life with him.  Her heart will be ripped apart as she stands at his feet when they hang him on the cross.  The Holy Spirit empowered her for all she would face because of her choice to embrace Jesus.

Facing something impossible?  Embrace Jesus: "Here I am, your servant.  Let it be with me according to the plans you have made for me!"  Amen. Amen. And Amen!