“The angel went to Mary and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him Jesus. 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, and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ 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.’… ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’ Then the angel left her.” (Luke 1:28-38 NIV)
God’s favor is not something we earn; it is something we receive as a gift that must always be shared.
Mary’s story challenges those of us who have received the gift of a relationship with Jesus to be God-bearers to the rest of the world, believing that God’s grace always comes to us on its way to someone else. We bear the Christ, we share God’s grace, and we change the world when we take on Mary’s attitude of service and surrender. We would do well to memorize and use her response as we move about in the world every day…
You have a thousand tasks to do today and no time to do them. You want to crawl back in bed and pull the covers over your head. Imagine what would happen, though, if you started every day by saying, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord.” Chances are you would see problems as opportunities for God’s grace to shine through…
Where do you need to say, “Here am I, a servant of the Lord”? How can you be a God-bearer to your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, and others?
-- Excerpted and adapted from “Come to the Manger” by Robert Kaylor
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