December 19th Advent Reflection

Luke 1: 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.

Can you imagine this scene? A young teenage girl has an angel appear to her. That alone would send most of us into a state of shock! Lots of thoughts come to Mary and would to us also, “Why me, who am I that you have come to me?” Secondly, the news that we all know – you will bear a child and he will be our Messiah. A key word that Luke records here is the very clear statement that we cannot miss but is not in common usage today, the servant of the Lord.

What does it mean to be a servant? To serve and do so willingly. No, “Sorry not my job”, or “Why don’t you ask someone else to do this?” We know if we are quiet God still speaks. Ever resist a call? Ever tell God, “I cannot do that.” We know stories from scripture about this sort of thing. God can make us pay attention as he did Paul on the road to Damascus. Does he really need to go to that extreme? Love your neighbor – let’s not ask, “Who is my neighbor?”

Lord, we pray that we may be more attentive to your call and respond with, “Yes, Lord”.

GS