December 19, 2011

Luke 1:38 And Mary said, “Yes, I see it all now: I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say.” (The Message)

This is Mary’s response to the angel after being told that she was to have a baby without benefit of husband, a baby that would be the son of God. Pretty heady stuff! We will never know what would have happened if she resisted (could she have said “no way?”). She didn’t just resign herself to her fate but was “ready to serve,” as Peterson puts it. God says “yes” to us, coming as the baby we celebrate at Christmas so that we might say “yes” to God, servants “ready to serve.” After the gifts are unwrapped and, perhaps returned; after the Christmas dinner has become leftovers; after we have headed home or the company has departed there remains the baby who is Christ the Lord, the one who has full claim on our lives. Will we be ready to serve?

Merry Christmas!

Don