"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Luke 1:38
There is something striking and even convicting about Mary's response to the angel's message.
She offered no qualifiers. She didn't ask "what if" questions, she didn't hesitate to consider the possible ramifications of the Lord's plan. She just offered herself up to her Lord, graciously and gratefully, yielding to his design and purpose for her life. We, of course, know her story and have the benefit of seeing the outcome of her life and obedience; but she didn't know how it would all unfold the moment she said "Yes" to the angel. There were so many things she couldn't foresee.
"I am the Lord's servant...May it be to me as you have said." Mary's life changed forever the moment these words were spoken. Whatever she had envisioned for herself and her life disappeared, and in its place came a course of events that she never could have anticipated. Mary didn't know that she would give birth in a stable, that her baby's first bed would be a manger, or that within a few short months her little family would be fleeing for their lives to Egypt. She didn't know that an old man named Simeon, following the leading of the Spirit, would prophesy over her and this promised baby. She didn't know that Bethlehem shepherds would come and bow the knee in worship to her baby. She didn't know Magi would visit at an opportune time to worship the young King that stood by her side, laying expensive gifts at his feet. Mary didn't have any way to know that she would be witness to his first miracle, or that this baby she was called to bear would travel throughout Israel teaching with God's power and authority, performing miracles, healing the sick, and raising the dead. Mary knew there was great significance to what she was being called to, that this baby would be special and would ultimately reign forever. But she didn't know what it all would cost. She didn't know what her "Yes" would mean.
Mary didn't know that in the midst of experiencing God's presence and power as she lived out her role in the redemptive plan of God she would also suffer great pain, loss, grief and sorrow. She didn't know that the baby would grow up obeying a different Father - creating confusion, fear and upset when he had to be away from his family in order to "be with his Father" in his Father's house. She didn't know that his submission to his Father's will would mean he would be misunderstood and hated. Mary didn't know how this baby would become a divisive figure, in what way he would reveal the hearts of many, how he would become "a man of sorrows,"or through what means her heart would likewise break. She didn't know what his life would become, or what his death would mean - that she would witness her son's body torn apart by merciless beatings and his blood-soaked body nailed to a cross. Mary didn't know that there would be another bittersweet goodbye when she would watch his resurrected body rise into the clouds, that an angel would offer the benediction to the life of the son that had been announced by an angel all those years ago.
And so the challenge for us who are followers of Christ, each called to our own unique purpose within the plan of God: what will our answer be? We who have no more insight than Mary as to how our lives will change and unfold upon following the call of God. Are we willing to answer as Mary did with no qualifiers, no hesitation, no bargaining? Are we able to offer the same heart of humble obedient surrender as Mary, knowing that we will get to experience the presence and power of God in ways we never could imagine, but knowing too that we may also undergo great suffering, sorrow, grief and loss? Are we willing to let go of our own visions for our lives and claim God's? This Advent season may Mary's answer be ours, "I am the Lord's servant...let it be to me as you have said."