Advent Day 6

" In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 'Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!' But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.'"

    ~Luke 1:26-30

As we meet Mary, we are placed in time yet again, but this time it's through Elizabeth. The miraculous conception of John flows into the miraculous conception of Jesus. Do you ever think what would happen if we weren't familiar with this story?

An elderly couple, unable to conceive a child for their entire lives, are now expecting. That seems like the main story. We're not sitting there asking when something climatic is going to happen. We're ready to follow Zechariah and Elizabeth or to let their story end with the promise of a son, but the story continues and shifts to Mary. Their blessing was a precursor to the main blessing, Jesus and eternal salvation, the main storyline. The same main storyline that's throughout all of Scripture.

We never see the whole story though. Even in Scripture when we have the dots connected for us, we cannot see God's movement in its entirety. And this is encouraging as we look at our own lives. All the details and innerworkings we miss. We can't begin to fathom how the pieces of our story interact with eternity. We can see so clearly in the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth--and John's ministry which follows--how a message delivered to one man impacts the Kingdom as a whole. But how many times has God given me a message and gone to someone else with another, interconnecting our stories unbeknownst to either of us and bringing Kingdom good because of it? How much of His good handiwork is beyond us? And how glorious is the little that we do see?

God is always preparing the way.

This is proven even in that Mary is "pledged to be married." That's a detail I've too often let pass me by. One that I've reduced to the introduction of another character in the story. Yet this fact is an essential piece of God's provision.

The virgin birth is too significant a point of Jesus's conception for Mary to have been married already, but why betrothed?

On the surface that circumstance can actually make things harder. She's got someone else to answer to. Someone who can now shame or stone her for breaking their betrothal. But God knew who Joseph was, and He allowed him this opportunity to participate in the work He was doing.

Carrying the Son of God as a virgin teenager was a hard blessing. A blessing that left Mary judged by her community, but that's why betrothal was the right time. During that point in history, women relied on husbands for their livelihood, and the circumstances and assumptions around Jesus's birth would've left Mary a poor marriage prospect. But God gave Mary someone to protect her and someone to choose her when she would've been unable to marry otherwise. God's blessing required her to endure something hard, but He provided for Mary even in those difficult circumstances, showing His power and care. 

God chose the right man for her betrothal. A man who would not shame her even when he thought the worst. A man who would listen to the voice of God when His messenger appeared. 

Because of her betrothal, because of Joseph, Mary was married, loved, and supported, Jesus had an earthly father, and both were provided for within the society in which they lived.

This isn't the story of favor we imagine, and yet that's exactly what Gabriel calls Mary, "you who are highly favored." We want favor to mean that things will be easy, but usually what it means is that things will be good. That God is inviting us into His story. And sometimes that participation is hard. Sometimes it requires something of us. God's favor is a result of His grace, but so often we dismiss the hard things in our lives instead of looking for signs of God's favor. Mary would give birth to God Himself, but she would also be a young, unmarried, pregnant woman in a culture that would seek to stone her for that very combination. But in all this, she knew the angel's words. She believed in her favor. And she believed that the God who favored her would also be with her, walking the hard road of goodness with her.

I love that Gabriel eases Mary's troubled heart not only with the declaration not to fear but also by repeating her favor before God. 

The power of repetition is that it allows us to listen with new ears. So many things distract us from the truth God is telling us, leading us deeper into our troubles, but God is patient with us. Gabriel reinforces Mary's favor but only after telling her not to be afraid, after removing the distractions, so that her mind would be able to receive his words in a different way the second time. Repetition allows something to settle in us that had brushed by us before. And for the reader, repetition allows us to see God's intentionality with Mary.  

Before the miracle is proclaimed, before Jesus's name is mentioned, this section shows us that our stories are grander and more intertwined than we can imagine. God's grace may require difficult circumstances within that story, but He will always provide within them. And as the angel appears before Mary, we learn first and foremost that she is favored. 

As we walk through this Advent season, participating in the work of salvation through God's grace to us, may we remember first and foremost that if we are in Christ, we are favored by the Most High God. May all of our good works come out of that place, receiving His love and pouring it back over the world He was born into and died to save.