This time of year we often recall the story of the angel Gabriel telling Mary about how she would be with child and that baby would be the Son of God and how what a wondrous event that probably had angels singing and lights from heaven and birds and animals are dancing like in an old Disney cartoon. This is the moment where God has chosen Mary to be the mother to the Savior. And Mary’s response is just a question about how can this be and then the humble response of ‘Let it be’. But I don’t think that this was the Christmas song moment that we usually think about. What God was asking Mary to do was not something that she would have posted all over social media. Having children was and is a huge blessing, but that was probably not the calling that she wanted. Because God’s calling for her actually put her at risk.
Becoming pregnant before getting married, she would have been considered an adulteress. And think of what her excuse was. “Mary how did this happen!?” “God said that I would miraculously conceive and bear the Son of God.” Apparently, not many people believed that. So because of what God asked her to do, she was going to risk losing her husband, which she almost did. Joseph planned to break the engagement until God called on him to stay in it.
As a perceived adulteress, Mary risked any honor or social status that she may have had. Just think of how the rumor mill would be running once news got out that she was pregnant before the wedding night. Think of the staring and whispering that would have surrounded her as she walked around the streets of Nazareth. In fact, it says that in those days she arose and went with haste into the hill country and stayed with her cousin, Elizabeth for a few months. It may have been that she just wanted to rejoice with her family, but I imagine wanting to get away from public factored into the decision to get out of town.
And probably the biggest of all is that Mary risked her life in accepting God’s calling. Being seen as an adulteress was not just a thing of shame, but it was against Levitical Law. Deut 22:23 “If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city an lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death…” And I don’t know how often that actually happened, but I bet that anytime she saw someone pick up a rock, she started to sweat a little.
This incredible moment when Mary is chosen by God, we see it for the wonderful, joyous moment that it really is because we only have the abbreviated version and we have the luxury of hindsight to see how everything works out. But Gabriel didn’t reassure her that everything was going to work out fine. That she wouldn’t be stoned, that Joseph wasn’t going to divorce her, that a majority of the world would believe in her miraculous conception and she would receive honor instead of shame. In the face of it, Mary was given a task that would cause conflict and many sleepless nights crying and wondering why God would do this to her.
God’s calling for us is really no different. We are called to be the vessels that bring Jesus to the world, to show his love and compassion. But that also means that we must stand up for what God says is right and sometimes that puts us at risk. We risk relationships with friends or family. We risk our reputation or a social status among peers. There are people who risk their very lives for the cause of Christ.
But because Mary was obedient, she had a relationship with God, with Jesus, that was as strong as a mother’s love for her child. God offers that same relationship to us if we will we be as strong, courageous, and obedient as this (probably) 14 year old girl.