When the angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would give birth to the Son of God, she had every reason to turn and run.
She might have thought of the embarrassment of being pregnant before marriage, or what her fiance Joseph would do when he found out, or what her own family would assume.
According to Mosaic Law, she could be stoned (Deuteronomy 22:20). Gabriel may very well have been the angel of death, for all she knew of the possible consequences of his words.
But Mary was not like other teenage girls.
Judging by her response, she must have been paying attention. She understood the humble state of her people. She also knew from the scriptures that the Lord's mercy extended to those who fear him for generations. Her knowledge gave her a divine perspective.
Mary sang, not of her own fate, but of the great things she understood God was doing.
"He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” (Luke 1:51-55)
This young woman did not react with fearful self-preservation because she understood there was nothing worth preserving without Jesus. Mary was not content with the world. She had a fire inside her that welcomed revolution.
The current world order, in which the abuses of empire had to be endured so her people could survive another day, was not the way the world was supposed to be. She was never meant to acquiesce to the lie that Caesar was a god. She was meant to give birth to God himself.
Because Mary was willing to risk everything to see God's kingdom come, she said "Yes."
"I would encourage you to be less content with the world as you see it," Pastor Josh said in his sermon yesterday, the last Advent Sunday of the year. "To be less content when people are taken advantage of. To be upset when there is injustice. To grieve that."
The truth about Mary is that she was not only chosen. She also chose God. She knew the scriptures. She knew the history of her people. She knew they were oppressed. Her heart had called upon the Lord from a young age. As a result, she shared in the Lord's discontent. She knew what was at stake.
She was ready to say "Yes" to bringing hope into the world.
Are we?
Let us seek the Lord's discontent as this Advent season comes to a close, because only in being discontented will we welcome change, and act in faith that the Lord will one day bring hope to us all.
In this hope we greet one another this week: Merry Christmas!
