Be Afraid

Luke 1:26-39

There are a lot of things of which we are afraid. At least I know I am. And the more I read the Bible the more I am convinced that a part of God's great work in redeeming me is to invite me to live and NOT be afraid of those things -- to live a life that is, at the end of the day, not scared about money and security and the future.

But on the other hand, the more I read the Bible the more I am convinced that there is good reason to be very concerned when God comes to you and says, "I've got a job for you to do, don't worry, I like you!" Or something like that.

Mary was a sharp teenager, she got this! When the angle of the Lord appears to her and says, "Greetings, favored one!" The Scripture tells us that she was very concerned and wonder what in world this could mean. She knows enough to know that when God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob comes for a visit you usually get invited to go on a journey out into something that will change everything else about your life. And that is scary!

And of course the angel says what all angels say, "Don't be afraid Mary, you have found favor with God." But to me, that is precisely why she IS afraid. And I think we do ourselves and our churches a disservice when pretend that God's work in us is casual and mostly concerned with making us gradually into nicer people.

God's work is SO much bigger than that and when God visits you and me, just as when God visits Mary, God comes to take us where we would never go on our own. And Mary says, "Yes" to that. She is afraid, she's in way over her adolescent head, but she is open to the God who says, "With Me, nothing is impossible!" And Mary says, "I'm in, scared to death, but I'm in!"

In this season of God's coming to us, may we say the same thing!