Advent I: The Annunciation-saying Yes to the Way of Lovve

Last week we started our Advent Journey on the Way of Love with an exploration of what a Rule of Life is and how each individual Rule of Life might assist us in our Journey through Advent. Today is the First Sunday of Advent. This week we will look at how saying ‘yes’ to God and to the journey might change and enrich us.

We are using ideas in the Way of Love curriculum and Advent calendar from the Episcopal Church*. I’ve taken some of those suggestions and incorporated them into the Planner page for this week, along with some other ideas. The planner gives you tips for using the study in an individual way, and the Way of Love curriculum can be used in a group setting.

The Way of Love curriculum encourages us to be specific about their Rule of Life actions in each of the 7 disciplines in the Way of Love. Perhaps Centering Prayer is your Prayer practice and reading a devotional or selected scripture daily is what you do to Learn. Are Sunday church services your Worship? What do you do for the Bless, Turn, Go, and Rest portions? How do each of these practices help you say ‘yes’?

This week’s scripture is the Annunciation story in Luke 1:26-38 (depicted here in Ecce Ancilla Domini! by Dante Gabriel Rosetti, 1849-50). Mary’s ‘yes’ to God’s call on her life is, as the Way of Love curriculum notes, “a model for our own yes to the Way of Love…one of the most countercultural things we can do today…it may be just as frightening as Mary’s. We may not know the implications of saying yes…We can never be fully prepared for the magnificent journey with Jesus…we are called to say ‘yes’ to this impossibility made possible.”

It is true. If we really LIVE a Way of Love that says ‘yes’ to God, we are being countercultural. Think about all the messages we are bombarded with. Very few of them have anything to do with love. The daily news is full of scary and bad things happening. Social media is crammed with negativity (interspersed with cat videos). There is fear and anger and hatred, seemingly, everywhere. To live as members of the Body of Christ and embody the Way of Love Jesus taught is not an easy response to those people or things that make us afraid or angry.

We must be very intentional about seeking out positive things to focus on. We need tools that will help us react in a loving way rather than in a self-protective, angry, or negative way. The Way of Love disciplines are one way to re-program our minds to look to God first and foremost as we incorporate them into our individual Rule of Life.

During this Advent journey along the Way of Love, we may just discover that by deepening our life in Prayer and Rest, Learning and Worship; and that living by Turning (or re-Turning) and Going out to Bless we can indeed be a countercultural influence in the world.

As the saying goes, “A day hemmed in with prayer won’t unravel”. That’s true. When we keep our hearts fixed on looking for God and saying ‘yes’ to the little and big ways God is calling us to live Love, we will be changed. Just maybe we’ll change the world around us, too. All it takes is saying ‘yes’ to God’s call! That sounds deceptively simple, doesn’t it?

Think about your own life now and leading up to this moment. When have you heard God asking you to say ‘yes’? Where has that taken you? For me, one of the times I heard God asking me to step out was when I sat down to write my first book. And then to publish it. I would never have guessed that the simple act of putting words on paper would change me from an introvert who would prefer not to speak to groups, to someone who leads retreats and chairs committees.

Sometimes it’s not completely clear what God is asking, or where it will lead. There is a recent contemporary Christian song by Hillary Scott. In her song Thy Will, Scott admits, “I’m so confused/ I know I heard You loud and clear/ So, I followed through/ Somehow I ended up here/ I don’t wanna think/ I may never understand/ That my broken heart is a part of Your plan.”

This week’s planner asks us to consider our 'yes' to God by asking what part of Worship fills your heart and why. The planner invites us to really listen to someone else’s point of view, and to do a random act of kindness. We are also called to consider where we might have fallen short and invites us into Rest by doing something that feeds the soul. Each of these is a way to say ‘yes’ to God’s call and invitation to live a Way of Love. We don’t know where that will take us, and being out of control is usually scary.  

As Hillary Scott sings, “Sometimes I gotta stop/ Remember that You’re God/ And I am not…Thy will be done.” Often the best we can do when we are faced with God’s answer to our ‘yes’ is to admit we aren’t God, or in control, and just pray ‘Thy will be done’. We have to trust, with Scott, “I know You hear me, Lord/ Your plans are for me/ Goodness You have in store.”

Whenever we say ‘yes’ to God, we’ll go places we didn’t ever expect. As things change around us, we are can be assured that God is in control, no matter what. As a way of submitting to God, you may want to add this closing prayer from the Way of Love curriculum to your Way of Love prayers this week.

Holy One, who makes the impossible possible, open our ears to hear you calling us to birth new life into the world. Grant us, through the power of the Spirit, the courage of Mary to respond with “yes” so that your Word may dwell in our hearts; through your son Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.*

*Way of Love Advent Curriculum; By Jenifer Gamber and Becky Zartman; Copyright © 2018 by The Episcopal Church;

The Episcopal Church/ 815 2nd Ave/New York, NY 10017

Expect God to Act

And so we come full circle here in the last Sunday of Advent. We have looked at being aware of God around us-an activity that requires us to be vulnerable and to set aside the walls we have built up. We have discovered that faith is necessary to expecting God. We saw that expecting God means hearing “I love you” from God.

In the season of Advent, the lessons all remind us that God acts in a mighty way. Not just in 1^st century Bethlehem, but in the teaching of the Old Testament prophets and in the early church. God still acts today. When we are aware and expectant we can see that.  

We like to pretend that we control our destiny-but it is God who acts. “Man proposes, God disposes” as the saying goes. As noted back on the first Sunday of Advent, Expect is an active word-from the root meaning to look or to see. When we Expect God-we look for God in our life and in the lives of those around. When we look for God, we will see God at work.

In this Advent season we often hear sermons about Mary and how she said “Let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) We are reminded to be as obedient and willing to serve as Mary. What we don’t hear as much about is how courageous Mary was in her willing response. For me, this Annunciation by John Collier captures some of that fear, as Mary seems to hold herself back from Gabriel. Yet, she ultimately doesn't question or refuse. Mary says 'Yes' to God.

Jim Trainor recently said,  “Even in her fear, Mary says Yes. You see, courage isn’t not being afraid. Courage is not letting your fear stop you from saying, ‘Yes.’”

How do we say ‘yes’ to the Living God? As passive spectators or active participants? Rachel Naomi Remen (A Time for Listening and Caring) says, “Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.” To me this represents a paradigm shift in thinking. We serve because we are working alongside God for world that God called into being and said “It is Good”. I think Remen is correct in saying that fixing and helping are the ‘work of the ego’ because we cannot and should not think we can ‘correct’ or ‘improve on’ God’s work. We can be stewards and co-workers in the vineyard.

Trainor continues in his blog, “God challenges us today – like he did Mary – to get out of our comfort zone, way out of our comfort zone. He challenges us to keep following that little baby that Mary brought into the world – and that means being vehicles of his healing and restoration and rescue and reconciliation.”

 None of us know what 2014 will bring. We can be assured that God is going to continue to act and that we who wait on God with expectation will find opportunities-new and old-to respond ‘yes’.

 I wish each of you, my readers, a blessed Christmas and a Holy New Year. I hope you will continue to stop by from time to time to see what's happening with this blog and with my books. It's hard to fathom that 6 years have slid by posting to this blog, on a weekly (sometimes more often) basis! I pray that sometime in those years my words have touched a chord in some reader and will do so in the future. 

Advent I--Here am I, November 29

As an author, it sometimes helps me understand the men and women of the Bible when I write about them. Throughout these Advent meditations, I will be sharing my ‘version’ of Mary’s thoughts about her Journey to Bethlehem, in the form of an interview between Mary and Luke. Scholars think that he probably did interview Mary as the source for the woman’s view in his Gospel. There are many insights in the Gospel of Luke that could only have come from a first person recollection. One of them is the Annunciation scene. (Luke 1:26-38) Mary lived in Nazareth, in the northern part of Israel. Below is a photo of the town.

LUKE: Mary, can you tell me what happened when you first learned that you would be mother of Messiah?

MARY: The day started out like any other. I remember going to the well in the morning. I walked with my friends Rachel and Tamar. They wanted to ask me about my upcoming wedding. They were amazed, as was most of Nazareth, when Joseph bar Heli asked my father if we could be betrothed. I don’t think anyone in Nazareth thought he would ever get married. (giggles)

LUKE: Did you know Joseph well?

MARY: (shakes her head) Not very well. He was older, of course. Nearly every girl marries a man older than she is. We talked about the wedding, even though it wasn’t going to happen for almost a year. Rachel asked me if I would be embroidering a new headdress. Tamar was more interested in the food preparation. She was already a good baker like her mother.

LUKE: Then what happened?

MARY: We went back to our homes. I finished my chores. (pauses and stares off toward the hills near Nazareth) The paths in those hills are my friends. I walked there whenever I could be spared from cooking or weaving.

LUKE: You went for a walk in the hills?

MARY: In the silence and the whisper of the leaves God feels very close to me. I never really feel that I am alone. It may sound strange, but I feel like God holds my hand when I am walking there. That day…(sighs and smiles dreamily) It was spring and the leaves were just budding. Everything seemed to shimmer in the light of the setting sun. I did think that it was one of the most beautiful sunsets I had seen. A few clouds on the horizon made the sky turn to rose. Have you ever seen the sunlight radiating up from behind clouds?

LUKE: Yes.

MARY: It was like that. Only the light from the clouds didn’t just go up into the sky it seemed to reach out and embrace me. I stood still and breathed in the beauty. Then, oh then, the light grew even brighter. I knew God was very near and I fell to my knees.

LUKE: How did you know God was there?

MARY: (with a smile) I just knew. I felt warm, like the sunset was hugging me. In my heart I heard a tender greeting. “Favored one! The Lord is with you!” I think I nodded because there was no doubt that God was right there.

LUKE: What did you think?

MARY: (shakes her head) There was nothing to think about. I was lost in the wonder of the nearness of God. Then I heard, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will conceive and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

LUKE: You heard a prophecy of Messiah.

MARY: It is what every girl in Israel dreams of, without ever thinking that it will happen to her. We all want to be the mother of Messiah who will usher in God’s new reign. Even though my house and Joseph’s are of the line of David, we had never talked about the prophecy being fulfilled by our children. Really, we hardly talked to each other after the betrothal ceremony. He was busy building a house for us.

LUKE: What did you think when you heard the promise?

MARY: I said the first words that came to my mind. They were a whisper of confusion, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Joseph and I were not to be married for months.

LUKE: Did you think the angel was foretelling what would happen after you were married?

MARY: No, I knew that God’s word was immediate and the next thing I heard confirmed it. (pauses) It was almost too much to believe. “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” I think I held up a hand in denial and fear, because a moment later I felt a comforting warmth and the declaration of something almost more astonishing. “Your relative Elizabeth in her old age has conceived a son. This is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

LUKE: Why did it matter that Elizabeth was having a son?

MARY: (smiles) It was proof from God that what I heard was true and real. The Holy One gave me something tangible to confirm the Promise. My mind was spinning and my heart was pounding.

LUKE: Did you doubt the angel?

MARY: Hearing of Elizabeth’s pregnancy made me realize that what I heard in my heart was true and from God. It was not something I imagined. I knew that I had to go visit Elizabeth. I knew she was pregnant just as I knew that the Message was true. I would bear Messiah.

LUKE: It must have been hard to grasp.

MARY: In a way it was strange, but I had no fear. I heard myself say, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be as you have said.” Later I thought about all the reasons that my response was rash, but even then I was not afraid. God’s love held me secure. It was dark when I returned home. Mother asked me what happened. “You are late,” she scolded me. I was surprised she didn’t see anything different about me. I knew I would never be the same and that my life was changed forever.

There are many artistic representations of this scene. From ancient icons to modern interpretations, we most often see Mary confronted by an angel, who usually looms over her. In some art the holds up a hand as if to say, “please stop.” However, Mary was simply a young girl, like any other in Nazareth and Israel.

Scholars postulate that Mary was likely just a young teen, probably 13 or 14 years old when she had this encounter. It takes a special person, of any age, to respond to such a vibrant call from God, esp. one that will change her life dramatically. Mary had a deep faith that would allow her to hear the angelic messenger and to respond with submission to God.

The Bible has many instances of others who encountered God and argued much more volubly against their call. Moses, for one, begs God to “send someone else.” Jonah tries to run away from God’s call. Elijah has to be reassured by the “still small voice” that he is not alone. Mary, on the other hand, expresses astonishment that she could conceive, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (vs. 34), but does not argue or present all the reasons that she cannot be mother to the One “called the Son of God.”

Mary of the Annunciation is a woman of strong faith, despite her age. She knows that the refrain of the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness is correct. “Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!" Without hesitation she believes when the angel says, “nothing will be impossible with God,” and responds, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (vs. 38)

What does her submission to the call of God have to teach us as we begin our Advent journey this year?
Is Mary’s strength and faith an inspiration for you?
Can we be as trusting as Mary, so that we can say, “Great is Thy faithfulness” no matter what we are called to do?

We can respond to any challenge or opportunity when we understand that God provides all we need, no matter what we are called to do or where we are in our journey. Let the refrain to the hymn be your prayer this week as you listen to what God is saying to your heart and mind.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Next week we will hear Mary tell how she informed Joseph of her news.

As promised, the book special this week (Nov. 29-Dec. 5) is get 20% off any of my books. You can only get this special by emailing me and noting Blog Special in the memo line. Check back next week for another special offer.