December 24, 2023; Luke 1: 26-38; Fourth Sunday of Advent
The time is short. Now we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and in a few hours it will be Christmas Eve. So, I will be brief. Here is one simple idea from today’s gospel: Mary said yes to what she did not understand. When the angel told her she was to bear a son without any contact with a human father, Mary asked, “How can this be?” The angel told her that the power of God would overshadow her. But as to how this would happen or what this might look like, no explanation was given. But Mary said yes, not because she understood what she would have to face, but because she trusted the one who had sent the angel.
There are many things in our lives that we do not understand. Why do my spouse and I always argue over money? Why does my son or daughter have to struggle continuously to find happiness? Why does the person I love have cancer? As we face these questions, Mary says to us, “I didn’t understand either. But I believed that the God who asked me to face what I did not understand loved me and would never abandon me. So I said yes.”
God loves you.
God will never abandon you.
Say yes.
Reminds me of one of your old sermons when Mary got the news and she understood exactly what was to happen and about travelling and having her baby in a manger where animals ate ECT. And she said I’d like to speak to that angel again! Had to be 30 years ago 🙏🏾