THIS is

Luke 1:34-37

34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”[c] 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[d] will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Overwhelming. The news, the idea, the responsibility. How could all of this not have been overwhelming to Mary? Just the idea of holiday traffic is enough to fill many of us with dread, but in the words of the carol “What Child is This” Mary had the added responsibility of knowing “This, this is Christ the King”.

THIS, This is the one who would save us all. THIS, this is the one who will be Emmanuel, God with us. THIS, this is the son of God! All of THIS and yet Mary said yes, let it be with me…

At Christmas we are all busy. We are all stressed. We are all overwhelmed and over-booked in our striving to make things “picture perfect”. But, THIS, this is our story. THIS, this is our legacy, our identity. THIS, this is what it’s all about. Let us not let all of that…the stuff, the stress, the consumerism, overshadow THIS. May we wear THIS story like a medal of valor, Mary’s valor. And may our heart be prepared to say yes when God calls us out of comfort and into His service this Christmas.

“Why lies He in such mean estate Where ox and ass are feeding? Good Christian, fear, for sinners here The silent Word is pleading. Nails, spear shall pierce him through, The Cross be borne for me, for you; Hail, hail the Word made flesh, The babe, the son of Mary! “

-Composer William Chatterton Dix

Prayer: Jesus you are what this season is all about. May we keep that in the forefront of all of our Christmas business. May your story be our medal. -Amen