Fourth Sunday of Advent – Luke 1:26-38

‘The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God’. (Luke 1:30, NRSV)

The fourth Sunday in Advent we turn our thoughts to Mary: Mary who was brave enough to become the mother of God. Yes, brave. Listen again to the words of the angel; well it would take lots of courage just to talk to an angel many of us would not have that kind of courage. Then what are the first words from the angel ‘do no be afraid’. That is how we know it was brave of Mary to remain in the presence of the angel.

‘You have found favor with God’, how wonderful and how scary in the same moment those words are. We want to find favor with God. We want to be good enough for God to take notice of us and at the same time knowing that God has seen us is scary. If God knows where to find me then what will God want me to do? If God likes me and I like God what else is involved in this relationship? For Mary what was involved was to carry a child, birth the child and raise the child. Not a small task and because God knew Mary, God knew that she would be willing to it. When God knows us, God knows what we will be willing to do and God may come asking us to do it. Now that is scary and we must be brave like Mary in order to carry out what God has asked us to do.

God our Father, help us to be brave like Mary when you come to ask us to work for you. Amen.

– Pastor Roxie Sullivan