Pastor’s Corner (12/13)

Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  – – Luke 1:38

 This year we’re exploring Advent through the eyes of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In our daily devotional I Am Mary Carol Howard Merritt invites us to traverse these weeks of preparation by pondering things from Mary’s perspective. On Wednesday nights we’re also looking at things from Mary’s point of view as we watch the video presentations of Adam Hamilton and read his book Not a Silent Night. The thing that really strikes me about all this material, is the reminder that God came into the world through a young woman from a small town in an outlying province of the Roman Empire. God didn’t come into the world in a serene and orderly way. God came into the world through a small child born in a manger full of noisy, smelly and loud animals. Despite the hymns that portray a silent night, it was probably full of crying, braying, and all sorts of different noises.

Despite our best preparations, God still comes into our world and our lives in the midst of chaos and noise. Life is often messy and unpredictable. The beauty of God’s Advent through Immanuel, is this awareness; God comes to us in the midst of the noise and the messiness. God embraces us as we are, not as we wish we were. Hopefully we are each able to find some peace and serenity during this sacred season, but if not, don’t worry because the point of this season is that God comes. God comes to us wherever and however we are. All we need to do is have the faith of Mary and respond as she did by saying “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

May we have the courage of Mary to invite God into our noisy and messy lives. God is with us, Immanuel!

May the blessings and chaos of this season be with us all,

Pastor Karen