25 March 2014 - handmade handmaid

25 March 2014 - handmade handmaid

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”

All of our redemption is contained in this response.  Once this choice is made, once this consent is given, once God's will is here embraced there is nothing which can stop it.  Mary makes the choice to put all of her trust in God.  She holds nothing back from this trust.  She entirely surrenders to assess this thing with her own understanding.  There is no cost-benefit analysis.  There is only perfect surrender.

God insists on this free response.  He desires to be born in time to a family.  For this to happen the Holy Spirit must come upon a mother and the power of the Most High must overshadow her.  But the Holy Spirit will not force himself on her.  He is a perfect gentleman.

How does he ever find someone who can embrace this plan for humanity?  We see in Ahaz that to embrace this plan is not easy.  Even told to ask for a sign, something which seems to be to his benefit, Ahaz is unable to cooperate.

“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”
Then Isaiah said:
Listen, O house of David!
Is it not enough for you to weary people,
must you also weary my God?

The LORD says that he will take things into his own hands to give the sign that we need.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us!”

And yet, while the LORD himself does it, it is also done by Mary's free consent.  How does this work?  A careful reading reveals that even before Mary's "fiat" the angel can say "The Lord is with you."  Mary is already full of grace.  She is already connected with God in a way that enables her to make the choice which no one else can make to fully embrace God's will.  She is truly given "ears open to obedience."  Because she can say this Jesus can say "a body you prepared for me".  Perhaps that is why there verse is changed when it is quoted.  Mary's obedience is opens the door to the redemption which only the obedience of Jesus can bring about, obedience from which Mary's own "fiat" draws its power.

Mary is empowered to say, "Here I am Lord; I come to do your will" even before Jesus says it.  But it is only united to Jesus who embraces his Father's will all the way to the cross that Mary can say it.  Her standing at the foot of the cross united to Jesus is already mysteriously contained in her fiat. 

But we're more like Ahaz.  We feel like we have been told that "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test" so many times that we can't possibly "Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God" even when he tells us to do so.  Mary, on the other hand, takes the risk of obedience.  But we're been burned by our own failures before.  We're afraid to step out in faith.  What can we learn this morning?

We must learn that the initiative ultimately lies with God.  He is not only the one who tells us to ask for a sign, he himself is willing to bring it about.  He is not only the one who tells us to be perfect as he is perfect.  He is also the one who prepares our bodies and who gives us ears open to obedience.  Through the life and death of Jesus we are filled with the same grace of obedience which Mary displays perfectly.  The Lord is with Mary because he desires to be Emmanuel.  He desires to be, not just God with her, but God with us, with all of us.

And so let us respond with joy as she does.  Just as she proclaims the greatness of the LORD and rejoices in the God who saves so should we.

Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.