Saying “Yes” to God Though Feeling Daunted

Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, December 21, 2021

The week of the fourth Sunday in Advent

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th,D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

34Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’* 35The 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* will be holy; he will be called Son of God. . . . 34Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ . . . . 37For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 939)

AM Psalm 66, 67; PM Psalm 116, 117

1 Samuel 2:1b-10; Titus 2:1-10; Luke 1:26-38

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Office Gospel, Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’* 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ 34Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’* 35The 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* will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And 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. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.’ 38Then 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.

David’s Reflections

We know this reading as the Annunciation, Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. Her initial response was incredulity; she was a virgin and could not grasp how such a birth would be possible. But, Gabriel reassured her that the conception would be the work of the Spirit (Gabriel’s word was “overshadow”). Mary responded in faith, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Her initial incredulity overcome by her response of faith makes her, for Luke, an ideal for all of us for discipleship. Would that our response to challenges and demands emulated hers more often and more fully.

So many of the teachings of Jesus and so much in Holy Scripture feel impenetrable and impossible. When we respond with hesitancy and lack of faith, we find ourselves in great company, the company of people like Mary with her initial response. We can find biblical people responding similarly from Moses and Abraham to Paul.

Encountering God’s presence and hearing a personal word from God can come in surprising ways. You may feel a personal message coming through in the singing of a hymn, during a Scripture reading or sermon, while sitting quietly at home reading the Bible or another piece of literature, during a conversation with another, during a dream, or during a particularly beautiful moment in the natural world. That encounter with the divine might be so subtle that you might miss its import the first few times. But, repeated experiences will continue renewing God’s invitation to you to listen.

God approaches each of us differently, divine wisdom knowing in advance how each of us is wired and coming to us along pathways most likely to generate our response. Often, my initial signal is a physical chill. And, often the decisive word comes as an inner word, almost a whisper in my soul. The last step into the Episcopal Church came in response to a repeated inner whisper during a worship service at St. Thomas’, Monroe, LA. “Stay! Stay! Stay!” I stayed.

Then, you may well feel that any action implied or demanded seems overwhelming and undoable. Mary did. “How can these things be?”, she inquired. But, God has so many ways of reassuring us. The angel said to Mary, “Nothing will be impossible with God.” Yet, even God’s reassurance can’t take the risk away. Mary had to live into and through a demanding and risky process to birth Jesus. At some point, it will be up to us to say, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” It will be up to us to set our faces into the winds of risk and challenge and live into and through God’s calling.

Consider the words of the anonymous 14th. Century English monk who wrote The Cloud of Unknowing and the Book of Privy Counseling:

That which I am I offer to you, O Lord,

without looking to any quality of your

being but only to the fact that you

are as you are; this, and nothing more.

That which I am, I offer to you,

O Lord, for you are it entirely.

That which I am, and the way that I am,

with all my gifts of nature and grace,

you have given to me, O Lord, and you are

all this. I offer it all to you, principally

to praise you and to help my fellow Christians

and myself.

[The Cloud of Unknowing and The Book of Privy Counseling. Edited by William Johnston. Foreword by Huston Smith. (New York: Doubleday, 1996), pp. 150, 151, 156.]

Collect of the Day, The fourth Sunday of Advent

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 212)

A Collect for Peace

O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 99)

A Collect for Early Evening

Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)

A Collect for Mission

Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 100)