“i’m gabriel. i stand in the presence of God, and i have been sent to speak to you and tell you this good news”. (luke 1:19)
good news you say, to who? sure, 2000 years later it’s good news to you and me, but we have the benefit of hindsight. but i’m thinking mary and joseph could have done just fine without this good news. at least in the moment. the gospel is, of course, messy. why would life then be different than today? God does his best work in messy. He always has. it takes messy to get our attention.
parents arrange marriage. boy and girl excited. betrothal announced. celebration! wedding plans begin. someone else’s baby????
mary, bless her heart, is thrilled. she might have been naive. she was probably only 14 or 15 years old. but old joe was older, wiser and more cynical. he’s not buying this story and is ready to bail. joe’s going to flee. there are just 2 culturally acceptable options for this man of God: expose mary to public disgrace or dismiss her quietly. but then came the dream.the angel showed him a new way. a third way. marry mary. this third way involves overcoming fear as well as considering unconventional options. there is nothing easy about this third way. if there was, the angel wouldn’t have had to reveal it. after all, there is no record in the bible where we are taught about the fight or flight method, which has become a way of life for us. this new way will come neither through our human power (fight) nor through watching the natural process unfold (flight). it will be altogether unexpected (as the pregnancy was to mary), often hidden, but revealed in “the fullness of time” (His time).
how it will be revealed to us is a mystery. God can still talk to us audibly, through angels, in dreams or in that still small voice, we hear if we take some time to be quiet and listen. make no mistake, that when it is lived out, God is in it. of course, that requires faith. mary had faith. joseph had faith. because of their faith, we have salvation. just know it will never be easy. faith isn’t easy. but as we start trying this new way and see the results it becomes easier to step out the next time. what do we have to lose? the fight or flight hasn’t been working all that well for us. it might be time to consider a new way, the third way, Gods way.
“supplication, worship, prayer are no superstition; they are acts more real than acts of eating, drinking etc. it will be no exageration to say that they are alone real; all else is unreal.”– gandhi
“blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” –Jesus