Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Exciting Advent(ure) - Devotion for 12/3/08

Exciting Advent(ure) – Devotion for 12/3/08

I came across a quote in one of my books this week that has really had me thinking. The quote is from Abbie Jane Wells, and the quote is attributed to her book, The Gospel According to Abbie Jane Wells. I was reading an excerpt from her book, and she was reminding us that “it took a ‘yes’ from Mary before God could ‘send forth his Son.’” I buy that part hook, line, and sinker, because I have always loved how God calls on people to do his miraculous work (such as Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, the prophets delivering God’s word, even the men who had to roll away the stone for Lazarus to come forth). But the part that has really had me thinking this week is this:
For all I know – for all anybody knows – God may have proposed (or propositioned). . . through the ages but, as far as we know, Mary was the first one to say an unqualified “yes.”

When you think through the Biblical tradition, many times when God calls someone, the initial reaction at least is an unqualified “no.” Moses tried to weasel out of his call by proclaiming that he couldn’t talk well; Isaiah explains to God that he has “unclean lips”; Jeremiah posits that he is “just a child.” But Mary, when called upon by the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:38 proclaims, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” Mary said “yes.” Which makes me wonder – just as it seems that Abbie Jane Wells wondered – were there others who were approached and propositioned before Mary, but Mary was only the first one to say yes? No one actually knows the answer to that question, but it is the kind of thing I love to think about. Could there possibly have been someone to have turned down such an amazing journey?

The answer to my last question is simple really. Of course there is the possibility that someone could have said “no” to such a thing. By virtue of us having complete freewill, we freely choose whether we will or will not do the things God proposes us to do. So I guess now the question becomes, What is God proposing to us? Will we, like Mary, be the first to say an unqualified “yes”? What exciting adventure is God calling us to that our first impulse is to say “no”?

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I am a minister in North Carolina.