Are you blessed?
Luke 1:45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to
her will be accomplished!" 1:46 And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord
:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, :48 for he has been mindful of
the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me
blessed, :49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his
name.
One day Mary visits Elisabeth and announces to that she will bear a son
and that this son will bring salvation to all of humankind.
The announcement given by an angel and if one would receive it . . . one
would be privileged (one would think)
The circumstances are rather odd. Mary is not a well-known woman, in fact
we know very little about her. We know about her sister who was the mother
of John the Baptist, but that is about it.
Mary was engaged to Joseph and I do not need to tell you how she would
break the news to Joseph that she was pregnant. And neither do I need to
tell you how Joseph must have felt when Mary broke the news to him.
We do not know much about the conversation, but we know that Joseph
somehow understood the importance of the event and he stood by his future
wife Mary. This act of Joseph really symbolizes his commitment to the
relationship and his trust in God through Mary.
The story does not tell us how committed both were, but the story tells us
that both were righteous people. We dont know why God selected them and not
others, but what we know is that God chose them for a reason, just as he
chooses us for a very specific reason.
And in this announcement of the pregnancy Elisabeth tells her that
blessed is she who believed what the Lord has said to her will be
accomplished. . . .
The words ring in my ear.
Just listen to them: Blessed is she who believed that what the Lord has
said to her will be accomplished . . .
There are many things in our life that God promises us and which we are to
believe. There are many promises given that if we follow God we are able to
receive, but we live in constant tension with our own desires and the
desires of this world.
Imagine the angel would have come to Mary and told her about the upcoming
event . . . to bear the son of God and she would have refused. What if she
had said: What are you smoking dude . . . Do you believe you are dealing
with some woman who has no goals in life?
What if she would have said this: I have plans. I will get married to this
Joseph who will give me security in life, he is a stable character, and I
will not have my future ruined by some baby given (excuse me) to me. By
the way I also do not feel comfortable in announcing this delicate scenario
to my future husband.
What would have happened if Joseph had not been able to accept the
situation, if he would have not believed in his future wife, or believed in
God? What if he had used his right at that time to have her stoned?
This story of the announcing a blessing from God is really not new . . .
God always wanted the best from us, but it was our rebellious human nature
that denounced the will of God for us and that makes us believe we can do it
on our own.
And just imagine this . . . What is Mary would have walked up to the world
and made herself up to be this wonderful woman whom God had selected and she
would have become so self righteous and made everyone feel that they were
not worthy to receive th Christ?
Blessings for our life are not the result of our good behavior among our
fellow humans, but the consequence if we glorify God.
Is there a difference? Yes there is. A result is the expected outcome of a
given action . . . consequence is a non specific outcome of an action.
Follow the will of God and you will reap the consequence of your
relationship with your God.
Most people make the fundamental mistake to confusing the two. In fact
there are churches that preach if you tithe God will give your prosperity.
There are churches who teach that if you have enough faith you will be
healed . . . and if you dont you will not. There are churches that will
tell you that there are specific results of a faith action.
Well, God promises us blessings when we live in relationship with God.
Nevertheless, God never promises results of A SPECIFIC action.
And so. . . . , what are your blessings? Could it be that you are not able
to see them? Could it be that you say to yourself: I am a faithful servant
and I feel there are no results of my faithful living?
Ask if you have experienced any consequences. Ask yourself if God has
given you a life that could be worse. Maybe you are not aware that it could
be much worse. Have you reached a high age, have you been married fo a long
time, are you healthy, do you have a fulfilling job, do you have reliable
friends? . . . .all of them are consequences of your faithfulness to our
God.
As I said earlier God could have easily turned the story around and denied
her blessing, but she knew that the upcoming time was a gift from God for
her. She received it as a blessing against all the odds that this world
could offer her.
Tomorrow will be the funeral of a very well liked and respected friend
Sheriff Hayes. As the volunteer chaplain I talked to the officers as we
prepared for the upcoming funeral. I explained to them that our life and our
death really symbolizes the act of duty. We are empowered to follower the
guidelines of the great Chief our God. No day will be like the day before
and no day ahead will be like the day before us.
Each day will bring its own twist to things and we are here on earth to
manage the twists. We can allow ourselves to look at the twist and feel
suffering or denial of the given situation or we can embrace the moment just
like Mary did.
The choice is ours. But when we are willing to embrace the moment as a
gift . . . better yet as a blessing, then we will feel purposeful and we
feel strong to overcome all obstacles. Mary did . . . she stayed focused,
she trusted God and overcame her anxiety of the retribution of this world.
We must embrace this moment. We must live in this moment. We must seek a
purpose for every moment of our lives. We must (at least try) to envision
that there is a consequence of blessing given to us by our God.
The story is telling us not to run. It is telling us that running will
take us nowhere. The story is telling us that we are to feel secure in what
God has given us . . . NOW.
The story tells us to share our blessings with others, so that they find
hope, and purpose and contentment.
You see, just as with our friend Sheriff Hays who died at a young age,
whose family never expected him to leave the earthly realm so quickly death
may come to you. Death comes unexpectedly out of the darkness of the
universe.
Tomorrow may never come and life is what it is. Life is fragile and
nothing but a breath.
Let us feel like Mary felt. . ."My soul glorifies the Lord: 47 and my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior
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