A Humble Response

I watch a fair number of medical dramas on TV. Some include ambulance staff, while others focus on those working in the medical facilities. In both instances, the first responders are the ones who set the tone for those in crisis. They often express an almost unrealistic amount of patience and compassion. They always know the right things to say and the right actions to take.

As I was reading John Pavlovitz’s devotional, Low, I was struck by his description of Mary as, “the first responder for those of us who seek to emulate Jesus in the world.”
Here is the passage from Luke 1:26-38 to refresh our memory:

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”  29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He 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 father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 And the angel answered 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 called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Other than the prophets, Mary is the first one to receive details about the Messiah. At first, she is troubled by the angel’s presence—I think anyone would be! I actually find it miraculous that Mary was able to take in anything the angel Gabriel said after, “Do not be afraid; God has found favor with you.” Dialogue and recognition with the Most High was role for the men in her community. How did God even know who she was?

Nothing the angel said indicated this baby would grow up with the character of a servant, but it is Mary’s response that first sets the tone for how this Savior might be different than everyone thought. Whatever looks of surprise were on Mary’s face during this exchange, her response is one of both humility and expectation.
From the Message translation (v.38):

Yes, I see it all now:
    I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.
Let it be with me
    just as you say.

None of us are given a road map for our faith, and even angel-visited Mary is not given much direction beforehand. If she had known about all the hardship in her future, would she have accepted God’s plan so readily?

Pavlovitz writes:
“Mary was asked to literally carry and deliver the love of God to a planet in dire need of such a thing. She willingly accepted the collateral damage of bearing goodness in a time and place in which doing so would prove difficult.”

I named this week Rejection and Refinement. And it makes me wonder at the way God uses the hard things in life to mold us to be more like Him. Imagine if Mary had been a princess in a palace, instead of a peasant in a backwater town no one thought much of. Every need of hers would have been met. It would have been so easy to hide a pre-marriage pregnancy behind wealthy curtains and royal walls.

While there’s nothing wrong with that version of Mary, it doesn’t show a weary world how God operates. He chooses the lowly to lift up; the poor to bless. Friendships could have been lost. By law, Mary could have been stoned for her apparent infidelity. Joseph could have gone through with his plan to quietly dissolve their betrothal and Mary would be left with no prospects for a future home and family. The same Mary and Joseph who faced massive societal rejection were seen by God. He chose them. And he allowed them to walk the hard path, demonstrating with divine intimacy what it meant that their child would be called Immanuel.

When adult Jesus preached about caring for the widows and the orphans, I wonder if he thought about his mother. At the beginning of this story, Mary is not a widow and pre-born Jesus is not an orphan, but according their position in society, they might as well have been. And so God cared for them. And He continued to care for them and showed the way when they arrived in bustling Bethlehem with no room for them at the Inn.

Another rejection. This time in the city of their ancestors! In a time when hospitality was paramount. But I don’t think this was a mistake. Once again, we see Mary and Joseph as first responders with humility and grace.

I recently read a new Nativity picture book, The Good News of Christmas, by Rousseaux Brasseur and Sian James. It has a lovely rhyming cadence and beautiful illustrations. I was struck by their version of this scene:

“When they arrived they found there was no lodging at the inn,
So Jospeh search around the town for a resting place for them.
He finally found a stable where the animals were kept,
And, about to faint, without complaint, they laid down there and slept."

We don’t know what went through their minds, or what words were said, but Mary and Joseph had trusted God’s provision thus far, amidst worse rejection and unwelcoming behavior. And we can’t fault their kinsfolk completely. Bethlehem was swarming with people for Caesar’s census. The hospitable circumstances must have changed because Mary and Joseph chose to stay in Bethlehem for another couple years, until the last example of rejection in this Nativity story:

10 When they [the wise men] saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod.
(Matthew 2:10-15)

The prophets foretold that the Messiah would be despised and forsaken, but as a baby? To be rejected three times before you were three years old? It seems like such a unnecessary part of Jesus’ beginning. But if we’ve learned anything about God’s unexpected plan for the Messiah, we know that Jesus’ low arrival and circumstances as a refugee are exactly what make Him the refuge we need as weary travelers looking for a place to belong. May we learn to respond like Mary and Joseph.