Mary: Lady in Waiting

Here is the 3rd of 4 reflections that I wrote for the NRUC Advent reflection booklet. With luck I'll put the 4th one up tomorrow before the jolly fat man leaves the North Pole.....


Text: ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you have said be done to me.’ (Luke 1:38)

Advent is the season of waiting expectantly for the birth of Christ. However, often waiting is often tinged with fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of what might happen. Fear of change. Even waiting for events which should be joyous can have an element of apprehension: will things be as wonderful as we expect them to be?

Imagine then how it must have been to be a pregnant, unwed mother in first century Palestine. A social outcast in fear of her life unless she could wed: fast.

And yet Mary had heard the word of God: a promise about who the child she was carrying would grow up to be. Despite her desperate situation Mary was prepared to trust the Lord that all would be well: that her situation would bring about good.

Henri Nouwen in The Path of Waiting puts it like this: ‘To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. It is trusting that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. It is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life. It is living with the conviction that God moulds us according to God’s love and not according to our fear.’

As we wait in expectantly for the Christ Child this advent season may we wait on God to change our lives in joyful anticipation of what may happen if we let God define our life.

Prayer: “Lord, help me to put aside my fears of the future and wait expectantly, trustingly on your spirit to change and renew my life this advent season.”

Waiting expectantly for God

Another of my recent advent reflections....


Text: Luke 1: 37 ‘For nothing will be impossible with God.’

Elizabeth was a relative of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. She and her husband Zechariah were getting old, and although they were both ‘righteous before God’ they still had no children. An angel appeared to Zechariah and told him that his wife would have a baby. Although Zechariah found this hard to believe, Elizabeth was very happy that God had blessed her.
When Mary found out that both she and Elizabeth were expecting a baby, Mary went straight to Elizabeth’s house. When Elizabeth saw Mary the child in her womb lept for joy: Elizabeth recognised instantly that Mary’s child was from God the one that would be the fulfilment of God’s promise to her.

Elizabeth’s story reminds us of the importance of waiting on the will of God. Our God keeps God’s promises. How often do we expect God’s will to be our will, or expect God to answer our prayers in our time? The story of Elizabeth reminds us that God’s big picture is much bigger than our imagining. May we wait patiently for God’s will in our lives to be revealed.

Prayer: Lord, help me to wait patiently for your will to be revealed in my life in your good time.

Prepare the way of the Lord

Well I've written a few Advent reflections for the NRUC advent book this month - so I thought I'd share them with you in the lead up to the big day next tuesday....


Text: Luke 1:76 ‘And you child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways and to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.’

Luke’s gospel gives an account of the birth and parentage of John the Baptist and links him firmly with Jesus. His birth, name, and office were foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zacharias, while Zacharias was performing his functions as a priest in the temple of Jerusalem. Zacharias’ wife, Elisabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron so John is automatically one of the priestly line. Elizabeth is Mary’s kinswoman, so John and Jesus are related. His family background gives him firm credentials to be pointing to who Jesus is. From before his birth John is set apart for a purpose, and in childhood this becomes clear to all who knew him for they could see that ‘the Lord’s hand was with him.’ (Luke 1:66)

From this point on, until he appears publicly in Israel, John goes to live in the Desert. (Lk1:80) When he appears again at the start of chapter 3 his mission is made clear in the words of the prophet Isaiah. He is ‘A voice of one calling in the desert ‘Prepare the Way of the Lord.’ (Lk 3:4) He comes to baptize with water, and to prepare the path for Jesus. Jesus is the one of whom he says: One more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16) For Luke, John the Baptist plays a central role in preparing the way of the Lord, in readying the hearts of the people to hear the message of the gospel as it related to their lives.

How can we follow in the footsteps of John the Baptist? Do our lives point to Jesus? Although we follow after Jesus rather than precede him, many in today’s world do not know the Christian story. For them, coming into contact with Christian people is like providing a light to their path, an example of why following Jesus is the way to freedom from oppression and ultimately salvation.


Prayer: Lord, may my actions be a reflection of your presence in my life. May I point the way to Jesus too so that others may see Jesus and want to follow in his path.