30 Days of Yes

Mary says “yes” to being pregnant (Luke 1:26-38) In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 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. 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. For nothing will be impossible with God.” 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. Even today, when pregnancy out of wedlock is almost normal, and certainly very common, it does still give us pause. Imagine what it would have been like for this young teenager in a very small backwater village to be pregnant and not yet fully married. She was “betrothed,” which in that culture and time meant she was as good as married but she and her husband were not yet living together as man and wife. Sex was not allowed yet. This period of betrothal usually lasted about a year, during which the husband was busy building a housing addition at his father’s house for his bride-to-be. So for the prospective bride to come up pregnant meant, at best, that the two of them lacked self-control and respect for each others’ families and traditions and, at worst, that she had been unfaithful to her husband-to-be. It was counted as adultery. So the fact that Mary agrees to become pregnant is an astounding act of courage and faith. She knows full well how people will react—how Joseph will react. Her reputation, Joseph’s reputation, and that of both their families will suffer for her obedience. What did God know about her that let Him know she could be counted on to bear the burdens—both those she knew about and those she could not begin to imagine? • Sometimes God calls us to do something that is counter-cultural, or not easily understood by others around us. We risk being looked at differently, or talked about, or dismissed, or facing some consequence. • Is there something that God is calling you to that involves a risk to your reputation? Can you trust God with your good name? Can you say with the words of the old folk song, “Though no one join me, still I will follow?”