A Holy Interruption

John Lennon’s song “Beautiful Boy”, written for his son Sean, contains the words, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” Tomorrow’s New Testament reading (Luke 1:26-55) is about God bringing new life to Mary while she was busy making other plans. We’re not told exactly what Mary was going when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, but we can be reasonably certain that the visit was not expected. Mary wasn’t sitting by the window waiting for Gabriel to come up the front walk. Rather, the Angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, “Greetings, favored one! Blessed are you among women.”

Mary is understandably perplexed, and wondered what sort of greeting this might be. She’s suspicious of this stranger with his words of friendly greeting. Was this stranger blessing her, or setting her up to take advantage of her? The angel senses her fear, and says, “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. And now you will conceive and bear a son, and you will name him 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 ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary understandably objects, “But I am a virgin” or as some translations say, “I do not know a man.” The angel explains that God will make all this possible, and tells her that in her old age her cousin Elizabeth is six months along in her pregnancy – for nothing will be impossible with God.” Mary gets in the last word: “Here am I, a servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. God broke in on Mary with new life at a time when she least expected it. “Blessed are you among women” Gabriel said. And Mary was blessed – because she was willing to allow a holy interruption to her plans.

Mary heard the words, “Blessed are you among women!” What does it mean to be blessed? When we pray, “We give you thanks, O God, for our many blessings…” what do we think of? Good health, a job, a family. Prominent evangelists such as Joel Osteen and the wonderfully named Creflo Dollar preach that “God wants us rich”. But Gabriel’s words and Mary’s response give us a very different picture of what it means to be blessed. For Mary, being blessed meant being part of God’s plan, being used by God – even at great personal cost. Being blessed means being where the action is, action in this case meaning God’s acts of saving the world. May we have eyes to see and ears to see the ways in which God is waiting to interrupt our plans, to experience the blessings God has for those whose trust is in the Lord.