March 25, 2023

 

The Lord Can Do Anything

 

“The Annunciation” by Henry Ossawa Tanner (Wikimedia Commons)

 

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

Good morning!
You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,
Beautiful inside and out!
God be with you.

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, “Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

He will be great,
    be called ‘Son of the Highest.’
The Lord God will give him
    the throne of his father David;
He will rule Jacob’s house forever—
    no end, ever, to his kingdom.”

Mary said to the angel, “But how? I’ve never slept with a man.”

The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
    the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birth
    will be called Holy, Son of God.

“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

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

Then the angel left her.

Luke 1:26-38 (The Message)

 

I once knew a Gospel preacher named Tom. He was quite elderly when I met him, and he blinked and shuffled a lot so I didn’t take him very seriously. When he wasn’t preaching, he often seemed to be wandering the meeting hall, adjusting the window blinds for some reason. Tom was a sweet man. But when he spoke, his authority was unmistakable, though he seldom raised his voice. “The Lord can do anything.” That’s what he said, week after week, like a mantra or core message. “The Lord can do anything,” he said and I believed it. So I started taking Tom seriously and was even a bit afraid of him – that he would one day pick me out of the crowd and start preaching right at me with that great authority. Well, sermon after sermon that never happened, so I started to relax. Then one day in mid-sentence he looked my way, and I stared right back at him, thinking he would move on. But he didn’t. He spoke directly to me that day with a message – a gentle message – that God had my life in His hands. Wow, I needed to hear that. So you see, I have a small idea of what it’s like to be in God’s spotlight.

 

Speaking of which, Mary’s encounter with the angelic messenger is a major spotlight moment. I note that this passage from the first chapter of Luke is one we usually associate with Christmas, but it’s good that we reflect on it during Lent. It reminds us that the birth of Jesus and the death of Jesus go together. We may prefer the beauty of Christmas, but without the sorrow of the cross and the victory of the resurrection, there isn’t much to be joyful about.  As it is, we have a lot to be joyful about, both in the big picture and in the small. In the big picture, God has a wonderful plan for us and all of creation. But in the small picture, we’re often afraid of drowning in overwhelming circumstances. And so, I continue to take Tom’s words to heart, the same message that the angel delivered long ago: “Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

 

 

- Pat Hammond 

A Message Came to a Maiden Young (Annunciation Carol)