The Lenten Season:The Annunciation of the Lord

"  God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Luke:1:26b-28

The Annunciation

During the Lenten Season many Christians who are part of more liturgical fellowships will observe the "Annunciation" which recalls the Angel Gabriel being dispatched by the great God to the village of Nazareth to  announce to Mary that she would be the mother of the Messiah.

 The Visitation

The Doctor-Historian turned Evangelist,  Luke,  records the conversation in his Gospel narrative between the Angel Gabriel and Mary of Nazareth. Mary was young girl from a small rural village that was of no special  importance, yet it is this quiet setting that Mary is told of God's purpose for her that she would be the mother of humanities Savior.

" God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Lk:1:26b-28

The angelic visitation startles Mary , and Gabriel give her assurance that there is nothing for Mary to fear. That he is there  acting on  a Holy commission from the very God, the Creator  who had made the Covenant(s) and promises to her and all of Israel's for fathers.   

"Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God" (29-30)

The Calling

Gabriel , delivers to Mary the calling and  commission upon her life to be the life thru which the Messiah would be birth into the world, that she would be what some Theologians call the "Theotokos" meaning "God-bearer", "Birth-Giver of God" and "the one who gives birth to God."

"You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end."(31-33)

As the calling which  God has determined for Mary  is presented to her Mary   is uncertain and sees at first her own human limitation and those which the culture of that time have imposed upon woman in general.

Mary attempts to grasp how she , a young woman from a small rural village,  a person of no great import living in a place of little notice,  would be able  have and fulfill such a calling. This is reflected in  her initial response to Gabriel's words.

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”(34)

The world needed a Savior , and Mary was the one thru whom the Savior would enter human history.

 The Working of God

Gabriel gently tells her that God will see to the fulfillment of Mary's calling thru the power of the Holy Spirit, that God himself will accomplish this calling ,  to birth the Messiah into the world. That it is all dependent upon the Great God and is not accomplished thru human strength or abilities, wisdom or power but thru the Holy Spirit of God.

"The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.For no word from God will ever fail.”(35-37)

Mary's Response

Mary accepts what the angel Gabriel has said and yield her life to the call of God upon her , for she believes that God will be faithful to bring to pass all that he has decreed and called her to be , to birth the long awaited Messiah into the world. Mary's trust and yieldedness and reliance upon God are seen in her simple yet profound words of faith and trust. She responds simply.

"I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”(38a)

Our Calling

Sometimes, we even today are like Mary, we are seen in our own hearts and minds as being of and from no place of any importance. Unequipped  and with no special giftings or talents to fulfill some great commission and call upon us. We can't see how our God call us to a "Theotokos" , that is, to birth some great thing of God into the world.  

It is God's intent that we Christians,  each and all of us to be what Mary was a "Theotokos" , to be a bearer God's saving purposes into the world that others might come to believe  in Jesus the Messiah of all to be participants in the world of salvation upon the Earth.

 But, I am a Virgin

Yet we might feel uncertain,  as was  Mary , about God's call upon our lives, we might believe that we are unable to be or do what God has called you us to be a part of we might say as did Mary

“How will this be since I am a virgin?. 

We might think that our inexperience or lack of resources , ability , education or what ever it might be, will keep us from being used by God to "birth"  something that God's purposes, but as it was for Mary it is for us today. We, like Mary may not see how God can effect the lives of those around us.

The Holy Spirit

 It is all dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit  not on us. We like Mary can trust in the power of God to work in our lives to fulfill our calling to "birth" God's purpose of presenting Jesus  in the world. 

“The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God."

The Visitation

Is God visiting us? That is,  is he calling us to be "pregnant" with his Salvation purposes?  Is our Lord calling you  to be active in participation in the work of the Gospel in you community? What Angel is he using to speak to your heart ,that God is visiting you with,   that is ,  what means is the Lord using to get our attention,  to give us an "Annunciation"  , that is our calling and commission  to be apart in the work of Salvation. 

\
What needs do we see in the lives of those around us? Are they sick, poor, need encouragement or just prayer or someone to just be with them or to work within a local church to work with young people or lead a ministry? What is our Lord calling you to "birth" into the life of your local church or community? Our responses should be as Mary's,  "I am the Lord’s servant,”.

God will give us the means by the Holy Spirit  to "birth" into the lives of others his salvation work as he did for Mary.

This Lenten Season let us each and all believers yield to the Annunciation that God wants each and all of us to be his "Theotokos" , to "birth"  his purposes in the world and lives of the people around us. This is our calling and commission. Amen

Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor 

The Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion
2101 Old National Pike.

Washington, Pennsylvania.   www.gcfountainoflife.org

The Fountain of Life is heard  on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM  in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com

You can follow the Fountain of Life on Face Book - Click on our Face Book link under our Helpful Links