Trust, it seems to me, is a gift extended in individualized measure. Some of us trust easily and readily. Others of us are wary when it comes to trust. This is often the result of personality, as well as personal experience and history. If you’ve had a past experience in which you trusted but were hurt or disappointed, it becomes more difficult to place trust once again. If you are more of a glass half-full verses glass half-empty person, trust may be offered more readily.
The story of the angel Gabriel’s visitation to Mary (Luke 1) is an interesting case study in trust. If we believe tradition, Mary was a young woman, perhaps in her teenage years. That’s old enough to have some experience with trust, but not so old as to become too jaded by life’s disappointments. She is in a season of betrothal, promised in marriage to Joseph. No doubt she is trusting tradition, her parent’s wisdom, and maybe her heart as she looks ahead to the life they will share.
The announcement Gabriel shares would send shock waves through any young (or old) life. Yet she seems to receive it with a remarkable maturity, one might suggest “readiness”. Yes, she has questions: “How can this be?” and she is “much perplexed” by Gabriel’s words as she ponders their meaning. But, in the end, she comes to trust, saying “Here am I, a servant of the Lord, let it be with me according to your word.”
So, what was the tipping point that allowed Mary to embrace trust? What got her to “yes” when it came to this life changing announcement? I think her ability to offer the gift of a trusting heart was the result of many things. No doubt her upbringing, the foundation of faith established in her by her parents and community played a part. Perhaps her personal disposition, the seemingly “reflective” and measured personality that took things in to “ponder” them? Ponder is a word often attributed to Mary. There were also the remarkable words and pronouncements shared by Gabriel:
– Greetings you who are “highly favored”
– “The Lord is with you”
– “you will conceive” and “bear a son”
– “He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David.”
These were all things on which to proffer a response of trust. But, I believe the words that pushed Mary to an embrace of “yes” involved the news of her relative Elizabeth. It’s upon hearing of Elizabeth’s own, unexpected pregnancy, that Mary expresses her trust. This news appears to be confirmation of God’s activity in miraculous ways and offers Mary human companionship around which to grow into the role God has bestowed. She will go to spend three months with Elizabeth, getting immediate confirmation of upon her arrival of God’s special assignment through Elizabeth (and John’s) greeting. One can imagine the conversations, the mentorship, and affirmation these two women shared over that final trimester of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. While God had placed considerable responsibility upon one so young, God has also arranged for a companion and encourager in Mary’s life.
It’s easier to trust when you are in the company of others who are trusting the same things. This is the beauty of Christian community in our lives. We need the church, as the body of Christ, to confirm and affirm our own pledges of trust in the Christ following life. Hearing what God was doing in the life of Elizabeth must have been encouraging to Mary as she embraces what God is doing in her own life. Indeed, she offers to the Christmas story, and to our own stories of faith, the gift of a trusting heart.
How does Mary’s story influence your own embrace of trust? How does her example encourage you to trust God? Who is, or has been, your Elizabeth figure when it comes to trust? For whom are you serving in that role? These are the questions that emerge from this portion of Luke 1 for me today.
danielcash 