Yes

Readings

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Revelation 21:3

The angel went to Mary and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be….

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus... “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Luke 1:28-29,31,38

Meditation

Stories make us, they say.  We live within them, they infuse meaning and give potency to the most ordinary of acts. Mary’s story, stoked by her ‘yes’, is a good example of this.

'Yes' is a primary word I associate with the advent of Jesus.  Yes to being human, to planting our feet on this earth, to the full, gritty and awesome cycle of gain and loss, to finding our own place and way, to being alive.

Advent (as well as election season) challenges me to think about my own ‘Yes’s and equally my ‘No’s.

We cannot wait till the world is sane to raise our songs with joyful voice, for to share our grief, to touch our pain, God came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!

Madeleine L’Engle, from First coming

The Gospels do not give the sense of a Jesus in turmoil, of merely visiting and enduring his time on earth.  We are enfolded in His story and his story of epiphany, life on earth and his return to heaven, is replete with a very robust Yes!

Questions

As I read this, pausing and waiting, what ‘Yes’ to me about me and my story do I hear from Jesus?

To whom might you like to say ‘Yes’ to among family, friends, acquaintancies or strangers? How might you do that?