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Season’s Greetings

And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. – Luke 1:28-29

Have you ever received a Christmas card that was troubling? I can’t say that I have. There are weird greeting cards and humorous and quirky ones, but I can’t recall seeing one that troubled me. And yet the very first Christmas greeting ever given had just that effect.

An angel of the Lord appears with a greeting from God and immediately Mary isn’t just troubled, she’s greatly troubled. In another version it’s translated ‘disturbed’. How appropriate. When God breaks into our lives it is disturbing. The path we thought we were on is changed. What we thought we knew is different. Today our Christmas greetings are all about peace and joy, rejoicing and celebrating. And there’s nothing wrong with that as it is, after all, the birth of our Savior we are remembering.

However, when God shows up in our lives with greetings and the announcement of his plans for us it is entirely likely that we, too, will be disturbed, troubled. God’s plans almost always take us in a direction we never intended and call us to an adventure we couldn’t have imagined. Mary, the virgin, giving birth, Peter, the fisherman, leaving his nets, Saul, the oppressor, leaving his crusade (and his name), Luther, the reformer, leaving his church. How has God troubled you? Or are you yet to receive his greeting? In this season of anticipation I pray you are disturbed.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the birth of your Son and all the ways you break into my life with your greetings. Open my heart to hear your call and make me willing to be disturbed by you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.