The Music of Christmas, Day 4

 Anthem of Hope 

Read Luke 1:26-38

“May it be to me as you have said.” – Mary

 

 

Hope is a powerful thing. It keeps us going when we might otherwise give up. It inspires and challenges us to persevere in the face of great difficulties. It motivates us to strive for something better. And the absence of hope is despair, feeling that all hope is lost. 

 

When the angel Gabriel approached Mary, she was “greatly troubled.” (Luke 1:29) To encourage her, Gabriel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end." (Luke 1:30-33) 

 

Mary was going to have a baby. That’s good news! A baby who would be the Son of God, the Messiah—even better news! He would establish God’s never-ending kingdom. The best news of all! 

 

God had been silent for many years. Since Malachi laid down his pen four hundred years earlier, God’s people had experienced a complete drought of His word. The people of Israel were told that God would “rejoice over [them] with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17) But instead, God remained completely silent for centuries … four centuries, in fact. Generations had been born and died without ever hearing God’s voice. It seemed the music had ended. Hope faded, and the silence became deafening.

But Gabriel came to Mary announcing that change was coming. The orchestra sat ready. An angel choir was warming up. God prepared to take center stage. Yet fear descended upon her rather than excitement or anticipation. 

 

Now, before we’re too hard on Mary, consider her perspective as a teenager living with her parents, engaged to be married, a good girl. She did her parents’ bidding and what was right. Never had she ignored her family's expectations or the tenets of her faith, especially when it came to her purity. She shouldn’t, no couldn’t, be pregnant. 

 

“How can this be?” she asked. The Bible doesn’t share Mary's innermost thoughts at that critical moment, but it doesn’t take much effort to imagine the many fears filling her mind. Shame and humiliation, as well as the mocking, judgment, and rejection that awaited her. The refusal of her family to believe her and perhaps the punishment that could result from Gabriel's “good” news.

 

Mary couldn’t hear the Good News Gabriel sang over the cacophony created by her own fear. That’s what fear does. It fills our heads and hearts with so much noise that it’s hard to hear anything else. Gabriel’s news did not, at first, bring Mary hope. Rather, it made her fearful. If Gabriel had promised the Messiah stepping down from the clouds in glory and might, her reaction surely would have been different. If only Gabriel had reported the name of some other more qualified, courageous, and happily married woman to bear the Son of God. Perhaps then his message might have been welcome news.

 

Isn’t that true for many of us? Consumed with our own fear and the difficulties of our circumstances, the song of hope sounds more like an ominous warning, the prelude to impending doom. We cannot understand the lyrics because we can’t get past the verse about surrender … giving something up, changing our ways, or laying it all down in order to give birth to hope. 

 

How is fear keeping you from hearing God’s anthem of hope this Advent season? How has the thought of change or personal sacrifice kept you from joining the song?

 

 

Son of the Most High,

I confess that, like Mary, I have let fear keep me from hearing, let alone singing, 

Your song of hope. Thank You for piercing the deafening silence of my sin. 

Give me the faith to let Your hope be born in me. I surrender to Your will. 

Let me join the chorus of people who sing Your praises. 
Amen.

The Music of Christmas is available in print or digital formats.