Luke 1:37-38 NIV

For no word from God will ever fail.

I am the Lord’s servant, Mary answered. May your word to me be fulfilled. Then the angel left her.

Oh! To Be Christie Just One Christmas!!

I have been very blessed to have a friend for my entire life. No, seriously. Christie and I have been friends since before we can even remember!  We went to Sunday School together, started kindergarten together, and graduated high school together.  We have joked that we could hack each other’s accounts because we know all the answers to the security questions!  She is a rare treasure that still manages to keep our high school class together after <hem-hem > many years.

If you know me at all, you know exactly where this is leading, because I have been telling this tale for a long time! One of my earliest memories is watching Christie being dressed in the angel costume.  Oh, how I longed to be the one wearing the shining gold garland halo sporting the long flowing angel robe with the equally impressive flowing sleeves.  But no – my mom was helping me into a blue sheet because after all a girl named Mary should play the role of Mary.  I sat on my chair holding a baby doll all the while coveting the freedom and sparkles of my dancing friend, Christie.

In reality, I’m not sure how many consecutive years this went on, but it seemed like every Christmas to me.  I have harbored these feelings and told this story to practically everyone I know. Christmas programs, I’m still drawn to the glittering parts. Still, it does occur to me how all the time I’ve spent longing for the sparkle of Christmas, I have totally missed what an incredible honor it was to play the role of <helloooo!!!???>

The.mother.of.JESUS!?

Luke 1: 27-29 says, “The angel went to a virgin promised in marriage to a descendant of David named Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary. When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, ‘You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you.’ She was startled by what the angel said and tried to figure out what this greeting meant.”  It continues in verse 38 with, “Mary answered, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. Let everything you’ve said happen to me.’ Then the angel left her.”

The real Mary doesn’t seem as sarcastic as I can be, because I’m pretty sure my response would have been – “WAIT! SAY WHAT??”  Which is also why God didn’t choose me to be the real Mary!  I also wonder if Mary ever questioned being the recipient of this honor.  When she was trying to explain her “condition” to Joseph, when she had to leave for Bethlehem heavy with child, when she had to let her son fulfill God’s will on the cross. Perhaps she did, but if she wavered, her words from Luke 1:29 seem to echo back, “Let everything you’ve said happen to me.”  You see, she humbly and gratefully accepted the role God had for her. 

Founder of Going Beyond Ministries Priscilla Shirer says,

“Contentment comes from valuing what you’ve been given, not venting over what’s been withheld.” 

Can you imagine my outlook all these years, if I had reveled in the privilege of being “The Mary?” Can you ask for a better role model of faith?

So, this Christmas my challenge to myself, and to you, is to be content.  1 Corinthians 12:17-19 says, “If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell? As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be. There would not be a body if it were all only one part!”  There would not have been a Christmas program nativity if we were all playing the part of the angels!  Each part, each kid actually had an important message to announce.  Even more so the parts played on the night of Jesus’ birth! Sure, the angels were glorious in their light and all those “Harks!” But when it came down to it, God chose the lowly, dirty, sweaty, smelly, hard-working, toiling, and often forgotten shepherds to deliver the Good News of our Savior’s birth!

Colossians 3:17 confirms that God is asking us to be content with the role He gives us to carry out. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  While I will always be enamored of the sparkling parts of Christmas, I vow to rewrite my story and share how I am grateful to have played the role of Mary and my friend, Christie, made a beautiful Angel.