Signs

There are signs everywhere that it is Christmas time.  Lights, decorations, crowded stores, crowded roads.  Even snow on the ground!  It’s been a while since we’ve had this much snow in December.  Signs!  Mary and Joseph had their share of signs before Jesus’ birth.  Mary had nine months of signs!  A changing body, changing hormones…  I’ve seen what that looks like three times in my wife.  What did Joseph think?  When she “was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:18) he didn’t believe it.  It took an angel appearing in a dream in the middle of the night to tell him that yes, “the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” (vs. 20).

            For centuries, Mary has been a model of Christian discipleship.  When the Angel Gabriel’s word brought the Holy Spirit, she said Yes to that word.  When the Word grew within her, changing her, she bore the Word and “gave it birth.”  She couldn’t hide it; it was visible for everyone to see.  And what did other people think? 

            When you hear God’s word—a gracious word of the Spirit’s visitation, unasked, undeserved, unmerited—how does it make you feel?  What are the signs in you that the Spirit wants to change you…  A queasy feeling in the stomach?  That could be a sign.  A sense of joy and peace, assurance?  That could be a sign too.  And how do you say yes to the Spirit that works through God’s Word?  Discipleship is all about following Christ and his Word, “bringing to birth” the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 

            What are the signs?  Can you recognize them?  I hear and see a lot of signs that don’t point to God’s love in Christ—worry, anxiety, aimlessness, busyness, distraction, and a restless seeking.  I see signs of need, and I worry about the reflex to find easy solutions to that “discomfort.”  Mary’s discomfort—and Joseph’s—wasn’t all bad; it meant the Spirit was at work within them. 

            Christmas reminds us that God’s Word is a pregnant Word, growing inside, somewhat hidden, somewhat not—The Word that God in Christ saves us, makes us whole, declares us loved.

Peace,

Pr. Christian