Incarnation – Mary’s song

Mary sings rejoicing in the incarnation - God made flesh in her through her with her. This is a High calling, huge responsibility. Parenthood is an extreme responsibility every time. I used to joke with my kids, “You’re hungry again? But I’m pretty sure I just fed you yesterday - what I have to feed you every day? Good grief no one told me that, till when? till you’re 7 then you don’t have to eat any more?” They’d laugh at my mock surprise. Imagine the weight of raising the child who will be the savior of the world. In what could easily be Crushing. She sings.

Extraordinary.

But then it is extraordinary. The World was waiting, when is God going to do something, come fix this make a difference, bring healing, bring peace, end hunger, stop violence. Mary was probably hungry for God, ready for God, wanting God to come into the world and into her life and so she welcomed this good news sang it and danced it and celebrated it. God coming into the world in a new way. INCARNATE, in the flesh.

A remarkable move on God’s part to come to earth. Become human. Suffer through a human life. All the indignity of it, the limitations of time and space - just to be able to touch us - with human hands, speak to us with a human voice, walk with us on our journey.

And so he came and he lived and he did all of those things and more. And then he died and then he rose and then he left again.

Would you like to have been there then in that time of incarnation? To hear him preach, to touch him? To see him with you own eyes? to walk with him?

Imagine that power, that strength, that healing and hope and encouragement to be in the presence of God.

Were we all just born too late?

Wait, wait, on God incarnate.

Were we all just born too late?

Or are we looking in the wrong direction entirely? Looking out when we should be looking in this time. Expecting incarnation in someone else but not allowing for it in us?

We are the current incarnation of the body of Christ. We, you and I, us.

We are the hands now touching the hurts of the world. We are the feet now walking alongside the most difficult journeys, we are the voice to speak the words of wisdom and healing and truth. It is a holy burden. Each of us Mary in our way giving birth to an incarnation of God, each of us charged with nurturing that, raising that hope for the world. Each of us privy to that encouragement, that mysterious companionship. Christ incarnate in each of us.

Come Lord Jesus.