God Chose Mary, and Mary Said, “Yes!”
Christmas: Restoring the beauty of humanity
Merry Christmas to my wife! Merry Christmas to my five daughters and granddaughter. Merry Christmas to my mom, stepmom, grandmothers and aunts. To my sister and sister- in-law, my nieces and lady-cousins! Merry Christmas to my female colleagues, partners and friends! To all little girls, big girls, teenage girls and girls of all ages!
The godfather of soul , James Brown, said, "This is a man's world, but it aint nothin, nothin, nothiiinnnn!, without a woman or a girl!”
This Christmas season, my heart’s gaze isn't turned toward Covid and social unrest as it was last year. It isn't turned toward poverty and hunger, or violence and war, nor to disease or the senseless deaths that plague our world. While these are of utmost importance, they aren’t at the top of my list. No, in this season, Jesus has my heart contemplating how He might feel about the women in my life.
In August, we all saw the surprising collapse of Afghanistan. We watched and saw fellow humans trying to escape from the coming dangers. Here at Building Hope in the City, we have the unique privilege of being connected to this crisis through relationships with local Afghans, both prior to the collapse, and now directly out of it.
The world saw the desperation. We were anxious for them, and our hearts sank when it all came to a head. A brutal regime that would oppress, rule, and prey on vulnerabilities and fear has returned to power. Many lives have and will be lost, homes and families shattered, and hope for a better tomorrow diminished.
One of the saddest realities of the ordeal is how it affects one-half of the Afghan people. For those born as women, navigating a hellish reality will be the new normal. The loss of basic freedoms like education and career or choosing a spouse. Atrocities like child-marriages, public beatings, loss of innocence and even death. This is their new world.
I've had the recent honor to meet three precious little Afghan girls. We’ll call them Jacy, Mary, and Zena. They burst with promise and possibility and their joyful smiles are as bright as the sun. What would've been of these precious souls had they not gotten out? What will be of them now that they’re on American soil?
Undoubtedly, their trajectory has changed for the better. They’ve been given a chance. Also undoubtedly, they remain in a world where being a woman will still have its costs.
Will there be things they love and have passion for that they “can’t do” because they’re girls? Will they be emotionally bullied at home, work or in religious places? Will their opinions and ideas be chuckled at during board meetings? Will they ever be physically abused or violated by someone stronger? Or what about lewd propositions in exchange for educational or career advancements? Could their intellect and confidence be crushed by hearing one too many times that they are emotional creatures unable to think rationally?
No doubt, their new land offers rights and opportunities that girls around the world can only dream of, but unfortunately these odds are indeed “ever in their favor.”
At this point you might be thinking, “Is this really supposed to be a Christmas devotional?!”
I answer with a resounding, “YES!”. The good news that began at Christmas, had as one of its aims, the destruction of tired old paradigms that oppressed and dehumanized people. Paradigms that pit certain groups ‘over and against’ others. The gospel aimed at reversing the curses of sin that had been, and continue, polluting the glory of men and women. The glory of becoming fully human, in all its love, beauty, and creativity. The Glory of being male and female, together in unity, made in the image of their chief sustainer and creator (Genesis 1:27-28, Galatians 3:28).
And the first sign of destroying ‘over and against’ forces of darkness, was God’s finding and commissioning an unlikely, unsuspecting character, a girl, who would say, “Yes” “Here I am, the servant of The Lord, may it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
What was ahead would require grit, perseverance, intelligence, courage and self-sacrificing love.
God knew she had what it would take, at a tender young age, to build and grow into the woman she’d need to be. God knew she had the simple, yet profound faith, in God’s goodness and promise, to stay on course and see it through. When accused of adultery and a possible death sentence, she’d trust in the promise. When required to give birth while away from home on a journey, she’d believe in the words spoken. When needing to pack suddenly to flee the murderous threat of a king and become refugees with her family in Egypt, she’d have faith in the provision and protection. And when her first born son would be savagely beat and unjustly persecuted, her courageous faith and selfless love would keep her by His side until His last dying breath.
The Son of Man would need her for a time, and her faithfulness would gain her honor for an eternity. A girl was the first human agent in this beautiful plan because God deemed it necessary. God chose Mary, and Mary said “yes.”
So to my brothers, let us use any advantage and privilege we have in this world to stand with and in support of our sisters, just as Joseph did with Mary, reflecting the partnership and unity that the gospel of Christmas aimed at. (Matt 1:18-25)
To the women in my life; my wife, my daughters, all my sisters and to Jacy, Mary, and Zena – you have God-given strength, you have character, you have gifts and know-how, that if not realized, will rob the world of immense beauty, creativity, justice, grace and blessing. – Look to Mary who put her trust in a good God – and look to God who does not see you in a world of “over and against” but who wants to commission you to continue working toward that world’s destruction!
Unfortunately to some, this is still a man’s world – but let’s remember, it aint nothin, and we aint nothin, and there’d be no Christmas, if it wasn’t for a woman or a girl.
Merry Christmas.
Written by Eloy Gonzalez, Ministry Engagement Manager and Coordinator of Men’s & Family Care at The Hope Center
Scripture References:
Luke 1:26-28, 35, 37-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God….For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
God willed that the Blessed Virgin Mary play a central part in the Mystery of the Incarnation and of our Redemption. He willed that the salvation of the world should depend on her consent. Mary is the “royal way” by which the King of Glory descended into the world in order to restore fallen mankind to its destined place in heaven…If we leave her out of the Sacrament of Advent we shall never fully penetrate its mystery…
-Thomas Merton