Have you ever noticed how God never calls on anyone to win the lottery? Never, in the history of civilization, has God told someone to make a pilgrimage to the local 7-Eleven and give them seven random numbers with the understanding that they will never have another financial care for the rest of their lives. It just doesn’t happen. In fact, when God does find favor with the humans and asks them to do Him a solid…it’s a pretty safe bet that whatever job he needs them to do is going to suck. Ok…maybe not suck, but it’s not going to be easy. At the very least it will require sacrifice. It will test you and it’s possible that you will endure a little humiliation along the way, but take heart. I hear that which does not kill you makes you stronger.
Think about it, when God created the heavens and Earth and gave Adam and Eve the Garden of Eden, at first glance it appears as though He gave them carte blanche of the whole thing. But there was a catch. Smack in the middle of it all, he placed the tree of knowledge, made it the best looking tree of the bunch and told them not to touch it. The temptation was more than they could bear and well…we all know what happened. A few centuries later, He tells Noah that He has to destroy the whole planet, but because Noah is a good guy, He’s going to spare him…but first He needs Noah to build a really big boat and become the laughing stock of the whole community. He tells Abraham that he is going to be the father of many nations…by giving him a barren wife… and when she finally gives him the long sought after son, God complicates the whole situation by asking Abraham to kill the boy off. Don’t even get me started about what happened when he got the landscape to chat up Moses and propose a plan to set the Israelites free…I’m telling you, when God calls your name…it’s not going to be pleasant.
In today’s gospel, God sends His messenger to tell Mary that she is going to be the mother of His son. When we read this passage during Advent, it’s almost like a fairy tale. We romanticize it. We create decorations that celebrate it and you can practically hear a Disney score rising in the background. But strip the story of its holiday wrappings and warm fuzzy feelings to read it during Lent, and well, it takes on a whole different vibe, doesn’t it? God asks an unmarried teenager to let Him inhabit her body for nine long months. To run the risk of being turned away by her betrothed, to subject herself to the threat of a public stoning, to give birth in the most uncomfortable of situations, to raise Him as though He were any other boy on the planet and to stand by helplessly as she faces the one scenario no parent ever wants to endure: that of their child dying before them. Sure, there’s a lot of flowery language, but we know what He’s got in mind long term. Even if she is dazzled by the presentation, she has to know (at least in part) that it’s not going to be smooth sailing. She’s read the Torah. She’s heard the same stories we have and yet, she goes along with the plan anyway. I’m not sure what kind of girl would say, “yes” to something like that, but one thing is for certain, she’s made of stronger stuff than I am.
Throughout the Lenten season, we make small sacrifices that last a short period of time. It’s a gesture we know we can and will survive. But answering God’s call to make real sacrifices is a leap into the unknown and having faith that it will somehow work out. It goes beyond giving up chocolate, caffeine or our social media accounts for a finite period of time to putting all of our chips on one number knowing the payout will be greater than any PowerBall jackpot we can imagine. It won’t be easy. It won’t be fun. It will feel like a gamble, but it is a bet Jesus made with us a long time ago and in God’s kingdom, His “house” always wins.
Today’s Readings for Mass: IS 7:10-14, 8:10; PS 40: 7-8A, 8B-9, 10, 11; HEB 10:4-10; LK 1:26-38
