Tonight at our Upstream meeting we each have to share something of significance to us , in regard to the Christmas story. Today I was spending some time reading and reflecting on Mary – just an ordinary girl who God chose as the mother of his son. What was it like for Mary?…
Just a Girl”
I wonder”
Of all the women in Nazareth, why choose Mary to be the mother of Jesus?
14 year old Mary” just a girl” so young” so little life experience” so much to learn” was she ready for this?
And why not Josie, or Katie, or Sally or anyone for that matter?
Why Mary?
Was she an especially good girl?
Was she an especially bad girl?
Was she especially anything at all?
Or was she just a girl” a girl who had found favour with God
I wonder”
What was Mary doing on the day the angel came?
Having breakfast? Shaving her legs? Doing the ironing?
Did she have any idea that today she would meet an angel and get chosen to be the mother of the saviour of the world?
Was she ready for her world to change for ever?
It was just an ordinary day in her ordinary life
And she was just a girl”
I wonder”
What went thru her mind when the angel had gone?
Did she ask ‘why me?’ Did she wonder what her baby might look like?
Did she wonder what Joseph would say?
Or how she would explain this to her father?…
Did she begin to dream of her baby’s future? Of his wife, of grandkids of family holidays of…
Did she know?
What did it feel like to have the saviour of the world growing inside you?
And to be” just a girl?…
I wonder”
Did Mary see Joseph that night?
“An angel?!… You’re kidding” No way!… Me too” Us” Why us?…”
Did she tell her mum?
Her dad?
Did they believe her? Did they interrogate her?
Or did they dismiss her
As just a girl?…
I wonder”
As the lump started to grow, as Mary started to show”
What did people say?
What was the ‘word on the street’ about Mary and Joseph?
Did her friends share her joy or did they slowly stop coming to see her?
An unmarried mum” bad company” a liar”
“Says it wasn’t Joseph” but the Holy Spirit”
“As if?”
“Not a bad story really. No one’s used that one before!”
“But why would God pick her?”
“Its pretty tall tale””
“She’s just a girl””
I wonder”
When the time came and they were in forced into a dirty stable
Did Mary get mad at Joseph for not booking a hotel? Nine months is fair warning after all.
What did she expect at the birth of her first child?
What kind of baby would ‘the son of God’ be?
Would anyone come to congratulate her and celebrate his birth?
Would anyone bring gifts for the baby?
Who would share this moment with her and Joseph?
When the shepherds came, when the wise men came, when the word spread and his life was threatened how did it feel then to be mother to this baby, the son of God, the saviour of the world?
A tiny baby
Vulnerable
Dangerous
And her” just a girl”
I wonder”
As Mary fed the son of God at her breast, as she toilet trained the Messiah, as she played with God enfleshed and watched him grow”
Did she know that one day he would die for the sins of the world?
Did she realise that he would be branded a criminal, an agitator a rebel?
Did she have any idea that her baby would be arrested and beaten, then whipped and left on a cross to die?
Did she know about the resurrection, the coming of the spirit, the birth of the church, the spread of the Way?
Or was she just a girl?…
A girl favoured by God.
A girl trusting God.
Just a girl”