“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”Luke 1:28.

A teenager engaged to be married to a carpenter had her world turned upside down by this strange greeting and the even stranger invitation that followed it.

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1: 30-33.

Mary consented, and her world would never be the same

She was favored, indeed. Favored to carry the Christ, to bring into the world the Light of the World. It is right that we should honor her, but we also would do well to humanize her.

Being the favored one was not only an invitation to honor, but to suffer for the sake of Saviour. Mary was given a task and a promise, one that would mean a lifetime of wrestling for faith in what was coming, but unseen.

Every Advent, I try to write a poem in an attmept to keep my heart from sentimentalizing the Christmas season. This year, my heart has been stuck on the greeting, “O favored one,” a simple phrase that explains what must have been a profoundly complex journey as the mother of Christ.

Full of Favor, Fraught with Fear

He sought her permission,
She replied in submission,
Scared yet sacred mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

When she should be resting,
Herod her strength was testing.
Enduring, expectant mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

She held him to her shoulder
As the desert wind grew colder,
Exhausted, exhilarated mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

He whimpered in the night,
As they fled another plight,
Fleeing, fearful mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

Simeon held him in devotion,
Uttering words of mixed emotion,
Devoted, doting mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

Certain she’d lost the Saviour,
Her son of strange behavior,
Frantic, searching mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

She watched him leave home,
His time had come to roam,
Saddened, sending mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

As they bragged about the healing,
She saw a coming cup of reeling,
Protective, pensive mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

Her son was lifted on a cross,
Words cannot capture her loss.
Speechless, suffering mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

Joy deeper than sorrow’s woes,
Pulsed in her when he arose,
Dancing, delighted mother:
Full of favor, fraught with fear.

He is full of favor, we’ve no need to fear.

I am so thankful for Mary’s model of living as a favored one.  As a human, she sought to obey and trust God; in so doing, she brought the Truly Favored One into the world, the only perfectly obedient One in whom both she and we trust.

As we head into the Advent season, I want to remember that as the adopted children of God, we have been granted a position of incredible favor. However, as we learn from Mary’s life, being a favored one of God does not exempt us from a life of confusion, pain, suffering and grief. Rather, being the favored of God by faith in His truly favorite Son, Christ, invites us into a lifetime of walking by faith and not by sight through suffering and pain with great purpose.

May we live as the favored ones this Advent season by His Spirit.