May I speak in the name of the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit
When the angel Gabriel brings Mary God’s request that she becomes the theotokas, the Godbearer, Mary, eventually, agrees and says yes. Now, there are many different ways of saying yes. There is the simple response to the question would you like a cup of tea? Yes, the slightly more emphatic, would you like some chocolate, yes please. There are other questions where we might pause before saying yes, maybe something sounds too good to be true and we are wondering what the catch is a question such as would you like £1000 to spend in a bookshop. Whilst clearly, I would love £1000 to spend in a bookshop, I would also be thinking why are you offering me this, what do you want in return? Nobody makes such a good offer without wanting something in return.
Then there are the times when we say yes but don’t really mean it, someone gives you a present you don’t want and asks if you like it and you say yes out of politeness, someone asks you to do something that you feel you should do but don’t really want to, so you say yes. Your partner asks if you’ve been listening to them and you say yes, even though you’ve been thinking about something else and not listening to them at all.
Sometimes saying yes can be a simple interaction and sometimes it can be life changing. Or even world changing. Will you marry me, will you be the mother of God? Saying yes in these circumstances isn’t always easy. Things that are life changing require thought and careful consideration before answering. Saying yes may require us to make changes to our life. In some circumstances we can know that saying yes may be the right thing, but also know that it may be difficult. God has a tendency to ask us to do things that may not be easy, that may require a not easy yes.
Mary in saying yes to God, needed amongst other things to be brave. But what does being brave mean? Well, it can mean different things to different people. Recently when visiting my mum I went for a run. Now my mum lives in a nice village on the edge of the Yorkshire wolds. I set of for my run after lunch, in good weather with plenty of daylight. However as I was running down the village street a woman said to me you’re brave. Now I don’t see going for a run in daylight in a yorkshire village as something I need to be brave to do, I mean unless there’s something I don’t know like the local sheep really hate runners and will chase me and attack me, I don’t see anything to fear in what I was doing. However clearly for that woman, something that I was doing made her feel that for her to do that would require bravery. Saying yes, especially to God, can often lead to us having to step outside our comfort zone and be brave.
To say yes to God can lead us to places we never expected. In Paul’s letter to the Romans he addresses the letter to “all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints”. Imagine that you received a pastoral letter from Bishop Sophie to all God’s beloved in Chapelfields, who are called to be saints. What would your reaction be, do you see yourself as someone called to be a saint? You might not think so but everyone who responds to God’s call on their life is called to be a saint. To follow God, to be called to be a saint can bring many joys, but it can also push us well beyond our comfort zone. It’s so easy to tell ourselves, I can’t do that, you need to be be clever or rich or whatever other excuse you may think up to tell yourself that God can’t really want you to do that. Yet, if we look at the bible it is full of ordinary everyday people, people that weren’t seen as rich or clever. In fact some of them are down right scoundrels, yet God has a task for them and when they say yes and accept that task, things that couldn’t be imagined start to happen. I must admit when Fr. Edward first proposed the fresco and said how much it would cost, my first thoughts were it would be fantastic but we will never raise that much money. Yet as a congregation we said yes and we raised the money and have a fantastic fresco which I think adds so much to our worship space.
God isn’t going to give us all a task that is as great as the one given to Mary. However, he may ask us to do things, that for each of us in our own way, can feel scary, that may require us to say a brave yes. It may not be something big, this time of year there is often a focus on families and relationships. Is there someone in your family or an old friend that you’ve lost touch with and now are too worried about what they think to try and reach out to them? Or maybe you’ve seen a volunteer opportunity or group that interests you but are holding back from trying something new because you’re worried about how others will see you or that you won’t be able to do it. Maybe that group is the place that God is calling you to be. It could even be joining one of the rotas in church, new servers are always welcome. Whatever it is, however big or small it may seem, saying that yes to God, can profoundly change your life, it may change the lives of others around you, it may even change the world.
What is God asking you to say yes to this Christmas and can you follow Mary’s example and say yes to whatever God has planned for you?
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