by Anne Andert

I wasn't expecting to hear about babies.

I was at a meeting where a local foundation announced that they had received a very large grant to support worthy causes in my area.

The woman sitting next to me in the back row was holding her baby. The president of the foundation stood at the podium and looked over the heads of the distinguished guests to that little one nestling comfortably in her mother’s arms.

She drew everyone’s attention to that infant at the back of the room and said with conviction, "If you’re ever making really important decisions, hold a baby in your arms while you are considering the options. You’ll make the right decision every time."

Called to hope
Babies and children call us to hope in the future. Ask anyone who is grieving the death of a spouse. Is there a sweeter comfort than holding a little grandchild when your heart is sore with grief? When our hearts are brimming with what’s lost, babies remind us of what’s left and pull us into what’s possible.

In the congregation I serve is a set of adorable twin girls. They were born on September 11, 2001, the day most of us sat glued in horror to the news reports as the World Trade Center towers crumbled into dust. But the birth of these two children, full of grace and light, seems to me to be an emphatic "Yes!" to life and joy in defiance of the darkness of that day.

One Sunday after worship, one of these two joyful little girls tugged on my hand and guided me to our chapel. She and her sister wanted to play "church," and they would be the pastors. They directed my husband, who is co–pastor of the church, their mother, and me to kneel at the altar railing and fold our hands. The girls then came by and pressed their small hands over ours saying, "Blessing, blessing, blessing! Jesus loves you. Amen."

New world order
This month, we celebrate the birth of our Savior who first came to us as a baby and continues to come to us through the gifts of grace. If we are wise we will stop long enough to receive once again the blessing of Jesus and his love for us.

In Luke 1:39–56, we read of Mary’s journey to see her relative Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit as the pregnant Mary greets her. Elizabeth exclaims, "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

Then from Mary’s mouth come the prophetic words of the Magnificat: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

Mary’s words prophesy the new world order that would come in God’s good time, when Jesus would exalt the poor and humble over those who now hold earthly power. These are words that comfort the poor and terrify the rich. Mary speaks of a social order that does not make sense in the society she lived in. God will have regard for the poor. God will exalt the poor, feed them, help them, and remember them. Revolutionary thoughts and words!

Until Mary gives voice to her Magnificat, the order of society and the world is understood — the rich and powerful are first; the poor and suffering are last. Mary’s words call for a whole new understanding. It doesn’t make sense to the people, even to Jesus’ disciples. The kingdom of God has a different set of rules than our world.

I imagine the young Mary nursing the baby Jesus and rocking him gently after his meal, all the while speaking softly with her face close to his. How did she encourage his life of prayer and his love of the poor and the sick? What words did Mary whisper in Jesus’ little ear as she laid him down to nap? Perhaps she spoke to him of how God had reached out to her, a young, poor woman (thus triply barred from earthly power), and blessed her with Jesus. Little did she know what shape her words would take in Jesus’ life.

Trusting and believing
The foundation president, in pointing out the infant at the back of the room, took our attention away from all that money to the importance of a baby in her mother’s arms. Likewise, Jesus took the focus away from the rich and powerful and lifted up the poor and powerless, just as his mother had prophesied. The priorities in God’s world stand in stark contrast to the way our world operates. God’s ways are clearly not our ways.

Mary could have chosen not to let God work through her. But she trusted that God had a plan and she was to be part of it. She did not know the details, but she obeyed in trust and hope. She believed that the Lord would do as he said and in that believing she was blessed.

Mary did not answer the angel begrudgingly or with gritted teeth. She welcomed the Lord’s coming into her life with humble joy. She offered praise. The 11th–century German theologian Meister Eckhart said, "If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is thank you, it will be enough." Mary trusted and believed and so was blessed. She bore Jesus in her body and birthed him into the world. Jesus grew up to speak words of hope to the hopeless and to be a light in the darkness that can never be extinguished.

Christ–bearers
God continues to come to each of us. We are called to be Christ–bearers in a world that is filled with suffering. Do we respond with gritted teeth or with joy? Do we welcome God’s interference with our little plans? Can we open our hearts to hear what God is calling us to do?

Blessing always comes from trusting that God’s word will be fulfilled. Mary was blessed. Elizabeth was blessed. Jesus was blessed. God is waiting and wanting to bless us, too.

How will we respond when God breaks into our lives, into our congregations, into our world with a mission for us to fulfill?

May we trust that God will keep God’s promises to us, may we be courageous in doing God’s will, and may we be blessed in the believing as were Elizabeth, Mary, and Jesus. Surely God is with us — Emmanuel! The light will continue to shine in the darkness.

Anne Andert and her husband, David Andert, are pastors of Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church in Benson, Minn.