"Mary, did you know?"

Thank you to all who came out to church this morning, despite the weather.  For all that could not attend, this morning was the third Sunday of Advent - Joy.  The focus of the message this morning was upon "Mary's Magnificat" as found in Luke 1:46b-55.  Before I get to the heart of the message...let's reflect a bit upon Mary herself.
    Mary was a "young" teenage girl at the time when her narrative picks up.  She is soon to be married to her arranged fiance, Joseph.  Many of us can recall our emotional status in the months preceding our wedding day - worried about every imaginable issue...what if I can't cook?   Mary had an even more difficult situation...she was going into an arranged marriage.  She didn't even get to choose whom she married, so not only was she worried about all of the normal concerns, but she was marrying a man she didn't even get to choose.  Good grief...that alone would probably have pushed me over the edge...nevermind the rest of the story.
    Well, about the rest of the story - let's pause a moment to think about what happens next.  An angel appeared and informed Mary that she was with child...God's child.  Wow.  'Cause anyone is going to believe that one!?  In today's society, it is still somewhat frowned upon for unmarried women (girls) to have a child, but in Mary's society, it was a death sentence.  To have a child outside of the marriage was completely unacceptable and intolerable.  Punishable by death.  What was she to do now?  Who would believe her story?  Would Joseph?  Did she?  I mean, would you?  Matthew and I have not yet been blessed with children, however, I am pretty sure if we did have children and someone told me that my child would be the President of the United States one day, I would laugh.  Seriously? Have you met us?  But not only that, to say that our child would be the Savior of the Universe?  No way.  Mary didn't even know that we needed a Savior of the Universe, she thought they just needed a king to restore God's people.  She had to tell this far reaching story to Joseph and most likely face death. What a brave girl!
    "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior," (v. 46 & 47) This quote comes from Mary's song (Magnificat) in Luke.  I am not sure that if I were Mary and I knew what was coming (death) that my first thought would be that my soul glorifies the Lord.  Mine would probably go more like "You got me into this, I sure hope you can get me out of it."  Mary seemed to understand her role and what was going to happen.  She was able to glorify God, even in her pain and fear.  Mary was living by the Kingdom's standards, not by those of the world. 
   This is the basis for this morning's sermon. Mary, in her young, precarious state was able to align herself to the standards of the Kingdom of God.  We as the church of today have to raise ourselves to the same standards.  What does it (or should it) look like for us to live our lives through the lens of Kingdom living?  How do our actions fit into God's plan and more than that...how do we see our choices, actions, and attitudes fitting into the Kingdom?  Do we align our choices everyday to the Kingdom or to the world?  The same goes for the Church...are we making choices to further the Kingdom of God, or are we instead allowing the world to dictate our choices and views?  We should strive to have the same joyful attitude that Mary had and in choosing to participate in kingdom living, instead of wallowing in the sorrow of the world.  I guess the real question we need to answer is "which Kingdom are we going to give our lives to"?  All we have to do is look at our attitudes and actions to find the true answer to the question...

~Jennifer