An Act of Consent

Last Sunday, for a moment, we likened Mary to Malala Yousafzai, the teenage Pakistani education advocate. We talked about the strength of character which has led her to winning the Nobel Peace Prize and accolades from around the world, as well as violence, both threatened and enacted.

I wonder if she, and her parents, imagined where this path would lead and the costs they would have to bear. What is clear from her activism is that Malala is no passive actor, she is not being caught up in events, but is shaping many by her own hand and heart. Malala has chosen this path, and since her recovery from being shot in the head a few years ago, it is a fully informed choice.

An act of consent.

Luke’s Gospel tells us that Mary was “perplexed” when an angel invited her to participate in God’s intention for the world; when we read the story again, her perplexity seems quite reasonable. This has led some to believe – and preach – that Mary is an almost passive participant in the plan, and I don’t accept that.

The words accorded to Mary by Luke are not the words of a winsome maid, but those of a disciple choosing consent to God’s invitation. John Bell’s lyrics describe it
Yet Mary, consenting to what none could guess,
replied with conviction, ‘Tell God I say Yes.’

When we are called by Jesus, we are called to follow and consent to the consequences. Mary cannot have known the full implications of her choice, but she began to realise its magnitude as time progressed. Not just the first angel, but Elizabeth’s pregnant prophecy and Mary’s own song of praise, the Christmas night, the magi who followed, the prophetic blessings from Simeon and Anna and Herod’s violence must all have served to declare more than wonder, certainly challenge, perhaps even fear. 

Some will say that these appalling events of the last week in Martin Place and in Peshawar are made all the worse by being near to Christmas. I think that’s naïve for two reasons. First, evil acts are always evil; and second, I think Christmas exists because of the brokenness and suffering of our world, not despite them.

Mary’s consent, and ours, are actions of hope, in response to God’s act of hope in Jesus. We insist that God’s love is the first and complete word spoken and that nothing can overcome it. The child born speaks to the best and the worst of our world, to create, to forgive and to resurrect.