These are astounding claims that are unique to Christianity. What is the truth of them for us? No other religion makes these claims. These claims are not made about Muhammed, or about Buddha, or about Confucius, or about any of the Atavars of the Hindu pantheon of gods. One thing you cannot say about the message of Gabriel is that all religions are alike. Tim Keller makes the point that people who claim that all religions are alike are motivated by an underlying fear. If they accept that any religion made unique claims, then they would have to decide whether or not those claims were true. Many agnostics do not want to take the responsibility of having to choose. He suggests that it is a form of emotional immaturity.

Life is filled with hard choices, and it is childish to think that you can avoid them. It may seem to get you out of a lot of hard work, but the idea of the equivalence of religions is simply a falsehood. Every religion, even those that appear more inclusive, makes it own unique claims. But Jesus' claims are particularly unnerving, because if they are true, there is no alternative but to bow the knee to him. The annunciation pushes the exclusivity of Jesus right in our face. It demands a response and shows us there is a lot of hard work to do. (Tim Keller, Encounters with Jesus, p.195f.)

How does Mary respond to this annunciation? Keller suggests she does four things.

First, she thinks, she uses her powers of reason. She "wondered what kind of greeting this might be." She tried to figure out what was going on. She struggled to understand, just as we would if we were in her shoes. She weighs what Gabriel has to say. Is it true? We exercise our own minds as we think through the implications of the coming of God in the flesh. We wonder what is going on in our lives as God reveals himself to us by his Spirit through his Word.

Second, she expresses her doubts. She was greatly troubled and said, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" She is honest about her doubts and questions Gabriel. She asks for more information. She does not dismiss Gabriel out of hand but gives him a chance of explaining himself further. The angel tells her what will happen and how it is entirely credible "For nothing is impossible with God." What seems to be impossible humanly speaking becomes a possibility that requires a leap of our faith over the chasm of doubt. What seems to us to be absurd, that God would enter our world through a young virgin challenges our presuppositions. Our doubts, genuine though they might be are seen to be the product of our human limitations. God can do what is impossible for us. Faith is possibility. Faith is gambling on the divine possibility.

Third, she surrenders to God's call: "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said." She could not have known all that was involved but she did not negotiate with God on the conditions of her service. She trusted that God knew what he was doing and made herself available. When God calls us to do something we cannot know ahead of time all the things he is asking us to do. We must be willing to trust that he knows what he is doing and that we are privileged to be invited to participate in it with him.

That was so for me when I surrendered to the Lordship of Christ and opened the door to my heart so that he might come into my life. That was so for me when I made myself available to go into the ordained ministry. I had no idea of what that involved and where it would lead me. You have to make yourself available: "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said.">/I>

Mary was willing to do God's will, even if people in her village would talk about her and assume that she had violated the moral and social norms of their culture. Their contemporaries would not believe it if they told them that an angel appeared and said that this was going to happen. It sounded just as incredible and implausible then as it does today. She was willing to endure the criticism of others in order to be the Lord's servant.

This is the same with us. If we are open about our faith a lot of our friends will not understand and will think the worst of us. Yet that is how God comes into our world -- through the unexpected. The Savior was born not in a royal palace to influential parents with all the advantages of power. He was born to a peasant girl and a carpenter in a stable. Salvation is achieved through weakness, suffering and death on the cross. But it leads to glory and resurrection.

This story of Mary and Joseph is of two people who gave up control of their lives without conditions. It reminds us that if we want Jesus in the middle of our lives, we have to do so unconditionally. Jean-Pierre de Cassaude (1675-1751) wrote Abandonment to Divine Providence in which he describes the dynamic joyful surrender of ourselves to the will and way of God.

The great and firm foundation of the spiritual life is the offering of ourselves to God and being subject to his will in all things. We must completely forget ourselves, so that we regard ourselves as an object which has been sold and over which we no longer have any rights. We find all our joy in fulfilling God's pleasure -- his happiness, his glory and the fact that he is our great and only delight... Our main duty is to abandon ourselves, once we have faithfully discharged all the proper duties of our state of life, of course, for the way in which we fill these duties will be the measure of our holiness. (Abandonment to Divine Providence, chap.4)

Fourth, Mary goes to see Elizabeth. Her decision and call is confirmed by Elizabeth's prophetic words: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me,,, Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished." Mary needs that confirmation and assurance to encourage her that she has made the right decision. We need one another in the community of Christ. We are never going to make it alone.

Ted's blog is found at www.tedschroder.com SOUL FOOD: DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR THE HUNGRY, Vol.1, January, February and March is available for gifts at Amazon.com