Highly Favored.

As much as I love the Christmas sing-songs of the season, while I'm baking or ridin' in the car or cleaning the kitchen...I really love the deep, classic hymn-type Christmas songs.  They're very rich and full of revelation.  


And then comes Sarah McLachlan, who re-creates one of those classics, and it takes on a whole new meaning.  It not only brings the sovereignty and meaning of Christmas, but it also arouses the mystery of the season.


And it truly is a mystery.  It starts with a young virgin girl.  A young girl who caught God's attention.  And He chose her to birth the Savior.  We don't know too much about Mary, her attributes or what she did that gave her great favor.  We can take other scriptures that describe a person whom God favors, and we can likely apply them to her young life.  But other than that, she is a bit of a mystery.  So, because of this, every Christmas, I spend a lot of time thinking about her.  Her story sounded like this:


 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!^[d]”



 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel^[e] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”


 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”


The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.


What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.^[f]”


Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.   Luke 1:26-38




I've thought quite a bit about favor over the last few years while I've studied Mary.  It seems to me that she knew quite a lot for her young age, and not only that, but she had a heart that was pure.  Had her heart not been pure, the angel could not have said that God was with her.  And the fact that God was with her, this is what brought her esteem.


I've heard a lot of prayers prayed for favor.  Some have been legitimate, and some have been more like begging.  I'm not throwing stones, I surely have had my fair share of favor-asking prayers.  We do it, mostly unknowingly, desperately aching for something we want to go our way in our lives.  And, yes, God wants to bless us.  However, I think there is a much deeper understanding of favor that we need to acknowledge and that we desperately need to receive.  It's this kind of benevolence that Mary attained.


It's the kind of consideration when from high in Heaven, God looks down on earth, and He picks you.


It's the kind of blessing that is not necessarily seen as great in society, at least not at first.


Because, often, it goes against the cultural grain.


It's not the "please, God, raise me up high and lofty so that I can change the world and look good" kind.  Instead, it's the "supernatural, pregnant young virgin who was shunned by society and delivered a baby in a manger" kind.


It starts with humility.  


He rode into town on a donkey before he died on the cross and rose from the tomb.


Because the ride of the donkey is where His journey is.  Mary rode a donkey on the way to the manger in Bethlehem, the only place where there was room.  And then, Jesus, rode the donkey on Palm Sunday, one week before He would rise from death.


This favor, which Mary attained, was significantly life-altering.  She was not the next pop icon or the most spiritual of all TV evangelists.  She was a teenager, who said yes to God, and who gave her life to raise the Messiah.


She was not perfect, she had sin.  She was a human being like you and I.  And, yet, she was noticed by God and highly favored.  She's really refreshing.


Because in our culture, it's dog eat dog.  How can I one-up the person next to me to rise to the top?  Maybe if I work more hours or win this prestigious award or that corner office.  How can I compliment myself?


When, Mary, she was chosen differently.  And her favor was met with great humility.  


It seems as though if we get above Black Friday and parties and the hustle and bustle, we might be able to hear this story that God tells us every single year.  We might be open to making some room in our home for the birth of a baby.  As backward thinking as it may seem, that's what Christmas is about.  Making room...not only in our home but also in our heart.  For the Messiah to be born...in us.


And when that happens, we will know great favor.




"To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."  --Colossians 1:27






(corresponding song: Mary by Sarah McLachlan)