Oh, JOY! Mary said, "Yes."

My thoughts today come from Luke chapter one:

“Greetings, favored one! The LORD is with you.”

Such a greeting! Such an honor to be favored by the LORD! And Mary gives the angel such gracious replies. This interchange between Mary and Gabriel strikes me as extremely intimate—intimacy between God and Mary—something shared between God and a woman.

As I reflected on God and Mary, I became acutely aware of something bothersome. I have worshipped in the Churches of Christ for more than 25 years and have never heard a sermon on Mary. As a matter of fact, there have been few lessons on Biblical women; and yet, the narrative of Jesus begins with women—Elizabeth, Mary, Anna.

These are honored women, favored women. As a woman, I pay attention to these women. They make me proud. Throughout ecclesiastical history, men predominate in the Christian institutions; but here I read that for all their power and authority, these "church" men would be nothing without the undergirding of a woman’s “yes” to God.

A woman made a choice that brought joy to heaven and to earth.

Oh, JOY! Mary said, “Yes.”