LOVE: Accepting God's Favor

Read: Luke 1:39-45 and Revelation 22:1-5

By Blaine Sanders

It was the best prenatal class of all time. Mary, pregnant with Jesus, went to visit Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist. When Elizabeth heard Mary enter her house, her baby leaped in her womb, and she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Pregnancy is an exciting time, but this was something incredible. But then, as part of her exclamation, Elizabeth asked, "Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

It is tempting during Advent for us to get hung up on "why" questions about God’s love. Why did God carry out His plan through humble, ordinary people like Mary and Elizabeth? Why did God choose to work through the Jews, many of whom rejected Him and a segment of whom conspired to put Him to death? Why did God invite each of us to join His unlikely family? In other words, why are we so favored?

I suppose people a lot smarter than me can offer answers to these questions, and that could make for stimulating discussions. But as we approach Christmas, does it really matter why God chose us? Isn’t the wonderful news that He did choose us? For no rationale reason, certainly not our innate goodness, God decided to send His Son so that we might live in His kingdom, both on earth and eventually in heaven. Despite her question, Elizabeth got it. She didn’t get hung up on why she was so favored. She quickly started telling Mary about her baby leaping in her womb and praising Mary for Mary’s faith. May we have that same faith that allows us to simply live in God’s love.