Advent of Bravery

Photo by Markus Henze on Unsplash

I hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful Thanksgiving (or a fabulous week if you are not in the U.S.). It’s hard to believe we have reached the final month of 2024. While there are plenty of places to place your attention to prepare for Christmas, I’d like to call upon your Christian imagination to help you navigate Advent.

The inclusion of Mary’s pre-Jesus life lends credence to the divinely inspired nature of the gospel of St. Luke. The author includes a conversation between a young girl from an obscure town and her angelic visitor in the first chapter. (Luke 1:26-38) He then proceeds to chronicle her visit to her cousin, the birth of her first child, the way she prompts her son’s first miracle and more.

For most of history, women’s stories have not been considered important enough to share with an audience, especially a primarily male one. While several women are mentioned in the Bible, none have captivated the imagination as much as Mary, Jesus’ mother.

Depending upon your faith background, Mary may have been revered or ignored altogether. Your image of Mary was formed by the numerous paintings or statues you’ve seen throughout your lifetime. Through the centuries, artists have portrayed her with a covered head and downcast eyes. So, you might conclude that Mary was the demure model of feminine silence. Reading between the lines of Scripture, I hope you discover a fiercely brave woman in love with a merciful God.

There’s more to Mary’s story than pious painters would have you think.

Today, we enter the season of Advent—a time when we’re invited to revisit familiar stories from our current location on the journey. We believe Scripture to be a living document, revealing new things about humanity and our relationship to God despite being written centuries ago. Each time we read a passage, we read it as we are rather than as we were or are yet to be.

Reading Scripture is tricky. Society, culture, science, and technology have advanced while the people in the Biblical stories remain static. It was difficult to be a woman in 1 A.D. That does not mean we should leave the Bible on the shelf as a relic of the past.

While we don’t want to return to the structure of society described in the Bible we can learn more about what it means to be human in its pages. Looking at the stories told about Mary helps us understand, a little better, how we can relate to God in trying times.

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Over the four weeks of Advent, we can wrestle with some questions:

Was Mary’s “Yes” brave? If so, what allowed Mary to respond to the Angel Gabriel with bravery rather than fear?

What did Mary believe to be true?  

What did Mary stand for?

How can we respond with holy bravery in our own lives?

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Mary’s response to Elizabeth’s greeting is bold.

We find clues to the true source of Mary’s blessed assurance in her prayer, the Magnificat (Luke 1: 46-55), Mary’s longest speaking part in the Bible.

Mary’s bravery is grounded in her faith in God instead of being rooted in her self-confidence. Her words reveal not only her understanding of the character of God but her relationship to Him as well.  In the short prayer, she quotes and interprets more than 20 passages from the Old Testament in her song of praise to God. Her imagination was fueled by her knowledge of the stories of other brave women.

The Magnificat is a matriarchal anthem of bravery. In it Mary speaks of the counter-intuitive truth of God’s design— “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.” She speaks of what she knows.

Oh, to be able to believe that this is still true now that we live in a time when the mighty few want to crush the lowly many.

We are tasked with being Christ’s hands and feet in a time when His name has been co-opted by some who use religion to stoke fear, division, and animosity. Mary’s Magnificat points us in a different direction— to a God of mercy, friendship, and benevolence.

There are times when we each struggle with fear. Often, my soul does not want to rejoice because I am distracted by the latest piece of bad news. Fear trains my eyes downward and hunches my shoulders forward causing me to shrink. There is a litany of reasons we could each give to justify the things that cause us to worry, remain silent, or withdraw.

We can harness our imaginations to pray, ponder, rest, and then stand up with action. Jesus calls us to love our neighbor, even the ones with whom we disagree.

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Advent practices of Prayer, Pondering, Rest, and Bravery.

This first week of Advent, identify your litany of fears. What is it that you are afraid of?

Pray— Set aside a few minutes each day to talk to God and ask Him to help you name your fears. No fear is too silly or too small. Naming the fear will not conjure it into existence.

Dear God, help me face my fears not matter how large or small.

Ponder— Fill in this verse with your name and ponder it this week:

“Do not be afraid, _________________, for you have found favor with God.” (Luke 1:30)

Rest— Schedule some downtime for your soul this week. You are carrying heavy burdens and it is always a good idea to set them down for a little while.

When will you rest this week?

Respond— Do one brave thing.