I just returned from seeing "The Nativity Story". I thought it was well done. I was struck with the controversy that is embedded throughout the story. It was not easy for Mary and Joseph to walk around with everyone blaming them for having sex before it was societally and morally acceptable. And yet God planned it that way. Not the "having sex" part, the "everybody thinks we had sex" part. I realize that there was a prophesy to hold up to but it didn't make it any easier for the teenage couple.
It is as if God is saying from the get-go "Don't limit Me. I work and you won't be able to figure it out no matter how much you attempt to define Me." What is amazing about Mary, and what makes her such a role model is that she accepted it without understanding it.
I am increasingly amazed by the reaction of the evangelical community. It is a sad reality but very few churches would have welcomed Mary in. It might have been easier if there was a man, like Joseph attached to her and they could say that she had her momentary lapse of judgement. That would last until she started talking about being overshadowed by the Divine and impregnated. Then I think she would lose those who were still attempting to accept.
At the arrival of Jesus, God is indicating that He is not constrained by our flimsy moral or social code. I think it is dangerous to believe to have God figured out and rest in that knowledge.
It is precisely those people who would struggle the most with Mary's pregnancy.
No comments:
Post a Comment