Today is the feast day of St. Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus, the God-bearer who was chosen by the Father to carry God in her womb for 9 months and be the Mother of God. One of the best known passages concerning St. Mary is the annunciation, the time in which St. Gabriel the Archangel came and told her that she would bear a son and call His Name Immanuel, which means God with us. The account goes, "In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.²⁸ And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” ²⁹ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ³⁴ And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵ And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her"(Luke 1:26-38). We see in this account two very different reactions from St. Mary. First, she doubts Gabriel's words because she had not yet known a man. However, Gabriel proclaims further into her ear the reality of how the Holy Spirit will come upon her and she will bear the Son of God. Her response is then submission to the Word of the Lord and the declaration that the Word of the Lord does everything. This is a great comfort to us because it shows that Mary was not chosen because she was sinless in the age of sinners, but rather was chosen by God's grace. She is not to be praised according to her own holiness, but according to God's grace. We venerate Mary and remember her with joy, not because she was holier than everyone else, but because God showed her grace and He does the same thing for us today.

Let us celebrate with great joy the life and salvation of St. Mary. We celebrate her as the Mother of our Lord, the one who carried Jesus in her womb, was with Him throughout His earthly ministry, and who now dwells in the eternal dwellings with her Son forever. We rejoice in the life of St. Mary because she lived under the same grace as we do and received salvation by the same Jesus as we do. We celebrate St. Mary as a beloved saint, one who is sinful, but is pure and unblemished according to the grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. May the same grace bestowed on Mary, and which declared and made her a saint, be shown to you this day and all your days as Jesus ushers you into the eternal dwellings. 

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you hear only the voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "I forgive you. I love you. I claim you as My own forever," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull