Kimberly Majeski
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Preacher Girl School
  • Media/Publications
  • Speaking
  • About
    • Store
    • References
  • Stripped Love
  • Preacher Girl School Member Only
  • Webinar
  • Link Page

World Vision and How I Missed the Annunciation

3/29/2014

3 Comments

 
Picture
Today as the snow falls in central Indiana, when the would be lamb seems more like a lion, it is a few days past the time when Catholic sisters and brothers across the globe celebrate the feast of Annunciation. The feast is celebrated on March 25, the time to gather to light candles, breathe prayers and acknowledge the power of a moment, when she said, “Yes!” one of my favorite days in the liturgical calendar-- but this year-- I missed it.

Somewhere between the World Vision madness and my own broken heart shattered and beleaguered as believers tear at each other again while children go hungry and folks who pursue Jesus are cast aside by the church once more, I read my twitter log and blog roll, and consumed with grief, I missed the quiet, life changing announcement of hope in the darkness.

The Annunciation, after all, is the celebration of an adolescent girl who was confronted with the power and presence of God. In the Annunciation, a young woman who finds herself in the glowing fire of Gabriel’s wings surrenders to the impossible call of God which invades her life and changes the trajectory of her future and all of human history.

Protestants too, do well to mark this high and holy day for many good reasons. We should pause to remember the Annunciation because it reminds us of the narratives of Scripture when God comes to the world and moves in and through the feminine.  These are stories of our foremothers and they ought not be taken from us, rather celebrated so that we might reclaim what has been lost, a sense of God’s call to and for women even in the delicate work of birthing forth God’s Word. We should wrap our hearts and minds and arms around this opportunity built right into the church calendar to inspire young women and to remind people everywhere to do as she did, to allow the call of God to invade our lives and to take us where it will.

The miracle of the Annunciation is hard for us in the twenty first century, we are unable to lay down our plans, our smart phones and our long term goals, our mission statements and our vision boards to be slow and still enough to notice angels in our midst, to heed the call of God wooing us into some unheard of, unbelievable, unfathomable future but that is exactly what the Annunciation calls out of us. In the observance of this day, we are invited to believe as Mary did, “nothing is impossible for God” (Luke 1.37).

We don’t need to restate the obvious, that she was young, unmarried, and would be scandalized for her response, perhaps we do need to say that it is likely she had plans of her own, desires and dreams, hopes and an entire scenario according to which she believed her life would unfold. Whatever her plans might have been, in a moment, she gave them over; she surrendered and she said yes instead to the unfathomable plan of God come to her on the lips of the angel.

Instead, unlike Mary, in the midst of our own fear we spew hate and we dig into our camps and we forget the miracle of God with skin on, of a king born to a poor unwed teen in a backwater town in a horse stall, we forget that God works in ways not our own. We forget that what makes the most sense is often a device of human invention and not the work of the divine who shatters cultural norms and breaks open wide the realm of logic and reason and invites us into what is miraculous, wild and free.

In the Annunciation, we reaffirm our belief in this God who works not according to creaturely conventions, but who is above it and who will be made known through whom God will be made known. We remember that nothing is impossible so we envision a reality when people who love God, follow the example of Christ empowered by Spirit  are able to coexist and work together towards the common good of feeding hungry children no matter our interpretation of particular biblical passages regarding marriage, we pray for a moment when we look beyond our hermeneutical/interpretive differences to hold hands across the world to make the Kingdom known.

We whisper “yes” in the face of the impossible because we believe in the redemption of all things, our hearts pound as we step forward into an uncertain future and a territory not crossed before, we know we may be scandalized, we know we may be read wrongly if our hearts and the mysterious of work of God is not made known, but we decide our differences are not all we are but it is our deep love for this One that unites us, it is our allegiance to Jesus that will see us through. And we say with Mary, "I am the hand maiden of the Lord, let it be done, according to your word."


3 Comments
Marlene Soffera
3/29/2014 06:37:46 am

Thank you for the reminder.

Reply
Corby link
3/30/2014 02:15:15 am

I, too, was deeply saddened by the recent World Vision decisions, but not for the reasons most of my friends thought I was. They just assumed I was angry because of the gay issue. I wasn't. I just keep asking myself how Christians can take food out of the mouths of children? This, again, proves to me how insulated we are in the US. If we had to look those children in the eye and say, I am sorry you can't eat, would we be so fast to pull our commitments to them? I struggle with the opposite issue: as a lesbian, how can I support the restrictive evangelical stance of Compassion International by sponsoring children through them? The answer: because children need to eat, children need education, children need love. Who am I to not give them this because I am marginalized by the charity that distributes the money? I'm hoping that "that which you do unto the least of these, you do unto me" is resounding loudly and convictingly in all of our ears as we make decisions to attempt to follow Christ. Peace and grace as we walk this walk.

Reply
Kimberly Majeski link
3/31/2014 07:31:17 am

Thanks Corby, yes. We made the wrong thing the issue here. Thank you for, as always, demonstrating grace even in cases where persons of your tribe have not been treated gracefully. I pray God we can move beyond our divisions to embody Kingdom. Love you.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Subscribe Today for Free Gift

    BLOG


    Picture

    Archives

    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    July 2010
    May 2010

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Anderson University School Of Theology
    Anne Lamott
    Ann Voskamp
    Baptism
    Chick
    Church
    Church Of God
    Confessions
    Corinth
    Doubt
    Downton Abbey
    Egalatarian
    Fab Five
    Faith
    Final Things
    Found
    Graduation
    Grief
    Growing Up In Church
    Hagaar
    Hebrew
    Holiness
    Holy Land 2012
    Jesus
    Joanna
    Julie And Norberto Kurrle
    Kingdom
    Landmines
    Laughter
    Leaving Church
    Lent
    Living
    Loss
    Lost
    Love
    Lydia
    Marie Howe
    Mary
    Mary Magdalene
    New Life
    New Testament
    N.T. Wright
    Olympics
    One Holy Catholic Apostoic Church
    One Thousand Gifts
    Paul
    Peace
    Preaching
    Prisca
    Rachel Held Evans
    Real Housewives
    Reconciliation
    Revelation
    Sabbath
    Sarah
    Seasons
    Sex Workers And Soccer Moms
    Staying In Church
    Strippers
    Survivors
    Susanna
    Theology
    Watch And Pray
    Wesleyan
    Wisdom
    Woman At The Well
    Women
    Women Clergy
    Women In Geneaology Of Christ
    Women In Ministry
    Zumba

    RSS Feed

© 2020 Kimberly Majeski
Photo used under Creative Commons from garussell11
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Preacher Girl School
  • Media/Publications
  • Speaking
  • About
    • Store
    • References
  • Stripped Love
  • Preacher Girl School Member Only
  • Webinar
  • Link Page