Reading: Luke 1:39-55 (NRSV)
Song: Be Born in Me (lyrics here)
Reflection
For many years I barely gave Mary a passing though during the Christmas season. Even after becoming a pastor, she barely registered on my radar. The theological tradition in which I was discipled during my formative Christian years in college told me that “Mary was for the Roman Catholics,” and in light of that I kept my distance.
It now saddens me to think of all the beauty and meaning I missed during those years.
I’m thankful for speakers and books (like Scot McKnight’s The Real Mary) that opened my eyes to the impact of Mary’s story. I’m indebted to those who spoke to the great responsibility Mary took on in faith, and her willingness to expose herself to disgrace in order to be obedient to God. I’m grateful for voices that pointed out the power behind Mary’s simple words, “Let it be with me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38).
I’m so glad that I came to a place where I could be thankful for Mary and embrace her story.
But truth be told, even after I came to a point of embracing Mary’s story, I still had a journey to make with her—I had to come to a deeper place of embracing the invitation in her story. I may have accepted her importance in the Christmas narrative, but I had yet to consider that Mary’s response to God modeled something for me…for all of us.
That’s why I’m so thankful for Francesca Battistelli’s “Be Born in Me.” I can count on one hand the number of times I have heard a song that struck me so deeply I immediately dropped to my knees, and this is one of them. Not just because it’s a beautifully written song (which I believe it is), but because it puts into words the spiritual formation question at the heart of Mary’s story:
Will we allow Jesus to be born in us?
You and I will never know the literal sense of that question which Mary knew, but the spiritual question is for all of us who follow Christ. To be a Christian is more than giving intellectual assent to the claims of Jesus, and it is even more than receiving forgiveness for our sins. It is about the very life of Christ being manifest in us. It is becoming “little Christs.” As Paul writes in Galatians:
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:19-20, NRSV)
The lyrics of this song that brought this truth home for me are so simple, yet so very profound:
Be born in me, be born in me
I’ll hold you in the beginning
You will hold me in the end
Every moment in the middle
Make my heart your Bethlehem
Be born in me
Make my heart your Bethlehem…my fearful, trembling heart. Work in me despite my pride and rebellion. Make yourself at home at the very center of my being. Be born in me.
As we approach the final week of Advent, I can think of no better question to sit with: how will we allow Jesus to be born in us? While it’s true that Jesus grants us new birth when we place our faith in him, I believe there are always deeper places of devotion and obedience for us to embrace. There are parts of our hearts and lives where we still hang “No Vacancy” signs. The words of C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity still speak to us today:
"Christ says, 'Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good...Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked--the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.'"
That’s the true gift of Christmas: Christ gives us himself. The only thing our hearts can offer is a vacancy.
How does the invitation in Mary’s story resonate with you right now? Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart for those places where the truth and power of Christ’s love have yet to take root. How can you “make your heart a Bethlehem” as Christmas Day approaches?