How to Make the Most of Those Christmas Interruptions

We’ll never fully recreate the scene:
A young girl,
An angelic voice,
and an impossible-sounding announcement:

“It’s time for me to break the silence.
I have already set my plan in motion.
Here’s your part.”

Divine intervention has a way of…
Intervening.
Definition: “to come in or between by way of hindrance or modification.”¹

It’s safe to assume that giving birth to the Messiah would not have appeared anywhere on Mary’s list of life goals. We already know her plans included marriage to a good and godly man named Joseph, so we can assume that her mind was full of preparations for that anticipated event and the life to follow.

Gabriel’s message appeared to upend Mary’s plans—for her life, for her relationships, and even for the foreseeable future, because the biblical narrative reports, “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country.” She sought refuge and found encouragement with her cousin Elisabeth.

Have you ever noticed the timing of Mary’s prayer, which we call “the Magnificat?” Mary’s song of praise does not burst forth on the heels of Gabriel’s visit. It came in “the hill country,” and it followed Elisabeth’s (and prenatal John’s) warm welcome. Mary’s song of praise, her soul’s willingness to magnify the Lord and rejoice in God her Savior, came after Elisabeth believed her story and received her with welcome.

After Elisabeth’s joyful affirmation that Mary was “Blessed… among women,” Mary was able to see that this divine interruption was evidence of something greater. It wasn’t merely that her world was falling apart. She could see and proclaim, “He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

Mary was given the gift of being the very first human to welcome the Light of the World into the world he had created. There’s no denying that the gift came at a great cost. Mary’s life was interrupted.

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Dealing with Christmas Interruptions

Today, we celebrate Mary’s role in the Christmas story. She was given the gift of being the very first human to welcome the Light of the World into the world he had created. There’s no denying that the gift came at a great cost.

Mary’s life was interrupted.

Are we willing to permit the story of Christmas, the Christ of Christmas, to interrupt our plans and alter our lives?

In the pursuit of Pinterest perfection superimposed upon catechesis, it’s easy to forget that family members will continue to require bath towels and clean underwear in the month of December. In all our well-intended plans for celebration, we forget that the Advent season includes the routine preparation of at least 75 meals on top of all the other holiday baking and decorating.

Our busy lives are even busier at Christmas time, so how can we make the most of those interruptions that are unique to the Christmas season? Mary of Nazareth shows us the way in her song of praise:

He has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
(Luke 1:48-55)

Although we know very little about the mother of Jesus, we can be sure that she was a well-catechized young woman. She recognized in Gabriel’s birth announcement the thread of God’s promise to his people, and she followed that thread back to Abraham.

Mary recognized that she was simply one small part in the fulfillment of God’s redemptive story. She realized that one of the qualifications for blessing is humility. God is in the habit of scattering the proud and exalting the humble.

Relinquishing her own plans and receiving the plan handed down from on high via an angelic messenger was the first test, and Mary passed it with flying colors. I wonder what I would have done…?

As we welcome Emmanuel into our homes and hearts during the days leading up to Christmas, can we humbly accept interruptions when they come?

• When weather or illness gets in the way of a much-anticipated Christmas celebration…
• When all the holiday baking and decorating and special events crowd out your “me time”…
• When you’ve given up on all your habits of holiness because, after all, you have so much to do…

The prophet Isaiah speaks wisdom into our need for humility:

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
‘I dwell in the high and holy place,
    and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.'” (Isaiah 57:15)

What kind of heart does God promise to dwell in and to revive?

God’s power dwells in the highest heaven and down in the humblest person. The Lord of the universe became a little baby, a builder, a wandering messenger. I can’t think of a better argument for exercising some holy humility when I’m interrupted and my plans go awry.

God’s power dwells in the highest heaven and down in the humblest person. The Lord of the universe became a baby, a builder, a wandering messenger. I can’t think of a better argument for exercising holy humility when my plans go awry.

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Holding You in the Light,

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intervene ↩︎

Looking for a Devotional Plan for Your Advent Season?

This four-part series for Advent features Isaiah’s prophecy of a coming Messiah. Together, we remember that Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor with Supernatural Wisdom. He is our Mighty God, unlimited in His Ability to do what He wills. He is the compassionate Everlasting Father, the Giver of good gifts, and Jesus is the Fountain of deep well-being, our Prince of Peace. CLICK HERE to begin reading.

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