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Lemonade and Angels
“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God....’ ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me according to your word.’ Then the angel left her.” Luke 1:30-35, 38
During a past scorching summer in Houston, Texas, my then five-year-old nephew Colton decided that it was way too hot outside, and people really needed to have something to drink. So he and his brother Wyatt set up the “Little Longhorn’s Lemonade Stand” at the corner of their yard. Colton was trying to figure out just how best to sell his 25-cent mammoth glasses of freshly squeezed liquid refreshment. Since he would soon be on his way to the pool to cool off, he was in his swim trunks. So he decided if he donned a cowboy hat with his swim trunks and performed some jumping jacks by the lemonade stand, it might attract enough attention from passers-by to sell some cups of lemonade. $14.75 later, he completed his entrepreneurial task and wrapped up the lemonade sales for the day. He was quite proud of his creative and lucrative marketing efforts.
Other than the fact that my nephew has some extremely successful careers ahead of him, his engaging ingenuity reminded me of the power of grabbing people’s attention. In Luke 1:26-38, we see God sending the angel Gabriel to Nazareth to grab Mary’s attention. Gabriel said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Luke says that Mary was perplexed by the words of Gabriel and wondered what sort of greeting this might be. Gabriel proceeds to explain about Jesus and all of the things that are about to happen to her. She responds to the angel by saying, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
I sometimes wonder about how God is trying to grab our attention in the midst of our busy existence. In the midst of non-stop activity, stress, and change, perhaps we should step back, peer into the heavens and ask ourselves if God is gesturing for our attention. It may not be an angel. It may not be a five-year-old doing jumping jacks. But God may be trying to grab our attention for some high calling, some new purpose soon to be revealed. And when we open our eyes to the world around us, take in the wonder of creation, and listen intently to the voice of God in our lives, perhaps we can hear and respond to God’s call “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
Prayer: Ever-present God, help me to continue to open my eyes and my ears to your calling in my life. Show me if you are trying to get my attention for some special task in these days. Spirit of God, make me even more aware of your presence and help me to listen intently for your voice, even through the noisy din of the world around us. In Christ's name, Amen.
Rev. Jeff Satterwhite
Minister of Adult Education
Calvary Baptist Church of Denver |
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