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Luke 1:28-30 ESV
And he came to her and said, 
"Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 
And the angel said to her, 
"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God."
Luke 1:28-30 ESV
Luke doesn't tell us anything about Mary's life, what she has acheived, whether she read the scriptures everyday, went to church...
She was probably a teenager, engaged to be married to a nice guy, in a small town that had a poor reputation, living under the rule of the Roman Empire.
How did God pick her out?
Joseph's family in Luke 3 traced all the way back to Adam.
Zechariah was from a long line of Priests.
Elizabeth traces her line back to Aaron, Moses brother.
Mary's only claim to fame seems to be that she is some kind of relative of Elizabeth...
She's young, ordinary, done nothing that Luke knows about or notes, is from a poor, ordinary place.
And yet the Angel says "you're favoured"
"God is with you"
When we think we haven't done enough aren't enough, worth nothing, don't belong somewhere, then maybe the Angel's words are for us too:
"you're favoured"
"God is with you"
This is God's Redemptive Love.
At Christmas that Love broke into the world in a new way, through this young, ordinary, poor, person, who is seen, known, and loved.
"you're favoured"
"God is with you"
Maybe this is a word for you today:
"you're favoured"
"God is with you"
#advent
#Christmas 
#redemptivestrands
#weareBeloved 

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