In the Name of God:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

How do you respond to the Word of God?

Prayer, of course, is one answer to that question.  And we all know that there are various forms of prayer.  A traditional list of the elements of prayer might consist of:  praise, thanksgiving, confession, petition (which is for ourselves), and intercession (which is for others).  If you consider these elements of prayer closely, you may realize something interesting about them.  As Merold Westphal pointed out a few years ago in an article in the “Christian Century” magazine,[1] the first element of prayer, praise, is probably the most difficult for most of us.  This is because praise is the one item on the list that is not really concerned with benefits for ourselves or for those we care about.

When we praise God, we willingly put God in the center of the picture . . . make

God the center of attention . . . put God at the center of the universe rather than ourselves.  And this is very difficult.  Most of the time, we each put ourselves at the center of the universe . . . don’t we?  How often do we REALLY put someone else ahead of ourselves?  How often do we really put the interests of someone else ahead of our own?  Oh yes, I know that many parents attempt to do this for their children . . . but don’t the desires and dreams of the parents FOR their children inevitably get mixed up in their “selfless” love?  And romantic love . . .?  Oh yes, I know that it can feel as if our beloved is the center of our universe . . . especially when we’ve first fallen in love . . . but again, isn’t our own yearning for fulfillment and love mixed into our passion?  I could go on . . . but I think that, if we’re REALLY honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that TRULY selfless love is very difficult and very rare.  It’s very difficult to move our own egos off center stage.

And so it is with God and us.  You may have heard about something called centering prayer . . . if you’ve tried it out, you’ve probably discovered that its name is actually rather ironic.  Because in centering prayer, the self is NOT the center of attention.  Centering prayer might be described as a movement AWAY from oneself toward God . . . centering prayer is an effort to find God, to be open and attentive to God, and to place God at the very center of our being.  Where God already is, of course. . . .  It’s from this position, of putting God at the center of everything, that genuine praise can come forth.

Now, why am I going on about this?  Because what I’m talking about is shown in the story of the Annunciation.  Westphal points this out in the article I mentioned earlier.  Mary says a little prayer before she sings her great song of praise, the canticle that we now call the Magnificat.  Remember the story . . . think about how Mary reacts to the extraordinary and very scary news about what is going to happen to her.  She is going to conceive a son by the Holy Spirit, he will be the son of the Most High, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.  His kingdom will have no end.  I sometimes wonder which part of this announcement would have seemed the MOST unbelievable to Mary . . . any single portion of Gabriel’s statement would be pretty hard to swallow . . . but the WHOLE thing?!?  How MIGHT Mary have reacted?  Might she have screamed in terror? . . . or raged in fury? . . . might she have burst into laughter in comic disbelief? . . . that’s one of my personal favorites.  What we’re told, however, is that she did none of these things.  Rather, she replies very simply:  “Here am I the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  She says this, of course, to the angel Gabriel who’s delivered the news.  But she understands that Gabriel is a messenger from God.  So, through Gabriel, she’s responding to God . . . she’s responding to the Word of God . . . and her words are a prayer. 

“Here am I the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.”

In this little prayer are echoes of at least two other famous prayers.  First is the prophet Samuel’s prayer when he was still a child.  The boy Samuel served the priest Eli, and the word of the Lord came to Samuel one night while he was sleeping, waking him and calling him.  Repeatedly, Samuel gets up and goes to Eli, waking him up and saying, “Here I am,” not understanding what’s happening, thinking that it is Eli who is calling to him.  But when it’s finally understood that the voice calling him is the Lord’s, Samuel’s words, “Here I am,” are the beginning of his vocation as a great prophet and the last of the great judges of Israel.  Like Samuel, Mary says, “Here I am.”  Like Samuel, Mary presents herself to the God who is already present.  There’s no need to try to find God.  Having spoken, God is already present.  Of course, God is always present, but on occasions like we’re talking about, God seems ESPECIALLY present.  And so, in response to God’s call, Mary, like Samuel before her, says, “Here I am.”  These words are not just words of resignation . . . “Alright, I guess I have to. . . .”  Nor are they words of submission . . . “Well, it doesn’t sound like I have any choice. . . .”  These words are meant to show that Mary is willing to participate in God’s plan . . . she’s welcoming the will of God.  She’s preparing to put herself aside and to put God at the center of her existence.

“Here am I the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.”

The second famous prayer that Mary’s echoes, is Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane:  “Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” . . . not what I want, but what you want . . . let it be with me according to your word.  Like her son, yet to be born, Mary surrenders her will to God’s.  Like her son, Mary empties herself . . . humbles herself . . . truly IS herself.  And from THIS place . . . having placed God at the center of her being, at the center of the universe . . . Mary can sing her magnificent song of praise.  In fact, it is from this place . . . with God’s will as the focus and center . . . that all other prayer best flows.  It is from the foundation of PRAISE that thanksgiving and confession and petition and intercession truly come.

How do you respond to the Word of God?  Like Mary, present yourself to the God who is always present.  Give yourself to God.  “Here I am.”  Like Mary, put God at the very center of your being . . . and it will then be ever so much easier to participate in the will of God.  “Let it be with me according to your word.”

Oh yes, I know this is very difficult!  It’s the work of a lifetime.  But what joyous work!  Each time we make some tiny effort to give ourselves to God, to put God first, to say, “YES!” to God, we receive a taste of the solace . . . the consolation . . . the love . . . of eternity.  Moving toward God, putting God at the very center of our being . . . we actually find our true selves . . . and we find true peace.

How do you respond to the Word of God?  Praise him!  Praise him!  Praise him!

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