The other day, when I was meditating on Mary's response to the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation, it suddenly struck me that when Mary says those wonderful words of submission, she doesn't really have any concept of what those words will mean. That she will bear a child; that she understands. That he will be the Messiah; that she understands. But what that Messiah means; that she cannot possibly understand. What her "Yes" to God commits her to is the nurturing and shaping of the life of this child entrusted to her care for the divine purposes of God; that she cannot understand.

I guess that is true of all parenting; we are all called to nurture and shape the lives of our children. But what God showed me in my meditation about Mary was that her task was to shape and form her child for a divine purpose. And again, on reflection, I guess that is true of all parenting. But how often do we think of our task as parents, and approach it, in terms of shaping for divine purpose?

Mary's task was no ordinary task, but neither is ours. In exactly the same way as Mary, we are called to shape our children's lives for the divine purposes for which they have been created. 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I consecrated you and appointed you . . . .,' God tells Jeremiah, and tells each one of us . . . . 'I know you and I love you, and I formed you so that you might know and love me, and so that you might fulfil my divine purpose for your life.'

This has enormous implications. For a start, it challenges us about our role as parents. We are not simply forming and shaping our children to be happy, well-adjusted, and successful citizens of our country, but shaping and forming them for God's divine purpose for their lives. If we are going to do that, it may well be that our task is to raise our children to be maladjusted. I am reminded of those wonderful words of Martin Luther King (Jnr):

'I never did intend to adjust to the evils of segregation and discrimination. I never did intend to adjust myself to religious bigotry. I never did intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will rake necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. I never did intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism, and the self-defeating effects of physical violence. And I call upon men of good will to be maladjusted because it may well be that the salvation of our world lies in the hands of the maladjusted.'

What Martin Luther King (Jnr) is speaking about is a maladjustment to the world in order to be conformed to the image of Christ. If that is to happen then we must be a people who have been formed and are being formed in accordance with the values and patterns of God's Word. Our children are shaped by the things that shape us. If we ourselves are not consciously being shaped by God in the image and purposes of God, we cannot intentionally teach and form our children for the divine purpose for which they have been created.

There is also another implication for us as leaders of the church. Just as we are called as parents to shape and form our children for God, so we are called to shape and form the people of God who have been entrusted into our care. Here too, the challenge is to shape and form our people for the divine purpose for which they were created. Again; how often do we think of our ministry in terms of shaping for divine purpose?

Ministry is an intentional process of shaping others in Christ and one that, again, requires that we ourselves are intentionally being formed in Christ. It also requires us to know our people at a level of intimacy that makes it possible for us to help them discern and respond to the promptings of God in their life.

Each of us is formed for a divine purpose; each consecrated by God for service. Baptism is the sacrament of that consecration. And God rejoices in us. Zephaniah 3:17, which was part of our Sunday readings a couple of weeks ago, says that God '. . . will renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you as one sings at a festival.' You are God's song - the music of God in the world.

I find it incredible to think of myself as God's song of rejoicing; to think of the church as God's sweet music in the world. But that is what Zephaniah is saying. If that is true, then we must seek to live our lives in the rhythm of God's song in such a way that we introduce no sounds of discord into the beauty of its music. Of course, at times we will fail. What we do with our failures - how we acknowledge and deal with them - can become a part of the music itself and give God cause to sing joyfully.

'Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let everything happen to me according to your word.' May the words of Mary words be our response; as she received the Christ child so may we also receive him. May he grow in us and so shape us and form us that we might fulfil God's divine purpose for our lives. I pray that God would rejoice in us in 2007 and that 2007 will be a year when God's festival song is heard throughout our land.

May the sweet music of your lives rise like incense before the Lord

+Brian

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