Flu Recovery
Having two kids cough in my face for an entire week, I should have known it wouldn't be long before I'd catch something... regardless of how many times I washed my hands or disinfected the house. Whatever I got, it wiped me out all day Sunday and most of Monday. I missed being with my church family on Sunday morning, but was so encouraged to hear from several people about their wonderful experience in worship. I had prepared several notes for this week's teaching. Since they are time specific... prepared particularly for last Sunday... I will just post them here. Here's an "E-Sermon" for you.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Mary’s story begins way back in Genesis chapter 3. God creates a man and a woman, they sin, and separation comes between God and people. God then makes a promise that a woman will get pregnant and give birth to a son, this woman’s son will be the Savior, and he will crush Satan, sin, and evil. For thousands of years history is waiting, wondering who this woman will be. 500 years before Jesus is born, the Prophet Isaiah says that “a virgin will give birth to a son…”
Then, all of a sudden, Mary shows up. This little girl from a small, rural hick-town, had no idea she would be the woman all of Scripture was writing about.
Luke 1:26-56
26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[1] the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God."
38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
39At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
46And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me--
holy is his name.
50His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."
56Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
Luke is telling his story through two separate but parallel birth announcements, that of John (the Baptizer) and that of Jesus. These two story lines merge when Mary visits Elizabeth. This visit gives rise to this well-known text often called the Magnificat. It's a song of praise and joy for what God is accomplishing in the history of His people.
At the point in Mary’s life when the angel Gabriel visits her, she was between 12-16 years old. No one would have guessed that God would choose a poor, young, engaged, virgin girl in the town of Nazareth. The Bible says Mary was “engaged” or “betrothed.” In Jewish culture a betrothal lasted one full year. The couple would exchange rings, they would continue to live with their parents, and during that year make preparations for their upcoming week-long wedding ceremony. This is what she was looking forward to when the angel appears to her and gives her the news of her pregnancy.
“Greetings, you who are highly favored…”
God continually uses teenagers to accomplish his purposes throughout the scriptures. He chooses a 13-16 year old girl to birth HIM. Mary is going to raise God. How did she earn this great task? Simply… God’s favor. No other reason than the fact that she has lived a simple, humble life, and God finds favor with her. Mary had a plan for her life… and this news rearranges her entire life.
“Mary was greatly troubled…”
Perhaps Mary had the intuitive wisdom to understand that being "highly favored" (v. 28) by God can be a dangerous thing. In fact, Mary would soon discover that to be favored by God would not only produce joy but also bring her into contact with ridicule, loneliness, and pain.
"How will this be?”I love the fact that Mary doesn’t say “No” to God’s difficult task. She doesn’t say, “I already have plans… I have all my wedding things picked out… etc.” Instead of turning it down or arguing with God, she asks a question. It’s the same question many of us ask when faced with the impossible. Do you know what the answer is? The Spirit of God will do it. "The Holy Spirit will come upon you" is the word of Gabriel (v. 35).
“I am the Lord’s servant…”
What a great response. No selfishness. No mistrust. Faced with that assurance, Mary's response is perhaps the most courageous, most faith-filled statement ever recorded: "May it be done to me according to your word" (v. 38, NASB).
This news to Mary could ruin everything for her. It could cost her her husband, her reputation, her family, her whole life… everything. But she says, “If that’s what the Lord wants for me… I am the Lord’s servant… I will do what the Lord wants.”
What a great lesson for all of us. Especially when we are faced with circumstances of life that we didn’t choose, we didn’t want, we didn’t pursue… and we’d just assume they would go away. But what if we, like Mary, received every circumstance that comes into our life through the lenses and the trust a good, loving, and sovereign God… and say, “okay Lord, if this is where you want me, then this is where I’ll be. And if there is something else you need from me then I will be your servant and I will be faithful.” Mary had such an amazing, abiding trust in God at such a young age. This must have been cultivated from a young age.
Our response to today’s scripture
As a people who may feel unable and powerless to change the things in our lives that need changing, the gospel word to us is, "Don't be afraid, because God can work with that!" He will turn your impossible things into monuments of His grace and mercy.
How does that happen? By choosing the attitude of trust and openness to whatever God wants to do that Mary models in this story. She expressed absolute confidence in God that He would meet her at the place of the impossible. In fact, Mary is so sure of this that when she speaks of what God will accomplish she speaks in the past tense. In her faith, it's already happened.
Today we could respond by asking God to find favor with you. OR, we could simply take on the attitude of Mary, who daily lived in humble devotion to God, not seeking a role like she received… but accepting it when it came to her. James 4:6 says “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” Perhaps that is why he chose Mary.
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