HoHum:
Have children come up front. Go through “You Shall Call His Name Jesus” from Sermons4Kids
WBTU:
Nobody wants to be ordinary. To be ordinary is to have no exceptional ability; to be average.
No one wants to be average, right? No one wants to be of average height or make average money. No one wants to date an average girl or guy or drive an average car. Most of the time we want something that makes us stand out from the crowd. We want to feel a notch better.
In reality most of us are average. Most of us do not stand out from the crowd in either good or bad ways. That is what average means.
Thesis: Let’s talk about the ordinary things from this text and then what makes it not just ordinary but extraordinary.
For instances:
The town of Nazareth is ordinary
A couple of thousand people at the most.
Nazareth was an ordinary or average village in Galilee. It wasn't the seat of anything. It wasn't an important place at all. All of the major trade routes missed Nazareth. It was about 70 miles north of Jerusalem depending on what point in Jerusalem we begin, which was quite a ways if walking. It still is fifteen miles west of the north tip of the Sea of Galilee and about twenty-two miles from the Mediterranean. So somewhere in the middle between the tip of the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean sits this town.
John MacArthur- It's amazing to go there. I've been there many times. And it's remarkable for its plainness. When I have a vision of Nazareth in my mind, I see rough little bumpy streets, this is modern Nazareth, with people working on cars stuck half way out in the street from little garages. It's just a plain place.
John 1:46- "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
The situation was ordinary
Mary was pledged to be married or betrothed to a man named Joseph.
B. According to Roman law the minimum age for girls to be engaged and married was twelve. That's right, twelve. For boys, whom we all know develop slower, it was fourteen. Augustus, the emperor, had set the minimum age for engagement at 10. And Jewish practice basically followed that. Girls were engaged around twelve or thirteen and married after the engagement or the betrothal was over. The reason they did this it was to guarantee their virginity. As soon as they had reached puberty they would be engaged and then soon marry.
This engagement is not the same as our engagement. Betrothal was a binding, legal relationship and it was arranged by the parents. It was a legal document, parents agreed that their children would marry and it occurred soon after puberty. There was no sexual relationship during the period of betrothal which usually lasted a year. The couple did not live together, but only death or divorce could sever the contract. And if the man died, the betrothed girl would be considered a widow.
During the year of betrothal the girl would prove her faithfulness by not giving herself to anyone else. She would prove her purity. And during that same year the boy would prepare a home for her, a place for her, usually with an addition to his father's house.
At the end of that year when they were 13 or 14, there would be a wedding feast that usually lasted seven days when everybody came together and celebrate...the kind of thing that Jesus was at in John 2. It's recorded that He was at a wedding, remember, and they ran out of wine because it lasted so long. At the end of the seven days the friend of the bridegroom handed him his bride and everybody left and the marriage was consummated.
We can imagine that Joseph was older than Mary because he was a carpenter. Had to learn the trade and that took some time. The people of Nazareth knew him as the carpenter because they called Jesus the carpenter’s son. Sometimes if the man or his family was poor he would have to raise money until he could get married. The man had to supply a place to live. We see Mary in the gospels but we don’t see Joseph after Jesus reaches the age of 12.
Only thing special about Joseph was that he was a descendent of David. But how many could trace their ancestry to David? Mary could and this makes us think others could as well.
Like brides-to-be everywhere, she can hardly think of anything but their wedding -- the guest list, the decorations, the food, the music, and her dress. Mary had never been happier. This was the most exciting time of her life. But it was typical, ordinary.
Mary was ordinary.
She was probably uneducated like most females of the day.
She was poor because anyone rich would not be engaged to the carpenter. It was a skilled trade but not going to make lots of money.
She was inexperienced in life because she was so young. Had not experienced a lot.
From what we know she was just an ordinary Jewish peasant girl. We don’t anything about her until these verses. Some groups teach that Mary was sinless and she was born in a special way like Jesus. Not so! She is a sinner like the rest of us.
There wasn't anything worthy about her. There's no commendation here. It doesn't say, "And the virgin's name was Mary, and Mary was righteous and godly and loved God with all her heart, soul, mind and strength, and served the Lord with all her heart," and on and on. It doesn't say that. Zechariah and Elizabeth at least got some special recognition from Luke 1:6. It just says, "Mary, period, you've been chosen." Nothing about her. We don't ever know anything about her spiritual life.
Even her name was ordinary. How many Mary’s are there in the New Testament? Common
Mary’s reactions to the angel are ordinary. Vs. 29 we see that Mary was greatly troubled. People in the Bible were greatly troubled when they saw an angel. Frightening.
As she regains her composure and considers what the angel was telling her, she asks a question about how this will all work. Anyone would ask this reasonable question. Vs. 34.
When Zechariah questioned the angel Gabriel, he was struck mute for a time. His question was asked out of unbelief, her question was asked about how this would happen because she was a virgin. Zechariah wasn’t a virgin and neither was Elizabeth.
Some people have the idea today that Mary didn’t know how reproduction worked. I am sure her family had some animals. Would notice how it was done. Ordinarily this wasn’t possible. If anyone would know it would be Dr. Luke and he penned this gospel.
Mary was ordinary until... vs. 38. Frederich Buechner, in his biographical dictionary of biblical characters called Peculiar Treasures, describes that moment between verse 37 and verse 38 as the angel Gabriel waits for the answer of Mary. We need imagination for this moment now. Listen to these words: She (Mary) struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child, but he'd been entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. "You mustn't be afraid, Mary," he said. And as he said it, he only hoped she wouldn't notice that beneath the great, golden wings he himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of creation hung now on the answer of a girl.
Mary went from ordinary to extraordinary
Christin Ditchfield says, “Mary didn’t demand a sign, some sort of proof- or additional confirmation. She voiced no complaint at the total disruption of her life. She knew now that things would not turn out the way she had planned at all. But in her heart there was no resistance, no rebellion. Just a sweet, simple surrender- surrender to the will of God.”
Mary told the angel that God could use her any way he choose because she was willing, fully available to God. How that must have blessed the heart of God! It would not be easy, but when Mary and Joseph accepted their part in God’s plans, that is when the adventure began.
Don Wilson preaches at a church in Arizona and he says that the biggest mission field in America is men. I was listening to a workshop of his at the NACC. His ministry is different from mine but I believe he is right about men. He said that men don’t want to hear about a personal relationship. They want to hear about going on an adventure.
wonder how many of you this morning are just kind of going through the motions. Sure, it’s almost Christmas, but its no big deal. Living life without much thought about the future.
E. Maybe like two robins who were sitting in a tree. One of the robins turned to his buddy and announced that he was hungry. The other robin said that he was hungry too so they flew down to find some lunch. As they came down, they saw an entire field full of worms. They ate and ate until they could eat no more. “I’m so full I don’t think I can fly back up to the tree,” said the first robin. The second one agreed so they just plopped down and basked in the sun. No sooner had they fallen asleep than a big fat tomcat snuck up and gobbled them both up. As he sat washing his face after his meal, he grinned, “I love baskin’ robins.”
Anyone here today just baskin’ through life? Friends, life is too important to miss out on what Mary discovered. Thankfully, she didn’t put her decision off. She responded right away
I Corinthians 1:9 (The Message) - God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of His Son and Our Master Jesus Christ.
Plan of salvation.
