Scripture: Luke 1:26 – 38
Theme: Be Ready …
Title: Mary’s God Moment
INTRO:
Grace and peace this morning!
For the next few weeks we are going to continue looking at some God encounters that different people experienced that are associated with the Advent/Christmas Season. It does not mean that the encounter had to occur during the months of December or January but simply that what happened during these encounters is usually looked at during this time of the year.
Last week we looked….. at Zachariah’s encounter with the angel Gabriel. According to the best traditions that scholars have examined that encounter took place during the month of Sivan or sometime during the months of either May or June according to our Gregorian calendar.
The event we are looking at this morning takes place around the Jewish month of Keslev or around our months of November/December. It involves the encounter that young Mary experienced with Gabriel, God’s Warrior Angel and Messenger.
It is a simple story. It involves the life of a young lady who is living at the time in the country village called Nazareth. Let’s look at the story and see what God has to say to Mary and to us this morning.
I. Be Ready … For God to Do Something Unexpected with Unexpected People
As we learned last week with Zachariah the LORD loves to do unexpected things with unexpected people.
That should not surprise us. For as you read through the Old Testament you find story after story of how God reached out to people that no one would have given much time for or thought of very much. For example:
+Abraham is just a man of some means who lives in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, not far from the country of Kuwait. We don’t know very much about Abarahm until he accepts God’s call. There is nothing spectacular about his character or his position. We don’t really know what he did for a living in the city of Ur. Everything special we know about Abraham happens after his God encounter.
+ In Exodus chapter 1 we discover a woman named Jochebed. There is nothing special about her. She is just another Hebrew slave among millions of Hebrew slaves. There is nothing special about her giving birth to a little boy she had to hide away from the Egyptians. Her boy, later called Moses of course becomes a mighty man of God. But only as he grows up and follows God. There is no great resume or heritage behind either Moses or Jochebed.
The same could be said about so many great people we find in the Old Testament. Ruth is just a simple Moabite widow. We don’t find anything amazing about Ruth’s back story. It is only a story of joy that lead to a story of grief and sorrow. But she is chosen by God to be the great-grand mother of King David.
When we come to Mary we find the same thing. There is nothing about this young lady that stands out. She brings nothing on her resume other than her availability and willingness to serve.
While there have been all kinds of attempts to shore up her heritage trying to make her father and mother into some time of saints the reality is they were merely two people trying to make a living in a town called Nazareth.
We don’t exactly know how large Nazareth was at time of Jesus. Estimates range from a scant 200 folks to as many as 10 – 20,000 people. It really doesn’t matter. However, there is better evidence for Nazareth being a decent size city rather than a small backwater village.
What we do know is the city of Nazareth was located near the main road that traveled to Jerusalem in one direction and to Rome the other direction. What we do know is that Nazareth had a wonderful supply of water and if you took the time to travel up on the hillsides of Nazareth you could see all kinds of wonderful things:
-To the North you can see the mountains of Lebanon
-To the West you can see the coast of Tyre
-To the South lie the plains of Megiddo
-To the East are the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan Valley
-And you can see Mt. Carmel – the place where Elijah brought down fire and had his famous battle with the false prophets of Baal and Ashtoreth.
What we do know is Nazareth happened to be the place where one of the most central figures in Christianity and in the plan of salvation happened to be living – Mary. But for the most part she was just a young lady waiting for the day of her upcoming wedding.
She had been betrothed or engaged to a young man named Joseph. He had royal blood as he could trace his heritage back to the land of Judah but he had no royal standing. The days of the tribe of Judah having power were long gone. Rome ruled the day and any thoughts of bringing back a King David were met with an Iron Fist with the landscaped being littered with cross of people who tried to rebel.
So, why did God pick Mary?
Only God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit knows.
What we know is that God picked her out of GRACE AND POWER.
Even though throughout history some have tried to proclaim that Mary herself was some type of perfect individual the truth is Mary was just a young woman. She was neither perfect nor sinless. She was just a normal human being who was living out her life in the upper part of Israel getting ready for her big wedding day. The reason God picked Mary was because of Grace – God’s wonderful and amazing Grace.
Power in the fact that it was with Great Power that God reached down and gave this woman who was a virgin a baby. As you know virgins don’t have babies.
God’s power was displayed by God giving Mary a baby. Mary was to have a baby boy whose mission was to change all of world; all of creation. She was to carry the Messiah. In time, billions of people through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit would come to know the truth – Mary’s boy is the Savior and Lord of all Creation.
But the main point I want us to understand first of all is simply this – God chooses normal ordinary people living quite normal ordinary lives. Mary was being Mary. Nothing more, nothing less. Mary was a young woman who was doing her best to live a holy life and was busy getting ready for her wedding.
She was not holding seminars or blogging on the internet. She was not doing miracles or demanding attention at her local synagogue. She was not snap chatting or running for political office.
If we had seen her at the market place or at the local synagogue we would have just seen her as one of the Jewish girls named Mary. She would have been just one of us. Mary was just a normal young lady among hundreds of normal young Jewish ladies at the time.
That is Good News to all of us. God doesn’t pick us out because we are special. No, God picks us out because in Him and through Him we can be special. It has always been that way:
+John Osteen – the founder of Lakewood was the son of a poor cotton farmer. John shared that there were many mornings during the Depression that his mother had to tell him and his siblings that there was nothing to eat. They were not a Christian family and they didn’t attend Church. John, himself didn’t even give God a thought until in 1939 around the age of 18 he was led to the LORD after leaving a nightclub a few hours before.
+ D. L. Moody - was saved while he was working as a shoe salesman. He wasn’t anything special. And yet, God led him to start the YMCA as a way of evangelizing and mentoring boys and young men. God took D. L. Moody and gave him a rather simple message. What Moody called The 3R's: RUIN by sin REDEMPTION by Christ and REGENERATION by the Holy Spirit.
+ Billy Sunday – was born into poverty in the state of Iowa and for a period of his life had to live at the Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home. He wasn’t anything special. He learned how to play baseball and by God’s grace played a few years in the major leagues where he was an average hitter, good fielder but an excellent base runner. Then he had a God encounter in which God called him out of baseball into evangelism where Billy Sunday became an major part of the Revival that spread all over American in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
+Mother Teresa was a simple little girl living in Northern Macedonia. She felt a call to ministry at the age of 12 and by the time she was 18 she had joined a convent. For the next 18 years she was just another young woman seeking to take her vows while following God’s will and direction.
It was not until 1946 (age 36) that something began to stir in her heart and then in 1948 (age 38) her life took a definite turn that would last until her death in 1997. God took this little girl and turned her into one of the most powerful causes for Christ and India in the 20th century.
What does all this mean?
It means simply this – whatever age we are, wherever we live, whatever we are doing we are all under God’s watch care and authority. Any of us from the youngest to the oldest could be called upon to do something great for God.
You want to know a good reason to focus on children, youth, young people, adults and senior adults in the church?
+Samuel/Solomon – children +David/Mary – youth
+Hannah/Rebekah – young people +Ruth/Peter – adults
+Simeon/Anna/Zachariah/Elizabeth – senior adults
None of them were greats until they had their God encounters. And after they did each of them did the 2nd thing that we see in Mary’s life and that was that Mary was ready to be OBEDIENT
II. Be ready … to Be Obedient
Mary’s claim to fame is really rather simple – she was obedient. It is that plain and simple – she was obedient.
+When it came to God asking if He could have her body – she said yes.
+When it came to God asking if He could have her future – she said yes.
+When it came to God asking if He could have her dignity – she said yes.
+When it came to God asking if He could have her reputation – she said yes.
+When it came to God asking if He could have even her marriage – she said yes.
Mary was willing to be forever be called a fallen woman, a woman who bore a illegitimate son, a woman who could be divorced and even stoned to death – she was willing to be all of those things if that is what God wanted.
She was willing to face the wrath and scorn of her family. She was willing to face Joseph who at first thought she had betrayed him. And she was willing to face the elders of the Nazareth who would have wanted to stone her.
In her book she rather be called a whore or a fallen woman than be disobedient to God.
In her book she would rather be called a crazy person than be disobedient to God.
In her book the key words were obedience, loyalty, integrity and sincerity.
This obedience was not an easy task. She had nothing to show for her obedience but a baby in her womb. While Zachariah had the help of a sign and wonder after his encounter with Gabriel, young Mary had nothing.
Later on Joseph would have a dream and Elizabeth would have a “Holy Spirit” encounter, but there was nothing to tell anyone else that Mary was in fact a righteous and blameless person. All the crowds and her family could see what that she was carrying a child – whose they did not know – some speculated that her and Joseph and gotten ahead of themselves before their wedding but others who knew Joseph knew better. It was all a mystery and stayed a mystery until the Early Church.
Way back in 1 Samuel 15:22 we read these words from the Prophet Samuel:
“But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”
At the time he was talking to King Saul who had disobeyed the LORD and tried to cover it up by offering some great sacrifices to the LORD. Saul thought God would oversee his disobedience if he gave God some kind of great offering. Saul was mistaken. He didn’t understand how God worked. He didn’t understand that God; the Good God of Rescue, Redemption and Restoration is more interested in our obedience than He is in our giving of things.
Obedience is essential.
John 14:15 New International Version (NIV)
15 “If you love me, keep my commands.”
Luke 11:28 New International Version (NIV)
28 “Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
James 1:22 – 25 New Living Translation
‘’But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”
1 John 5:2-3 English Standard Version
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”
Over and over again from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Book of Revelation one thing is clear – we are to obey God – we show our love through our obedience. God is the LORD – we are His People – we are to be His Obedient People.
Disobedience is a killer. It was in the Garden. It is outside the Garden. The Devil disobeyed and it ended up getting him and the rest of his obedient friends cast out of Heaven and condemned to Hell. Disobedience started our whole mess and continues our whole mess.
Romans 5:19 ESV
“For as by the one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s (Christ’s) obedience the many will be made righteous.”
If you don’t get anything else this morning from this sermon – you should get this – Obedience is the essential; it is vital. Obedience is the Key to everything! Obedience unlocks the door to blessings, anointing and favor.
Luke shares with us a simple story that illustrates all of this in Luke 5:1-11.
Jesus needed Peter’s boat as a floating pulpit to preach the Good News. So, he asked Peter to push his boat out a little way from shore. Peter obeyed even though he was tired. He had just got in from fishing all night and had already started putting up his nets to get ready to go home, catch some sleep and be at work again that evening.
Luke tells us that Peter listen and obeyed Jesus. And because Peter obeyed the crowd got to hear Jesus. They got to hear the Good News. They got to have the opportunity to hear the Son of God speak to them. They got the opportunity to have their lives transformed.
Then Luke writes that Peter was asked to obey yet one more time. This time Jesus asked Peter to pick up his nets and start fishing again.
Now, Peter was tired. He was hungry. He had a frustrating night in which he had worked for hours with nothing to show. He had left with empty nets and he had come home with empty nets. There would be no fresh bread at his house tonight. And besides all of that the nets had been put up for the day. And yet, Luke tells us that Peter obeyed.
Peter’s obedience opened up a door of blessing and a lifetime of experiencing God’s grace and power. Peter’s obedience allowed Jesus to demonstrate his power and sovereignty. Peter’s obedience allowed people not only to hear the Good News but to see firsthand the power of the Good News. Peter’s obedience help propel the mission of Jesus.
Just like Peter, Mary’s obedience led her to a whole new life – a life that said:
III. Be Ready …. To be a part of God’s Salvation Story
When Peter said yes, he said yes to being a part of God’s Salvation Story.
When Mary said yes, she said yes to being a part of God’s Salvation Story.
Did you catch the name that Mary was to name the baby – Jesus – or the Old Testament name Joshua which means – “to deliver, to rescue or to save”
Right from the beginning the message and mission of Jesus was being sound forth – “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”
Mary was going to bring forth the Savior of the World.
Peter was going to preach the message of Jesus – the Savior of the World.
They were going to be a part of God’s Salvation History.
They were going to go down in history as people who made it possible for others to hear about Jesus – to be rescued from their sins by Jesus – to be born again through the power and presence of God’s Holy Spirit and to live the life of a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led disciple here on earth.
You and I are called to that same mission.
No, we were not called to birth the Christ child.
No, we were not called to preach the sermon at Pentecost.
But according to Matthew 28: 16-20 we have been called:
Matthew 28:16-20 New International Version
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Today Mary has gone to be with her Savior and Lord. Peter has gone to be with his Savior and LORD.
But as of yet we have not be called. So, we are still in the game. We are still being called to share the Good News. We are still called to be a vital part of God’s Salvation Plan.
How are we to do that?
+With our words – we are called to testify of our salvation. We are called to tell others the message of Salvation – that message that Jesus Christ rescues, redeems and restores people. The message that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Message that in Christ we can experience New Life – being filled with His Holy Spirit. We are called to sing, talk, text, email, write letters and cards and do whatever we can vocally to tell people about Jesus.
+With our bodies – with our smiles, our faces of joy, our hearts of love and with our praise. Each time we enter into this place we have the opportunity to lift up the LORD with our praises.
One of the passages of scriptures that helps me with this idea is this one found in Matthew 10:32
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
When I don’t want to share, testify or sing I try to remember that verse. In no way do I want Jesus to disown me because I kept my mouth shut in church or out of church when it came to sharing about Him, singing about Him or giving a testimony for Him.
+With our minds – when God visits our mind bank what does He find deposited? Does He find garbage? Does He find pure and impure mixed together? Does He find nothing? Or, does God find what the Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Colossians 3:2-4 (NIV)
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
+With our Spirits
The Bible tells us that we are to connect our spirit with God’s Spirit. We are to join with God in Spirit.
John 4:23 English Standard Version (ESV)
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
Have you ever done that? Have you ever ask God to join His Spirit with your spirit before you got to Church or after you got to Church? Have you ever asked God to join your spirit with His Spirit during the praise time, the prayer time or the sharing of God’s Word time?
You see there are many ways that we can fulfill the Great Commission. But in everything we are to be ready to be a part of God’s great salvation story.
This morning as we come to a close –
+Do you know God wants to do the unexpected with unexpected people?
+Do you know God asks for our Obedience – not 80% 90% but all our obedience – don’t worry about messing up – that’s grace’s part. Don’t worry about anything – just do your best to say Yes go God – Yes in everything. God will take care of the rest.
+Do you know that we need to be Ready to be a part of the Salvation Story here in our church?
+Not only ready but already doing – today what is being written in our Church salvation story?
Time of Prayer/Reflection/Open Altar/Communion
