“CALLED TO BE A MOM” Luke 1:26-38
FBCF – 5/8/22
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Moms have some funny & interesting interactions w/ their kids:
A mom of 3 bad kids was asked whether or not she'd have children if she had it to do over again. "Yes, just not the same ones."
Pastor Bill called to his first church. Wife found out they were going to have their 3rd child. Several wks later, going through clothes, many of which no longer fit. 5 yr-old son watching her. Asked, “Mom, now that you’re going to have a baby, are going to have to wear ‘eternity’ clothes?” Probably seems like it sometimes!
Little boy attending his first wedding. After it was over, his mother asked him, “Son, do you know how many women a man is allowed to marry?” Boy: “16.” “What do you mean, 16?” “It’s easy. Just add it up like the preacher said: 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer.”
Mom put her 4 yr-old son to bed the night before his 5th bday. Told him, “Son, this is the last night of your 4th year. You understand that?” He held up 4 fingers, just as he had all yr long when someone would ask him how old he was. Mom nodded & said, “When you go to sleep tonight, you’ll still be 4 yrs old. But do you know what you’ll be when you wake up in the morning?” Added his thumb to his 4 fingers & enthusiastically said, “Tomorrow, I’ll be a handful!”
For all you moms who’ve had your hands full, we celebrate you today on this Mother’s Day! Whether you’re called Mom, Mama, or Mother, this is your day & we are so thankful for you.
The Bible has so many great teachings & principles for mothers, for parents, & grandparents. There are those here today who have a stable nuclear family w/ a mother, a father, & kids. There are single moms here today who are doing this job alone. There are those here who will one day be a mother. There are new moms here who are still wondering if they will ever get a full night of sleep again in their life (Spoiler alert: You won’t!); moms who are chasing kids all over the country in tournaments, competitions, recitals, & pageants; mothers whose kids are grown & out of the house; moms who are estranged from their children & children estranged from their moms. We also recognize that there are those here today who can’t have children & struggle hard to make it through this day. There are women here who have lost children through accidents or diseases, & those who have suffered the trauma of miscarriage & abortion. And there are also many here today who no longer have their mama w/ them, & that makes this day tough, too. And ALL of you are loved by God!
I’d like to pray for all of you right now. So would all the girls & ladies please stand right now.
EXPLANATION – Luke 1:26-38
Different callings of different people to do different things in the Bible:
- Noah – Called to build the ark (Genesis 6:14)
- Abraham – Called to be the father of the children of Israel & the father of all who would inherit eternal life (Genesis 22:17-18)
- Moses – Called to lead God’s people out of Egypt (Exodus 3)
- Samuel – Called as a child to serve the Lord: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10)
- Isaiah – Called to be a great prophet of God – Isaiah 6:8 – “Whom shall I send, & who will go for us?...Here I am! Send me.”
- Paul – Called to follow Christ on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9)
- Ananias – Acts 9:10 – Called to lay his hands on Paul & set him apart to serve the Lord
- Mary – Luke 1 – Called to be the earthly mother of Jesus
What do all of these callings have in common?
- All distinctly from God
- Each one a definite assignment
- These callings directly affected the course of life of those called
- Those called were completely dependent upon God’s power to carry it out
APPLICATION – The calling to be a mom is a life-changing calling.
Idealized images of motherhood are inaccurate, & even the Scriptures bear this out:
- Ruth was left childless & widowed at a young age
- Rachel, Hannah, & Sarah were infertile
- Eve & Mary both lost sons under terrible circumstances
- The Prodigal Son showed terrible disrespect to his parents
There’s not a “one size fits all” journey of womanhood & motherhood. But there are some life-changing aspects of Mary’s calling that apply to all of us here today, especially mothers:
A LIFE-CHANGING ENCOUNTER – v. 26-28 – I think we can all agree that this encounter was a unique encounter, sovereignly planned & implemented by God to fulfill prophecy & carry out His plan for our redemption.
- Isaiah 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son & will call him Immanuel.”
- There would never be anyone else who would receive this specific calling. It was unique to Mary.
But every calling from God is a life-changing encounter.
- The calling to receive Christ as Savior & Lord changes course & direction of your life for eternity.
o Do YOU need to receive Christ today?
- The calling to follow Him in obedience as a His disciple changes everything in our lives.
o Mark 8:34 – “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, & follow me.”
o “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], & take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] & follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living &, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].” (AMP)
The calling to be a mom is most definitely life-changing, too.
- Priorities
- Perspective
- Purpose
- Prayer life
A LIFE-CHANGING TRUTH – v. 31-33 – Angel, Gabriel, told Mary about Jesus, the Messiah & Savior of the world. Gabriel told her that His name would be Jesus – “The Lord is salvation.” He would be “great” – Spurgeon: “Is it not proven that He is great? Conquerors are great, & He is the greatest of them. Deliverers are great, & He is the greatest of them. Liberators are great, & He is the greatest of them. Saviors are great, & He is the greatest of them.” He would be the “Son of the Most High” who would rule forever w/ no end to His Kingdom – the eternal Son of God.
He’s the One who would later say:
- John 14:6 – “I am the Way, the Truth…”
- John 3:3 – “Except a man be born again…”
- Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first the K of G…”
- Mark 12:30-31 – “Love the Lord your God…neighbor…”
- Luke 19:10 – “The Son of Man came to seek & save those who are lost.” (NLT)
- John 3:16
The life-changing truth of who Jesus Christ is must be the driving force behind everything you do as a mom. You need to know this truth, believe this truth, live out this truth, & pass it on to your children. There’s no greater thing you can do for your sons & daughters than to pass on the truth of who Jesus Christ is & lead them to trust Him as their Savior. Of course, you can’t force them to make that decision & you can’t do it for them. But your life will speak volumes to them about how important He is to you – or possibly how unimportant He is to you.
Evangelist, DL Moody, once said: “John Wesley’s [the founder of the Methodist Church] mother did a great work when she led her boy to Christ. [George] Whitefield’s [great evangelist of the 18th century] mother did a great work when she led her son to Christ. Train that boy of yours for eternity. God may use him to turn thousands & tens of thousands to Christ.” Your life-changing encounter with the Truth of who Jesus is & what He wants from you could change the course of your family for all eternity & change generations to come.
A LIFE-CHANGING COMMITMENT – v. 38 – Remain committed even in the face of great challenges. Think about Mary’s challenges. The huge honor of being chosen to be the mother of the Messiah would lead to much pain:
- She would be ridiculed by others
- Her fiancé would come close to leaving her
- Her son would be rejected, condemned to die, suffer immensely, & be crucified
- Just 8 days after Jesus was born, the old man, Simeon, who had been waiting his whole life to see the Messiah, told her that “a sword will pierce your very soul” (Luke 2:35).
Mary’s statement in v. 38 is one of the most powerful declarations of commitment & faith in the Bible: “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said.” (NIV84)
That’s the kind of commitment we ALL need to make to the Lord.
- “servant” – doule (female) doulos (male) – to be owned by someone for a lifetime – To give yourself up to another to advance their cause.
- If you’re a Christ-follower, then that’s what you’ve done. You are already a servant of the Lord. May not be obediently serving Him right now, but you’re a servant nonetheless. The position of our heart needs to be the same as Mary’s – “Whatever you say I need to do, Lord, that’s what I’m going to do.”
If you truly want to be the mom, the dad, the son or daughter, grandparent that you are called to be, then make Mary’s commitment YOUR commitment – “I’m COMPLETELY YOURS, Lord. I will do whatever you tell me to do.”
CONCLUSION/TAKEAWAYS – Ladies available during invitation to pray w/ any women who come forward
