Advent Series – Discovering God’s Will - Mary
Title: I’m All In!
Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6; Luke 1:26-38
INTRO:
Grace and peace in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
What does it mean to say that you want to be in God’s Will?
That you want your life plan to line up with God’s Life Plan for your life.
Is such a thing even possible?
Psalm 37:23 reminds us that the steps of a righteous person are established and they are given direction by the LORD, and He delights in their way.
This morning, I would like for us to revisit the life of a young woman who like some of the most famous women in the Bible – the likes of Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Hannah, Deborah, Ruth, Esther and Elizabeth knew what it meant to discover God’s will for their live and then did their best to live out that will of God.
Her story is similar in some ways to Hannah and Esther – in that it involves a child and the realization that she was made for a time such as this, but it has an element that none of the other women’s stories holds.
No other woman was asked to carry a child that was conceived of the Holy Spirit.
No other woman was asked to carry a child that is a part of the Holy Trinity.
While other women had carried children both male and female that had proven to be instrumental to Israel’s salvation – you could think of Moses’ mother, David’s mother and Esther’s mother. But none of those mothers could later say – not just Israel’s salvation – but the salvation of all creation.
So, in some ways we must put Mary to one side of history and realize that the life path given to her by the LORD is in many ways different than anyone else’s life plan – even including the likes of Eve, Sarah or even Moses or Daniel.
She is a positive one-off.
Hagar’s life has been lived by other women who have suffered being thrown out of their home with child in hand.
Esther was not the only woman who stood up to the plate for her nation – think of Deborah, Joan of Arc and even Golda Meir.
And the line of women that have been falsely accused of being unfaithful would be in the millions if not billions since the time of creation.
Mary would not even be the first woman to have to deal later with the murderous death of her son – for the woman named Rizpah too had not only one son but two sons who were murdered by the state in power. In more recent times you could think of Mamie Elizabeth Till-Mobley the mother of 13-year-old Emmitt Till who was killed and butchered without cause.
She wasn’t even the first woman to see an angel for we read about a couple of angels appearing to Lot’s wife and later Sarah ease drops on some angels talking to Abraham. Add to that you can read about the time that Samuel’s mother Hannah saw an angel and of course in the New Testament there was an angel that talked to the women at the Tomb and told them that Jesus was risen from the dead.
But she would be the first one to be asked to bring Immanuel (God in Flesh) into the world.
She would be the first woman for God to tell her that it was His will for her to be the mother of Jesus the Messiah, the Savior of the World and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
So, how did this young woman who many put as a teenager or at least a very young woman fulfills God’s will for her life?
1. She listened and obeyed what God told her to do
We don’t know where Mary was the day that the angel Gabriel showed up to talk to her.
We don’t know if she was at the well drawing water.
We don’t know if she was merely walking down the road and Gabriel shows up and joins her as she walked.
I tend to think that Mary was in her prayer place. That place that she went to spend some time with the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. And that it was in this place, quiet and alone, that Gabriel showed up to share some interesting news with her.
She would have a baby. A very special baby. So special that conception and birth would be talked about for centuries.
For she was to bring the Messiah into the world. Only she was to do so through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. There would be no man involved in giving her a child.
Now, that had to cause her head to spin.
I mean she may have been a young woman or even a teenager but if there is one thing all women have known for ever – you can’t have a baby without a man and a woman. It’s just not done.
And yet, in this case it was done. That is if she would accept.
At the heart of Israel’s faith statement are these words:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.- Dt. 6:4
HEAR AND OBEY – PUT GOD FIRST – GIVE GOD EVERYTHING.
From the moment a child of Israel is born that is to be a part of their DNA to hear God, obey God and love God.
So, in some respect, what we see here with Mary was not to be seen as out of the ordinary.
There was a long list of people male and female that were obedient to God’s will in their lives.
And that is to be the case even today. There are millions of men, women, boys and girls that are doing their best to hear God, to obey God and to love God with all their heart, mind and soul.
So, in some respects while we put Mary on a somewhat higher pedestal the reality is what Mary was called to do – Listen, Obey and Live Out God’s Will is something we are all called to do.
But you say – Hold On – no one here has been called to have such a baby.
In response we also must remember:
No one here I know has been called to raise their staff and part the Red Sea.
No one has been called to go outside and start building a boat while waiting for all types of animals and birds to show up to take a ride.
None of us that I know of have been called to walk around a city for seven days using our walking to win a battle.
What am I saying – it is this – God has called people to do some amazing things – things that He knew that they could do – things that would cause people to be amazed and things that were designed to bring glory to God and create an environment of salvation and grace.
Mary, like many before her is a sign pointer –
When God calls – listen.
What God calls you to do something – set about doing it.
Even if it seems impossible.
For nothing is impossible with God.
Mary didn’t have all the answers.
She goes to talk to Elizabeth and Zacharias soon after this encounter with Gabriel. I think she knows that she needs some support, advice and love.
She doesn’t know what to say to Joseph – thankfully, the LORD took care of that one for her as we read Joseph’s story.
But she does have this answer –
“Behold, I am the handmaiden (the lowly servant) of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” – Luke 1:38
Want to know how to do God’s will – do it the way Mary did it and millions have done it through the years – Listen and then say Yes – or just say Yes each day as you pray the LORD’s Prayer and God will lead.
2. Mary accepted a life of diapers, dust, disappointment and deliverance
You can’t have a baby without having some diapers as well.
Babies come with baggage, even a baby that is a part of the Holy Trinity.
Sometimes in following God’s Will there is a little yuk part as you deal with things that must be cleaned and other things that have to be thrown away. It’s just a reality of living here on this earth.
And there is dirt – in Mary’s case a lot of dirt as her and Joseph had to quickly travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem and later to Egypt and then back again to Nazareth. Later, as she followed Jesus there was a lot of dust as Jesus went all over Israel teaching people about forgiveness and salvation.
If we want to do God’s will, there will be some dirt in our future as well.
The dirt that comes with going from place to place.
The dirt that comes with helping people who have physical, emotional, social, financial and spiritual needs.
And as we see in Mary’s life path there will be times of great disappointment and despair – none greater than when she had to look at the feet of her son as he hung on a Roman cross and for what?
Was this what she had said yes to the day that Gabriel had shown up?
Was this what she had said yes to as she changed diapers, wiped a nose and helped her son get up out of the dirt when he skinned his knee?
Was this what she had said yes to as she saw him turn water into wine, feed the 5,000 and heal thousands and cast out demons?
Aren’t you glad this morning that we are not always able to fully see all that the LORD calls us to do and to experience when He first calls us.
That young girl that day with Gabriel didn’t know about all the diapers, dirt, disappointment and despair.
But walking with Jesus for 33 ½ years she was no longer that young girl.
She had walked all those miles, changed all those diapers and listened to her son as he taught. She had reminded herself of the words of Simeon from that day in the Temple when he warned her about a horrible event that would happen to her son.
She even heard her son – her wonderful son – who was a gift from heaven – He had talked about this time.
So, as others may leave and deny Him – when it counted the most she would be there – heart broken – perhaps questioning – but she would be there to see it to the end.
Had she heard wrong?
Had she wasted her life?
Had she put so much on the line only to see Him broken, bleeding and dying?
There are times in our walk with God we may not be able to see God, feel God or even sense that He is present at all.
There are times in our walk where we may even feel like we have wasted our time and our energy and what for – for nothing?
But when that happens, we need to take notes from some that have gone before us:
+Abraham – who still believes even when after 90+ years the Promise Child will arrive.
+Joseph – who is doing his best to take care of the others in prison while he wonders about all those dreams he had back home still believes that God will bring him a brighter future than he can imagine.
+Hannah – who year after year, festival after festival and she is still barren believes that a child is still possible.
+Ruth – who goes from riches to rags and wonders if she will forever be kneeling in the hot sun doing her best to get enough grain to keep Naomi and her alive keeps her faith in the Lord God Almighty.
No, Mary would not run away.
Somehow, someway – all of this will make sense – but today she will fall in the dirt in distress and disappointment, crying out to God – WHY?
3. Mary pain turns into A Miracle of Discovery
Thankfully, Mary’s life plan didn’t end at the cross or even at the tomb.
She got to see her son again – alive and well.
I would have liked to see their encounter.
While we focus on Jesus talking to Mary Magdalene, I sometimes wonder if the first person to see Jesus was in fact his mother Mary.
Who else knew Jesus’ story better?
Who else truly knew where He came from and who He was?
I know that there is not definitive proof but I wonder if the first person Jesus saw as the Resurrected Lord was not in fact this woman who had diapered him, feed him from her breast, picked him up when he fell down and hug him so many times with a heart that loved him more than anything else in the world.
So, in my mind – it is Mary that Jesus sees first.
It may not have happened that way but in my mind it does.
I do know this about Mary – in Acts 1:14 we read
“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus…”
After the resurrection and ascension, Mary’s life plan to a little turn – she would now be a vital part of the Early Church. She would join the other disciples in proclaiming the Good News of Salvation.
She never quit – tradition says that John took care of her – and while we don’t have a Gospel of Mary – we do have her story:
The story of a person who listens, obeys and then lives out the plan that God has for her life.
And that is enough.
Actually, it’s more than enough for Mary and for us.
For this week – Mary’s challenge is a simple one:
Get alone with the LORD – let Him talk to You – Listen to His Voice – then Simply Obey – Obey to the best of Your ability – and live one week at a time as God lays out that plan.
Mary’s plan looks a lot like Abraham and Sarah’s plan, a lot like Noah’s plan and a lot like Daniel and Esther’s plan. It looks a lot like Simeon and Anna’s plan and Dorcas and the Apostle Paul’s plan.
It should – for all of them had to learn how to Listen, how to Obey and then how to just follow God day by day, week by week, month by month and year by year.
This is the word of God for the people of God.
