Let It Be To Me

I am a Witness of the Lord

There was a man named Zac and Zac was a Christian. Every Sunday morning he got up earlier than was ideal, put on some nice clothes, and drove to church. After church, Zac stayed for Bible Class to learn more about the Bible and theology. During the week you could usually find Zac on the church’s campus a few times - sometimes helping out with stuff and sometimes just being present at church events. Now one Sunday, Zac was sitting in church and the pastor preached on Matthew 28. He was talking about how important it is for Christians to share their faith with others and Zac felt a little guilty. You see, Zac didn’t really talk to anyone outside of the church about church or God or Jesus, so when the pastor pointed out that Jesus wasn’t asking - He was commanding, Zac started to feel like he was falling short. But pretty quickly, Zac’s inner voice started to throw out different justifications. “I’m a pretty introverted person, so that’s not my gift,” “I’m just so busy and those conversations can really suck you in and take up a lot of time,” “I don’t know enough to be able to answer anyone’s questions,” “it’s not my job, isn’t that what we pay the pastor for,” and even “if I talk about my faith and it scares someone off - I lose my ability to witness to them.” Now, the pastor addressed some of those justifications throughout his sermon - even without knowing what Zac was thinking - and deep down, Zac knew they weren't justifications, they were excuses - and not particularly valid ones.

Now that afternoon, Zac arrived back at his home and parked in his driveway - just like he always did. Zac’s neighbor was out in front of his house, finishing up the morning’s lawn work. They were friendly, even if they weren’t necessarily friends, so the neighbor stopped what he was doing and came over to say hi - saying something like “where have you been dressed so nice this early on the weekend?” Zac heard the question with the sermon still resonating in his head and he had a choice: play off the question and move on or answer the question directly and invite this neighbor to church or into a conversation about faith. To live as a witness of the Lord or to live as a servant of himself.

I am a Sacrifice to the Lord

There was a woman named Thea and Thea was also a Christian. Each Sunday morning she and her family went through all it takes to get everybody to church - even getting there close to on time, most of the time. The kids were involved with the other kids at the church and Thea was pretty active in her small group. Now one Sunday after church, there were a handful of members in the back recruiting for different things. There was one person who was asking for people to help lead groups at the church, there was another person who was asking for volunteers to help with a local clean-up, there was another person advocating for a charity that the church worked with, and there was a member of the church leadership asking for pledge cards. Thea was polite and talked to everyone, but not for too long. She skillfully led her family through the gauntlet and they made their exit without their names going on any of the lists. The next morning though, Thea was doing her daily devotions and she came across this verse from Romans 12 that says “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, acceptable to god, which is your spiritual worship.” She couldn’t help but think of all those people she had ignored, all of those opportunities to live sacrificially that she had avoided signing up for, and of how low a priority giving to the church was in the family budget. Those thoughts spent the whole week bouncing around in Thea’s head and it seemed like no matter what she did, she couldn’t shake them.

The next Sunday, Thea and the family went back to church and participated in worship - just like they always did. At the end of the service, they stood around with their different friends at church talking and catching up on the events of the week. After a while, the time came for them to leave and Thea turned to face the gauntlet of people still asking for commitments for service or giving. Thea’s thoughts that started with her devotion kept bounding around in her head and she had a choice: skillfully maneuver the family to the door again and avoid the commitments or to take some of these chances to commit to serving and giving more. To live as a sacrifice to God or to live as a servant of herself.

I am Obedient to the Lord

There was a teenager named Jordan who was also a Christian. Jordan’s whole family went to church on a regular basis and he was heavily involved in youth group. Most of his closest friends were from church and he spent a lot of his spare time doing church stuff. Jordan also had a girlfriend. Jordan’s girlfriend had started to subtly suggest that she wanted him to spend the night at her house. This idea bothered Jordan because he knew that it was a bad idea and that it would probably lead to them doing things that God didn’t intend for them to do. On the other hand though, she was really attractive and Jordan was a teenager too. Jordan loved his girlfriend and thought that he’d like to marry her someday, and using that logic he started to convince himself that maybe spending a night at her house wasn’t such a bad idea. That week in a Bible Study, the group happened to be talking about marriage and how important and special that kind of relationship should be. One of the other guys in the group expressed his own struggles in his own relationships. After the group was over, he and Jordan started talking about how God wanted them to interact with their girlfriends and how God intended for relationships to work.

Some time passed and Jordan’s girlfriend became less subtle and directly invited him to spend the night at her house. The conversation Jordan and the other guy from group was still sticking with him though, and the rationalizations that he had been coming up with started to disappear - even as the temptation was right in front of him. Jordan still felt the impact of that conversation with his Christian brother and he had a choice: give in to temptation and ask for forgiveness or risk his relationship by telling his girlfriend ‘no.’ To live in obedience to God or to live as a servant of himself.

I am a Servant of the Lord

There was a woman named Mary who was faithful to God. She believed with all her heart and tried as hard as she could do do as He asked. She was honest and faithful. One night she was approached by an angel and told some incredible things. She was told that she would have a son - even though she wasn’t married yet. She was told that her son would be the Son of God and that He was coming for the salvation of the whole world. She knew that this news came from God, but she also knew that people would assume negative things about her, that she would suddenly be responsible for a child, and she knew that raising the Son of God would certainly bring its own set of challenges. Mary was told this incredible news by an angel and she had a choice: accept the task God had for her or try and leave it behind. To live as a servant of the Lord or to live as a servant of herself.

And Mary responded “I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And because she did that, Jesus would be born. And in His life, He was a servant of the Father. He let it be to him according to the Father’s will, and that drove Him to the cross, that drove Him to suffer the punishment we deserved, that drove Him to pay our cost. And because even in death Jesus declared “I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word,” we are forgiven and restored to God - no matter how many times we fail and choose to serve ourselves, our interests, and our desires instead of choosing to serve God our heavenly Father.

This story can be told a thousand different ways for a thousand different people. Whether it is the challenge of witnessing to the people around us or the challenge of serving and giving or the challenge of doing the right thing - we each face choices like these. And we know that God works through sermons and through devotions and through Christian brothers and sisters to help guide us in those decisions to serve ourselves and our desires, or to speak with Mary and say “I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Knowing that Christ did the same to give us the promise of life everlasting. Amen.