Mary said "Yes"

Connection/Tension

Open with prayer guide...

Continuing series on The Return of the King…

In this series we’ve been talking about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God can be roughly described by Jesus’ prayer. It is when God’s will is done on earth as it is in heave. It describes a future time when sickness and sadness, oppression and injustice, come to their final end.

In this final message I want to talk about “how” the kingdom comes. I’ve said before, people throughout history have longed for the kingdom of God, just without the king. And so there has been various attempts to bring about the righteousness and justice of the kingdom without any attachment to king Jesus.

Social projects - we can alleviate poverty through activism

Politics - we can defeat evil and bring God’s rule through policy

Military conquest - in the form of crusades, pogroms, and inquisitions, thinking we can bring the kingdom through the sword

Science and technology - thinking we can cure the world’s ills through human advancement

There is nothing wrong intrinsically with any of these things. Yet, human attempts to create the kingdom of God devoid of allegiance to the king always miss the mark. They are either destined to fail, or worse, create a twisted caricature of the kingdom that practices violence and oppression in the name of God.

So, how does the kingdom of God come to earth? It doesn’t come through ordinary human channels. It is not the powerful and wealthy that are the agents of the kingdom. As we will see today, the kingdom comes in the most unlikely ways and through the most unlikely people. Ultimately, The kingdom comes to those and through those who will say “yes” to God - people are willing to have their lives disrupted for a greater purpose, and who will accept being inconvenienced for the sake of others.

Text

Luke 1:26-38

This passage is known as the Annunciation. Mary is told the “good news” that she has been specially picked by God for a special kingdom mission. I’ve called the message “Mary Said Yes”, because her “yes” serves as the perfect example of how we participate in the kingdom of God coming to earth.

Through small encounters with the overlooked

The first thing we notice is that God’s kingdom often comes through means that are quiet and unseen and unnoticed by the rest of the world. Think about it: God’s plan to bring salvation to the whole world is being launched. But there is no fanfare. No red carpet or fireworks. Rather, it’s through a secret visit to a teenage girl in an obscure village.

How often do we expect God to show up in big ways, but miss the thousand small ways his kingdom presents itself in the ordinary movements of our life? What small visitations are missed on a daily basis because we were looking for something bigger? Mary’s story shows us that God’s kingdom breaks through in what is commonplace, and that our ordinary lives can become places for sacred encounters if we will pay attention.

We also see that God’s kingdom comes through what is considered by the world to be weak and unimportant and overlooked. Mary is a woman. She is a teenager. She is likely poor. She is in a no name village. All things that put her near the bottom of the social ladder of this time. She has no clout or status. 1 Corinthians 1:27 “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;”

How often do we discount ourselves, or let others discount us, because we don’t have social clout or prestige? How often do we talk ourselves out of saying “yes” to God because we feel too small or insignificant to make a difference? Yet this is precisely who God delights to work through and how he chooses to bring his kingdom to earth.

Through those willing to be inconvenienced

Next, we also see that God’s kingdom comes through those who are willing to be inconvenienced, those willing to have their lives disrupted for something greater. God is launching his great plan to save humankind, but the kingdom never comes without disrupting the status quo.

Have you ever thought about the sacrifice Mary’s “yes” required?

Her marriage

Her reputation in a culture inhospitable to unwed mothers. People counted the days after a wedding to when a child was born in my time.

A normal life - lived with burden of what the birth of her child would mean. A sword would pierce her own soul...

So we should not be under any illusion of what saying “yes” to God might entail. God’s invitation to partner in his kingdom work almost always brings disruption to our daily lives. It can create perplexity, even fear, depending on what it is that we feel God is asking of us. Saying “yes” to God WILL BE a sacrifice. But in a world that runs against the grain of God’s love and will, sacrifice is the only thing that can get it back on track.

John Wimber, the father of the Vineyard movement, used to say, “I’m just a penny in God’s pocket and he can spend me however he wants.” The kingdom comes through those who will say “yes” to God’s disruption of their life.

Through those who say “yes”

The two most significant things happen right at the end of the passage. The first is Mary’s response. I know of no better example of what apprenticeship to Jesus looks like than her response to the angel: Luke 1:38 “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

But the second thing shouldn’t be overlooked. Did you notice that the angel stays around until he hears Mary’s consent? What we should understand is that God is not giving a decree that Mary has no choice but to obey. If that’s what it was the angel could have left as soon as the message was delivered. But he waited for Mary’s “yes”.

This may be the most important thing to grasp about God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom comes through those who will partner with God by saying “yes”. God doesn’t coerce or force, he invites, and then respects our free will. But, oh what God can do through those and to those who will say “yes” to his invitation.

Mary’s “yes” led to her rejoicing. We heard her song at the beginning of service. This is the counterintuitive nature of God’s kingdom. The rules of the game are opposite from the rules we are used to. In the kingdom to give is to gain, to lose is to win, and to die is to live. Saying “yes” to partnering with God’s kingdom is where we will find our greatest joy.

This is a good place to stop and ask a simple question this morning. What is God asking you to say “yes” to?

Committing your life to Jesus? (next steps slide)

Growing in your faith? Sign up for Alpha

Being more consistent in giving or getting more involved?

Take a moment to speak your “yes” to God...

Gospel/Response

One last thing: God’s kingdom ultimately comes through a baby.

We don’t want Mary’s story to overshadow the main point of the story. God is finally acting to save the world in the most unimaginable way possible - by becoming a human.

In the end, Mary’s “yes” and our “yes” are responses to God’s “yes”. If you have ever wondered is you are loved, if your life matters, if there is any hope, Jesus is God’s resounding “yes” to all of your questions and longings.

The Triune God decided long ago to act to redeem fallen humanity. The very first announcement of the gospel is given to Adam and Eve right after their fall from grace when he tells the serpent, ”I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭15.

The script is now set, and God himself would intervene through a descendant of that first mother in order to rescue humanity. The sinful “yes” of the first woman is redeemed and healed in the faithful “yes” of the second. At the cross was where the serpent wounded Jesus’ heal; his Resurrection is where Jesus crushed the serpent’s head.

Jesus is God’s “yes”. Through his sacrifice God’s salvation can now flow to all people.Jesus is God’s “yes” to you! Will you say “yes” to him?