Same God: Journey through Scripture week 4

God of Mary: The God Who Chooses the Humble

Introduction — A Girl From Nowhere

Luke 1:26–38 ESV

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Welcome / series reminder: Week 4 of "Same God: A Journey Through Scripture"

- Quick recap: Jacob (God of covenant), Moses (God of deliverance), David (God who looks at the heart) -

the series thesis line:** "The God we meet on the pages of the Bible is not a museum piece... the same yesterday and today and forever." (sets up Hebrews 13:8 callback in Point 4) -

**Nazareth — context that must land:**

- Population: maybe 200-300 people, first century -

Not on a trade route, never mentioned in the entire Old Testament

- John 1:46 — Nathanael: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

John 1:46 ESV

46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

"Nazareth was the town you were from when you weren't from anywhere important."

- **Mary — who she was:**

- Name likely related to Hebrew *Miriam* — "beloved" (scholars still debate exact meaning)

- 12-14 years old, betrothed not married, nothing to her name -

thesis statement, say it plainly and slow down here:**

"That is exactly the kind of person God has always been looking for."

Close the intro with the hook: "The same God who chose a nobody from Nazareth is still in the business of choosing nobodies. Most of us qualify."

God Chooses the Humble

- Greek: *kecharitomene keh-kah-rih-toe-MEN-ee* — grace, unmerited favor already completed on her, not something she achieved -

She is "the one who has been graced," NOT "the one who earned it." Say both phrases out loud, back to back — the contrast is the whole point.

- Address the myth directly: some traditions treat Mary as chosen for her own superior merit/purity.

The text never says that. Verse 30 says she "found favor" — favor finds you, you don't earn it by looking hard enough.

- **Verse 29 — "greatly troubled"** - Greek: *dietarachthe* dee-uh-tuh-RAHK-thee — thoroughly stirred up, agitated - Point: this is not the reaction of someone who expected to be chosen -

**God's pattern — not new behavior:** -

Deuteronomy 7:7:** "It was not because you were more in number... for you were the fewest of all peoples." Read it, don't paraphrase.

Deuteronomy 7:7 ESV

7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,

- Psalm 138:6 — "though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly"

Psalm 138:6 ESV

6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.

- Isaiah 66:2 — "this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit" -

Isaiah 66:2 ESV

2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

**Verse 48 (Magnificat) — the key word of the day:**

- Hebrew/Greek concept: *tapeinosis* tah-pi-NOH-sis— lowliness, having nothing to boast in

* "Mary knew exactly what she was. She wasn't confused about her social status. She knew she was nobody, from nowhere, with nothing. And that is precisely the resume God was looking for." -

- The "not me" voice: Sunday school, praying with family, ministry calling, hard conversations -

* "That is exactly the voice God loves to answer." - Bridge line into next point/1 Corinthians: God isn't looking through LinkedIn for the Son of God's mother. -

"God chooses the humble — not because humility earns anything, but because humility is the empty hand that's actually able to receive the gift."

Saying Yes to God

- Frame it correctly: honest question, not doubt -

verse 37:** "For nothing will be impossible with God." Let it sit for a beat before moving on. -

**Verse 38 — the hinge of the whole story:** -

quote it exactly, more than once if needed:** "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."

- Greek nuance: *genoito* geh-NOY-toh — not resignation ("I guess, if I have to"), closer to "may it be so — I want this" - "Servant" — underlying word is *doule*, bondservant/slave — striking against our culture's obsession with autonomy

- **The cost of her yes:** - Risk of being stoned for apparent adultery under the law -

Risk of Joseph quietly divorcing her (Matthew's Gospel — nearly happened) -

Risk to reputation, marriage, standing in the community -

"The angel departed from her" — after she answers. Heaven waited on a teenage girl's response. God does not force His will; He asks, and He waits. -

**The Hineni thread — build it across Scripture, in order:**

- Hebrew: *hineni*hee-NAY-nee. [1, 2, 3] — "here I am" — total availability, present tense, no conditions - Abraham (Genesis 22) → Moses at the burning bush → Isaiah ("Here am I! Send me") → Mary's "let it be to me" -

Mary's 'let it be' is her own version of 'here I am.'" - **Application — ask directly, let it land as a question, don't answer it for them:** - "What has God asked of you that you've been putting off saying yes to?"

Examples: apologize to a spouse, actually tithe, go into ministry, forgive before it's too late - **Closing line (say verbatim):** "She said yes to the mystery before she understood the mechanics. That is the definition of faith."

Carrying God's Presence

What did Mary actually say yes to? Carrying God, physically, in her own body — fed Him, felt Him grow, for nine months. -

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 ESV

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 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; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

"Not many of you were wise... God chose what is foolish... what is weak... what is low and despised... even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast." -

- "Foolish" — not actually foolish, but sneered at, dismissed by the world - "Weak" — Greek category also used for the sick, the disabled, those who can't help themselves - "Low and despised" — literally reckoned as nothing, zero on the world's scale

** Paul is describing exactly what happened at the Annunciation, decades earlier — the pattern is so consistent Paul doesn't even need to name Mary. -

- 1 Corinthians 6:19 — "your body is a temple (*naos*) of the Holy Spirit" — not outer courts, the inner sanctuary, the holy of holies -

1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

"You — foolish, weak, low and despised as the world might reckon you — you are that inner sanctuary." -

**Local color / illustration the church potluck line — "Fort Mohave is not exactly Corinth" — ordinary people God has assembled in the room -

ask it directly, pause after:** "Are you carrying Him? Carrying means His presence has taken up residence in you in such a way that when you walk into a room, something of Him goes with you." -

"You were never disqualified by your smallness. Smallness was the qualification."

Faith Over Fear

Hebrews 13:8 ESV

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

- **The pattern — before anything else is explained, fear is addressed first:**

- "Do not be afraid, Mary" comes BEFORE the plan, before the how, before the theology

- Trace the pattern across Scripture: Abraham ("fear not, I am your shield")

, Moses at the bush, Joshua ("be strong and courageous"),

the shepherds in Luke 2 ("fear not, for behold...") -

"Proximity to the holy naturally produces fear in fallen, ordinary people — and God, in His kindness, keeps meeting that fear with reassurance before He asks for anything."

- **Name Mary's real fears** — social risk, risk to the betrothal, the physical risk of ancient childbirth, the sheer weight of what this child would become -

Key turn: her faith was bigger than her fear — but only because the One asking was trustworthy enough to bear the weight -

Hebrews 13:8

Hebrews 13:8 ESV

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Greek note: "same" (*autos*) is emphatic in the original — underlining unchanging identity -

don't skip this link to Exodus:** ties back to God's name to Moses, *ehyeh asher ehyeh* — "I AM WHO I AM" — the same unchanging identity now applied directly to Jesus -

the theological center of this point:** "Her yes wasn't blind faith in an unknown. It was informed trust in a known, proven, unchanging character." -

- "The answer to your fear is not 'figure out how it's going to work.' The answer to your fear is remembering who's asking." - Name it plainly: we live like practical deists — assuming God has slowed down, gotten cautious with age -

"He is not tired. He is not different. He is not more hesitant to work in your ordinary life than He was to work in Mary's."