The Dilemma of Saying "Yes" (Mary)
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Today we are looking at the dilemma Mary faced in saying, “Yes” to the Lord.
Why a series called, “The Christmas Dilemma?”
Typically we refer to Christmas a the most wonderful time of the year. We even sing songs with that theme.
Our culture places a great emphasis on Christmas as the greatest time of year in many ways. There is an expectation of great things from the aspects of getting together with family, traditions, feasting on food, cookies and treats, presents and more!
It is a great time of year with emphasis spent on humanitarian aid, and thinking of how to bless others. In all these ways and more, our culture at large views Christmas as the greatest season of the year!
From the perspective of Christians this is also the greatest time of the year! Christians believe that Jesus, the Son of God, who is himself God, and is in closest relation to the Father who is God, came to earth to be born as a man.
We Christians celebrate because the reason He came makes it great! He came in a body like ours to identify with us in this world of sin and suffering. He came to be tempted like we are, and yet get through it all without sin. He came to be our savior! He came to offer eternal life to all who would receive Him! Thus, the coming of Jesus into the world to bring us eternal life, makes Christmas one of the two greatest seasons of the year; the other being Easter when we celebrate Jesus’ death for our sin, and resurrection to bring us new, righteous life!
Since Christmas is the greatest time of the year, when we see our culture at large actually being more humanitarian and caring, and we as Christians are celebrating the coming of our savior, then why are we talking about a Christmas Dilemma? Why will we be talking about a Christmas Dilemma from different aspects over the coming weeks?
Isn’t a dilemma a bad thing? Well, typically, we do use it that way. In fact Webster’s defines as we are using it this way...
Read 2 a and b
2 a: a usually undesirable or unpleasant choice 〈faces this dilemma: raise interest rates and slow the economy or lower them and risk serious inflation〉
b: a situation involving such a choice 〈here am I brought to a very pretty dilemma; I must commit murder or commit matrimony—George Farquhar〉 broadly: PREDICAMENT 〈lords and bailiffs were in a terrible dilemma—G. M. Trevelyan〉
3 a: a problem involving a difficult choice 〈the dilemma of “liberty versus order”—J. M. Burns〉
What could possibly be the dilemma at this wonderful time of year?
Actually, life if full of dilemmas—situations in which we have to make a difficult choice. Even a wonderful season like Christmas is not immune from dilemmas.
Has anyone been experiencing, or has anyone experienced dilemmas in Christmas’s past?
Yes, Christmas, as wonderful as it is, does not eliminate the dilemmas of life.
In fact, if we really think through the ramifications of Christmas—the ramifications of Jesus, God the Son, coming to earth as our King and Savior — there are some dilemmas that Christmas brings into our lives. for example, if He is our Savior, we must be in some dilemma requiring Him to save us.
There are other dilemmas as well. That is what we will be looking at over the coming weeks.
To consider our dilemmas biblically, we will look at the historical account of what took place leading up to, and at the first Christmas.
Today we are considering The Dilemma of Saying “Yes,” to God, as seen in the account of Mary.
Let’s read it together. This historical account is recorded for us in Luke 1:26-38.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.
For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
The Dilemma of Saying “Yes”
The Dilemma of Saying “Yes”
Prayer
Mary faced a dilemma when the angel came to her, the dilemma of saying “yes” to God. How so? Let’s dig into the passage and see, and then see how it applies to us today.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
This verse begins with the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. The background for this is found in the earlier portion of Luke 1.
God had sent His angel to announce to a priest named Zechariah, that after 400+ years of silence—a time when God stopped sending prophets to Israel because of their rebellion—He was now going to send the prophet who would go before the Messiah to prepare people to receive him. That prophet who would prepare the people for the Messiah was going to be born to Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth.
You can read more about that in the homework this week.
Well, it was after God sent His angel to Zechariah, and Elizabeth had been pregnant for 6 months, that He then sent the angel to Mary.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,
to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
The rest of the background is that Mary was a virgin, who was betrothed to Joseph.
In their culture, they were married, though it looked different than our marriages today.
Their marriage began with the arrangement that they would be husband and wife. There was a bride price given to her father, and the deal was done. However, Joseph had to go and prepare a place for them to live. So, they would not come together as man and wife, until he was finished.
At this point, Mary was married to Joseph, but they had not yet come together as a man and wife.
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
Troubled at his words? Why would she be troubled by what the angel said?
Look again at the words of the angel.
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
“Greetings, you who are highly favored!”
The word here for highly favored is used only one other time in the Bible, Ephesians 1:6.
to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
The phrase, “glorious grace” is the same word used in Luke 1:28 for “highly favored”.
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Literally, “Greetings you who are given great grace!” Some traditions have turned this into, “Mary, full of grace.”
She was full of grace — not meaning that Mary was a perfect person and gracious to all. She was full of grace, because God GAVE her grace.
That is what Grace is. The very meaning of Grace is giving something to someone when they do not deserve it.
I believe this is why Mary was greatly troubled at the angels words. Mary was troubled because she knew she was undeserving. She was a sinner just like every other human because there has been no descendent of Adam, other than Jesus, who was without sin. The Bible is clear that all people sin.
Psalm 14:2-3, 53:1-3 and Ecclesiastes 7:20 are just a few of the verses which speak to this issue.
Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.
And like so many others who saw the Angel of the Lord, or any other angel, Mary was fully aware of her sin when in the presence of a Holy One.
Mary had to be wondering, “Why would God give me a special, undeserved gift?” “How could the Lord be with me?”
In the past the Lord made His presence known in the Tabernacle, and then the Temple. Only the priest could approach the Lord.
She was no priest. She was a woman. She was from Nazareth, a town considered unclean and no good to Jews, because the Jews living there were in close proximity with unclean Gentiles.
How could the Lord be with her?
And, if a Holy God was with her, what would He do?
I don’t doubt her thoughts were like the thoughts of the Israelites, or Gideon, or Samson’s parents, or even the prophet Isaiah who said, “Woe is me! I am unclean!”
But the Lord gave the angel the very words she needed to hear...
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
There is no need to be afraid. God is giving you grace.
He knows you are undeserving, but He is giving you favor, a special blessing anyway!
God is going to be with you, not because you are deserving, but because He is gracious.
Just what is God going to do for her?
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
The undeserved gift God is giving Mary is that she will bear a son, who will be none other than, Jesus (which means God saves). She is going to give birth to the savior she, and everyone else, so desperately needs.
This savior will be:
Son of the Most High
He will be the eternal King!
This is fantastic news! This is tremendous favor from God that she would have the honor to give birth to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
But here is a dilemma...
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
First Dilemma: I cannot do this!
First Dilemma: I cannot do this!
I am not married! I have not yet been with my husband to have a son!
But to the dilemma, God has an answer...
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.
For no word from God will ever fail.”
Answer: God can do this!
Answer: God can do this!
This is no dilemma for God! The One who called into being the whole creation when there was nothing, can certainly use her to give birth to a Son — The Son.
However, there is still a dilemma.
Second dilemma: Immediate consequences.
Second dilemma: Immediate consequences.
If Mary does this, will anyone really believe her when she says, “I am pregnant because God made it happen?”
Will anyone believe her when she tells them of an angel appearing to her?
She is going to face misunderstanding. She will be the object of gossip, slander, rejection of friends and family, possibly even rejection from Joseph!
This is a dilemma. If she says, “Yes” to God, there will be unpleasant consequences for her.
However, no matter the consequences, how could she say, “No” to God?
What will she do?
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Answer: I am the Lord’s Servant.
Answer: I am the Lord’s Servant.
Mary made the right choice. It was certainly not an easy choice. I am sure she was aware of the consequences she would face. However, she had the proper attitude which helped her give the right answer to her dilemma.
What was her attitude? She knew she was the servant, and God is the Lord.
The word for servant here is more literally, slave, or bondservant. One dictionary puts it this way:
The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament 1401. δοῦλος doúlos
A slave, one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will being altogether consumed in the will of the other
The attitude Mary had, which helped her say yes when facing this dilemma was, “What the Lord is doing is what must happen. He is the Lord. I am the slave.”
I think the Lord truly blessed Mary. Though the short-term consequences would be hard, the blessing was great, and would lead to eternal reward. As Mary said later to her cousin Elizabeth,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
Saying “Yes” leads to eternal reward.
Saying “Yes” leads to eternal reward.
She knew that the dilemma of saying yes to the Lord would ultimately lead to reward. That would help her to get through the coming days, months and years when she would be the object of scorn.
I believe Mary is a tremendous example of saying, “yes” to the Lord even when facing the dilemma of consequences.
What about me?
What about me?
We are just like Mary.
We are all sinners, who have been shown Grace by God!
he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
The first dilemma of Christmas is we are sinners in need of God’s gracious, undeserved, gift of salvation.
He makes is available to everyone, because Jesus died for the sins of the whole world! The dilemma is whether we will admit we are sinners in need of His undeserved gift of salvation? Will we receive Jesus as our savior who loved us and died for us?
First dilemma: Have you said yes to God’s undeserved gift of salvation?
First dilemma: Have you said yes to God’s undeserved gift of salvation?
Please do not leave today without knowing for certain that you are a child of God, saved from eternal separation because of sin, and having eternal life He gives if you will believe Him and receive it.
Other dilemmas:
Other dilemmas:
There are a host of other dilemmas we face in life, even at Christmas! The most wonderful time of the year is not without dilemmas, situations in which you must make a choice, and it often has negative consequences whatever you do.
Who will you be spending time with this Christmas? Or, who do you wish you could avoid this Christmas?
Should we spend that money for those gifts? What about our budget? Should we be going into debt?
How should I act toward that person?
How should I act in that situation?
What is your dilemma?
Do you know that God speaks to our dilemmas?
Actually, that is often the dilemma. We know what God says. We just don’t think we can do what He wants. Or, we know there may be consequences if we handle things the way He wants us to handle them.
Because people may not respond to us well, or treat us the way we like, we do not want to do what the Lord wants from us.
Answers:
Answers:
I cannot do it, but God can do all things.
I am the slave, He is the Lord.
There may be unpleasant immediate consequences, but there are eternal rewards!
Homework
Read Luke 1:1-25. God had been promising the Messiah, also called the Anointed One, to come and save Israel for centuries. Messiah and Anointed One mean the man that God chose to use. Though God showed Israel grace — that is, undeserved kindness— over and over, Israel continued to forsake God and His righteous ways to do what they pleased. Even though God sent prophets, men He chose to tell Israel what He said, Israel ignored, and killed those prophets because they did not want to listen to the Lord. So the Lord told His prophets to warn the people that they would be punished for their rebellion against Him, but He would still send the Messiah, the Savior to one day restore them. Some of the punishments were famines. Others were being conquered by other nations that enslaved them. God sent Amos to warn Israel of yet another punishment for their actions. Read Amos 8:11. Hearing from the Lord is important. At least it should be. How long do you go without spending time in the Word of God? Let’s spend time in the Word daily to hear from him. After Amos, God continued to send prophets who spoke of both the punishment they faced for rebelling against the Lord, and also of the coming Messiah, God’s Chosen One who would restore Israel to the Lord. They also spoke of one who would come before the Messiah to prepare the people to listen to Him. Read Isaiah 40:30. Now read, Malachi 4:5-6. Malachi was the last of the prophets, and in about 430 BC. After Malachi, there were no more prophets until John the Baptist came. This was the fulfillment of Amos 8:11. Now, reread Luke 1:16-17. Do you see the fulfillment of the prophecies in this passage?
Read Luke 1:1-25. Zechariah faced a dilemma like Mary did. How could this be? However, Zechariah did not ask how it would happen in the same way Mary did. Why was Zechariah rebuked? See verse 20. Yesterday we saw how prophecies God had made hundreds of years prior came true. Today, we see God doing the impossible with Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zechariah faced the dilemma of believing God when he thought things seemed impossible which God said would happen. Do you think things God has told you are impossible? Do you think it is impossible to love and forgive the way God tells you to love and forgive? Do you not believe it is possible to see the fruit of the Spirit in your life? Do you not believe His grace is sufficient for the trials you face?
Do you not believe His power will be what you need in your weakness? Consider any area of your life where you are not believing God is with you, and able to do what He has promised. Ask God to forgive, and choose to trust Him today.
Read Luke 1:26-38. Mary faced a dilemma. If she said ‘yes’ to the Lord, she would face a lot of shame and scorn, even though she did not do anything wrong. People would misunderstand and mistreat her. Still she said, “Yes.” What attitudes enabled her to make the difficult choice to follow the Lord? How can those attitudes change your dilemmas?
Read Luke 1:38. Mary said she was the Lord’s slave. We do not typically like being a slave to anyone. We think it is wrong to be a slave. Yet through the scriptures, this a concept we find over and over, and an attitude we see in those who are most used by God. Look up verses that use the word servant/bondservant/slave. (The wording depends on the translation you are reading.) How do you feel about being a slave to the Lord? Read Luke 17:7-10. How does that passage make you feel? Have we gotten away from a proper perspective of the Lord? Are our prayers more telling God what to do, or asking for His will to be done? Are our lives reflective of doing the Father’s will, or our own will? Let’s ask the Lord to teach us a proper perspective of who He is, and our relationship to Him as slaves. (Remember: He is a good Master! What difference does that make?)
Consider dilemmas in your life. What are some difficult relationships you have in your life. What is God’s will for you in those relationships? Last we we saw what God’s will is in John 6:40. How has God commanded us to live in relationship with others? Romans 12:10. Ephesians 4:25-32. The dilemma is, will we do what God says, or will we choose to live in anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, and self-centeredness? (Actually, isn’t anger, bitterness and unforgiveness all just self-centeredness?) How will husbands treat our wives? Or, wives, how will you treat your husbands? As God says in Ephesians 5:22-33? How will we parents treat our children? How will children treat their parents? Ephesians 6:1-4? How will we treat our employers/employees? Ephesians 6:5-9? How will we handle our finances this Christmas? As a divisive topic? Or, in a way that will honor the Lord? How will we handle our possessions? As ours, or as temporary stewardship from God? Dilemmas come because we may have bad consequences. People may not respond well to us. But, is the Lord able to work in us to do what is right? Will He be with us? Will there be eternal rewards if we live in obedience?