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As we continue considering the Characters that are part of the Christmas story, we come to, arguably, the most popular person after Jesus: Mary.
Two weeks ago, we began by thinking about Simeon and how his anticipation of the coming of Messiah was impacted by the hope-filled message of the Prophets.
Last week, we considered some of the cultural issues as Joseph responded to what must of seemed like major disappointments in his life.
Today, we get to look at Mary.
We could consider Mary as an individual.
There is some to know, and a lot to speculate about.
What we know is that she was engaged to Joseph.
She was Jewish.
We assume that she was young - likely a teenager - which in and of itself is a lot to take in.
Some commentators have noted that it was common for girls to get betrothed in the middle teenage years - 14, 15, 16.
Later in life, Scripture seems to show that she had other children, she participated in Jesus’ ministry, was present at his crucifixion, and associated with the disciples near the time of the Pentecost.
There are so many other theories that have arisen over the years about Mary - her birth, life, family, etc.
But rather than engaging in speculation and fantastic theories, it seemed to me to be more helpful to consider some tangible elements of her life and some ways that we can learn from how she responded to the call of God.
One of the beautiful elements of how God works is that He seems to give people an opportunity to obey, to fulfill the mission that God has for them.
The same is true here for Mary.
God placed a big request in Mary’s life.
He asked her to be the one who would bring Jesus into the world.
One of the editors from Christianity Today said:
I have been captivated again by the central, flabbergasting fact of Christianity: that God himself came down and chose to be conceived, and carried to term, and born the son of a real, living woman.
“From the Editor.”
Christian History Magazine-Issue 83: Mary in the Imagination of the Church 2004 : n. pag.
Print.
The son of God was to be born of a virgin.
The chosen virgin was Mary.
Mary responded to God’s call in three profound ways.
First of all, she responded with...
Faith and Curiosity ()
Back in the 80s - President Reagan, when talking about diplomacy with other countries, famously said:
“Trust, but verify”
Like President Reagan, Mary trusted the Angel of the Lord enough to believe that what the angel said would happen, but she also expressed a curiosity.
Rather than trying to verify the facts or consider all of the contingencies, she expressed a sense of wonder.
Let’s look at the first part of their conversation.
Luke 1:26-34
Let’s contrast this briefly with a similar encounter that happens at the beginning of this chapter.
As Luke is pulling together his orderly account of the life of Jesus in this gospel, he has a great deal of order and parallelism here.
In fact, the announcement the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus are quite similar.
One commentator pointed out a chiastic structure:
A - The Angel’s conversation with Zechariah about John’s birth (1:5-25)
B - The Angel’s conversation with Mary about the birth of Jesus (1:26-38)
B’ - Mary’s Song of Praise (1:39-56)
A’ - Zechariah’s Song of Praise (1:57-80)
Now, I find the structure quite interesting - in fact you’ll see these types of patterns all over scripture - in both the Old and the New Testaments.
I point this out here, because it seems like Luke wants us to notice the similarities and the differences.
Both children were announced by an Angel - in fact, the same angel.
Both births were miraculous - Elizabeth because she was barren and old, Mary because she was a virgin.
Both boys would have significant ministries - John would call people to repentance and would prepare the way for Jesus.
On the differences side - Zechariah seemed to respond with doubt and skepticism, where Mary responded with faith.
On the differences side - Zechariah seemed to respond with doubt and skepticism, where Mary responded with faith.
So Zechariah is in the Temple, doing his work and an angel of the Lord appears to him telling him that his wife would have a son.
Look at Zechariah’s response:
Luke 1:
He seems to ask for a sign and then points out that he and his wife are old.
This may be doubt and skepticism, or it may simply be a human response.
He’s old.
His wife is barren.
He was familiar with the OT stories of miraculous births - but then there is the life of this child too.
The Angel gives him the sign of silence (v.
20) in response to his lack of faith.
The angel seems to be calling him away from doubt toward faith with this sign - be quiet and believe (Bock, Fred, BECNT: Luke, 91-92).
Mary’s response to the Angel is actually quite similar - but has a note of expectation that it will happen soon - before she and Joseph consummate their marriage.
God called Mary to a very unique task.
There have been countless miraculous
conceptions and births.
In fact, some would say that every birth is a miracle.
Last week, we briefly considered some of the cultural elements of her being pregnant - the shame she would receive from her culture, the legal punishment that was expected.
Today, this doesn’t seem like as much of a big deal as it has become so much more common.
I think it’s important for us to see that God was calling her to do something that was so far out of the ordinary.
This was a big move.
Because of God’s sovereign plan and Mary’s willingness - Jesus the Messiah came into the world.
We know he’s coming again - but this time in the air.
I’m quite certain that there is not another “ask” like this for a woman to give birth to the Son of God again.
But there are times when God does ask us to do some big things.
There are divinely appointed encounters that we get to step into - if we are willing.
Have you ever had those times when the Spirit of God was calling you do something - to go talk to someone?
You look at it and you think - there is no way this would happen.
A few weeks ago, I got a chance to hear James Merritt - a pastor from Georgia, speak on evangelism.
He shared about his prayer life and how God had laid on his heart to pray for some famous people - that God would save certain individuals.
James said that God had laid Michael Jordan on his heart.
This may not be strange - as we’ve seen recently with the conversion of Kanye West - famous people need forgiveness from God and are not beyond the reach of the Holy Spirit.
From time to time, here on Sunday mornings, we pray for our national leaders - for their salvation.
So James began praying for Michael Jordan.
Then the Spirit began tugging on his heart to begin praying for an opportunity to share the gospel with Jordan:
Golf course
Friend’s invitation on a different day
Wife said to change schedule
Michael and friends come in two big black Escalades
friend gets Jordan’s signature and encourages James to do the same.
James and his friend are right in front of Michael and his party
break after 9 for lunch
Michael and his friends continue to the next hole - now James and his friend are behind.
Friend sees Michael up the hill and says - now is your chance to get his signature.
At that moment, the Spirit reminds him what he’d been praying for (an opportunity to share the gospel).
So he ran up the cart path with an evangelistic card in his hand.
He shook MJ’s hand, handed him the card and briefly shared the gospel with him - challenging him - to consider that God might have a bigger plan for him.
Michael looked at him, at the card, at him, at the card - and then at him one last time - as a tear began to roll down his cheek.
He said thank you and that he would think about this.
James does not run in MJ’s circles - but God laid it on his heart to pray for an opportunity - and so James did.
God made the opportunity happen.
The angel told Mary that “nothing is impossible with God” - (vs. 37).
God may ask us to do some outlandish things, seemingly impossible things - like sharing the gospel with Michael Jordan - will we respond the way that Mary (and James) did - with faith - and even a bit of curiosity?
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