Mother's Of The Most High

Mother's Of The Most High Luke 1:35-38 "If Evolution is true, how come mothers still have only two hands?" There was a little boy who was attending his very first wedding. After the service, his mother asked him, "Son, do you know how many women a man is allowed to marry?" "16," the boy answered. His mother was shocked. "What do you mean, 16?!" "It's easy," the little boy said. "All you have to do is add it up, like the pastor said: 4 better, 4 worse, 4 richer, 4 poorer." Another mother as trying to teach her 4-year-old what a birthday was. It was the night before her son's birthday, and she said, "Kevin, this is the last night you'll be 4. Do you understand that?" Kevin was ready to communicate with his hands. For an entire year, he had shown people 4 fingers for his 4 years. And now he was ready to add a thumb! Seeing his 4 fingers, his mother nodded and said, "When you go to sleep tonight, you'll still be 4 years old. But do you know how old you'll be in the morning, when you wake up?" Kevin happily nodded, added his thumb to his 4 tiny fingers, and said, "Tomorrow, I'll be a handful!" For all the mothers who have had their hands full, we celebrate Mother's Day! We are eternally blessed that God's Word contains so many messages about mothers, about parents, and about all those who listen to God's Word. And listening to God's Word is what today's message is all about. We all remember the Christmas story in Luke 1, and how the angel Gabriel came and announced to Marry that she would give birth to a Son. Marry wondered, "How can it be," and that's today's question. We've all asked questions like: "How can it be?" "How can I be a better person?" "How can I reach him/her?" "How can I get closer to God?" "How can I get through this?" For all of those people who have ever asked the "How can it be" questions, today's verses rearrange those words, and answers your questions by saying, "How it can be." Certain habits, past memories, the cares of today, and tomorrow, all have a way of asking, "How can it be?" Many people suffer from a book-ended life. They're stuck between the bookends of "How can it be," and "What has been done." And if you haven't already, it's time to push those bookends away. Make more room on your shelf of life, and fill it with God's Holy Word. And live a "How It Can be" life. Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." The God of Hope, Power, and Peace, living in you from the Holy Spirit, sure sounds like what Mary experienced in today's Scripture, doesn't it? Billy Graham once said, "Faith in Christ is voluntary. A person cannot be coerced, bribed, or tricked into trusting Jesus. God will not force His way into your life. The Holy Spirit will do everything possible to disturb you, draw you, love you - but finally, it is your personal decision." In Luke 1, when Mary asked the angel Gabriel, "How can it be?" the angel gave her a straight answer. God's Word, and those who speak God's Word, like the angel, don't beat around the bush. They don't tell lies or tell half-truths. They proclaim the truth, the Word of God. Mary wasn't forced to answer the way she did, because like Billy Graham said, "it's your personal decision." Of course, God knows all of our personal decisions before we ever make them, and He had the answer Mary needed to hear so that Mary could make that personal decision for God. The Bible says in verse35, "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." Here in this verse, we see both an answer and a demand, connected by the word "so." Gabriel answered Mary's "How can it be" question by saying, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." But then the angel added a demand. "So, the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God." If you want the Holy Spirit to come and live within you, God demands that you be born of God. Those who are born of God will have God's power overshadowing them. The Holy Spirit is none other than the God of the Most High. Now, the word Luke used for "overshadow" is, "ep-e-see-oz-o," and it carries with it the meaning of "casting shade upon," and "enveloped in a brilliant haze." Those who accept Christ not only quench their thirst from His living water, but they're refreshed from the shade cast upon them. How refreshing it is to be in Christ, Amen. Mothers are like refreshing shade on a hot day, aren't they? They envelop us in their brilliance. They overshadow us. Think of the word, "overshadow" like this: If it's raining outside, you may want it to stop, but you can't control the rain. However, you can open an umbrella. An umbrella doesn't change the circumstances, but it changes you in the middle of the circumstances. The wetness is no longer controlling you. God's grace opens up an umbrella during the rainy seasons of life, so that we may overcome and have the victory when everything around us is wet. These past few months have sure been a rainy season, haven't they? But we can be thankful that we have victory in Christ, and for all the people who have stepped up during these past months. Did you know most of the people who've stepped up because of Coronavirus have been women? 85% of all nurses, 75% of primary caregivers, and 62% of low-wage workers (such as fast-food), are all women! Life is full of surprises, and when something unexpected happened, they stepped up. When the rains of life started coming down heavier, they overshadowed us. Mothers of the Most High overshadow us with their love because they reflect God's love, and deflect the rain that makes life soggy. They are "How It Can be" women. Stepping up is what Mary did. She didn't wake up that morning and think, "Hmm, I think today, God will send an angel to talk with me and tell me I'll give birth to the Son of God." But when it happened, when she knew what God was asking of her, Mary stepped up. She said in verse 38, "I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled." Wouldn't you love to have that faith! A faith that hears God's Word and obeys no matter what! That's tremendous faith! But, "How can it be?" There's that question again. "How It Can be," is because of one small sentence with a huge, eternal, promise. Verse 37 says, "For no Word from God will ever fail." There it is! The answer to faith, the answer for Mary, the answer for us, and the answer for every "How can it be" question. God's Word will never fail. Never! We can all step up because God's Word will never fail you. We will fail God, but He will never fail us. Mothers are just people too. They've felt failure. But mothers, grandmothers, wives, they have a way of caring for us when we fail. As Proverbs 31:10 says, "A wife of noble character is worth far more than rubies." They may work behind the scenes, and far too often, all they do for us seems to go unnoticed. But take comfort, God notices, and He remembers, and we should too! Be a "How It Can be" mother, and be a "How It Can be" Christian, because we are servants of a "How It Can be" God! Mothers Of The Most High, like Mary, answer God, and they follow God. No, they're not perfect, nobody is. But they have a loving heart and the capacity to make a life change. Not just in their families, but in the world. God came in the person of Jesus Christ through Mary. And through Mary, Jesus Christ reached the world, died for our sin, and rose to eternal life. Thanks be to God for all He has done. And Thank you to all the Mother's Of The Most High, because whether you realize it right now or not, you make a difference! We don't know how you do it all, but when life becomes a handful, you always have a free hand to hold. Teddy Stallard certainly qualified as "one of the least." He was disinterested in school. Wore musty, wrinkled clothes. Never had his hair combed. He had one of those deadpan faces, expressionless-with sort of a glassy, unfocused stare. When Miss Thompson spoke to Teddy, he always mumbled when he answered. Unmotivated and distant, he was just plain hard to like. Even though his teacher said she loved all in her class the same, she knew she wasn't being completely truthful. Whenever she marked Teddy's papers, she got a little satisfaction from putting X's next to the wrong answers. And when she put an F at the top of his papers, she always did so with flair. She should have known better; she had Teddy's records, and she knew more about him than she wanted to admit. The records read: 1st Grade: Teddy shows promise with his work and attitude, but poor home situation. 2nd Grade: Teddy could do better. Mother is seriously ill. He receives little help at home. 3rd Grade: Teddy is a good boy, but too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died last year. 4th Grade: Teddy is very slow, but well behaved. His father shows no interest. Christmas came, and the girls and boys in Miss Thompson's class brought her Christmas presents. They piled her presents on her desk and crowded around to watch her open them. Among the presents, there was one from Teddy Stallard. She was surprised that he had brought her a gift. Teddy's gift was wrapped in brown paper and held together with Scotch tape. On the paper were written the simple words, "For Miss Thompson, from Teddy." When she opened Teddy's present, a gaudy rhinestone bracelet with half the stones missing, and a bottle of cheap perfume fell out. The other girls and boys began to laugh and smirk over Teddy's gifts, but Miss Thompson at least had enough sense to silence them by immediately putting on the bracelet and putting some of the perfume on her wrist. Holding her wrist up for the other children to smell, she said, "Doesn't it smell lovely?" And the other children, taking their cue from the teacher, readily agreed. At the end of the day, when school was over and the other children had left, Teddy lingered behind. He slowly came over to her desk and said softly, "Miss Thompson, you smell just like my mother... and her bracelet looks real pretty on you, too. I'm glad you liked my presents." When Teddy left, Miss Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her. The next day when the children came to class, they were welcomed by a new teacher. Miss Thompson had become a different person. She was no longer just a teacher; she had become an agent of God. She was now a person who was committed to loving her children and doing things for them that would live on after her. By the end of the school year, Teddy showed terrific improvement. He had caught up with most of the students and was even ahead of some. She didn't hear from Teddy for a long time. Then one day, she received a note that read: Dear Miss Thompson: I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be graduating second in my class. Love, Teddy Stallard. 4 years later, another note came: Dear Miss Thompson: They just told me I will be graduating first in my class. I wanted you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy, but I like it. Love, Teddy Stallard. And 4 Years Later: Dear Miss Thompson: As of today I am Theodore Stallard, M.D. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now; Dad died last year. Love Teddy Stallard Miss Thompson went to that wedding and sat where Teddy's mother would have sat. She deserved to sit there - she had done something for Teddy that he could never forget. Mother's, and all Christians for that matter, you are a gift. Instead of giving something money can buy, risk giving something that will live on long after you. Be extravagantly generous. Be an agent of God. Remain a servant of God. Give the gift only you can give - yourself. And give so much of yourself that others will learn so deeply and meaningfully that they'll invite you to their weddings. AMEN 2