A Girl Named: Mary
The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is upon us. It is so easy to get caught up in all the preparations and parties that we lose sight of the true reason for the celebration. The birth of Jesus brought redemption for mankind, a way for us to be reconciled to God. A key part of the plan of redemption was a little girl named Mary who was willing to do what God asked her to do.
The gospel of Luke gives us the most detailed account of the birth of Jesus, including events that preceded His actual arrival. Luke starts the story with God making a way for a barren couple to have a baby that was John the Baptist, the predecessor to Jesus’ ministry. Beginning at Luke 1:26, we pick up the story with Mary hearing from an angel that she would bear the Messiah.
“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy (JTB’s mom) 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.”
Ok, let’s pause here a minute.
An angel appears to you, and you’re troubled by the greeting he gives you? What? Do angels pop in and visit you on a regular basis? If an angel showed up in my living room and started talking, I’m not sure the first thing I’d be concerned about is how he greeted me. It makes me think, that Mary had a special belief in God. Not your every day, run of the mill “yeah, I believe in God.” No, she believed what she had been taught about God to the extent that when an angel appeared to her – not something that happens to many people – she was not surprised by the fact that the angel was there. She focused immediately on the words he was bringing her and what they meant, starting with the first words out of his mouth.
“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?’
It’s interesting to me that Mary asked the angel how it was she would give birth to a son since she was a virgin. Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph. She could have assumed the angel was telling her about a child she and Joseph would have together. Many of us in this same situation would immediately begin imagining how this would happen in the natural, but not Mary. The message was delivered to her in such a way that she understood this child was not going to be conceived in the usual fashion.
There is a lesson in that for us. When God gives an assignment, we often start trying to figure out how we can make it happen. We start contemplating what needs to be done and all of the options. We formulate a plan rather than asking God “How will this be?” God gave the assignment. He will provide instructions and resources to get it done. We must ask, listen and trust Him to provide the steps and the timing to walk it out.
The angel then explained to Mary how this child would be conceived. He told her about her cousin Elizabeth who was going to have a child in her old age. His last words to her were “For no word from God will ever fail.” Mary’s response is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Mary answered, “I am the Lord’s servant…May your word to me be fulfilled.” At that moment she put her complete trust in God and believed He would guide and protect her through the assignment.
Mary completely surrendered her will to God’s plan. She did not hesitate.
She did not offer any excuses about why she was not the right person for the job. She didn’t vocalize her concerns. I’m sure she had many. She was at risk of losing her future with Joseph and being ostracized from her church, family and community. She would be the subject of vicious and hurtful gossip. None of those things were discussed with the angel. She simply said, I’m ready to serve…Let’s do this! (my paraphrase)
Imagine if she had said, “Gee Gabe, I don’t know. I’ve got this engagement going with Joseph and I don’t want to mess that up, and what are my parents going to say when I show up pregnant before I’m married? Not just my parents, what about the Rabbi over at the synagogue? Oh, and those gossiping girls at school? They’ll never let me live this down!”
Gabriel probably would have politely excused himself and gone back to God to tell him Mary was not up for the challenge. You see, when we hesitate and make excuses we force God to work out another way to get His plan into the earth. He will only wait so long for us to respond. He is patient but he also needs His will done in the earth. His plans will always succeed. However, we may miss being part of it – and we miss His best plan for our life.
Mary is a wonderful illustration of humble obedience to God’s plan.
She was not alarmed that an angel appeared, she was expecting the supernatural
She understood the message he brought was something that she could not do in her own strength.
She trusted God to protect and guide her through the journey.
She was willing to do whatever God asked her to do without concern for what it meant to her personally.
She put aside her plans and desires to do what God asked her to do.
So the next time God asks you to do something, remember Mary and the example she set for accepting God’s plan over your own.
