Be Like Mary, The Willing Servant by Rev. Bob Neben on 12-23-2012 Text: Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:26-38 A little girl became restless as the preacher’s sermon dragged on and on. Finally, she leaned over to her mother and whispered, “Mommy, if we give our money now, will he let us go home?” (pause) Have you ever been asked to do something very important? Have you ever been asked to make a great decision that might change the world? Have you ever been asked to do a big task? Such a task might be like run for president for the United States. Or maybe you would be asked to negotiate some kind of peace between Palestinians and Jews in Israel. Maybe you would be asked to arrange for food shipments so every person in the world would be adequately fed. Very few of us are asked to do great things or tasks. But today we want to look at a young woman who was asked to accomplish an important job. Her name was Mary and she was asked to be the mother of a son, who would be called the Son of the Most High God. God would make her son a king. She was asked to be a very important link in God’s plan for our world. The Creator would act through her to show human beings that they were loved and could be forgiven. Mary, the mother of Jesus, had a great task to perform and so we want to look at the story in our scripture lesson this morning. First, what is Mary called? She is called the favored one. It seems like a wonderful thing to be favored by God, but let us take a closer look at it. I used to think that being favored by God meant good health, prosperity, and many other good things. I thought it mean positive things with everything going right in my life. But the kind of favor Mary received is the kind that many of us would be reluctant to claim. For Mary would take a long and wearying journey to a small town where in a stable she would bear her child. Is this what it means to be favored by God? After Bethlehem, what followed? Her son would grow up for many years in obscurity. Jesus was known by very few people as the Son of God. And then when Christ did start His ministry at the age of 30, His life was always in danger. Humble people loved Jesus, while people in power hated Him. At last one day Christ would be taken by the priests and rulers of his own nation, accused before the Roman Governor, and finally hung on a cross. And all the while Mary had to watch this happen. Is this what it means to be favored by God? If Mary had wanted unbroken happiness, she plainly did not get it. To be favored by God for a task does not always mean that one will know ease, pleasure, or prosperity. When we talk about God’s blessings these are usually the things that come to mind. And so even though Mary was given a very important task to do, the consequences of this task would not be easy for her to understand or to bear. So what does it mean to be favored by God? It may mean that we are given a responsibility and a task to get done. God’s favor for a nation maybe more richly bestowed, not in easy times, but in the

great challenges when a people’s real faith is put to a costly test. It is the individuals who have been given something great to do, even thought they may have been bruised in the process, which have truly know the favor of God. Secondly we need to ask, “How does Mary react to being favored by God? The scripture says, “She was deeply troubled by the angel’s message.” Mary was probably disturbed to the point of fear. She was afraid of the great task that had been given to her. We too are often like Mary. Some task is thrust upon us and we are filled with fear. When God’s presence breaks into our lives and we become aware that we should be a witness for God in everything we do and say, we feel overwhelmed by the task. The soul trembles and shrinks before the awful magnitude of the new life in Christ. We too are like Mary for we are sometimes afraid to do what God has asked us to do. Not only was Mary startled by this news but she was also perplexed. She asks, “How can this be?” To bear the Son of God seemed like an impossible task. How could she accomplish it? When God asks us to do something, how many times do we think it is an impossible task? Maybe Christ is asking you to tell another person about how Jesus has helped you, and you reply, “That task is impossible.” Or maybe God is asking you to speak to a person you have avoided for a long time, and you respond to God, “That task is too hard.” If you have made these kinds of replies to God, then you too know how Mary felt when asked to bear the Son of God. We find that the angel of the Lord makes a direct reply to Mary’s question of “How can this be?” The angel says, “There is nothing that God cannot do.” The angel speaks of the power of God in our world. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all state, “With people it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” It is this promise that can wipe away all our fear. It answers our perplexities of how a task can get done. With God’s power all things are possible. We can meet each new task, not in our own strength, but in the strength we receive from God as Mary did. Thirdly we ask, “What was Mary’s response?” Her response was one of obedience. She replied to the angel, “I am the servant of the Lord.” Purely and humbly Mary put herself into the hands of God. Seemingly without much hesitation, Mary affirms her faith in God and the task that God has for her. We too need to be like Mary and to make our reply to God, “I am the servant of the Lord.” Mary took some risks in being obedient to God. In order to be God’s servant, Mary had to expose herself to the misunderstanding of Joseph to whom she was engaged to be married. She had to expose herself to the possible loss of her reputation and the curse of being considered a sinful woman and to the possibility of death by stoning. She risked all this in order to surrender to the will of God. If we are to be obedient to God there maybe some risks for us as well. Certain consequences may come our way that we would like to avoid. But being obedient means that we may have to suffer for our faith. It may mean we will be laughed at

for taking our religion too seriously. One maybe labeled as a fanatic. To be a Christian in all our activities may mean we will cause some hard feelings because we will not bend down to other people’s morals. God is asking each one of us to be obedient and to do something for God. It maybe that we are to forgive someone we have been holding a grudge against. It maybe to visit someone we know is lonely. It maybe to share what Christ means to us with another person. It maybe helping another person, whom we know needs our help. I do not know what God is asking you to do during this Christmas Season, but I do know that God is asking each one of us to do something for Him. If we will listen to God with our whole lives, God will give us the insight of what God wants done. God is asking each one of us to be obedient to Him, just as God asked Mary to be obedient and Mary responded in a very positive way. Lastly, during this Christian Season, let our prayer be that we will be like Mary in her obedience. Mary’s submission to the will of God is a very lovely thing. Mary says, “Whatever God says I will accept and do.” Mary had learned to pray the world’s greatest prayer, which her son, Jesus, used in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before His death. That prayer is “God’s will be done.” This morning let us dedicate ourselves to being obedient to what God is asking us to do. The task may be great or it maybe small but regardless what the task is may we say with Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant. I will be obedient to God.”