Luke 1:26-38 “ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.” Today's episode is about Mary and how she said yes to what the Lord was asking. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Mary Says Yes!
Luke 1:26-38 “ In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.”
I know this week we are focusing on longer sections. Usually we do a verse or two, however, this week we are doing more at one time. The reason for this is because Christmas is in four days and so this week is not like any other week. We are all getting reading for the arrival of our savior, our king. It is a big week. I wanted to focus on scriptures that centered around this special time so that we could all prepare our hearts and minds for what we are celebrating this weekend. Today we hear the story of Mary’s visit from the angel Gabriel. The verse says that Elizabeth is in her 6th month of pregnancy and so this takes place at least 6 months after Zechariah’s visit.
The first thing I would like to mention is the greeting. “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Can you imagine getting a greeting like that from an angel? Think about how many people were on earth at that time. Out of all those people, Mary is chosen and Mary is highly favored. She was actually chosen before she was born for this job. She also had the Holy Spirit in her before she was born. That is just incredible to me. Also, one thing I would like to point out because I didn’t always know it and I think it is something to know is that Mary was born without sin. We are all born with original sin because Adam and Eve ate the apple. However, Mary was conceived without sin. She is also the only human to have never sinned. Can you imagine having that grace, that strength, that will power? I read an article about the theology behind the Catholic belief that Mary was conceived without sin. It is not something that I feel I know enough about that I can explain it in a way that backs it up with theology, but I will put a link to the article in the show notes if you are interested in learning a little more about it. The article is titled, “Why I came to believe that Mary was conceived without sin,” by Dr. Leroy Hulzenga. (CLICK HERE FOR ARTICLE)
Next the angel describes to Mary that she will conceive a son and tells her that He will be the Son of the Most High. That right there I think would get me. I don’t know if I would even be able to comprehend what the angel was saying. The Son of the Most High? She is going to conceive God’s child. That is a lot for anyone to take in. Then the angel tell her that Jesus will reign over the house of Jacob forever. I wonder if she was able to take that all in? I think that would be something to meditate on, how Mary might have felt after this visit. How much of all that the angel told her made sense? Was she just going on faith and not really understanding all that was to come? I can’t imagine how anyone would be able to fully understand what was to come.
Then Mary asks a question, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” Mary was confused as to how this would happen as she was a virgin and had not known a man. Does this sound familiar? In the story we heard yesterday Zechariah was confused at how his wife would conceive when she was advanced in years. However, when Zechariah asked the question he was struck mute for the duration his wife’s pregnancy. Why didn’t this happen to Mary? The difference between these two stories is that Zechariah asked with doubt. He was questioning because he didn’t think it was possible. However, Mary didn’t doubt that God could do it, she was just asking for clarification on how it would happen. Then as soon as she found out she immediately accepted her task.
Can we just take a minute to acknowledge her acceptance? It was not “ok, I guess I could do that.” It was not, “Do I have to do that?” Mary could have said no. She did not have to say yes. She did not ask if someone else could do it. She said yes. Actually her exact words were, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” She didn’t hesitate, she didn’t ask for more time she just said yes. She was being asked to this incredible, big thing and she just said yes. How many times has God asked us to do something and we put Him off? We didn’t say no, but we didn’t say yes either. Or maybe we did say no.
I remember this story from a person in my prayer group. She was at mass while visiting family. The priest at the mass said he was sorry he was sitting so much but he had a chronic pain issue and was in a lot of pain that day. My friend was on her way out of mass when the Holy Spirit told her to go pray for healing over the priest. You see, my friend belongs to a healing ministry at back in her home state. She said no because she didn’t know the priest and he would think she was crazy. Yes, she told the Holy Spirit no. Now, don’t pretend like you have never done that because I bet you have. I know I have. I was too scared to do what I was being asked to do so I didn’t do it. However, luckily she and the Holy Spirit have a close relationship and He wasn’t taking no for an answer. She said she literally couldn’t walk out of that church. Her feet wouldn’t move. So, she waited until most of the other people had left and she went up to the priest. She quickly explained that she was a member of a healing ministry in her home state and she wanted to pray over him. He gladly accepted and she prayed over him. When she was done he said, “You know, I wasn’t even supposed to be here today. I am just filling in for another priest who got sick at the last minute. Now I know why he got sick.” She was so touched and when she got to her car she apologized to the Holy Spirit for saying no.
We don’t always understand the full gravity of what we are being asked to do. We don’t know why it is important that we do it or what difference it will make. Mary knew it was a big undertaking, and yet she still said yes. Even if she didn’t know all the details, or all the heartache with her son being crucified, she knew she was being asked to raise the Son of the Most High. She knew that was huge and she still said yes. Do you think she was scared? Probably, who wouldn’t be. I don’t know any person that isn’t scared for their first pregnancy. Was it a lot of responsibility? Definitely, and yet she still said yes. What is the Holy Spirit asking you to do that you are avoiding because of one reason or another? Can you be like Mary and say yes? Can you say yes the next time God asks you do to something? Say yes right away, without hesitation. Say yes, even though you are scared. Say yes even though you don’t understand it completely. Say yes, even though you don’t know how you will do it. God will not ask you to do something and then abandon you. If He is asking you to do something He will give you all you need to do it, but first you have to say yes. You have to take the leap of faith to say yes even if you don’t feel you can do it, knowing that God will help you do it. Once you say yes, God will equip you with all you need. Can you be brave enough to say yes?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you give us the courage to say yes even when we are scared. Help us to say yes even when we don’t understand what it entails. Help us to be more like Mary. Lord, we love you and we look forward to celebrating the coming of you son Jesus. We are so thankful You sent Him to us, not just for His sacrifice but also so that He could share your love and your light to the world. Help us to pass on that love and light to the whole world. Lord we are so grateful for all you have given us and do for us. Lord, we ask that you be with all those that are alone this Christmas season. Help them to feel your love. Keep all those that are out on the streets safe and warm. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Have a blessed day!