In the Scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments, God calls many people to do different things.
Noah is called to build a gigantic ark in the middle of a desert.
Abram and Sarai are called to be parents as they near their 100th
birthday. Joseph is called to serve God by being betrayed by
his brothers. Moses is called by a voice coming from a burning
bush. Samuel is called as a young boy to become a prophet. David
is called to face the giant, Goliath, whom he defeats. Jonah
is called to preach God's forgiveness to people Jonah fears
and despises. Prophets, kings, judges and ordinary women and
men are called by God for a variety of ministries and tasks.
However, there is no calling in the Scriptures that is more
important or beautiful than the one we share this last Sunday
of Advent, the call of God for Mary, the mother of Jesus. This
totally unknown teenage woman was engaged to an older man named
Joseph. The marriage no doubt had been arranged by their families.
In all likelihood Joseph and Mary barely knew each other. But
God knew Mary. God knew what she was like and what was in her
heart, mind and soul. God knew Mary was trustworthy. Many of
the others called in Scripture were people with blemishes.
Sarai laughed at the idea of her being pregnant. Moses had killed
someone in a fit of anger. Jonah went to great lengths to avoid
serving God. David committed adultery. We hear nothing of this
sort about Mary. Even after all these years we still hear nothing
bad about Mary. If there was some flaw someone surely would have
discovered it by now.
The story on the surface is simple but the meaning of what takes
place is far more complex. It, along with the Resurrection story,
is at the very heart of Christianity and can only be accepted
and believed through faith. God desired to enter the world in
the form of a human being in order that God could reveal love
and truth both in word and deed.
God does not force Mary to comply. Rather God has the Angel
Gabriel deliver this message. "Mary, God sends greetings
to you. You have found favor with God and God is with you."
For just a few moments I would like to invite each of you to
imagine you are receiving that same message right now. Nothing
has been said about any expectations of you. You are simply being
told that God is with you and that the goodwill of God is being
extended to you. This ought not to be that big of a stretch for
us to believe for this has long been the basic message of God.
Let the truth sink deep into you. God is with you. God's
blessing is upon you and you have God's favor working for
you. Young, old, male, female, visitor, doubter, believer and
life-long member—the message is the same for each one
of you. Let it flow to the very center of your being.
Chances are excellent that none of us are going to be asked
to do anything like the characters called in the Scriptures.
Many of them couldn't believe what they were being asked
to do. Some of them offered reasons why they were not capable
or worthy. All of them missed the point that if they were willing
God would enable it to happen through them. Even Mary wondered
how she could have a baby since she had not known a man. The
angel shared God's plan with her. Then we hear Mary's
response: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it
be with me according to your word." Mary could have said, "No!" to
God but she said, "Yes! I trust you with my life and how
you want me to use it. I trust your love for me is real and your
power is sufficient to help me accomplish what you want me to
do."
Kirk Moore, a pastor in Wheaton, Ill., raises a challenge of
us with these words. He asks us to consider all of the various
situations in which we find ourselves where God needs us to say, "Here
am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to
your word."
When days are filled with stress, when the kids are not behaving
well, when last minute preparations are overwhelming us, when
unethical behavior is being suggested at work, in your marriage
or in the community, when you are being asked to join the crowd
at school, when the plight of homeless, helpless people is put
before you, when powerful officials and organizations need to
be reminded of their responsibility, when neighbors are in need—the
list is endless and in each situation God needs people of faith
to say, "Here am I; send me as you see fit to do so." (Homiletics,
December 2005, p.58)
Meister Eckhart, well-known Christian thinker and author, said
long ago, "We are all meant to be mothers of God. For God
is always needing to be born." (Synthesis, December
18, 2005) God is always in need of being brought into some situation
or into the life of some individual. Each of us has a great deal
to offer in enabling that to happen.
During the Advent/Christmas season we think and talk a lot about
the birth of Jesus in which God comes into the world. We also
talk about God's coming into the world again with the second
coming of Jesus Christ. The in-between time of these two events,
the time in which we are now living, is also a critical period
in that this is the time in which each of us needs to allow God
to come into our life by faith. We need to allow Christ to be
born in each of us. We need to provide the time and space and
willingness on our part for that to happen.
Often we think to ourselves, "How can that be?" We
either don't know how to do this or are afraid to ask or
we assume we do not qualify or we assume we have already done
all we need to do and the result is not all that exciting.
My sense is when those from Scripture were called they discovered
their positive response enabled their life to be changed by the
power of God working within them.
Edwin Chase wrote on his Web site last December 2, "Rejoice
and be glad, the Lord is with you. God's blessing is upon
you. You are God's beloved and in God you have found favor.
I thought you ought to know." (Edwin
Chase, December 2,
2004)
I, too, thought all of you ought to know today this is how God
feels about you. |
