Has God ever called you to do
something, or to a ministry, which was “outside the box”? To something unconventional
by human standards? To something that didn’t fit in with the norms of
institutional religion? And, you knew, that by accepting this call on your life,
that you were going to face the possibility of enormous rejection, persecution
and misunderstandings? And, yet, you did it anyway? Because you love God and
you are called according to his purpose, not according to the will of man?
Well, that is what happened
to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bear a son, and you shall call his name 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 father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of
his kingdom there will be no end.” Vv. 30-33
Can you, for women here,
imagine God visiting you via an angel and telling you that you are going to
give birth to the Son of God? The Christ, the promised Messiah of your people? And,
you are not even married? And, you have not even been with a man? (Men might
relate better to the story of Zechariah being told, in his old age, that he was
going to be the father of a prophet of God who was going to prepare the way for
their Messiah.)
Can you imagine the amount of
faith that took for Mary to say “Yes” to God? Certainly she had to realize the
magnitude of what she had just been told. Certainly she must have considered
how she was going to explain this to her family and friends. Can we even
imagine the thoughts that must have been racing through her mind? And, yet, she
didn’t doubt. She merely asked how it was going to happen, since she was a
virgin. And, when that was explained to her, she responded by saying,
“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me
according to your word.” V. 38
Wow! That took enormous
faith! For, we must realize here what this meant for Mary. Mary would be
charged with having had sex with a man outside of marriage while she was engaged
to be married to another, or else they might have thought that Joseph was the
baby’s father, though I am not certain of the timing of all of that. Either
way, she would have been charged with an immoral act which was punishable by
death. So, for Mary to submit herself to the will of God, in this matter, was
to submit herself to death.
But, isn’t that what it means
to be a follower of Christ? Doesn’t it mean that we submit ourselves to death?
For, when we believe in Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Lord, we die with him
to sin, and we are resurrected with him to newness of life, created to be like
God in true righteousness and holiness. Our lives are no longer our own, to be
lived how we want, for we were bought back for God with the blood of Christ
shed on a cross for our sins. So, now, we are to honor God with our lives, not
ourselves.
Doesn’t it mean, too, that we
are now the servants of the Lord, in submission to his will for our lives, that
we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us?
And, so, shouldn’t we all be saying to God the same thing? “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
But, do we really comprehend
what that means for our lives? Do we really understand that we are all called,
essentially, to live our lives “outside the box,” i.e. outside the norms of the
world? Outside of worldly standards? We aren’t supposed to be like everyone
else. We aren’t supposed to live our lives by the standards of this world, but
by God’s standards. We aren’t supposed to choose to obey only what will get us
accepted and “liked,” but God intends for us to submit ourselves to being “not
liked” because we are followers of Christ, and to be willing to suffer for the
sake of his name.
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the
hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and
greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby
leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she
exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord
should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears,
the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there
would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Vv. 39-45
Yet, blessed are we, too,
when we believe God, and we follow him in faith and in obedience, even knowing
it could cost us our reputations and our very lives. And, it is because we
believe what he says, and we trust in his Word, and we are willing to operate “outside
the box,” that we are blessed, too.
For, to be holy as God is
holy means we are to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we
are being made into Christ’s likeness.
So, we must hold on to the
promises of God, walk in faith, and be willing to suffer for the sake of the
name of Jesus and for the sake of his gospel. We must believe his Word and walk
in his truth, even if we are accused falsely, persecuted for righteousness’
sake, or abandoned by family and friends.
And, we must submit ourselves
to God and to his will and purposes for our lives, knowing full well that this
may be “the kiss of death” for us, in the eyes of other humans, and that they
may reject, persecute, and/or abandon us, or even put us to death. But, we can’t
worry about what other humans are going to say about us or do to us, but we
must obey God, do what he says, and submit ourselves to doing his will, believing
that all that God said he would do will be fulfilled.
My Cry for Mercy
An Original Work / October
31, 2013
Based off Psalm 86
Hear my prayer, Lord, I am
needy.
Guard my life, for I’m
devoted to You.
Save me! I’m Your servant.
You are my God. I trust in
You.
O, Lord, have mercy on me,
For I call to You.
Bring joy to me, for to You
I will lift up my soul.
You are giving and forgiving.
You abound in love to all who
Call upon You. Hear my
prayer, Lord.
Listen to my cry for mercy.
In days of trouble I call to
You,
Knowing that You will
Do marvelous things,
Because You are my God.
Teach me Your way; I’ll walk
in it.
In Your truth, Lord, You will
guide me.
A pure heart, Lord, You will
give me,
So that I may glorify You.
Turn to me, Lord, and grant
Strength to Your servant.
O, Lord, You are my help,
For You love and You comfort
me.
Teach me Your way; I’ll walk
in it.
In Your truth, Lord, You will
guide me.
A pure heart, Lord, You will
give me,
So that I may glorify You.
Thursday, December 14, 2017,
1:58 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this lesson from the life of Mary, your
servant. May we all emulate her faith. Amen!
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