Meeting Jesus - Mary: The Type of Person God uses
Several years ago, my family was driving across the country, and we stopped at a Chilis to eat dinner. Inside the restaurant, Sofie and I turned a corner, and there was Santa. From his head to his toe, red suit, hat, belt. Sofie stood directly in front of me – the biggest smile on her face you could imagine. Santa smiled, too – then it got creepy. He kept smiling at her – but he never said a word to her. Sofie said, “Hi, Santa.” He said nothing – just stood there. Finally, Sofia looked at me and said, “I have to go to the bathroom.” When Santa shows up unexpectedly, he can be a scary thing to some children. Some kids just don’t want to sit on Santa’s lap.
How many of you have photos taken like this? I think Santa Claus is overwhelming to some children. Think about it:
He knows when you’ve been sleeping. He knows if you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so … {you can finish it from there}
No wonder some children are afraid of Santa and don’t want to get near him. He is OVERWHELMING! They like the thought of Santa from a distance…. but too close, and he is too much.
I think like Santa is to children, for many adults, the thought of God is overwhelming. The EVERLASTING, OMNIPOTENT, OMNIPRESENT, and OMNISCIENT God is an overwhelming thought for many people. God is all-powerful, everywhere, and all-knowing…that is a lot to take in. It gets even heavier when THIS everlasting GOD wants to use you and me to do His work on this earth.
In today’s passage, Mary – the Mother of Jesus, learns from an angel that God wants to use her to be the mother to Jesus. As we look at this passage – I am going to highlight three characteristics of Mary – and I believe these are some of the maturing characteristics that God looks for in followers of Jesus.
Luke 1:26-38 (NLT2)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” 35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.” 38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
Bible scholars tell us that Mary was roughly between 13-15 years old. She was barely a teenager! Two of my daughters, Violet and Naomi, fall into that age range! Yet, even at this young age, Mary had characteristics of the type of person that God uses. Like you, I am still in the process of becoming the person God has called me to be. In many ways, I am NOT the DAD I imagined I would be. In many ways, I am not the HUSBAND I imagined I would be….but God is not finished with me yet. God is not finished with you, either.
If, like me, you want to become the type of person that God uses to bless others and impact this world, then let’s try to understand why God chose to use Mary.
First, understand that…
GOD WORKS THROUGH PEOPLE OF FAITH
God chose to use Mary, a teenage girl, to raise Jesus. Because this would be a teen pregnancy, she would be viewed as a disgrace to her family, friends, and community. In fact, according to the Old Testament Law, her fiancé would be able to drag Mary to the door of her father’s house and stone her for having sex with another man before she was married to him.
So, she was a kid. She would be viewed as a disgrace… So why did God choose Mary? I believe God knew that Mary’s faith in Him was deep enough to carry her through the shame, disgrace, rumors, and gossip she would face as she carried Jesus to term and then raised him.
Her faith would carry her through the public shame.
Her faith would carry her through the difficult conversation with Joseph.
Her faith in God would carry her through the conversations with her parents.
That is what FAITH does.
Faith carries us through HARD and DIFFICULT seasons. Faith is our DEPENDENCY upon GOD to carry us through hard, confusing, and sometimes embarrassing seasons of our lives.
The author of Hebrews describes faith this way. He writes in Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT2)
1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
And in Hebrews 11:6 we that…
Hebrews 11:6 (NLT2)
6 it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
So, let me ask you a question:
Do you have FAITH in God?
Faith in God begins by surrendering your life to Jesus. Do you confidently believe that Jesus died to pay the penalty for your sins on the cross? Do you confidently believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Do you confidently believe that your sins have been forgiven? Do you confidently believe that one day, Jesus is going to return? If your answers to those questions are YES – then you have faith in God.
But if your answers are mixed – you can ask God to increase your faith. Say to God, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Help me to believe more.” Also, remember this. Our faith grows when we spend time with God, reading his word, and praying even when we don’t feel like it. I’ve been feeling pretty empty lately in my relationship with God – and I’m being challenged to keep doing things that I know will keep me connected to God to read His word. To get out of bed and pray. To keep serving him daily.
How about you?
Is your faith in God growing? If not, ask him to help you. So, God works through people who have faith in Him, and secondly we see that:
GOD WORKS THROUGH PEOPLE WHO TRUST HIM
Mary is told she will become pregnant, and the first thing she does is ask a question.
In verse 34, Mary asks, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
Trusting God does not mean you cannot ask God questions! Mary said, “How is this going to work, because I am a virgin.” Mary had a legitimate question! Look at the contrast between teen Mary’s response and an old Preist when an Angel of the Lord told him that his wife Elizabeth would have a child. In verses 5-17, Zechariah was an old priest, married to his old wife, and they never had children. An angel of the Lord told him he was going to have a son who God would use for great things. But instead of trusting that God could do what he promised…
Luke 1:18-20 (NLT2)
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.” 19 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! 20 But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.”
In this chapter, we have two angelic visits to two different people. One is an old priest, supposedly mature in his faith and active in serving God. The other is a simple teenage girl.
The priest’s reaction, “How can I be sure this will happen? Shows us he doubted God and asked for a sign for proof. But Mary asked for clarification: “How will this be?” Not – “Give me a sign so I can believe.”
Mary TRUSTED and asked HOW?
Zechariah doubted and said, “I need a sign because my wife and I are way too old!”
If God’s WORD prompts you to do something, or if the Holy Spirit directs you to do something as a representative of God, I want to encourage you to follow that prompting quickly and not doubt God.
So, God chooses to work through people with FAITH, people who TRUST him, and finally:
GOD WORKS THROUGH PEOPLE WHO HAVE A SERVANTS HEART
Look at what Mary said to the angel in verse 38. “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be to me as you have said.” Mary could have had all sorts of responses when she was told of God’s plan for her to be the mother of Jesus. Mary could have said, please find somebody else, this will ruin my life, but she didn’t. Instead of convincing God to change His mind or tell God she was unhappy with His plan, she accepted the plan and submitted to God’s leadership. “I am the Lord’s servant.”
And that is because servants do what they are asked to do.
It might be inconvenient.
It may be painful.
It may be the opposite of what they want, but a servant does it anyway.
And, because Mary had the heart of a servant, her life was changed forever.
Are you a servant of the Lord?
Or are you still in charge of your life?
Do your plans, dreams, finances, and time belong to you or God?
When you surrender your life to God and invite Him to be your Lord, you invite him to be your boss for the rest of your life. So, do you still consider Him the boss of your life?
If your plans, dreams, finances, and time still belong to the Lord, you prove it by what you do. There are many opportunities for you to SERVE inside of Beach Church and outside the walls of Beach Church. Go to the connect tab on the Beach Church app, click “volunteer at Beach Church, and let us know the areas you are interested in serving. I often wonder if God has something he specifically wants done here in Myrtle Beach, but he found somebody else to do it because I was too busy… too tired…or lacked the genuine faith to believe. God is still searching for people like Mary today.
2 Chronicles 16:9a (NLT2)
9 The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
God uses people to do his work. But he uses people who have faith in him, trust Him, and have servants’ hearts. God will do so much in our world when he finds people like that. It is my prayer we would all become a person like that.