On this day that we celebrate Jesus’s
birth, we remember the woman who made it possible. Orthodox Christians call her the “Theotokos,”
the God-bearer. She is the most
celebrated of all the saints. When she
sang and prophesied, “Surely, from now on all generations will call me
blessed,” she indeed spoke the truth.
She is Mary, or Mariam her proper name, the mother of Jesus.
Unlike
our characters in last Sunday’s readings, Mary is worthy of our emulation. Her life was totally devoted to her God, her
Son, her Lord. But in celebrations about
how blessed she was, we forget sometimes who she was. We forget that Mary was young when the angel
spoke to her. She was just a teenager of
14 or 15. Mary is engaged to a man who
is at least 10 years older than she is.
She seems to come from lower income family, though priestly or Levitical. How many teenage girls today would accept the
responsibility to carry a child to term, to mother that child, even at the risk
of their life. Our society tells girls
it’s impossible. There’s no way you can
be a mother. Motherhood ruins your
life. Yet Mary accepts this great
responsibility even though it meant embarrassment, shame, divorce and even possible
death for her. We have adults today
who don’t want to accept responsibility for much lesser things. Mary submits herself fully to the will of
God. Think of yourself at age 15 or your
kids at that age. Would you have
responded to the angelic message the way Mary did?
Thank God for
Elizabeth. These women bond through
their uncommon experiences. Though
Elizabeth is just as inexperienced in regard to motherhood as Mary, the more
mature woman still helps the younger.
And Elizabeth further confirms everything Mary has heard. Mary and Elizabeth demonstrate that God
works through the unable. Mary and
Elizabeth and we too are only able because God is able. God is our Enabler. He is our power and strength. He makes the impossible possible.
Mary
is thoughtful, and she is devoted to the Lord.
In the narratives of Jesus’ childhood, we see Mary pondering everything
that is said to her. She considers
carefully what God says to her through angels, shepherds, wise men, prophets,
and of course, through her own son, Jesus.
In the Christmas story last night, we read heard how Mary pondered what
the shepherds said. She ponders what
Simeon says. She ponders what Jesus says
even as questions her at age 12. He will
rebuke her again at the wedding in Cana, though both times, Jesus does what
Mary wishes. Mary is obedient and
faithful even when she doesn’t understand.
Mary doesn’t exalt herself. She
doesn’t go around bragging that she is blessed because she is the mother of the
Son of God. She is obedient even to a
dying man. She serves from a place of
lowliness and suffering, and as she is humbled, she is exalted by the
Lord. She is worshipful and reverent,
and she strives to faithfully observe Jewish law and custom.
In
our John Scripture passage, Mary is no longer a teenager. But she is probably not quite 50 years old
either, and she sees her son hanging in agony on a cross. Some of you know the pain of losing a
child. But here is the Savior of the
world dying for seemingly no reason.
Does Mary recall Simeon’s prophetic words that a sword would pierce her
own soul along with the body of Jesus?
Even at the cross, Mary shows her devotion to Jesus. She doesn’t leave Him and continues to watch
this horror unfold. And she is obedient
to Jesus, going to live with John.
In
our last Scripture, we see Mary devoted again, gathered in worship in the upper
room waiting in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit with the other followers
of Jesus. This is the last time Mary is
mentioned in the Bible. The disciples
are gathered to pray. Waiting for the
Spirit in payer is more profitable than earnest striving to plow on ahead
without clear direction from God. Before
the disciples attempted to be those witnesses to the ends of the earth that
Jesus declared they would be, they prayed for the promised power of the Holy
Spirit. In this age of instant
everything, we aren’t used to waiting.
But Mary and the disciples learned to wait as we must learn to wait.
Mary’s devotion
has changed to true worship of the Son of God, the risen and exalted Jesus. Mary’s faith matures as she is maturing. She
knows Jesus in a new way. Still it must
have been perplexing, just as it was for the others, to see Jesus ascend into
heaven, alive and well and powerful, but no more physically present. She is called to trust as she did in the very
beginning, believing in the power and presence of God unseen. Once again the Holy Spirit overshadows Mary
as well as the other disciples like the Holy Spirit overshadowed her as a teenager
and enabled her to divinely conceive.
This time the difference is that the Holy Spirit would not only come
upon her but the rest of the disciples and apostles and all who place their
trust in Jesus, enabling all of us to accomplish the will of God.
In
your aging, is your faith maturing as well?
The fact that you are here this morning speaks to your devotion towards
Jesus. You could have chosen to sleep in
or stay home. You could have said, “I
can celebrate Christmas on my own.” But
you chose instead to be here to worship Jesus, the real reason for our
celebrations today. You chose to worship
Him with your brothers and sisters in Christ, your true family.
God
works in mighty ways through ordinary people who are devoted to God. Mary humbly offered herself in service to the
Lord. How devoted to Jesus are you
beyond Christmas? Beyond Sunday
worship? Do you allow God to speak into
your life as Mary did? Do you obey Jesus
even when you do not understand?
Christmas
is a great time to commit or recommit yourself to Jesus and to be devoted to
Him. Your devoted life is your best
present to Jesus. John 3:16 tells us
that Jesus was God’s gift. He is the Christmas
present, to the world. But that disciples
of Jesus are God’s gift, Christmas present, to Himself, just Jesus said in John
17:6 and 9—Jesus prays, “I manifested Your name to the men whom you gave me out
of the world; Yours they were, and You gave them to me, and they have kept Your
word…I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on those whom you have given to
Me; for they are yours.” Give yourself to
Jesus. Romans 12:1-2 exhorts us
to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God, and that this is our
greatest act of worship.
Next
Sunday we will have a special service of prayer which will give us the
opportunity to do what Mary did in her Magnificat—to magnify the Lord by
remembering what God has done while we look forward to what God will do. The second Sunday in January we will have the
opportunity to show that we have indeed devoted ourselves to the Lord and are
being those living sacrifices as we remember our baptismal vows as we install
our elders.
And
of course, devotion to God goes beyond what happens when we are gathered as the
body of Christ to how we live as the scattered body of Christ. How are we showing devotion to Jesus in our work
and leisure, in our homes and relationships?
As you continue to celebrate Christmas, remember Mary, a woman of
devotion and commit yourself anew to being a devoted follower of Jesus.
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