When the Angel Gabriel appears to Mary to announce the conception of Jesus, he tells her that she has found favor with God. Wow! What a thing to hear from an angel of the Lord! Was there something special about Mary that God might take notice and show favor to her? How is it that she came to be chosen by the Lord to bear the Son of God and be his mother? As you are surely well aware, there are vast differences between various Christian traditions in how much focus is put on Mary. Baptists rightly focus on Jesus, but sometimes we ignore Mary almost completely. We probably shouldn’t though, because there IS something special about Mary. There IS a reason that she found favor with God, a reason she was entrusted with what was pretty much the most important mission even taken on by a normal human being. That reason can be found in Luke chapter 1.
Christmas is coming. That means it’s time to start thinking about buying presents for our loved ones. Sometimes it can be quite challenging to come up with a good Christmas gift for certain people in your life. Everyone has that one relative who seem to already have everything! What do you get for that person? And the same might be said of God Himself. What in the world—or out of this world—could we get for the One who made the world!?! Everything belongs to Him! What gift could we give Him to make Him sit up and take notice? What could we ever do for Him? What could we give Him that would put a smile on His face this Christmas?
Mary knew the answer. That’s why she found favor with Him. That’s why God knew He could entrust such a vital mission to her. The long-awaited Messiah, prophesied by the great prophets, prepared for by Israel, the Hope of the Nation and of the World would be entrusted to a poor young woman. Mary couldn’t support a baby! She wasn’t wealthy! But God could easily provide material things—we just said He owns it all! No, He wanted someone who was special in a certain way, not wealthy in material things, but rich in something else. Mary was special. And we all can be special in the same way, if we want to. All we need is the same attitude Mary had. What attitude was that?
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Luke 1:38.
Mary was dedicated to serving God. She was at the Lord’s disposal. She was selfless and humble and gave herself to God to serve Him in whatever capacity He chose. She was His. Are we? Would we say the same thing she did? When God shows us His will for our lives, will we respond like Mary did? For God does have a mission for your life too, doesn’t He? Yes. He does. He has a mission and He has supplied you with gifts to be used for that mission. How will you go about serving Him? If He calls you today, are you ready to say, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said”?
Mary served God and Jesus His Son selflessly and without reservation. May we determine to do the same, this Christmas and always.
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
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