In the past I used to go and pick up the kids from school. I would usually say, “so how was your day?” Normally I would get grunts and groans. Sometimes I would receive a word like boring and occasionally ok. I don’t recall more than a couple of occasions when there was any excitement in their.
It is really easy to take our days for granted. It is easy to take the regular every day patters for granted. But what happens when we have a really good day? Do we actually feel upbeat and happy? Do we sing with the radio, whistle or hum tunes that are stuck in our heads.
In the scripture reading for the advent wreath this morning we heard the story of the announcement that God was sending His Son into the world. That was a fantastic event…. An Angel, Gabriel appears to this young Jewish girl probably between 13 and 16 who is most likely having just an average day. Getting water, peeling potatoes, milking the goats, washing clothes….just a normal chore filled day
It also seems that she is alone because she has no witness to support her story.
We were reminded that she was “pledged to be married”, betrothed, or to use a more modern word, engaged. That means that the families got together and agreed that there would be a wedding. A marriage contract was prepared it defined a bride price and terms and compensation if a divorce was required by choice or for cause.
In the Hebrew culture, neither the bride nor groom were forced to marry. I am sure the pressure was often overwhelming, but the law of Moses did not force the man or woman to obey concerning marriage.
After the preliminary family discussions were settled, the prospective groom offered the prospective bride something of value. A ring was very common; however, it could be anything of value. The smallest value acceptable was of the smallest coin of the day. He placed the object in or on the young ladies RIGHT hand. So for us, the gift could be a penny. The groom says, “Be thou betrothed unto me with this ring [or object] in accordance with the laws of Moses and Israel." If the bride accepts, she will move the ring or coin to the LEFT hand and closes it.
The couple is now engaged however, there are some differences from what means to us today..
First, there was a waiting period of a minimum of one year. You might think that it was sort of like the cooling off period when buying a hand gun. Except, you could not cool off and just change your mind once betrothed, you were legally married. To call it off meant death or divorce and the betrothal contract made between the families documents the penalties.
So, once the gift was received, you were husband and wife, except that the bride stayed with her folks for the waiting period.
If this were a second marriage the waiting period was only 7 days.
It really sounds like people were patient back then.
So Gabriel speaks to Mary and says "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Greetings and highly favored sounds pretty good but it says that Mary was troubled at the greeting wondering what it meant…I can’t say I find any fault in that.
I wonder if she understood that God knew exactly who she was. The ANGEL calls her by name. If so I wonder if that gave her a comfortable feeling or was she expecting the other sandal to drop?
Perhaps waiting for the EXCEPT or however kind of word to creep in and change the tone. The angel told her the she will have a child that is special and what his name should be. She asked how and he gives a vague explanation……
If you asked her, “How was your day?”
How would you expect her to respond?
How might any of us respond to the news of having a baby outside of marriage?
Personally, that is a scary thought even today in a culture that accepts this kind of thing with disappointment and disapproval. Mary’s culture was a lot less forgiving.
The conversation between Mary and the Angel ended when Mary says Ok.
Ok, What was she thinking? She only asks one question…how can this be?
I think I might have more questions….perhaps, I would have asked to pray about it.
What about the consequences? She could be stoned…and I am not talking about drugs or alcohol…I am talking about real rocks. Real pain. Real death.
At a minimum, I am talking about people talking behind your back, sometimes just loud enough to let YOU know what they think about your – “situation” and the “story.”
This is an event that would destroy every plan you made in your short life and remove any hope of a predictable future. Your family name/reputation will be ruined if they don’t take action. The fiancé and his family will be destroyed and surely demand what is right.
She goes to her Cousin Elisabeth’s home in the hill country of Judah. She will stay there for about 3 months. Perhaps to confirm the news of Elisabeth’s pregnancy.
-- If you had a day like Mary, and have an anger tell you how God is going to use you it might be pretty easy to think of your self as something special.
-- A young woman asked for an appointment with her pastor to talk with him about a besetting sin about which she was worried. When she saw him, she said, "Pastor, I have become aware of a sin in my life which I cannot control. Every time I am at church I begin to look around at the other women, and I realize that I am the prettiest one in the whole congregation. None of the others can compare with my beauty. What can I do about this sin?"
The pastor replied, "Sally, that’s not a sin, why that’s just a mistake!"
Are any of you affected by the Christmas songs that are playing on the radio now? Even the TV commercials have a little holiday music in the background.
Does the exposure to Christmas music influence your mood?
Today we are going to talk about a song; some call it the Magnificat other say Mary’s song. It is Luke 1:46-55 and it is in a way a response to how was her day.
And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."
That is a pretty powerful response coming from a young girl with no power, a shaky and dangerous future. It is a song of faith. She does not blow her own horn about her character, her actions, or her accomplishments that has placed her in this situation. She does not mention fear or doubts … the whole song is about the Lord and what he has done for her and for Israel.
"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
She is saying, I am so happy and excited because God noticed me. He has noticed little old normal me.
Her soul is shouting Hallelujah. Not because of her, but because she has had an interaction with the divine and all her joy is to Glorify God.
With all the potential problems…she sees this as a great thing! She calls God her savior and mentions how He has taken notice of her. Humble state probably means that she sees her self as being normal or if she is like teens of today she sometimes feels ugly and emotionally there are up’s and downs which are all too often very painful.
Then she speaks of the future…not just the next year or 20 years..she speaks of generations…
From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
She foresees that for all time – (All generations) people will called her blessed….all because the Mighty One has done things for HER.
The God of Israel picked her. Is it because she was perfect?
Did she have some great faith or some fantastic qualities that no one else had? Was she the only one that God could use?
Did she do something to earn this privilege?
I will tell you that I believe the answer is no on all those questions. I think she was just like any of us. She was less than perfect. She was a real human being.
There is a chance that, by Man’s standards, she may be a less likely candidate to be used by God. An example would be God’s selection of David to be King of Israel. The youngest son instead of the oldest… So perhaps she is a less than likely candidate for some reason which is not explained.
When God chose her…..it was a moment of Grace. God is sovereign and can choose who He wishes with no need of explanation, no justification of qualifications.
In Mary’s case she was a normal Jewish girl, normal as far as we can tell. She was selected to bring salvation to this world in the most amazingly normal way.
A girl will have a baby and his name would be Jesus. (God Saves!)
In the first Christmas song, Mary is singing praises to God for all the things He has done and is continuing to do. She sings of mercy to those that fear him…that would be worshipers of YAWH. That His mercy goes from generation to generation…
She discusses the Lord’s mighty deeds and scattering the proud. The bringing down of rulers and lifted up the humble. He fills the hungry and sends away the rich empty.
She is singing praises of a fair and just God that has in the same way selected her for a holy task.
Think about it. She understands that she is being used as an instrument of God to bring salvation into the world.
--- Do you understand how important and wonderful that really is?
I don’t believe that she has a perfect understanding of all that will happen but, she knows that it is going to be good.
He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.
From this song, it is clear that Mary knew scripture. She knew the things God had done and the promises of a messiah. She knew that God has always been faithful to his promises.
She knew that this situation is in the middle of God’s plan and merciful actions.
It could make anyone become excited about their day.
Woopee, God actually knows me and cares about me and even trust me.
It would be so great if every day was like that...wouldn’t it? You and I hear God’s message clearly and know that he cares for you and me individually.
I am a little stuck on something…Maybe I am worried about something.
If I had a direct intervention with the divine how would I really react? How would I answer a question about my day?
I am afraid that if I were asked to do something REALLY big for God that I would have mixed feelings.
First would obviously be something like wow or awe…God spoke to me…I hope I would be humble about it….
But then I wonder if I would be obedient after the messenger left. Or would I look at the problems, the pressure, the expense the trouble maybe even the physical risk and lose the excitement?
You need to realize something…God does speak to all of us today.
God speaks to us through, scripture or a person or and Idea provided by the spirit…
When it happens it is a WOW moment!
Then you realize…oh wait, I have never done anything like that before…..it is inconvenient….it is painful…..embarrassing…..costly….
Suddenly the WOW turns into worry or excuses, because we know who we are. We avoid the burning bush because we believe that we have poor speech or weak ideas, perhaps something in our background.
I can’t speak for Mary so I have to use me. If God can use me…HE can use anybody.
If He can use ME… It is so much easier to use one of you that have so many special situations. Time Talents, relationships, experience to bring salvation and healing and blessing to the people around us.
When God speaks to you and you get that uncomfortable scared feeling….
He is waiting for a yes or a no.
He won’t force you into growth in your relationship.
He won’t force you to take on new responsibility.
He won’t force you to do anything because He gives mankind the ability to choose.
That choice is a mark of your level of faith.
Do you trust God to deal with the problems? He knows what they are better than you do.
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Let’s briefly review, the angel tells Mary what God wants to do. Allow His son to be born through her to bring salvation into the world.
When the Son Goes to heaven he asks God to send the counselor, the holy spirit to indwell the believers. In a way we all become pregnant with the spirit of God.
"When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere -- in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8
We all need to understand this – If you are a Christian…..not just claim to be a Christian. As a Christian we are expected to live for Christ and to say yes to the things He calls us to do.
If we are Christians He is speaking to us all the time…
……it is all about how much we are willing to listen.
-- Answer this question, for yourself, and you need to be very honest.
If I asked you how your day was yesterday, what would your answer have been when you came in here this morning?
When we listen to the Divine we will always have a great day.
Let me say that we can have a lot more good days than we already do…
First let me tell you why I think we don’t already.
I believe that we take the actions of God’s mercy and grace for granted.
- We are so blessed in so many ways we forget what it would really feel like if we were having a really bad day. If we were not constantly under God’s blessings and protection we would have a lot more darkness and tragedy in our lives.
- We take our daily lives for granted and don’t read God’s word, or pray to listen for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
-- We live everyday with the answer “no” in our minds and rarely if ever allow the spirit of God to move in this world through us, our words and actions. We may do some things but, we only say yes with limitations…We never let our pregnancy come to term and we will have little to celebrate.
-- Let me share one more thing we take for granted. We take the salvation promised by God completely for granted. Here is how I know,
What have you done for the love of God this week? Did you do something for the poor or sick or for the suffering or lost.
Did you do anything for God because you were so excited for all that he has done for you?
Have you said yes to anything God has asked you to do?
How long has it been?
Church family, Christmas is a time when we can let the songs stir our spirits and scratch off the dull covering over our soul and return to the life that is full of the sounds of new life.
- Full of the joy of a baby in the house.
- Full of the power of the Living God.
- Full of the Holy Spirit that speaks to our hearts and minds and tells us that He knows who we are and that He has a plan and that each of us can play a role.
What if Mary let the busyness of her day or the looks of her family and neighbors make her say no?
Would she have been blessed?
Would she be remembered?
Would she have has a song in her heart that would let her live a life with God?
Let the spirit of God refresh you soul in the coming weeks. He can make all things new, he can give joy,
He can take a quiet and humble person and use them in the most amazing ways.
All Glory be to God!
