Are you ready and willing to place your future in the hands of the Lord? Are you? That’s what we are called to do. That’s what faith does when it is expressed in your life. It is the unyielding belief that God will do right by you; that God knows best; that he is correct when he speaks and justified in his judgments.
Indeed, We have been taught to pray, “Thy will be done” , but do we really mean it? Or are there certain regions of our lives that we withhold from him and reserve for ourselves. If we are honest, don’t we sometimes think that things will turn out better for us when we are the ones who are in charge? Don’t we sometimes think that we know better than the Lord?
What we’ve hit upon here is really the struggle of a lifetime. Our inability to “let go and let the Lord” often punctuates our lives with moments of unbelief and doubt. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not too crazy about unbelief and doubt. I’m not too crazy about my inability to fully trust this one who loves me so. And I think you probably have similar sentiments.
So what we’re going to do is follow the life of someone who actually did put their future in the hands of the Lord. We will hear as much of her story as is available to us. We will visit her at certain critical points in her life to see how she responds. The text is Luke 1:38 which says “ ‘I am the Lord’s Servant,’ Mary replied. ‘may it be to me as you have said.’ “
“May it be to me as you have said.” Now this, is a shining example of applied faith. the young Mary has just received a message from God. She is told that even though she is a virgin, she will soon be with child. Furthermore, she is told that the child she will bear will be The Son of God who reign forever on the throne of David. And what does she say? “May it be to me as you have said.”
Now contrast this with what she might have been tempted to say and what we ourselves often do say. Instead of “May it be as you have said.” She could have said: “May it be to me as I have said.” Think about it! She already had plans to marry Joseph. She was betrothed to him. And like any human being, she probably spent a lot of time thinking through all the things connected with her upcoming marriage. And I’m guessing that being pregnant and having a baby before she was married wasn’t really part of her original plan. Neither was the horrible embarrassment of being pregnant outside of wedlock. They stoned adulterers in those days. Soon there would be no way for her to hide the fact that she was with child. What would people think? What would they say? What sort of whispering would go on behind her back ? What sort of scornful looks would she have to endure? No. This was not part of her plan. And she might be tempted to take a stand against it. Like Moses and also like us she might have said “No way!” “Don’t ask me to do this! Find someone else!” “This is not where I see myself in five years!” But that was not her response. She said: “May it be to me as you have said.”
You see, Mary understood that since she was one of God’s children, that God would see her through and bless her no matter how things might appear. With her faith, she took steps to surrender the control of her future into his hands.
A day or so after this, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was carrying John the baptist in her womb. Elizabeth told her that she was blessed by God. Blessed to be the mother of the Lord Jesus. Mary’s response was to praise God. She said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in god my savior and she went on to expound on all the good things that God was going to do with the Son she was privileged to carry. It was just another way for her to say “May it be to me as you have said.”
Nine months passed, and she had just completed an arduous journey with Joseph to the City of David. She was suffering , no doubt. How disheartening it must have been as they went to the inn only to find that it was full. How troubling it must have been to give birth to your first born in a barn. This was nowhere near what she had planned, I’m sure. But everything turned out all right. Some shepherds came, all excited about her child. They told everyone what they had seen. And Mary, “Mary treasured up all these things in her heart.” With excitement warmed by the appreciation that others held for her child, she said in her heart: “May it be to me as you have said!”
Eight days later, the family went to the temple, for the circumcision. Two elderly people broke into praise, Simeon and Anna were their names. Joseph and Mary “marveled at what was said about him. But then Simeon said something that was no doubt a little frightening to the young mother. He said “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” This sounded kind of scary. Whatever could he mean? Mary could not know. We are not told what she said in response, but she didn’t react badly to Simeon. She didn’t denounce him. And like any good mother she had already steeled herself in favor of her Son. Nothing would deter her from loving him and seeking to do the best that she could. So, in her heart, she had not backed away from her original reply: “May it be to me as you have said.” but now, she held herself to it perhaps with a little trepidation.
As her child grew, she would discover that it would become more difficult to say those words uttered in her youth. At the wedding of Cana her son referred to her not as “Mother” but rather, “woman”. And then there was another time when he was teaching and someone said “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” And Jesus replied “Who are my mother and my brothers?’ As if he didn’t know her. Then he looked around and said, “Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus was not snubbing her or being unkind to her, he was helping her to make a most important change in their relationship. Mary, the woman who cared for Jesus, changed his diapers, fed him and raised him, would have to begin to see him as something more than the child of her womb, She would have to see him as her Lord and Savior. At one time God had given her authority over him, But now, if she were to be saved, he must have authority over her. This change in their relationship would, no doubt, be difficult. As she was confronted with this change, she would have to learn to say what she said so long ago: “May it be to me as you have said.”
About three years later, this child of her womb was found in the Garden of Gethsemane. He began to feel the weight of the world’s sins. He was overcome with sorrow to the point of death. Three times, he prayed to his father, asking if there was any other way to save the human race. But answer was always the same. “No.” The promises God had made were irrevocable. He had said in his word that an unblemished lamb would die for the sins of the world, and Jesus, was fully aware that he was that lamb. He got up and boldly went to meet those who came to arrest him. “May it be to me as you have said.” , he said to his father as he took up the path that led him to the cross.
And as he hung there, blood flowing from the wounds that would heal us all, there stood beneath him, his Mother Mary, with John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. The prophecy of Simeon was coming true, she could feel it. It felt like a sword was piercing her very soul as she saw her child suspended on the crude frame of the cross. Did she understand what was happening? Nobody did on that day. For to all who loved him, it seemed as if everything had gone horribly and unmistakably wrong! Through her grief and tears she could not bring herself to say, much less think “May it be to me as you have said.” Jesus was saying it for her. He was saying it for all of us, as he faithfully carried out the will of God and died to save us all.
We hear very little of Mary after this. We think she may have been among the women who prepared the the perfumes for his body, and perhaps also among those who found the empty tomb on Easter Morning. But there is no mention of her as having seen the resurrected Jesus. The very last time we hear of her, is recorded in the first Chapter of Acts. She and the other women who followed Jesus during his ministry joined the disciples and are said to have been praying constantly. No mention of her after that. She was now just one among the many who put their faith in Jesus and trusted him for their salvation. The change in her relationship with Jesus was now complete. Her story would end in the same way that it began. As a girl, who felt the young Jesus growing inside, her she said “May it be to me as you have said” and now in the latter years of her life, as faith in this Savior of the world grew inside her, she would continue to say the same thing.
“May it be to me as you have said.” These are words that we who have borne the Savior in our hearts must also learn to say. Some would take them as words of weak resignation, but that’s hardly the case. These are words that align us with the will and ways of the almighty God. They are words that when uttered, require strength and stamina and resolve. We can see all of that in the life of Mary.
But what will God do to us, if we give him our future? Will he ask us to change our plans? He might. Will he ask us to do things that are not easy? Yes. Will he ask us to endure suffering? Yes. It is not easy to be a part of God’s plan in a world that stands opposed to him. But there’s a flip side. Consider all that Mary got to see and do. Early on, she said “all generations will call me blessed” and she was! She had the experience of seeing the almighty God’s work in the world, and not only see it, but play a part in bringing it about. If she had said no to the angel that visited her, she never would have had that!
I often hear people saying, “I wish God more real, more tangible, more active in my life” They turn to their pastor and to their church “c’mon make God more real for me, can’t you come up with some program or process to make God more real in my life?”. Sorry. God is already as real as he can be and there’s nothing I can do to make him more real. I have no such power. Perhaps you simply have not come to the point where you take him seriously. He’s reached out to you. He has called you to faith in his Son Jesus. You have been given the Holy Spirit. Already you have been blessed with numerous opportunities to take steps in faith. Very soon, perhaps even today, You will be given another opportunity to use the faith you have been given, you’ll be given an opportunity to grow in some way. And how shall you respond? What shall you say. You already know what you should say: “May it be to me as you have said.” AMEN
