Grace

Luke 1:26-38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

34 And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

35 And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy— the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God." 38 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

I recently heard a message* that talked about what we know about Mary, which drew several conclusions from the text of Scripture. Gabriel’s greeting reveals that Mary was “favored”, that is, she was a recipient of grace. Gabriel’s greeting, “Chairo, charitoo” could be roughly translated “Grace to you, recipient of grace!” the Roman Catholic prayer says “Hail Mary, full of grace”. Whatever the translation, grace was with Mary, and the Lord was with her.

Mary was also possessed of a brain. Her acceptance of the angel’s message aroused her curiosity. She knew where babies came from and asked how the pregnancy would come about, since she did not have sexual relations. The angel answers her that this is a God-thing. He even encourages her in that her relative Elizabeth was even now carrying an impossible pregnancy, “for nothing will be impossible with God.” She accepts that. Her answer, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord” indicates her choice to surrender fully to His will.

Mary may have had an understanding that seems rare in today’s evangelical atmosphere. When God shows up and does a new thing, it can disturb the equilibrium of relationships. It can disrupt the peace. It can take the picture-perfect and change it into a different shape. People want to believe that God is all about our happiness, our best life now. We don’t want to accept that in the big picture, He is willing to make us very uncomfortable in the present for the sake of our eternal happiness. He is willing to allow pain to shape us to His purpose. In the big picture, He is good; and His plans for us by extension are good. But His good plans in the long term may cause us to suffer in the short term.

Mary’s praise song which we call the Magnificat indicates that she was intimately familiar with Scripture; that means that her family was a stable, synagogue-going family. Her pregnancy was going to be very difficult to explain and cause her and others a lot of trouble.

One of the most difficult aspects of accepting the call to missions for us was the unacceptance by people close to us. Some of those with whom we prayed and grew spiritually before, have never really forgiven us for pulling up and moving to Africa. Issues with aging parents and the needs of our grown children continue to cause ripples. Following the will of God does not mean having rest on every side; but taking God’s hand is taking hold of the One Who will never let go. Mary had received grace, which would take her through the hard things; and so do we.

Lord, behold, I am Your servant. As Mary took Your hand and the result was blessing and redemption, I trust that blessing and redemption will also reward my faith in You. I know that Your plan for me is good. Help me remember that when it hurts, and let Your grace be sufficient. Help me to feel Your strong hand holding me up. I know You never let me go. Thank you, Father. Amen.

(*Sermon by Dr. Danny McCain, Hillcrest Chapel, Jos, Nigeria; 21 December 2014)