Luke 1:26-38
Tony
Compalo's tells a story about a week he spent as a counselor at a Jr. High
camp. He said that he learned that one of the things that Jr. High boys are
good at is making fun of other boys, especially a boy named Billy. Billy had
cerebral palsy. Because of that, he had difficulty walking, speaking and a
variety of other physical activities. Tony watched as the boys would mimic his
walk and stammer when they would talk to him. I seemed they looked for any
opportunity to make fun of him. On Thursday, Billy’s cabin was responsible for
devotions. They picked Billy to be the speaker, no doubt a way to further
humiliate him. As he shuffled to the front, Tony could hear the snickers of the
boys. As Billy turned and addressed the chapel, he stammered out seven words. “I
l-o-v-e J-e-s-u-s a-n-d J-e-s-u-s l-o-v-e-s m-e.” there was silence in the
hall, and Tony looked around and saw tears streaming down the faces of many of
the boys. The rest of that week was different. God moved in that camp. Tony
says that in the course of his travels around the country and the world, he
regularly runs into someone who tells him that they were at that camp and that
Billy’s words transformed their life. (Stories for the Heart P. 62)
God
used Billy in an amazing way to change the lives of so many of those kids at
that camp. He was a special
instrument of God, not because of any special quality that he had, but because
he was willing to be used by God and God chose to use him. He was used
Mary
a young woman, probably in her early teens, who's life was planned out like most of the girls of her
time. She was engaged to Joseph, a
carpenter, who had convinced her father that he could provide for her. After the appropriate time she would
marry him, have a family and fulfill her role in Jewish society. Life would be hard, but probably
relatively un-eventful.
All
of the sudden there was an angel standing before her, telling her that she was
favored of God. As we look at the
passage, it does not spell out why she was favored, other than the fact that
God had chosen her. Her family was
not influential or overly wealthy.
They did not have special spiritual standing in the community. The was no earthly reason why Mary
should be considered favored above other people. The reality is that she was favored because God had chosen
her.
The
angel went on to inform her that she was going to have a son and that he was
the Messiah that had been foretold for generations. There are several things in this announcement that would
come as quite a shock. There was
the issue that the Messiah was coming.
In that day and age the idea of the Messiah was something that had grown
into this mythical thing. No one
was really looking for a Messiah to come.
They had heard the story for so long that it had become like a fairy
tale to them. Another amazing
thing was that Mary would have a child that would be a king. Sure she was from the tribe of David,
but she was nothing special.
But
probably the most shocking thing in this declaration was the fact that SHE was going to have a baby. She was just a girl, probably in her early teens. She was not married. She was engaged, but she had never
known a man in the way necessary to have a baby. Now this angel was telling her that she was going to be
pregnant. Who would believe this
story? Joseph her fiancé, probably
wouldn’t. Her parents probably
wouldn’t. Everyone would think
that she was either crazy or just making up this story to cover up her
sin. She went from a fairly normal
future for a girl of her time to one that made her an outcast that would be the
subject of much gossip and derision.
She
had a choice in this matter. That
is why this Angel had come to her.
Not to tell her that she was pregnant, but to invite her to be part of
God’s plan. She could have said
let me think it over. She could
have said no, I don’t think I want to put myself through the pain and emotional
turmoil I would have to go through to be part of this. She could have said to the angel, like
Scrooge said to Marley when he first appeared to him, no thanks I would rather
not. She could have done like the
people of Israel had done for so long and turned her back on the whole plan.
We
don’t know how long this encounter took.
But after considering the consequences of what was about to take place,
she said, yes I am willing to do what ever God asks of me, even if it means
losing Joseph and being the topic of gossip and scorn all over town. I will do what God asks. What an amazing answer. “Here am I the servant of the
Lord. Let it be with me according
to your word.”
Because
Mary and Billy were willing to be used by God, the world was changed. God worked through them to introduce
people to His love. Through Mary,
God was able to bring His Son into the World. The one who would show us the very heart of God. Through Billy, God was able to show a
group of mean and spiteful Junior Highers
how His love could fill all that was missing in their lives.
As
I look around our world, I see that there are a lot of people like the people
in Mary’s time. They wander through life oblivious to the fact that God longs
for them to know Him and for them to allow Him to walk through life with
them. God longs for each person to
know the depth of God’s love for them.
And
just like then, God is looking for servants who are willing to allow God to
work through them to show God’s love to them. People like the insecure loud obnoxious person at work that no
one can stand or the lonely William Vandervoorts of the world. People like the neighbor who never
seems to respond to your greetings or the person you do business with who acts
like they have it all together.
There is a world full of people who we come in contact with every day
that God wants to reach out too.
What God needs is people who will say, like Mary “Here am I the servant
of the Lord. Let it be with me
according to your word.”
In
our preparation for the coming of the Christ child anew into our lives, let us
include two things. Let us ask God
to show us those people that he wants to reach out to through us, and let us
say to God, as Mary did “Here am I your Servant Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.”
