Road to Bethlehem—Mary

Q. What’s the best thing that could ever happen to you?

The answer for a lot of people would be “to win the Lottery”.

But the interesting thing is that studies have shown that perhaps one of the worst things that could ever happen to you is to win the Lottery.

- studies of Lottery winners around the country - problems, marriage breakups, heartaches, headaches of dealing with that much money - responsibility

- e.g. - Michigan man who asphyxiated himself in his new Cadillac.

We like to think that we know what is best for us, but most of the time, we don’t. Only God knows what is best for us. But often times, God’s best doesn’t line up with our idea of what is best for us.

Mary is a good example of this. As the mother of Jesus, she was blessed by God in a unique way. Yet it didn’t always appear that what was happening to her was good. As the mother of the Messiah, she went through many trying and even terrifying circumstances. Did that mean that God didn’t have His hand on her life? No—it just meant that God’s ways are not our ways.

Turn to Luke 1.

Luke 1:26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

There are three things we learn about Mary here:

1. she lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee - nothing special about that

2. she was a virgin, pledged to be married to a man named Joseph - nothing special about that (she was probably a teenager - maybe 14-15 years old)

3. an angel came to her to tell her that she was “highly favored” by God - now there’s something very special about that!

There are three words in the story of Mary that are absolutely key to understanding how God dealt with her—and how God deals with us today. I want you to circle these words in your Bible (unless you are using the pew Bible!)

The first word is the word “favored” that the angel said in v. 28. Circle that word. You’ll find it again in v. 30, where the angel says “You have found favor with God.”

The word “favor” in Greek is the word “charito-o”, which comes from the word “charis” which means “grace”. (Same word we get our English word “charity” from) In other words, the angel was telling Mary that she was the recipient of God’s grace. God was going to deal graciously with her and that’s why she was so highly favored.

Q. Why had God chosen to deal graciously with Mary? Was it because of some inherent character qualities in Mary? Was it because she was more highly deserving to receive God’s grace than other women? Was it because she merited special treatment from God as a reward for her piety and devotion to Him?

No—because then it wouldn’t be grace! Grace is not about our worthiness—it is about God’s sovereign holiness. Grace is when God sovereignly chooses to treat us well, even in spite of the fact that we are sinners and do not deserve to be treated well.

Some people want to make Mary into a superwoman, but she’s not. They want to say that she was highly devout, was immaculately conceived, lived a sinless life, etc. and that’s why God came to her and chose her to be the mother of the Messiah. It’s like she won a spiritual beauty contest.

But that’s not true. The Bible does not tell us anything about Mary’s character prior to God’s choosing her. She was just a simple young girl living in an obscure little town whom God, in His grace, sovereignly chose to carry out this awesome role of being the mother of the Son of God.

So the word “favor” speaks of God’s sovereign love. And in that way, you and I are like Mary. God has chosen to love us, too, just the way He loved Mary. And he has a plan for our lives, too, just the way He did for Mary.

The question is: Am I ready to accept that? Am I ready to believe that God really does love me? Am I ready to believe that His plan is the best thing that could ever happen to me? That’s the key question in all of life.

Because if I answer that question with a “No”, then I will never be willing to trust God with the details of my life. I’ll never be convinced that what He wants is going to be what’s best for me.

It takes faith to say “Yes” to God. Because the way that events unfold often leaves us wondering whether God really does love us.

Look at Mary:

She was highly favored by God. Great.

That must mean that God was going to bless her, right? Right.

So that must mean that, from that day on, her life was going to be peaceful, happy, and problem-free, right? Wrong!

It was from that moment in her life—when she said “Yes” to God—that things began to go crazy!

- she turns out to be pregnant, even though she’s an unmarried virgin

- and that means that her reputation goes right down the tubes.

BTW - did you know that God is more concerned with your character than He is with your reputation? Reputation is what other people think about you. Character is what God knows about you.

We always tend to be more concerned with our reputation than with our character. We’re concerned with what people think of us, and we’re even willing to put up a false front to make people think that we’re better than we really are!

But God is always more concerned with my character than he is with my reputation. And He will willingly sacrifice my reputation if he can use that to work on my character.

And did you know that God is more concerned with your character than he is with your comfort?

- when Mary finally comes to term and it’s time to deliver this baby, all of a sudden, she has to make an arduous, dangerous journey to a town about 90 miles away.

- when they get finally get there, there’s no hotel rooms available.

- the only place they can find to stay is an animal shelter, and that’s where she goes into labor and delivers her baby—with no midwife present.

- no family comes to visit her—only some smelly shepherds whom she’s never laid eyes on before. No flowers, no helium balloons, no people bringing in meals.

- then things finally settle down for awhile and Mary is just beginning to breathe a sigh of relief when, a few months later, they have to flee for their lives to a foreign country because the king has gone nuts and wants to kill her preschooler.

So THIS is what the Bible says is what it’s like to be “highly favored” by God??? Please! This is worse for her than if she had won the Lottery!

There’s a very important lesson here for us: God’s favor usually doesn’t take the form we expect.

You think to yourself: Okay, if I turn my life over to God, he’s gotta reward me. I mean, that’s how it works, doesn’t it? There’s gotta be some kind of payback, doesn’t there? Surely God will take away my problems won’t he? Surely he’ll guarantee that I will have a peaceful, happy life, won’t he?

There’s a whole lot of Christians who believe that if you turn your life over to God, He’ll take away your sickness, your sadness, your suffering. You’ll be rich and happy and successful. Lots of TV preachers will tell you that.

Isn’t that how Christianity works? No—that’s not how it works. It didn’t work that way for Mary, did it? She experienced intense suffering, pressure, and anxiety. The prophet Simeon told her “Mary, you have been greatly blessed by God. But in the process of all of this, a sword will pierce your soul.”

Q. Why didn’t Mary throw in the towel? Why didn’t she just say at some point: “Thanks, God, but no thanks! Count me out. Please get somebody else—go find another virgin.” I’ll tell you why. Because she had faith, that’s why. She trusted God.

Look at Luke 1, verse 38:

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

Circle the word “servant” (in KJV - “handmaid”—means the same thing)

This is the second key to understanding Mary’s life and your own relationship with God. The first key is that God loves you—he “favors” you and is gracious to you and loves you because he has sovereignly chosen to do so.

So how do you respond to his sovereignty? By being a servant. A servant is someone who has willingly submitted their own will to the will of their Master. And that’s what Mary did. She said “Okay God, count me in. I don’t know what all is going to be involved, but I’m yours. You can do to my life whatever you want to do, because I trust you. I know that you love me and want what’s best for me.”

And that trust—that faith—is what sustained Mary when her life seemed to spin out of control. She never let go of the fact that God was gracious and that He loved her.

Did she feel pain? Sure she did. Did she suffer? Sure she did. Did she feel anxious and apprehensive? Sure she did. But she whispered through her tears “God, I trust you. I know that you are holy. I know that you are righteous. I know that you are just. So I’m going to accept everything that comes into my life without murmuring, without disputing, without retaliating.”

Is that how you approach life? Have you submitted yourself to God’s sovereignty?

Oswald Chambers has said “There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender. Have simple and perfect trust in God, such trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want Himself.

Have you come to the place where God can withdraw His blessings and it does not affect your trust in Him? Do you recognize that the circumstances of your life are under God’s control? That they are what they are because they have first been filtered through his loving fingers?

Mary’s response to God’s sovereignty was submission—she was a servant. And that leads to the third key principle of her life. Look at verse 39…

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

There is a third word that I want you to circle. It is the word “blessed”. You’ll find it in verse 42— “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear”—and again in v. 45— “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

If we respond to God’s sovereignty with submission, it leads to great blessing. Mary had a blessed life.

There are two Greek words that are translated “blessed”. The first one is in v. 42. It is the word eulogeo and it means “to be well spoken of”. We get our English word “eulogy” from it. It means that you are well though of in the eyes of others. People appreciate you and respect you because you have had a positive impact on their lives.

That’s one kind of blessedness, and that is going to be the result of your life if you live it for God. You are going to have a positive impact on people. They are going to appreciate you because they are going to see God at work in you. You are going to be a channel of God’s grace into their lives, because God has been gracious in your life.

In fact, Elizabeth said this very thing about Mary when Mary came to see her. She said “Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” and she used that same word “favored” that comes from the word “grace”. Mary, who was the recipient of God’s grace, passed that grace on to Elizabeth. And that is just one way God wants to bless us—by making us channels of God’s grace into the lives of other people.

But there’s another word for “blessed”, and it is used in verse 45. It is the word “makarios” and it means to be deeply happy and spiritually prosperous. It isn’t a happiness that has anything to do with your outward circumstances—it is a deep inner joy—a peace and contentment in your soul that comes from knowing that God loves you. It’s a sense of security that filters into your whole life—no matter what’s going on around you.

Jesus used this word in the Beatitudes when he said “Blessed are the poor in spirit for their is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

And when you look at Mary’s hymn of praise, which begins in Luke 1:46, you see this spirit of blessedness all the way through it. She says “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.”

When you respond to God’s sovereignty with submission, you experience that kind of blessing in your life.

Why do we have anxiety and fear? Why do we complain about our circumstances? Why are we bitter about things that have happened to us?

Because we fail to appreciate God’s gracious favour. We fail to respond to it with humble submission. And we miss out on the blessed life that he wants for us.

God’s gracious favour + my humble submission = great blessing.

That was true of Mary; it can be true of you and me too.

Sing: Make Me a Servant