(December 20, 2023) Richard Winter challenges…

You can be anywhere in the world and know the essentials of the Christmas story. The basics are –

• Mary, merely a young girl engaged to be married to Joseph, is pregnant.
• Her explanation? It’s a miracle from God.
• Trouble explodes! Joseph wants out and plans a quiet divorce.
• God sends an angel to Joseph revealing it’s all OK – so go ahead with the marriage.
• This baby is His and will be the Saviour of Israel and the world!

Thought: Aren’t you impressed with those ‘Christmas-centred’ angelic messengers? Boy, were they busy! There was Mary, visited by the archangel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-35), Joseph (Matthew 1:20), and the astounded shepherds (Luke 2:8-15).

But let’s think about Mary… though she has always been considered one of the heroes of the Christian faith, I think it’s safe to say she was an unlikely hero. She just doesn’t exactly fit a hero profile. Why unlikely? you might ask.

• First, she was most likely a young teenager.
• Secondly, she was a woman, and there weren’t many female heroes in the Jewish patriarchal society.
• Third, she was a normal, everyday, ordinary person, that God decided to use in an extraordinary way!

Let’s see what the Bible says about Mary – and her heart. She had a…

1. Servant’s heart (Luke1:26-28)
‘… God sent the angel Gabriel … 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 favoured! The Lord is with you.”’

Imagine how you might react if someone showed up claiming to be an angel. I imagine that I would be rather excited… but listen to how Mary responded: ‘Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be’(v29).

‘Greatly troubled’ literally means that Mary was disturbed, perplexed, confused, maybe even scared! She was probably wondering why in the world this angel was talking to her. (Wouldn’t you be scared?).

Then Gabriel says… ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end.’

Now Mary seems somewhat alarmed, maybe in shock, at what this angel is saying and asks a pretty obvious question – ‘How will this be … since I am a virgin?’ (V34).

The angel’s answer is astounding: ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God’ (v35).

Many people have sought to find some magical meaning in this revelation as to how would God cause Mary to become pregnant. It’s not really mysterious, but rather simple: With the same mighty, awesome, incomprehensible power He used speaking the universe into existence, parting the Red Sea, and stopping time for a day for Joshua, God caused Mary to be with child.

He just made it happen… He’s God, He can do things like that! To quote Gabriel’s final words to Mary, ‘Nothing is impossible with our God’(v37NIRV).

And then comes the first glimpse at the heart of our unlikely hero: ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled’ (v38). Can you believe her wonderful attitude, her servant’s heart? It’s absolutely amazing!

Attitude is the outworking of character. What’s in our heart is revealed when we speak and act.

• What if God marched an angel into your life and said, ‘I’m going to change your plans, alter your course, and do something that will affect you every day for the rest of your life!’ How would you respond? Would you be an ‘Ok, God, let’s go!’ willing servant?
• Or the angel said, ‘You need to start a ministry to the homeless in your town.’ Would you say, ‘Okay, I’m the Lord’s servant; may it be to me as you’ve said’?
• Even if you were able to take this kind of attitude about a life-altering decision that you had no say in, could you have done it when only 18 or 19 years old?

What an amazing young woman Mary must have been! And God chose her because she had a servant’s heart. He chose her because He knew how she would respond.

• God is still looking for servant-hearted people that are willing to serve Him in any way that He asks them to.
• He’s looking for those who will do what He wants, when He wants, where He wants, and how He wants.
• God doesn’t need people with opinions, agendas, talents, and training, He needs people that are available.

Jesus said, ‘Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant’ (Matthew 20:26).

Paul said, ‘You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had,’ who took ‘on the form of a servant’ (Philippians 2:5,7 GW).

• Being God’s servant is a theme throughout the entire Bible.
• It’s an attitude essential to effective ministry in God’s kingdom.
• If a teenager can have this willing, submissive, servant’s heart so can we!
• A servant’s heart always agrees with God.
• Look inside yourself today and ask the question, ‘Do I have a servant’s heart?’

2. Trusting heart
After Mary’s angelic visit she hastily went to see and share personally with her relative Elizabeth. Miraculously pregnant herself, Elizabeth didn’t query Mary but promptly blurted out in a loud voice: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!’ adding ‘Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her!’ (Luke 1:42,45).

There are a couple of things to take note of here…

(i) Mary was the recipient of God’s blessings
Elizabeth said that Mary was blessed among women. Some people have wrongly elevated Mary to a special high place… which I don’t think God ever intended. She was blessed not because of her own works but because of what God worked in her.

This gives us another glimpse into the heart of this unlikely hero…

• Mary had a trusting, or believing, heart.
• She took God at His word.
• She believed what He had to say.
• God chose Mary because she had a trusting heart!

It is no coincidence that God chose to use someone with this kind of heart.

(ii) God is still looking for people who trust Him
God is looking for people that will take Him at His word.

• He isn’t looking for people with the answers.
• Nor for people that need a detailed explanation, or a thorough blueprint.
• Nor for people who need to understand before they can act.
• He’s looking for people that just trust him and do what he asks. Period!

Mary had a trusting heart, and God still needs people who will trust Him. In verses 46-55 we see the last glimpse of this unlikely hero’s heart. Mary composed a song of praise in response to what had happened. Some call it The Magnificat.

3. Grateful heart (v46-49)
In Mary we see a role model for the kind of life that God desires of us. Not only did she have a servant’s heart towards God, and a  trusting one at that, but her heart was also one of gratitude.

In her song of praise, The Magnificat, Mary not only acknowledges God’s mercy and mighty deeds for her people in times past, but begins by expressing her own gratitude to God – young lass that she is – for choosing her, and what it’s going to mean…

‘My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
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.’

Here’s how the CJV reads verse 48: ‘[God] has taken notice of His servant-girl in her humble position. For – imagine it! – from now on, all generations will call me blessed! ’

• Such a young woman had such a servant’s heart.
• She so easily trusted what God had said when it so greatly impacted her life.
• She was even able to write such a song of praise and gratitude when about to go through this ordeal.

How do you have an attitude of gratitude when God’s plan alters your life? How do you praise God when He’s saddled you with a great burden or a tremendous responsibility?

I was traveling home from the dentist when I received a phone call from a church member saying how grateful he is for our church. Do you have a grateful heart for your church, pastor, family, friends… and especially God?

The Magnificat is more than what you say, it includes what you do. It’s no coincidence that God chose someone with a grateful heart to bear His one and only Sonbecause He was looking for someone with a grateful heart. He needed someone that could be thankful and grateful, in spite of circumstances it involved.

• And you know what, God is still looking for people with grateful hearts!

Gratefulness despite adverse circumstances
In the 1870s Horatio Spafford, a friend of the famous evangelist Dwight Moody, was planning to be with him at services in England. Delayed by some business, he sent his family on ahead planning to catch up with them on the other side of the Atlantic.

Their ship never made it. Off Newfoundland, it collided with an English sailing ship, and sank within 20 minutes. Though Horatio’s wife, Anna, was able to cling to a piece of floating wreckage and survive, their four daughters were drowned. He received a horrible telegram from his wife, only two words long: ‘Saved alone.’

It is reported that as Horatio Spafford sailed to England, somewhere near where his daughters drowned, he penned the words of that famous hymn:
‘When peace like a river, attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul…’

• Like Mary, what an amazing and grateful heart! Do you have a grateful heart?
• We all need to be reminded to be servants and to trust God – and to be grateful despite circumstances.
• And what a great lesson for all we grown-ups to learn from that young girl Mary in this Christmas season.

Christmas 2023
Christmas, the season traditionally classified as Christ’s birth is a time to serve others. It’s a time where we take the focus off of ourselves and onto those around us, a time when we remember that our trust is in God.

He has made good on His promise to save us through the blood of His son Jesus (John 3:16). If we can trust Him with our souls we can trust Him with anything.

And Christmas is a time where we remember all the things we have to be grateful for – Jesus in our hearts, family, friends, the church body in our lives.

For 400 years God was silent. When He finally spoke, it was to a servant-hearted, trusting and grateful young woman… an unlikely choice and an unlikely hero. And today He’s speaking to us… through His written word (But do you read it?).

• God’s looking for people like Mary that He can use to accomplish His purposes.
• Do we have the kind of heart that God desires?
• And most importantly does our heart belong to God?

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Dr Richard Winter pastors The Connection Church, Huntington Beach, California. Link: OnlineConnect@gmail.com
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