The Journey: 1. Mary of Nazareth – Willingness – Seasons

by Pastor Steve Purdy

[Preached November 27, 2011; Based on Luke 1:26-38]

“There is no real faith without obedience, and no real obedience without faith…. Obedience… is visible faith – a testimony to God’s reign.” (Wesley Study Bible, Wesleyan Core Term, Exodus 24, p. 99)

Now, you may not have been to the actual town of Nazareth in northern Galilee, but most of us have driven through a town like Nazareth – a dusty little town; a place with no luxuries – a place where the entire town is “on the wrong side of the tracks.” You find hearty people in small towns of 2-300 scratching out a living. There is no school, no fire station, no grocery store, no high speed internet, no McDonald’s.  You don’t notice the poverty because everyone is poor.   

The actual Nazareth was truly a dusty village where people used whatever was available to build a place to live.  Many turned to the caves that dotted the hillsides. Soft rock was scraped away and rooms laid out for the family.  There was little privacy.  Life was hard.  There was little there except good, hard-working, honest people.

Mary grew up in Nazareth.  By the age of 13 she was already considered a woman ready to start a family.  Given the time and the region, we can imagine that she was uneducated and probably came from a very poor family.  No doubt many of the villagers in Nazareth worked as laborers and household servants in nearby Sepphoris, a wealthy community of about 20,000. Maybe Mary was one of them.  This was her world.  And this was where a most remarkable journey began.

Today we begin “The Journey,” a sermon series based on the book by the same title by Adam Hamilton, that will take us step by step through this most incredible story that leads a young girl, Mary of Nazareth, and an ordinary man, Joseph of Bethlehem, to a manger where they will give birth to a child who will quite literally ‘Change the World.’ Next week we’ll talk about Joseph of Bethlehem, but first, Mary of Nazareth…

Why Nazareth?  Why not a thriving community like Sepphoris with more amenities? Nazareth was not on the guided tour.  No one went there for a vacation or bought a summer get-away in Nazareth.  Why does God select a young girl from Nazareth to bear the Messiah?  Here’s one more example of God choosing the “least likely to succeed…” You ever win that title?

From beginning to end, our Bible reveals a God who calls the most unlikely to accomplish his work:

• God chose a small nation of people living in slavery to be his chosen people.
• God called the youngest son of Jesse, a shepherd named David to become Israel’s greatest king.
• (and now) God called Mary to give birth to the Messiah… And, later Jesus called some unlikely characters to be his disciples… Jesus still calls unlikely folks – just look around you! 

God can see what no one else can see.  God looks for the meek and the humble. 

The theological term the Bible uses regarding God’s choosing to use one who is totally unlikely or for God to use you when you are totally undeserving is… grace – yes, amazing grace!

One fabulous word-picture is that of a tree that has been cut down and a shoot begins to grow from the stump of that fallen tree! By all means, that tree should be totally dead and yet a shoot comes out – new life springs forth from the dead. The Hebrew word for such a resurrection from a dead tree stump is netzer – from which the name of a certain town in Israel derived it’s name – venture a guess? Nazareth… from netzer!

Nazareth – can anything worthwhile or significant come out of a nothing village like Nazareth, a nothing place that gave life to a young virgin named Mary, who would become the mother of the Savior of everyone from everywhere…

Mary was engaged to be married.  Customarily that would mean a one year legal engagement followed by the formal wedding ceremony.  She was mature, but she was no more prepared for a visit from an angel than any of us might be.  But ready or not, Mary received amazing news from a most remarkable visitor… well, let’s read it from Luke 1:

26 In the sixth month (of Elizabeth’s pregnancy – JTB’s mother, Mary’s cousin) the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

What I find remarkable is that there is no indication in Luke’s record that Mary was startled by Gabriel’s appearance. We generally see paintings of “The Annunciation,” Gabriel telling Mary this phenomenal news… with Gabriel as a stunning angel sharing the news [DaVinci’s The Annunciation – Mary doesn’t look poor, does she? However, he painted the glorious moment.], but Luke says that Mary was perplexed by his words. Without all our presuppositions, we might envision this as an angel disguised as a typical person of the day who shares God’s message with one open to hearing it. Angel means “messenger.” Mary is perplexed, not by Gabriel’s appearance, but by his message! Listen further:

30 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him 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 ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34 Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"

So, Gabriel told Mary she would conceive and bear a son and he was to be named Jesus. Mary’s response? How in the world is this going to happen?  Surely the answer was as amazing then as it is today; “God’s Spirit will come upon you and the Most High will overshadow you.”  (Luke 1:35)

How do you tell that story to your parents; to your friends; to your fiancé?  Would you believe it? Do you think they did?  She was pregnant out of wedlock and this is the explanation!

A story appeared in Christian Century several years ago by Christian Coon.  He recalled a children’s pageant and all of the little girls wanted to play the role of Mary - not one, not two, but all of the girls wanted to be Mary.  Consider this: Do you think Mary wanted to be Mary?  To say yes meant:

·         That all of her dreams for her wedding day went up in smoke.

·         The law required that women found to be pregnant by someone other than their betrothed were to be stoned to death. 

·         In general, many women died during childbirth in those days. 

·         At the very best, if she survived all of that, she might well spend her days as an unwed mother with a child scratching out a living in a village on the road to nowhere. 

So what do you think?  Do you think she wanted that role?  Would any of you?  So much for a life of bliss; Mary looked forward to a life of risk! But surprisingly, Mary shocks us and says yes. Mary willingly agrees to play this part.  “Yes Lord, I’ll do it.” She was willing!

Can we muster up the courage to respond as Mary did; “Here am I, the servant of the Lord.”  As we continue our own spiritual journey can we be willing to accept God’s direction?  Steve - the servant of God. Bill - the servant of God.  How does it roll off the end of your tongue?