The Church Part III: Mary, Our Mother

We are in the middle of a series, wherein we are investigating four virtues which I believe vibrant churches to forcefully possess. We looked first at faith, with faith being the umbrella under which believe spurs one to action for a purpose. We next looked at love, with love being that which is willing self-sacrifice and others-promoting in and for the community of faith. Today we'll look at hope.

As in faith and love, our culture has vastly misunderstood the concept of hope. We often use it interchangably with wish. "I wish they had my favorite flavor of ice cream in stock today. I wish the boss were a bit nicer. I wish the IRS didn't exist."

Hope is an inappropriate word for those day dreams. Rather hope confident expectation while I wait. Confident expectation. We clearly see hope embodied in Mary, who is our mother in the faith. No we may not be Catholic, but she is clearly a vastly deep influence in the faith. She is to be celebrated. No, we may not worship her nor pray to her, but we should respect her given the situation in which she found herself ... but clearly did not ask for. Let's read from Luke 1:26-45.

Luke 1:26-45:

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"

But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to im the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

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

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. 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. For nothing will be impossible with God."

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.

In those days mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." (ESV)

Hope. Mary is our mother in the faith from whom we must nurse and be nourished in her hope. Consider her situation. Quite often we only give thought to the polished and pristine Maries of the nativity scene world. Consider her situation. She is probably no older than 12 or 13 years old. She is betrothed. Betrothal was engagement on steroids. The betrothed couple was engaged to be married, but though the ceremony had not officially taken place, they were considered legally married. Dissolving a betrothal required a certificate of divorce. She is now pregnant in an unconsummated relationship. Whose was the baby? Joseph knows the baby isn't his. For Mary to explain this as the work of God would have rendered her as "mentally challenged." Joseph wants to divorce her and get out of this psycho relationship. Joseph attempted to do so quietly, but did not have to. He could have raised a big stink about it ... which would have gotten her a first century "rock concert." They would have stoned her for sure.

Yet, how does Mary respond?..."Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." Wow! that's hope. Now, the term hope has been thrown around during this Presidential campaign. Unfortunately, definitions have not. Make no mistake. Mary's hope was not some empty platitude that would keep her from a backstage pass to her "rock concert." Her hope was a confident expectation that God would show up, because she knew the character of God. In other words, her hope was defined by God and his character. Let's turn to Isaiah 40:9-31 to see a bit of that definition.

Isaiah 40:9-31:

Get you up to a hight mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
"Behold your God!"
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently leade those that are with young.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD,
or what man shows him his counsel?
Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,
and are accounted as the dust on the scales;
behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.
Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,
nor are its beats enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him,
they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.
To whom then will you liken god,
or what likeness compare with him?
An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skillful craftsmas
to set up an idol that will not move.
Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stertches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of hte earth as emptiness.
Scarcely are the planted, scarecely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy ONe.
Lift up your eyes on hight and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right hand is deisregarded by my God"?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint. (ESV)

This was Mary's God. This was the God who was asking her to walk through the valley of the shadow of death ... quite literally: death to her reputation, possible death to her betrothal with Joseph, possible death to her very life. This was the God on whom she was confidently waiting ... confidently expecting he would show up.

In fact let's take a look at the preceding verses to this Isaish passage.

Isaiah 40:6-8:

A voice says, "Cry!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the LORD blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever. (ESV)

Mary could trust God's word through the angel by responding: "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word," because she knew that "the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."

In fact listen again to Elizabeth's encouragement to Mary: "and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord." Elizabeth knew that "...the word of our God will stand forever."

Consider for a bit the term "blessed." Often in today's time it is used interchangeably with "Happy." Truly we can say that in the coming months there would be times Mary would not be "happy." Traveling by donkey over miles and miles of rocky terrain at the 9th month of pregnancy and risking potential opportunities for being robbed and raped along the way would perhaps be one opportunity where "happy" is a misnomer. Oh no doubt that its use in this context during yesteryear would have meant something different than this year. Today happy is simply an emotional high that comes and goes based on external circumstances. However, blessed is a term that biblically means God is stirring up your circumstances, being deeply involved in your life. And it is his involvement in your life, his constant presence and absolute faithfulness which forms the emotional anchor in your life. Can we not the say from bump to bump on the donkey, though Mary may not could have expected absolute happiness, she can confidently expect and wait on God's faithfulness ... God's word?

Listen to how she responds in Luke 1:46-55:

Luke 1:46-55:

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thougths of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever." (ESV)

Mary is our mother in the faith. Let us nurse from her and receive the ability to hope in the Lord. One area in which we need the hope of Mary is in waiting on the Lord while we confidently expect he will show up in our midst and do powerful things in and through us.

When you come to church on Sunday morning or on Wednesday for prayer meeting, what do expect of the Lord?