Enigmatic Mary

(or There’s Something About Mary)

Luke 1:26-38

Most of us who call ourselves Christians of the non-Roman Catholic

variety are afraid of Mary...or, at best, we are confused by her

-is she “Holy Mary, mother of God”?

--should we address her, “Hail Mary, full of grace”?

--is she sinless? divine? the co-redeemer?

-those words, sometimes used to describe Mary, make many of us

more than just a little uncomfortable

--and so we do what Baptists excel at doing—we overreact

---we may mention her in passing

---we might use her as an example of sexual purity in a “True

Love Waits” rally

---it’s been popular the last several years to focus on Joseph

---but as a rule, we pretty much ignore Mary...we figure that’s

the safest way to go...don’t want to risk anyone accusing

us of being soft on Catholicism

-and in the process we not only look ridiculous, but we miss out on

learning a lot from Mary about faith, about quiet strength, and

about obedience when it goes against everything you know to be

logical and sane

--seriously—can you think of anyone in Scripture (other than

Jesus) who so consistently lived out true holiness?

---certainly not Jacob, Moses, David, or Elijah

---even New Testament guys like Paul and Mark have their

blatant shortcomings

----yet we are quick to name these guys as heroes of

the faith...and we dismiss Mary...and we write her

off as a no-name extra in the drama God’s written

Forget the movies, TV specials, Christmas cards, and nativity scenes

-forget the legends and the traditions and your own imagination

-this morning we’re looking for the real Mary...we find her in the Bible

If you were reading the Bible for the first time...and you opened its

pages to Luke’s Gospel...you would be amazed by the first 25

verses—about this angel telling an old Jewish priest that he and his

old wife would have an extraordinary child—now that’s pretty wild

But, again, if you didn’t know the story at all, imagine how you’d

practically freak out when you read the part about this girl who is

told by the same angel (who apparently knows what he’s talking

about when it comes to babies) that she’s going to get pregnant

-at first glance there’s nothing unusual about that—I mean, girls get

pregnant all the time—but when you hear how the girl responds

to the angel’s message, the story suddenly sounds like an

episode from The Twilight Zone or Ripley’s Believe It or Not

--do you remember what she says?

--“That’s nice...but I’m not married...and, well, I’m still a virgin.”

Jeremy M. Basset, Oklahoma City  My 5-year-old niece, Olivia, and her best friend, Claire, were participating in a nativity play at school. Claire was playing Mary, and Olivia was an angel. Before the show, a young boy was going around the dressing room repeating, "I'm a sheep, what are you?" Each child responded politely, including Olivia, who proudly declared she was an angel.

The boy then turned to Claire, whose mom was making final touches to her costume, and repeated the question to her: "I'm a sheep, what are you?" Claire simply said, "I'm Mary."

Realizing he was face to face with a lead character, he felt he needed to justify his own role. "It's hard being a sheep, you know," he said with all the seriousness of a 5-year-old actor with a big part.

Claire's equally serious response was also quite innocent and rather profound. "Yes, but it's also hard being a virgin, you know."

*True, but it’s especially hard being a virgin and having a baby

Mary doesn’t question Gabriel’s words like Zechariah did earlier in

the chapter...she’s just pointing out a teensy-weensy technicality

that perhaps the angel didn’t realize

-Mary’s no ob/gyn, but she does know where babies come from...

and there’s no way one’s coming from her...not anytime soon

--if you were hearing this for the first time, you’d think, “Wow,

Zechariah and Elizabeth’s baby—that’s wild...but Mary’s baby

—now that’s a miracle of biblical proportions.”

-R.T. France  One is old and has no children; the other is young

and has no husband. But both are pregnant.

--true...but actually the virgin birth is not the biggest miracle of

the Christmas story (but you’ll have to wait until next Sunday

to find out what that miracle is)

Still, the virgin birth of Jesus is hardly something to blow off

-Millard Erickson points out four significant meanings of Mary’s

sexual purity as it relates to Jesus and to us

1. The virgin birth reminds us that our salvation is supernatural. We can’t even initiate the first step in the process—just like Mary, on her own, was completely incapable of conceiving a child...so we can’t claim anything to do with our salvation apart from God’s intervention.

2. The virgin birth is also a reminder that our salvation is a gift of grace. Mary, as we’ll see in a moment, is no one particularly special, but God chooses her to bear His Son.

3. The virgin birth is evidence that Jesus is unique. There are other miraculous births recorded in Scripture, but nothing of this magnitude.

4. The virgin birth displays God’s sovereignty to invite regular people of faith to join Him in His work. Our apparent limitations—here, a virgin trying to become pregnant—are no match for God’s power. As Gabriel would say in v. 37  Nothing is impossible with God.

So is it correct, then, to call Mary “the Mother of God”?

-no—not in the sense that Mary co-created Jesus...and not in the

sense that Mary is God’s wife or the Holy Spirit’s wife...definitely

not in the sense there was any form of physical, sexual intimacy

--the Greek word later used to describe Mary is best (if we all

spoke Greek)...that word is theotokos, literally, “God-bearer”

---what’s interesting is back in 431 when that title was first

used for Mary, the emphasis wasn’t on her...that name

was given by the Council at Ephesus to confront a

heresy known as Nestorianism...and to state plainly that

Jesus was, in fact, God

-but Mary would be the vessel through whom God the Son will be

made flesh...she would carry Him, feel Him kick, feel frighteningly

painful contractions...she will birth Him, nurse Him, burp Him, and

change His swaddling clothes when...uh...they need to be

changed and do all of that so far away from her home

--so in a very real sense Mary would be the mother of Jesus

---listen how Elizabeth—the old, very pregnant wife of the old

Jewish priest—reacts when she first sees Mary

Read Luke 1:39-45

No doubt—there is something extraordinary going on here... Gabriel

knows, Elizabeth and her baby know...and Mary’s starting to get it

It’s like Harvey’s granddaughter, Mckenzie, who dressed up as Mary

for a costume party at church...and then walked around proudly

telling everyone  I’m God’s Mommy!

-but I doubt the real Mary did that...I’m convinced she fully

understood who she truly was...and that her role in this unfolding

drama was given to her because of no merit of her own

Here’s why I think that: Read Luke 2:28-29

-Mary is baffled not so much by the angel, but by his greeting

--Mary is an ordinary girl from an ordinary town—she knows that

Frederick Buechner describes Gabriel's and Mary’s encounter  She struck him as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child. But he had been entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be named, who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. 'You mustn't be afraid, Mary,' he said. As he said it, he only hoped she wouldn't notice that beneath the great golden wings, he himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of Creation hung on the answer of a girl.

Guess what?

-Buechner gets it all wrong...as admirable as Mary is, she is not the

star in this drama...had Mary said, “No”...or had Mary refused to

believe...God could have easily used any one of countless others

--the whole future of Creation did not hang on her answer

--you would not have seen God pacing in front of His throne

saying, “Oh! I never saw that one coming! Now what am I

going to do?”

---of course not...that’s one of the things that makes Mary so

puzzling...she is important in this story, but she’s not the

deal-breaker

---she’s kinda’ like—yes, he is faithful and obedient, but if he

had gone on and divorced her, Jesus would still be born

--yes, Mary is a virgin—and that is a fundamental reason God

selects her—but there are plenty of other girls who would

qualify...it’s not like Mary was God’s only shot

So what do we do with Gabriel’s greeting?

-I blame the King James’ translation of his first word for much of the

confusion...the Greek word is chairo...its primary meaning is an

invitation to “rejoice”

--when used as a greeting, it simply means “Howdy”

-but the King James, using 17^th century English, translates it “Hail”

--and the problem is that we now understand “hail” as a command

to give reverence or even worship

---when a President enters a room, Hail to the Chief is played

---churches sing the hymn All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name

and the chorus All Hail King Jesus

----and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with those

--but the angel is not saying, “Hail...bow down and worship Mary”

---Gabriel may be impressed by Mary, by God’s commission to

her...but he’s not worshiping her...Gabriel told Zechariah

back in v. 19, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God

----I doubt Gabriel is going to confuse this peasant girl for

the Creator and Lord of the universe

--the only other time chairo is used in the New Testament as a

simple greeting is in Matthew 28:9...right after the Resurrection,

Jesus meets the women who’d just discovered the empty tomb

---here’s how the King James renders Jesus’ first words after

He’s just conquered death, hell, and the grave  All Hail!

----if we would be consistent in our interpretation, then

we’d have to assume that the Lord is proclaiming that

everyone should bow down and worship these women

---is that what Jesus is saying? hardly...

----instead the better translation is simply be, “Howdy, y’all.”

OK, but what about how that familiar line continues... “Hail Mary, full

of grace”?

-my first response would be, “What about it? If you interpret it in

light of the whole of Scripture, what can you know for certain?”

--we can know that God has chosen her in His grace

---nothing else qualifies her for this task—again, there is

nothing inherent in her that makes her worthy

----it is God’s abundant grace that uniquely enables her

to fulfill His purpose for her

---so is Mary full of grace?

----yes, but more accurately, she is full of God’s grace...

she possesses no grace of her own, she has no

grace to impart to others...but when it comes to

God’s grace, Mary is overflowing—so much so that

the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps for joy when

Mary steps into the home and greets her

So what are we supposed to do with Mary?

-worship her? no...we worship God alone—the 1^st commandment

--no evidence in Scripture of anyone holding her to that status

--no evidence in Scripture that she would have accepted worship

--no call in Scripture for us to pray to her or to ask her to intercede

for us to God

---Romans 8:26-27 tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for

us...and Hebrews 7:25 explains Jesus’ role as intercessor

----nothing tells us that’s a role given to Mary

-if we don’t worship her, what about admiring her? sure...there is

much about Mary we can look to as an example

--her purity, her faith, her courage, her obedience all put me to

shame...and probably most of you, too

--she, no doubt, endured ridicule and persecution...she was

misunderstood by people she love...she was almost dumped

by her fiancé...she became a refugee...and she saw the worst

of the world and the best of God clash violently at Calvary

There’s something else about Mary we should pay close attention to

-as a matter of fact, I think this “something” is the most important

characteristic of all...and we hear it expressed so simply and so

clearly in v. 38  “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered, “May

it be to me as you have said.”

Face it—few of us have known that degree of surrender

-Mary’s saying, “I belong to God, so whatever He wants...”

--perhaps our biggest hang-up with Mary isn’t how some treat her

--maybe our problem is that Mary’s example convicts us how far

short of surrender we live...and it’s especially troubling because

we know she was just a nobody from nowhere, yet she faced a

much more daunting challenge than we’ll ever know...and she

does so with this childlike, question-less trust...and we tend to

whine and cry and ask “why?” every time God disturbs us