26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. 36 “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
When we think of the “cost” of Christmas, we usually think of the money we spend on food, parties, and presents. Certainly, in the financial realm, Christmas is very costly! But during the month of December I want all of us to meditate on the cost of the first Christmas: Mary, Joseph, John (the Baptist), and Jesus. Real people who paid an incredible price and are profound examples for all of us. We will look at them one at a time leading up to Christmas Day [note: we WILL be meeting on Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25th, 11am, in a combined (English – Spanish), whole family worship service. Mark it down and plan on being there!]
This week let’s focus on Mary, the mother of Jesus (see passage above). Have you ever given Mary much thought? Not the Mary of religion, but the true Mary of history! The one that was a teenager when she discovered she would be pregnant with no human father. Can you imagine her public situation? Think back to your high school days and remember the girls that got pregnant. What if they told you it was a virgin birth? “Yeah, right!” Do we somehow think it was different for Mary?
John 8:39–41 (NASB95) – 39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” [Implying that Jesus was born of fornication since people knew that Joseph was not the biological father.]
Mark 6:3 (NASB95) – “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. [Usually a person would be called the son of their father unless there was a question as to who His father was!]
What did it cost Mary? What price was she willing to pay? It cost Mary everything!
- Her youth – she gave up the best years of her life to do God’s will
- Her reputation – scorn, ridicule, all-knowing glances
- Her relationships – family & friends would not understand; probably not believe
- Her husband? When she obediently said yes, she did not know how Joseph would respond.
- Her pride – accepting the position of being a “bondslave.”
What motivated her? Loving obedience and gratitude. She joyfully accepted the privilege of being the woman who bore the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
What about us? What price are we willing to pay? Are we willing to give our time, our reputation, our relationships, and our pride to the Lord? Will we see bringing Jesus to the world (evangelism & discipleship) as the greatest privilege and declare that we are God’s bondservants here to do His will?
One way we can do that this weekend is to prayerfully and joyfully go out and invite people to our Christmas Concerts. On Sunday night at 6pm, and Monday night at 7pm, our choir & orchestra will bring the message of Christmas to us through song & testimony. And it will be the LAST Christmas concert with Pastor Steve Lively before he retires at the end of January.
Let’s pay the price of obedience. Let’s prayerfully & joyfully get outside of our comfort zones and invite as many people as possible to join us on Sunday and Monday nights.