Holy Moments - Wisemen

 Life isn’t measured by time but by moments.  When you think about how you got to this moment in your life, you don’t think about every minute of every day, you think about the moments that shaped you and changed you.  The moment you met your spouse and partner changed your life.  The moment God opened a door and you got accepted at college or were offered a new job shaped you.  The moment a door closed and you experienced the loss of a job or the loss of a loved one also shaped you.  All of us are where we are today and who we are today because of moments, holy moments.  

When I look back on my life, there was a single moment that set the direction of my life.  It was a question that came when I was a senior in High School and making college visits to MSU & Purdue.  My visit to MSU was not great.  It was snowing and cold and on top of that I had a cold and wasn’t feeling well.  I had an appointment to meet with the someone from the business school but they didn’t seem prepared for me so that didn’t go well and my audition for the MSU marching band was a disaster. 

A few days later I was visiting Purdue.  It was a beautiful day.  I was over my cold and feeling great.  As we stood on campus looking at a map, several students asked if they could help us.  When I showed up at the business school where I didn’t have an appointment, I was told no one was available to see me, but then a woman walked in and said, I’ll talk with him.  Everyone in the office seemed surprised but I went in and spoke with her about the program and the university.  I found out later she was the dean of the business college who just happened to be walking by.  She was great.  She asked if I had already secured on-campus housing, and I said no.  She said that the dorms were already all full so she would send me information about off campus housing.   

I met my mom outside and she said, what did you think?  I explained the whole thing and how the dean of the college was willing to talk with me and she was great.  I then said, I’m going to MSU.  My mom asked why, if everything was so good.  I said, because I would have to live off campus my first year and I don’t want to do that. A single question and answer sent me to MSU where I didn’t get in the marching band but got involved in a Christian Fellowship.  That fellowship was where my faith grew and set me on a course of full-time ministry in the local church.  

Our lives are shaped by moments.  Mary, Joseph, and some shepherds all had their lives changed because of a message of an angel.  Acting on what they heard, they each were able to experience the Son of God.  Some others in the Christmas story also had their lives changed but this time it wasn’t one holy moment but three.  A moment when they saw a new star in the sky, a moment when they heard a new truth, and a moment when they worshipped a new king.  This group was the Wisemen or the Magi.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.   Matthew 2:1-12

Let’s first separate out some facts from fiction.  While we sing about “we 3 kings” and put 3 kings in our nativity scenes, it doesn’t say that there were 3 kings just that there were 3 gifts.  And while we put the wisemen and their camels in our nativity scenes, they don’t show up at a stable when Jesus is an infant, and we don’t know that they rode camels.  When the Wisemen arrived, Jesus wasn't in a manger but a house.  We take the birth stories of Luke and Matthew and mash them together, but they are different.  The wisemen could have come weeks, months or even years after the birth of Jesus.  

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure any of that is really important.  What does matter is that there are 3 moments that changed the course of the wisemen’s lives.  The first moment came when they saw a new star in the sky.  The wisemen were most likely some kind of astrologer who read messages in the stars.  When a new star appeared in the sky, it was a sign that a new king had been born in Israel.  But this wasn’t any new king, this was going to be such a powerful king that his birth was announced in the stars.  A new star was a divine message about a king like no other.  This was a holy moment and the wisemen decided to go and find this new king.  

It’s interesting that God didn’t send an angel to the wisemen to tell them about the new king but placed a star in the sky.  God spoke to these men in a way that they could understand.  God sent them a message in the stars because the stars were  what they read and understood.  God is always willing to meet us where we are and He comes to us in ways we can understand.  A savior for shepherds wasn’t found in a palace or the Temple but in a manger.  He came to a place where they could meet Him. 

God came into the world as a person so that we could see Him and hear Him and experience Him.  This means God is willing to come into our lives in ways that we can see Him and hear Him and experience Him. As busy as this season is, we need to open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to see the light of a star, or hear the song of an angel, or feel the love and grace of a savior.  God has come to meet us – don’t miss that holy moment.

A holy moment when a new star appeared in the sky sent the wisemen on their way.  They knew a king had been born in Israel and since kings are supposed to be born in important and royal cities, they go to Jerusalem.  When they arrived they asked where the great king of Israel was to be born and they were told that the promised Messiah was not to be born in Jerusalem but in Bethlehem.  This response to their question was another holy moment.  This truth sent them to Bethlehem.  

Learning a new truth can be a holy moment that can change the direction of our lives.  A new truth changed my life.  I used to think that the best life would be found in beautiful and exotic places around the world, that’s why I wanted to be a hotel manager.  I wanted to live in a resort - what could be better.  Then I discovered the truth that the best life isn’t found in resorts but in a relationship with Jesus.  As I started reading the message of Jesus and the truth it contained, I heard Jesus give this truth.  I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.  John 10:10

This truth became a life verse for me.  Full life is found only in Jesus.  A life full is a life of purpose, meaning, joy, love, adventure, peace and courage and all that is found when we live in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  That truth shaped my life and sent me off in a new direction.  God’s truth can do that, which is why we encourage people to read God’s truth.  

More important than reading and studying God’s word is to just listen to it.  Let the truth of God’s word wash over you and speak to you.  If we listen, God will speak and God’s truth will guide us.  The wisemen listened and God’s truth sent them in a new direction and to assure them that they had found the truth, the star once again showed them the way.  

The star led them to a house in Bethlehem where they found Mary and the child Jesus. It wasn’t a stable or a cave, so this wasn’t the night Jesus was born, it was sometime later.  We also don’t know how they knew this was the future king of Israel, but they did.  Maybe it was because the star had clearly led them to this place and they found a child inside, or maybe something just clicked in their hearts and minds when they saw Jesus telling them He was the king.  We don’t know how they know this is the king, but they are so sure He is that they bow down to worship Him.  

The wisemen also give Jesus and His family gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Gifts not fit for a child, but certainly fit for a king.  We know this act of worship changed their lives because when they were warned in a dream not to go back to tell Herod about the child, they listened and went home a different way.  Their lives had changed.  Before, their allegiance was to a political king who held power over them, but now they followed a different king.  Their allegiance was now to this child and they were willing to risk everything to keep Him safe.  A holy moment of worship caused them to heed what they heard in a dream and go home a different way.    

Three holy moments shaped the lives of the magi.  They allowed a star to guide their way.  A response to a question gave them a truth that changed their direction, and the worship of a new king changed their allegiance and their lives.  Three holy moments that shaped their way, their truth and their lives.  For these wisemen, Jesus was the way, the truth and the life that changed their lives.  

Jesus said that He is the way and the truth and the life.  The wisemen show us that Jesus can come to us in holy moments that can guide our way, shape our truth, and change our lives.  

As we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth, we can’t forget to allow God to shine into our lives and light our way.  Let the light of God’s grace forgive you.  Let the light of God’s love heal you.  Let the light of Christ shine in and through you to a world that needs it.  Share God’s love so that others can find the way.

Take time to allow God’s word to give you truth that can shape you.  Not just the truth about who Jesus is but the truth about how He lived and how He wants us to live.  Take time this week to read again the stories of Christ's birth and then read the powerful words of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount where He gave the world a truth that can still give us direction today.  

Most of all, take time to worship the newborn king and let that worship change your life.  On Christmas Eve, on Christmas Day as a family, in your own heart as you reflect on all that God has done for us by giving us His son, worship God and give Him the gift of your heart.  Ask yourself, what gift can you give to Jesus today as an act of worship.  What gift do you think God wants from you?  A gift of time?  Obedience?  Faithfulness?  

In the carol, In the Bleak Midwinter, one of the verses says:

What can I give him, poor as I am.

If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb.

If I were a wiseman, I would do my part, 

But what I have I give him, I give him my heart.  

What will it mean for you to give your heart to Jesus?  What might need to change in your life?  How might you need to change direction?  That change might be the best gift you can give.  

Jesus came to be the way, the truth and the life and in three holy moments, the Magi experienced Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life and their lives were never the same.  This Christmas, in holy moments, allow Jesus to guide your way, be your truth and bring you all the fullness of life.

 

Next Steps

3 Holy Moments for the Wisemen

Read Matthew 2:1-12

The Wisemen experienced at least three holy moments during their search for the new king in Israel.

1. When they saw the light of a new star that would guide their way.

● Why did God choose a star to announce the birth of Jesus?

● How did this speak directly to these individuals?

● Has God ever spoken directly to you?  

● How did He communicate His message?  

How can you be open to the light of God in the new year?

2. When they learned the truth about the coming king.

● How did the Wisemen learn the truth about where the new King of Israel was to be born?  

● Where do you need to turn to find the truth of God?

○ Directly to God’s word?  

○ To God’s people in the church?

○ To more faithful times of prayer?

How can you make learning God’s truth the foundation of your life in the coming year?

3. When they worshiped Jesus.

● How do we know that the worship of Jesus changed the hearts and lives of the Wisemen?

● What changed in them?  

● When has the worship of God changed you?

How can you allow the worship of God to change your heart and life in the coming  year?  

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life.

How can this truth change you in the coming year?

Holy Moments - Shepherds

 

After college I spent a few years living in South Bend, IN.  I was going to a job interview one day but arrived early so went to a nearby McDonalds to get some coffee.  As I was waiting and drinking my coffee, I saw an older man come in, order a hamburger and coffee and sit at a table not far from me.  He looked like he had spent all his money on the meal and he very slowly ate his lunch.  I heard this voice say, Andy, go get him some food, and I’m sure it was God’s nudging and prompting.   

Have you been in a situation like this?  You have a sense you should do something, but you aren’t sure.  You know God is calling you to step up and do something but then you start thinking through the entire situation and then overthinking it.  Here’s what I thought.  What should I get him?  What will he say?  Will he be embarrassed?  Does he want it?  Is he really in need?  It will be awkward.  I’ll do it, no I won’t.  And the talk went on and on…

I knew it was God telling me to help because just a few years earlier I had not helped a woman in NYC who was cold and homeless.  After that situation, I told myself that if I ever felt God calling me to do something - I would do it. This was a moment where I felt God calling me to do something, but I hesitated.  I thought too much about it.  I delayed and justified not doing anything all while I watched the man eat his lunch.  

I finally decided - I’m doing something.  I didn’t want to get him food he would have to eat right then but something he could take home, but what can you get like that at McD.  I went to the counter and got about the only thing I thought might last a while, cookies and milk.  I know, it sounds silly, but it’s what I got, two cartons of milk and 2 boxes of cookies.  I took the bag and went to give it to him, but he had left his table.  I searched the restaurant, but he was gone.  I had missed the opportunity.  I had a holy moment to help someone but hesitated and lost the moment.  

I ran outside and looked up and down the street and finally saw him about a block away.  I caught up with him and said, excuse me, I wanted to give you this.  I gave him a bag with cookies and milk.  He smiled, said thank you, and went on his way.  But it’s not the end of the story.  A few days later I was visiting a church for the first time.  During the service, I began to smell someone who probably hadn’t bathed for quite a while. During one of the songs I looked around I saw a disheveled man sitting a few rows behind me where the smell was coming from.  It was the man from McD.  

All kinds of things went through my mind.  Why had God put this man in my path twice in just a few days.  What should I do?  What could I do?  I didn’t have any money.  I didn’t know any of the resources of the church or community.  I didn’t know what to do.  After the service I watched to see if the church would reach out to him, or if they knew him.  No one did anything.  He walked out alone and I never saw him again.  

I’ve thought about this encounter and that man a lot through the years.  Who was he?  Why did God put him in my path at McD and then at the church? What was the message I was to learn?  And why did I hesitate the first time to help him and then do nothing the second time?  

One thing I learned from this situation is that there are divine appointments all around us where God calls us to be bold and step out to serve and share in ways that might change someone’s life.  When we feel prompted by God, we can’t hesitate, we have to seize that moment and respond with boldness and courage.  I almost lost a moment at McDonalds because I wasn’t willing to act quickly.  And I lost a moment at the church.  The holy moments God gives us to step out and serve and share may not come more than once so when they come, we need to act.  

In the Christmas story, the shepherds took advantage of a holy moment and shared the life changing message of Jesus.  We hear about the shepherds in Luke 2: 8-18.

There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

This is such a familiar story that we might miss the significance of God first sharing the news of Christ's birth with shepherds. While some scholars believe these shepherds were priestly shepherds who were taking care of sheep that were being raised for the Passover, most scholars believe these were just ordinary men who were not trusted or valued in society.  

Shepherds were social outcasts.  Because they were exposed to the bodily fluids of the sheep and the blood of other animals, they were always considered unclean and could not worship in the Temple.  Shepherds were not allowed to buy or sell property because they couldn’t be trusted to make an honest deal.  Their word was not allowed in a court of law because they couldn’t be trusted to tell the truth.  They were despised and untrustworthy people and yet they were the ones God went to on the night Jesus was born.  

Of all the people God could have chosen to be the first to hear about the birth of the Messiah, God chose shepherds.  God chose uneducated, unremarkable, and unclean men who couldn’t be trusted to tell the truth.  That God chose this group of people tells us that the Messiah, the Savior of the world, is for everyone.  There is no one beyond the reach of God. There is no one outside of the love of God.  There is no sin too great for God to forgive. 

This is great news for us.  None of us is beyond the reach of God’s love and grace.  Jesus is for all of us.  No matter how unclean you feel or how far from God you might be or what anyone else thinks of you - you are loved and cared for by God.  No sin, no shame, no past history can keep us from the grace of God.  This is a holy moment of acceptance for the Shepherds and they don’t hesitate to respond to it.  

It says they hurried to Bethlehem to find this savior. Without asking a lot of questions about what they just experienced and why they got this message and what it all meant, they said, let’s go and they hurried off.  How many of us hurried to church today?  Not because you were late but because you couldn’t wait to be here. I wish we all had the urgency we see in the shepherds. They were given a holy moment, a divine opportunity to experience the power of God, and they took it.  

They didn’t think about how they were unclean or that no one would believe them or listen to them, they just went to find the messiah and this was not an easy thing for them to do.  First they had to leave their sheep unprotected, which meant putting them in danger and maybe suffering a financial loss if any of the sheep wandered off or were attacked.  Second, it took courage to go because they knew they might not be welcomed when they showed up.  They knew they were considered unclean.  They knew they were unwanted and despised.  There was a good chance they wouldn’t be welcomed when they found the child, but they went anyway.  

When they found a baby wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger, they knew what the angels said was true.  The savior had come, and this savior wasn’t for the rich and righteous.  He wasn’t for the wealthy and those deemed worthy.  This savior was for shepherds.  The birth of this savior changed everything for them.   They now knew that they were loved and accepted by God.  They had value and worth and dignity.  Their sins would be forgiven. God was for them and if God was for them, then God had come for everyone. And this good news was worth spreading.  Once again, the shepherds don’t hesitate but realize they have another holy moment, a divine opportunity, to share the news about this child so they immediately shared all that they had heard from the angel and seen with their own eyes.  

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed.  Luke 2:18

The shepherds knew they had a divine opportunity to change someone’s life.  They could have just returned to the fields and their sheep and celebrated that God had come for them, but they knew they had an opportunity to help change the lives of others.  They took that holy moment to share the good news about the coming of the Savior and changed the lives of those who heard them.  

All around us are divine opportunities to change the lives of others.  It might be by serving them.  We might have an opportunity to give someone cookies and milk, or maybe we give our time or money to help provide a Christmas Dinner to those in our community who are hungry or lonely.  Maybe we give some of our money to help rebuild a home or church in NC destroyed by the wind and floods of a hurricane.  Maybe we change someone’s life by inviting them to join us on Christmas eve in worship.  

A few weeks ago we gave out Christmas Eve worship invitations and Pastor David asked you to think and pray about who you could invite to join you and sit with you in worship.  Have you given it to someone yet?  This is the season when many people are open to attending worship and might just need an invitation.  Many people might be looking for places to go and just need someone to invite them and welcome them.  If you have thought about inviting someone and haven’t done it yet, don’t hesitate.  Don’t let this holy moment pass you by.  It could change their life.  

If you don’t think you have what it takes to serve or share or invite someone, then remember that God used shepherds to first spread the news about the birth of the Savior.  God used people who weren’t trusted to tell the truth and declare that God himself had come into the world.  God used the most unlikely people to do the most extraordinary thing.  God is calling you and me to do something this week that will change someone’s life.  There are holy moments all around us, we can’t hesitate, we have to be bold and courageous and seize the moments.  

This week, may our prayer be:

God, make me bold so that without hesitation I will seize the holy moments you give me.  Help me to share about Jesus and serve those in need around me whether it’s at a McD, or in my school, or my neighborhood, or my church.  Use me in extraordinary ways to do your will in Jesus’ name.  AMEN

Next Steps

Holy Moments - Sharing

Have you ever felt God calling you to say or do something?  

● Did you step out and do it?  

● If you did, what happened?  If not, why not?

Read Luke 2:2-18

● Why were the shepherds such an unlikely group of people to first hear about the birth of the Savior?

● What does God choosing them to first hear this news mean for us?  

● How did the shepherds immediately respond to the Holy moment of the angels’ appearance?

● Once they saw Jesus and knew the message of the angels’ was true, what did they do and why?

● How does their story remind us that God often chooses the most unlikely people to do the most extraordinary things?  

What divine opportunity is God giving you today?

Are you hesitating?  What is holding you back?

Prayer:  God, make me bold so that without hesitation I will seize the holy moment you are giving me.  Help me to share about Jesus and serve those in need around me whether it’s at a McD, or in my school, or my neighborhood, or my church.  Use me in extraordinary ways to do your will.  I ask all this in Jesus’ name.  AMEN 

Some divine opportunities for us all:

1. Invite someone to join you for worship on Christmas Eve.

2. Sign up to help with the Christmas Dinner.

3. Give to the Christmas Dinner or the Hurricane relief (Christmas Eve) offering.

4. Look for someone in need during this season and don’t hesitate to help them.    

Holy Moments - Mary

 

In my first year as the pastor here at Faith Church, there was an opportunity we had but many things involved were out of our control.  I was meeting with a prayer team at the time and I was frustrated because things weren’t going well and there wasn’t anything more I could do.  I thought I knew God’s will and plan, but things weren’t going according to that plan.  One week, when we were praying, someone said, Andy, you really have to let this go and allow God to work in His will and His time.  

Has anyone ever said that to you?  You just need to let this go.  Maybe it was at your job or trying to find a job and you were working like crazy to make things happen but they just weren’t happening.  Or maybe it was in a relationship or your marriage where you were trying to make everything right but nothing was going the right way.  Or maybe right now you are feeling this way about your future.  You are doing all in your power to get everything lined up the way it needs to be and you are driving yourself crazy in the process because nothing is lining up.  Has anyone ever said that you just need to let it go?  Or maybe they said, “let go and let God.”  That sounds nice but it’s hard to hear because God’s way and time are not always the same as ours.

The truth is that we all have things in our lives that we need to surrender.  Surrendering isn’t giving up as much as it is a process of letting go - specifically, letting go of our control.  Letting go is hard because most of us want to be in control.  Today we are going to look at some holy moments of surrender in the Christmas story to learn what it might look like for us to surrender to God.  

David shared with us last week that our lives aren’t measured by time but by moments, and surrender is absolutely like that, it is measured in moments.  We don’t surrender once and then we are done, surrender comes through moments.  Some of those moments are small daily choices we make to surrender to God or to those we love, but other moments are holy; they are big and bold and life changing.  

In October of 1982, I had a holy moment of surrender sitting under Beaumont Tower on the campus of MSU where I heard God say, Andy with me there is life and without me there is death.  The choice is yours.  I chose to let go of my life and surrendered to God.  I said, I want life and I want to live for you.  It was a holy moment, but I’ll be honest with you, not every moment for the past 42 years has been fully surrendered to God.  I still struggle every day to let go of control, to walk away from sin, and to have the faith to step completely into the life God has for me.  It’s a struggle, but holy moments of surrender along the way have helped me be more faithful and obedient.  

When I finally let go of saying that I will never go to seminary and went to seminary, it was a holy moment of surrender.  When I followed God’s call and started the process to become a pastor after saying I would never be a pastor, it was a holy moment of surrender.  When God provided a position for me in Altoona and I went, it was a holy moment.  When I gave up what I thought was best for me and followed God’s call to come to Bellefonte, it was a holy moment.  There have been many holy moments of surrender during my life that remind me that surrendering to God is the best way to live life.  I’m not giving up what I want, I’m just letting go of what I think is best to allow God to lead me into what is best.

Mary is the picture of surrender in the Christmas story and her story has a lot to tell us about what it might mean for us to surrender more fully to God.  The story begins in Luke 1.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 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 favored! The Lord is with you.”  Luke 1: 26-28

There is a lot to unpack in these familiar verses.  First, let’s talk about where Mary was from: Nazareth.  

Today, Nazareth is a small city in Israel, but when the angel visited Mary, it was barely a town.  Some scholars believe it might have only been 9-10 acres in size, which means it would be the size of Beaver Stadium (pic).  Even if we double that and look at the stadium and parking areas, we see that Nazareth was very small.

Nazareth was nothing.  It was unimportant and unknown.  It was so small and insignificant that no one thought anything good would ever come from Nazareth.  That’s what Philip said when he heard that Jesus came from Nazareth.  He said, Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?  For 400 years, God had not spoken to His people or called anyone to be a prophet or a leader.  God broke His silence when he came to an unknown girl in an insignificant town and called her to be part of His plan.  

That God called Mary from Nazareth is good news for us because it means God will call us in Nazareth.  In many ways we might feel like we are living in our own Nazareth.  In the larger scheme of things, I’m nobody.  Like Mary, I’m insignificant.  We feel like we are too unimportant to be called or used by God.  I can’t imagine God being silent for 400 years and then deciding to come and speak to me and then ask me to help bring the Messiah into the world.  No way would God do that.  When all we can see is the Nazareth we live in, it’s hard to believe God has a purpose for us and that can make it difficult to surrender to God.

While Mary wondered why the angel came to her, she didn’t dismiss him and tell him to go find someone more important.  Mary could have said no at the very beginning, but she didn’t.  She didn’t let her background hold her back, and we can’t let our background hold us back.  God calls us when we feel uncallable.  God calls us when we feel insignificant and think that we don’t have what it takes to do or be anything.  The first thing we might need to surrender is our past or how we look at our lives.  Each and every one of us has something of value to offer God, which is why God comes to each of us and says, Greetings, you who are highly favored, the Lord is with you.  

This greeting was confusing to Mary.  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  Luke 1:29

Mary was troubled by what the angel meant because Mary did not see herself as favored.  She was ordinary, maybe less than ordinary.  She was insignificant.  She had a hard time believing that God even knew who she was let alone that God favored her.  Let’s be honest, if an angel came and said this to us we might think the same thing?  Who me?  Favored?  I don’t think so.  God doesn’t even know me, and if He did know me, He wouldn’t call me favored.  I’m too ordinary, too broken, too sinful.  

This was another moment of surrender for Mary.  She allowed the word of God to wash over her.  She didn’t dismiss the angel and the greeting he brought, instead she thought about what it meant.  What does it mean for us to be favored by God?  Have we allowed that thought to wash over us?  Have we surrendered to it and trusted it and allowed God’s favor to move us forward?  

One of the things we might need to surrender is the idea that we can’t be favored by God.  Maybe we need to surrender to the idea that we are deeply loved by God and that God calls us when we feel uncallable.  God sees us as worthy when we feel unworthy.  God sees purpose in us when we don’t see anything of value.  God calls us to great things when we don’t feel like we have anything.  Part of surrender is letting go of the idea that God doesn’t love us or want us or want to use us.  He does.  We need to surrender to the idea that we are favored and loved and called by God to be part of His plan.  And God certainly had a plan for Mary.  

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “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. 

Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.  Luke 1:30-38

God is calling Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, the one who will save all of humanity.  It’s interesting that in the OT, the first person called by God was Noah, and what was Noah called to do?  Noah was called to save the world by building an ark.  And now Mary, one of the first people called by God in the NT, is being called to save the world by bringing forth the Son of God.  

The first call of God in the Old and New Testament is to ask someone to help save the world.  Does the call of God in our lives always involve a little bit of saving the world?  When God calls us to love someone, care for someone, help someone, or share our faith with someone, are we helping save them?  How might God be calling you, or us as a church, to be part of His plan of salvation.  In different ways, every call of God leads to salvation, our salvation and the salvation of others.    

Mary doesn’t say not to this, but she does ask how it can happen because she is a virgin.  In reply, the angel doesn’t give specific answers but instead says, the Holy Spirit will overshadow you.  In other words, God will do it.  When God asks us to do those things that seem impossible, God might not give us step by step plans on how it’s going to happen, He might just say, the power of the Holy Spirit will overshadow you.  If you surrender, if you let go, I’ll take care of it.  

I don’t know about you, but I want details.  I want the step by step instructions to be printed out in triplicate.  I want more than just a general, the Holy Spirit will overshadow you, but that was all Mary got.  No details, no instructions, just the promise that God will do this.  

What the angel does give Mary is the news that her cousin Elizabeth, the one who was old and barren and no one thought would ever have a child, was now pregnant.  This was a sign to Mary that with God, all things are possible.  God can bring life into impossible situations.  With only this assurance, Mary surrendered to God.  May your word to me be fulfilled.  

This is a true holy moment of surrender.  With incredible faith and trust, Mary gives herself fully to God, but this moment would never have happened if Mary hadn’t been willing to first surrender and listen to the angel who said that a girl from Nazareth could be the mother of the Messiah.  This holy moment was built on others and it wasn’t going to be the last, in fact, maybe the most important holy moment of surrender for Mary is still to come.  

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”  Luke 1:39-45

Mary hurried off to see Elizabeth.  We don’t know how long she waited.  I see her leaving almost immediately, which means that she was only a few days or weeks pregnant when she met Elizabeth.  Mary hasn’t told anyone what is going on and she might not even know for sure if she’s actually pregnant.  

I asked some women how soon they knew they were pregnant.  Some of them said because of how they felt they knew very early on, others say they didn’t know for several weeks.  Mary being so young and never having had a child before may not have known for sure that there was a baby growing in her.  But when Mary arrived at Elizabeth’s home, Elizabeth said that just the sound of her voice made the baby in her womb leap.  And Elizabeth said, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!  

Mary hadn’t told Elizabeth that an angel came to her or that she might be pregnant, but Elizabeth knew.  And now Mary knows that God is doing a miracle in her life and that what the angel said is actually true.  She is going to be the mother of the Messiah.  This was the first confirmation for Mary that what she had surrendered to has in fact happened.  She is carrying the Lord, the son of God.  

As holy as the moment was when Mary was first visited by the angel and surrendered herself to the will of God, this moment might have been even more holy and profound because what Mary had just believed would happen - she now knew was happening.  God was doing this in her life.  God was going to use a nobody girl from a nowhere town to bring the Savior into the world.  This confirmation of Elizabeth, this holy moment, led to another moment of surrender for Mary, a moment so holy and profound that it caused Mary to speak these words.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 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.

His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.  He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”  Luke 1:46-55

When we think of Mary surrendering to God, we think of the holy moment when the angel Gabriel came to her and she said yes to God’s plan, but maybe the holy moment Mary needed was this one, a moment when Mary had confirmation that she was pregnant and carrying the Son of God.  This holy moment assured Mary that God was doing a mighty work in her life and it gave her the strength she needed to surrender to God for the next 250 days of her pregnancy.  

To surrender to God, we all need holy moments of God’s calling AND holy moments when that call of God is affirmed.  In 1984, I left MSU thinking God had other plans for my life.  Through a lot of searching and listening, I felt strongly that God was calling me to return to MSU and not only finish my degree but work with IVCF, the Christian Fellowship that had been so important in my surrendering to God in the first place.  To help guide me in this decision, God literally spoke a verse to me in a dream. 

The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.  2 Timothy 2:2

I took from this that God was calling me back to MSU and to IV so I could share with them all that I had seen and heard from my time there earlier.  When I arrived on campus, one of my first meetings was with the IV leader who had also returned to MSU to help lead the group.  Denny said to me, Andy, I am so glad you returned because we need someone who knows what IV was like a few years ago and can share that vision with our new leaders.  

Denny had just confirmed God’s call in my life.  I returned to MSU and IV because 2 Timothy 2:2 told me to entrust to reliable people what I had seen and heard.  And here was Denny saying, I need you to entrust to new leaders what you have seen and heard.  That was the holy moment I needed.  I had surrendered and returned to MSU, but this was the moment that helped me do all that God was calling me to do.  From that moment on, I never looked back or questioned God’s call in my life.

Mary shows us that surrender doesn’t take place once but over and over again.  Her story shows us that some moments of surrender require a lot of faith and others come when God gives us a lot of assurance, but every moment is important.

This Christmas, we all have something we need to surrender.  It might be a job, or a relationship, or our finances, or a child that is making poor decisions, or a future that suddenly looks very different than what we had planned. We all have something we need to let go of, and from May we learn that 

surrender doesn’t happen in one moment of time, 

it happens in moments all the time.  

Today, how is God calling you to surrender?  

What assurance has God given you that can help you surrender again today?  

Who is the Elizabeth you can go to for strength and help and how can they help you surrender more of yourself to God?  

And here is something powerful to think about and ponder - like Mary did - how can your surrender help bring salvation into the world?  How can it help save you and then how can it save others?    

This Christmas, perhaps the best gift we can give to ourselves, to God, to others, and to the world is to take this holy moment and surrender.

 

Next Steps

Holy Moments - Surrender

When have you struggled to surrender something to God?  Why was it hard and what was the outcome?

How is God calling you to surrender today?

What did it mean that Mary came from Nazareth?

● What is the “Nazareth” that holds you back?  

● What problems and limitations of your past (and present) do you need to let go of so you can move forward?

How do you think Mary felt when the angel said, Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you?

● How would you feel if an angel said that to you?

● Why do we have a hard time seeing ourselves as “highly favored”?  

● What does it mean for us to surrender to God’s love?

God called Mary to bring forth the Savior of the world.  

● When has God used you to help “save” others?

● What do you need to surrender today to make God’s plan of salvation possible?

After the angel’s visit, Mary hurried off to see Elizabeth.  

● Why might Mary have needed or wanted to see Elizabeth at that moment?  \\

● How did that meeting turn into another holy moment of surrender for Mary?  

● Who might be able to help affirm God’s call in your life?  How can you hurry to see them this Christmas Season?  

Who might need you to be the affirmation of God’s call in their life?  Be open to the power of the Holy Spirit moving in both you and others in this Holy Season.