LIFE LESSONS
MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 1:26-56
DECEMBER 15, 2002
Without a doubt, the Virgin Mary is the most venerated woman in the world today. In the 4th century, Mary was given the title “Theotokos,” “God-bearer,” because she is the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus is Immanuel, God with Us.
We know little of her life, and we know still less of her death. She appeared at the crucifixion, she appeared at Pentecost, and then she disappears from the pages of holy scripture. There is a tradition that she died in the city of Jerusalem in A.D. 48 at the age of sixty-six. There is another tradition that she was taken by John Bar Zebedee to Ephesus and that she died there after a long life. There is yet another tradition from the 6th century from Gregory of Tours that her body was assumed into the clouds and taken to heaven. Of course, this is the basis of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Assumption of Mary.
But the manner of her death pales in importance when compared to the manner of her life. Though we do not know much about her life, we know enough for three very important life lessons. The first lesson concerns trust and the whole subject of trust. You see, Mary was a woman who trusted God. And how about you? Do you trust God? Do you trust God no matter what you are going through?
A week ago, Albert Einstein’s picture was on the cover of U.S. News and World Report. The magazine explored the life and the thought of Albert Einstein. Of course, his thought revolutionized the scientific world. Einstein has given us new understandings of time, space, mass, motion, light, and gravitation. Einstein, in his brilliance, viewed energy and matter as exchangeable, and this was expressed in his famous equation E=MC2. Energy equals mass times the velocity of light squared. His theories were proven true with the splitting of the atom and the harnessing of its energy.
We do not know how angels relate to our time-space continuum. We do not know how the spiritual world interfaces with this physical world, but we do know that when angels are in our time-space continuum, they seem to be capable of energy-matter exchange. They appear and they disappear. They are visible and they are invisible. They radiate light.
In the course of human history and in the course of biblical history, the physical manifestations of angels have been rare, very rare. Very few people throughout history, even biblical history, have had the privilege of seeing an angel physically. Mary was one of those. The Angel Gabriel, perhaps the Archangel, appeared to Mary. She must have been shocked. She must have been incredulous. She must have been stunned as this heavenly being, perhaps in his heavenly countenance, appeared to her. The message was shocking. “You will conceive in your womb and bear a Son.” This was shocking because Mary was a virgin. It would have been hard for her to even believe this. She was betrothed to Joseph. Betrothal in the biblical and Jewish world was a deeper commitment than our concept of engagement. Betrothal was a one-year period prior to marriage. Betrothal was such a serious commitment that you could only break betrothal by divorce. During betrothal, during this one year prior to marriage, the couple was expected to abstain from sexual relations and to reserve themselves sexually for marriage.
Mary knew that this message from this heavenly visitor would have huge consequences in her life. She knew that she might lose Joseph whom she loved because Joseph would think her unfaithful if she became pregnant. Indeed, we know from Matthew, chapter 1, that at first Joseph did think Mary unfaithful. He was planning to divorce her quietly, but the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and explained the situation to him. She was rightfully concerned that she might lose her betrothed, Joseph. She, perhaps, was also concerned that she might lose her life because, in the Jewish world, adultery was punishable by death in accordance with Deuteronomy, chapter 22. Even if that penalty were rarely carried out in her culture and time, still there was a social stigma attached to adultery and fornication and sexual misconduct and she would have worn a scarlet letter. Her life would never be the same. She surely knew that.
She also knew that the message theologically and spiritually was just astounding, that she would give birth to the Son of God. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. The child to be born shall be called Holy, the Son of God.” What a radical message. She must have been stunned. But look at her response. Her response is, “Be it done to me in accordance with Thy will.” Trust. Mary trusted God despite the consequences. Whatever the consequences, whatever the outcome, whatever happens, “be it done to me in accordance with Your will.”
Can you say that? I do not know what you are going through. You do not know what I am going through. But can we trust the Lord? Can we begin every day and say, “Be it done to me in accordance with Your will, Lord”? Can we begin every day like that?
It is only when we trust the Lord that we can experience contentment and inward peace. The world seeks contentment. The world seeks inward peace. It is very elusive. In the Eastern world, peace and contentment are oftentimes sought through detachment. Eastern philosophies oftentimes teach contentment through detachment. You must detach yourself from feelings, emotions, people, and things. Certainly, there is some truth to this. If you can detach yourself, you will have a kind of contentment, a kind of peace.
This is true even in the sports world. Some of you, perhaps, are going to see the Bronco game today. It is a “must win” situation it is said because they have lost four of their last five games. For some of you, that has been painful. For others of you, you could care less. It has to do with whether or not you are detached. They lost two overtime games to Indianapolis and San Diego. They lost to the New York Jets in what was called a heartbreaker, but it was not a heartbreaker for you if you were detached.
But you cannot live life detached from everything. I mean, you have to care about something. You care about your family. You care about your friends. There is a risk in life. You cannot detach from everything, and of course in Luke’s Gospel, in the second chapter, we are told how Simeon prophesied to Mary that a sword would pierce her heart. This is part of the Christmas Mary, the prophesy of Simeon as described in Luke’s Gospel, the second chapter. “A sword will pierce your heart.” The Greek word for sword is “rhomphaia” and it refers to the largest sword known in the Greek and Roman world. She was going to experience major pain. She would ultimately see that child born to her die. She would see Him rejected by men, crowned with thorns, flogged, scourged, spat upon. She would see Him crucified. She would watch Him die slowly and incrementally. “A sword will pierce your heart.” Should she have been detached? Could she have been detached?
Jesus does not call us to detachment. He calls us to love. Of course, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the priest and the Levite were detached and they walked right on by. But the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells us, was “moved with compassion and he went to help.” Jesus calls us to love and to involvement. He calls us to attachment. So, for us, as Christians, there is no contentment through detachment. We look for a deeper contentment.
We find no help in the Western world because if the Eastern world teaches detachment, the Western world seeks contentment through satisfaction. The Latin root of our word satisfaction means “enough.” Of course, that is what a lot of people think. They can find contentment and inward peace if they just get enough. This is the thinking of much of the Western world. If I can just get enough money, if I can just get enough sex, if I can just get enough power, if through materialism and hedonism and ascensionism I can just get enough, I will find contentment and I will find an inward peace. But it is all a lie.
Jesus tells us that we really only find peace and contentment through trust. We need to trust as Mary trusted. No matter what we are going through, no matter what God calls us to, no matter what the cost, no matter what the risk, we need to trust. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” It is all about trust. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Believe in God. Believe also in Me.” It is all about trust.
The Bible says, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” It is all about trust. The Bible says, “Cast all of your anxiety upon Him, for He cares about you.” It is all about trust. Jesus said, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Consider the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them all. Are not you of much more value than they? Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to your span of life? So why are you anxious, saying, ‘What shall I eat? What shall I drink? What shall I wear?’ The nations seek after such things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” He said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin and yet I tell you that Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If God so clothes the lilies of the field, which are here for a day and tomorrow are gone, how much more will He clothe you?” It is all about trust. “Oh, ye of little faith,” He said. It is all about trust.
And so, we have this modeled in Mary, that we must trust the Lord. We must begin every day by saying, “Be it done to me in accordance with Your will.”
The second lesson from Mary briefly is service. It concerns the subject of service. Mary modeled what it means to be a servant. What Mary said to the Angel Gabriel was this: “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord.” The Greek word there is “douli,” and it is the feminine form of the masculine word “doulos,” which is the Greek word for “bondservant” or “slave.” Mary literally says, “Behold, I am the slave of the Lord. Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.” And she lived to serve Him.
In the Bible, in the Greek world, there were four different words for servant. There was this word “doulos,” which means “bond servant,” and the word “diakonos,” from which we get the word “deacon.” It means “household servant.” There is the word “latreia,” which could refer to many different types of service but is used in the Bible to refer to the service of God in the Tabernacle and the Temple. Also, there is the word “huperete,” which literally means “under rower.” It described a Roman slave who worked in the galley of a Roman ship and pulled the oars so that the ship might move through the water.
The amazing thing is that all four of these Greek words are used in the Bible to describe Christians. Because as Christians, in every sense, we are called to service. As Christians in every sense, we are called to be servants. We are bondservants of Christ, and we serve His house. We’re called to take an oar. It’s all in the scriptures, and it’s the call of Christ upon His people that we might learn to be servants. We have Mary as a great example here. “Behold, I am the hand maiden of the Lord.”
In the year 1913, a woman was born whose name was Marian. Marian was born into one of the wealthiest families in the world. Marian grew up in a castle in the country of Hungary. She literally lived in a castle. She was surrounded by servants. There were family chauffeurs and butlers and maids, and her every need was attended to. If ever she spent the night away from the castle, she was told that she had to have her own bed linen because she should never sleep, ever, on linen that has ever been used by another human being, even if it was clean, even if had been washed. She was told she should not sleep on linen that has been used by common people. She was one of the wealthiest people in the world. She was reared in the finest schools, educated in private schools.
In 1931 when she was eighteen, she was sent to Vienna for continuing education. It was there in Vienna at the age of eighteen that she met a man and they fell in love. They eloped and were married. But the marriage did not work. This guy was kind of shiftless. He ran away and left her after one year’s time, and she was devastated. So, she remained in Vienna. There was emptiness in her that all of her money could not fill. Nothing could fill the void.
She thought, “Well, I’ll prepare for a career,” and she began to study theater, drama, and movie production. It was there in Vienna that she met a man named Otto Preminger. They fell in love. Marian and Otto Preminger were married. She became Marian Preminger. They moved to the United States of America to Hollywood. Of course, Otto Preminger became one of the most famous movie producers and directors in the world.
In 1944, he produced the movie “Laura,” which is considered a classic. He produced many other movies, such as “Exodus” in 1960. But their marriage did not last. Their marriage did not last because Marian got into the fast lifestyle of Hollywood, and she began to live a promiscuous life. She began to sleep around, and Otto Preminger found out. He divorced her. Her life was shattered, and her world unraveled. She was so embarrassed, and she felt such a sense of shame. She moved back to Europe. She moved to Paris. She was received by Paris. The people loved her because she was one of the wealthiest people in the world and so famous, but she was bankrupt emotionally and spiritually. She contemplated suicide.
It was 1948. She was still only 35 years old, but she just wanted to die. She did not want to live. But she heard that a Christian medical missionary was in Paris to deliver a talk. She thought, “I’ll go listen to him.” His name was Albert Schweitzer. He was a famous musician, a famous organist, and his concerts were performed all over the world. He was particularly fond of performing Bach. He was also a theologian. In the year 1906, he wrote the book, “Quest for the Historical Jesus,” which was published in 1910. It is not recommended reading. He was at times theologically confused. Albert Schweitzer died in 1965 at the age of ninety.
In the course of his life, he changed his thinking about Christ and scripture many times, but he was consistent in this. Albert Schweitzer always believed you could not know God unless you chose to follow Jesus Christ. He believed you could not follow Christ unless you gave your life away in the service of other people. That is what he believed all the days of his life. Of course, he was a medical missionary, and he established a ministry in a hospital in French Equatorial Africa and he called it The Lambaréné Hospital. It was a hospital for lepers and for the impoverished.
There he was in Paris, speaking to people, and Marian Preminger decided to talk to him. She met with him, and they talked and they talked. He looked at her and he sought to look into her heart. He felt like there was something he could do, and he felt led of God to invite her to come with him to Africa and to work amongst the poorest of the poor. She thought, “What the heck! I do not care whether I live or die anyway. I do not care. I have to try something. I’m ready to commit suicide.”
So, she went with Albert Schweitzer down to Africa and she began to minister to lepers. Their bodies were ulcerating, and the stench was so bad people could even get near, but she did. She washes them and she cleans them, and she cares for them, and she bandages them. She prays for them. She begins to care for hurting and wounded and sick and desperately ill people. After only three months, Marian Preminger gave her heart to Jesus Christ. After three months there, she asked Jesus to come into her heart and to be her Lord and to be her Savior. The rest of her life she served. She gave her life in the service of people.
Towards the end of her life, she wrote a book. The book was called, “All I Ever Wanted Was Everything.” In the book, Marian Preminger explained that she came to the understanding that she could not have anything unless she gave everything away. She said her favorite verse of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ were, “He who would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For he who would save his life will lose it, but he who would lose his life for My sake and for the gospel’s sake will surely find it.”
As she gave her life away in the service of God—in the service of Christ, in the service of people—she found life. She found joy. She found meaning. She said towards the end of her life, and it was quoted in her obituary in the New York Times, “There are only two types of people in the world—those who serve and those who do not. I have chosen to serve.”
This is also true in the Church of Jesus Christ. There are only two types of people in the Church of Jesus Christ—those who serve and those who do not. What have you chosen? Have you chosen to serve? You see, for us at Cherry Hills Community Church, the critical event is this: That you would minister and that you would serve. The critical event is this: That you would move from being a spectator to a servant to a minister—that you would move from being an observer to a participant—that you would roll up your shirtsleeves, grab an oar, and begin to serve. That is what we exist for.
Our vision statement is four-fold, that we might see our congregation mobilized into ministry and thereby transform our community, elevate the urban poor, and impact the nation and the world with the gospel. But it all begins with this, that we be a congregation mobilized in service and ministry. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into His field.” Jesus said, “You’ve not chosen Me, but I’ve chosen you and I’ve appointed you to go and bear fruit, that your fruit would abide.”
I share with our Discovery Class, our New Members Class, every time the class meets that we are called to serve and that we are seeking to mobilize this congregation in ministry and service. We need hundreds of Sunday school teachers. We need hundreds of you to go with us into the inner city and help us tutor children, help us build houses, help us visit people in the prisons. We need you to be small group leaders. We can use thousands of you, and we need you. We are seeking to mobilize an army of people.
I share with the New Members Class that this nation was mobilized in the aftermath of December 7, 1941. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, it awakened a sleeping giant, and what followed represented the greatest mobilization of people in the history of our nation. Ten million American men were drafted into military service, ages 18 to 45. They were conscripted. They were noble because they risked their life in the service of their country. But nobler still were those who volunteered. Five million American men volunteered for military service, saying, “Here am I. Use me.” Three hundred and thirty-eight thousand American women volunteered for military service in non-combat capacities. Millions of American women volunteered by leaving their houses and going to work in American factories that fueled the war machine. It was the most massive mobilization of people in the history of our nation because there was a clear and present danger and there was a madman named Adolph Hitler.
The cause was great, but our cause is greater still. We are engaged in spiritual warfare, in a battle for the lives and the very souls of men and women and children the world over, and we need you. We need you.
And so, we have this lesson from Mary on service. She said, “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord.” Douli. “I am a slave, a servant, of the Lord. I long to serve Him.” Is that true of you? Is that true of us? Do we long to serve Him? If so, it’s going to change our lives. We are going to begin to offer our time, our talent, and our treasure at the altar of His kingdom and in His service.
Mary spoke those incredible words in the Magnificant. Why is it called the Magnificant? Because at the beginning she says, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” The real issue is, who do you want to magnify? Who do I want to magnify? Do you want to magnify yourself or do you want to magnify Christ? If you want to magnify Christ, serve Him. If you want to magnify yourself, you will serve yourself. It’s a choice that people must make.
Well, finally, in Mary we see a lesson on meditation. Mary was a contemplative person. She was deep in her thinking. Three very critical words in Luke 1 and 2 are descriptive of Mary. First of all, in Luke, chapter 2, verse nineteen, the shepherds come to Mary. They have been visited by angels, by the angelic hosts. They tell Mary everything they have heard and seen. Then the Bible tells us Mary “ponders these things.” The Greek word is “sumballo,” which literally means, “to put pieces together,” “to connect the dots.” She pondered. She reflected. She contemplated. She thought. She was a deep-thinking person.
In Luke’s Gospel, the first chapter, the 29th verse, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary. Again, we are told that Mary ponders, she reflects. Here the Greek word is “logizomai” which means “to ponder” or “to contemplate.” It is the word from which we get the word “logic.” She thought deeply. In Luke’s Gospel, the second chapter, the 5th verse, at the close of the first two chapters of Luke and the story of the birth and childhood of Christ, we are told that Mary “treasured all of these things.” The Greek word is “diatereo.” The word “tereo” means “to keep,” and the prefix “dia” is intensive so that tereo means, “to treasure as precious.” That is how Mary viewed everything she heard and everything she saw and everything she experienced. She treasured it all as precious.
We live in a culture where people forget what they have heard in minutes or hours or, at the most, weeks. Many people come to worship services, they leave, they never think about it again. They certainly do not treasure it. Mary treasured, as precious, the Word of God and all that she experienced in the service of God. She was contemplative. She was reflective. She was deep. She was meditative. She is an example for us.
We live in a culture where very few people think. We are a television-addicted culture. People just want to escape. They just want to be entertained. We are a driven culture in terms of work. People are overly busy. This is particularly true in the Christmas season, as there is so much shopping to do and so many parties to go to. In the midst of it all, we also have all of our normal routines. Most people are too busy all year long. There is no time to think, no time to contemplate, no time to reflect. Mary is an example for us because Christ wants us to be contemplative people, particularly this time of year. Do not let all the Christmas events go by without stopping to think and pondering. Connect the dots.
Of course, all year round, as followers of Jesus Christ, we need to get away every day and find a tranquil place where we can read His Word and pray and reflect and think and go deep and ponder. That is true at Christmas and all year long. Christ wants us to be people who are reflective and deep.
So, we have these lessons from Mary concerning trust. “Be it done to me in accordance with Your Word. Be it done to me in accordance with Your will.” There is no contentment, no inner peace apart from trust. And we have a lesson on service. “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord.” And we have a lesson on meditation. Take time to ponder. Let us close with a word of prayer.