Embracing

Faithfully Embracing God’s Call (Luke 1:26-38)

We never know when or how God is going to use us. The challenge and the joy comes in living our lives in expectation of embracing whatever God sends our way. Mary’s Response (Luke 1:38) “I am the Lord’s (Greek: kurios, Supreme One’s) servant/handmaid (Greek: doule, female slave),” Mary answered. A slave is owned, a piece of property. Mary considers herself to be wholly the property of the God who created her, the God who prepared her for this moment, the God who now calls her to a saving purpose. (Compare: Ruth, Ruth 3:8-11, Hannah, 1 Sam. 1:9-11, Abigail, 1 Sam. 25:23-32) (See also: Luke 1:46-48) “May it be to me as you have said.” This is a thoughtful, obedient response to God’s revelation of her role in His plan. She trusts God and she submits herself to His will without reservation. She allows his wise and loving plan to be accomplished in her life. God wants to get this same response from each of us! (Contrast Sarah, Gen. 18:9-15: Is your faith like Sarah's or is it like Mary's? When confronted with humanly impossible situations do you, like Mary, put your faith and trust in God? Or, like Sarah, do you dismiss the situation as being impossible?) There needs to be a great long pause between Luke 1:37 and 38. Frederich Buechner, in his dictionary of biblical characters entitled Peculiar Treasures, describes that moment between verse 37 and verse 38 as the angel Gabriel waits for the answer of Mary. We need imagination for this moment now. Listen to these words: “She struck the angel Gabriel as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child, but he'd been entrusted with a message to give her, and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be named, and who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. "You mustn't be afraid, Mary," he said. And 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 now on the answer of a girl.”

In 1904 William Borden, heir to the Borden Dairy Estate, graduated from a Chicago high school. His graduation present was a trip around the world. Traveling through Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, Borden was really stricken by all the poverty and hunger he saw. Writing home, he said, "I'm going to give my life to prepare for the mission field." When he made this decision, he wrote in the back of his Bible two words: No Reserves. His parents tried to talk him out of it, but to no avail. He graduated from Yale University. Turning down high-paying job offers, he enrolled at Princeton Seminary. At this time, he entered two more words in his Bible: No Retreats. Completing studies at Princeton Seminary, Borden sailed for China to work with Muslims, stopping first in Egypt for some preparation. While there he was stricken with cerebral meningitis and died within a month. Most people said, "What a waste." Even Borden's parents thought this until they paged through his Bible. In his Bible, underneath the words No Reserves and No Retreats, he had written the words, No Regrets.