Monday, December 16, 2019

According to Your Word!

The words above are powerful words.  They set into motion all of the vast and life-changing possibilities that God sees and imagines for your life.  They are submission.  They are trust.  They are giving to God everything including self.  They are uncomfortable.  And, they are beautiful.

In Luke 1:38, we hear these words from a teenager that is filled with fear and expectation, terror and awe, unworthiness and honor.  She is wise beyond her years as she responds to the calling of God, spoken through the angel Gabriel.  I might have bolted out of the door.  I might have been incapacitated by sheer terror.  But Mary says those beautiful words ... "Behold the maidservant of the Lord.  Let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38)."

Let's see how these words can lead us to both obedience and the full blessing of God.  First, they are words of submission.  To follow God, we must allow God to be in control.  We must not ask "what do I want?" or "How can this benefit me."  We must, instead, ask "What does God want?"  or "How can I react to benefit God and God's Church?"  Daily decisions, large and small, are entwined with these questions.  How will I answer them?

Second, these words imply a trust of God's direction.  Last Sunday at the 1st service I had planned a short homily that I was ready to deliver.  During the music and preparation time God was speaking and leading in another direction.  I threw those notes away and hopefully followed where and how God was leading.  It is always about God's message, direction and God's Word.

Finally, on a very musical note, Mary's words express the tune (attitude) of her life.  In the 1st service we discovered that the weather and humidity changes had caused the piano to be about 1/2 step low.  Since we can't tune a piano on the fly, all the guitars, the cello and the bass had to tune down a bit so that all of us were tuned together.  Often, we ask God to change to accommodate our "tuning."  God does not do that.  Mary's words here are all about the tune of her life.  She wants to be in tune with God and asks God to change her to conform to the perfect plan God has in mind for her.  Maybe I, our church, our denomination and our nation can learn something from a little, scared teenager ... "Behold the maidservant of the Lord.  Let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38)." AMEN

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