“People to meet in heaven: Mary”
Luke 1:38
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Ever heard of a woman named Betty Zane? Probably not, unless you’re a real student of the Revolutionary War.
Betty grew up near a place called Wheeling, West Virginia and attended school in Philadelphia. But on September 11, 1782, as fifty British soldiers and two hundred and fifty Native Americans attacked Fort Henry, she was trapped inside. And worse yet, there were only twenty men old enough to defend the fort and they were running out of gunpowder. But that’s when Betty’s brother, Ebenezer, remembered that he had accidentally left a keg of gunpowder back home.
So what could they do? A few of the boys volunteered to go get it. But if they did, they would likely be shot and killed, leaving them even more short-handed. That’s when Betty spoke up and said, “I am of no use here in the fort. I cannot fight, but I can bring the powder.”
So off she went to get the powder, hoping that neither the British nor the Natives would shoot a girl.
And just as soon as she made it to the house, she grabbed the powder, tucked it under her apron, and sprinted back to the fort. But that’s when they fired at her, tearing her dress.
Somehow, she safely made it back inside, delivered the powder and, in her own small way, helped to win the Revolutionary War. Today, historians call her, “The Heroine of Fort Henry.”
Now here’s a question. How old do you think she was when she helped to win the Revolutionary War? The correct answer is…17.
The world has known some amazing young women. Malala Yousafzai won a Nobel Peace Prize at the age of eighteen, the youngest person ever! And Mo’ne Davis earned a place on the cover of Sports Illustrated and in the Baseball Hall of Fame at the age of thirteen!
Over the past number of months, we’ve talked about some amazing men and woman we want to meet in heaven, like a prophet named Jeremiah, a disciple named Stephen, two midwives named Shiphrah and Puah, and a queen named Esther.
But of all the ones we’d like to meet in heaven, truly one of the most important is a young woman named Mary.
Please turn with me in your Bible to page 1088, as I read the words of Luke chapter 1. I’ll start at verse 35: “And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”
When the Bible speaks of Mary, it actually says quite a lot. In fact, we probably know more about her than anyone else, except Peter, Paul and John.
Think about it—we know her husband, Joseph. We know her relatives, Zechariah and Elizabeth. We know a hymn she sang, a song called the Magnificat. We know she traveled from Nazareth, to Bethlehem, to Egypt, and then back to Nazareth again. We know she and Joseph dedicated their little boy Jesus in the temple, and we know they visited again when He was twelve years old. We know she asked Jesus to help a newly married couple at their wedding in Cana of Galilee. We know she stood with Him at His crucifixion and that she was numbered among the first Christians in Acts chapter 1. And we know that her son, James, would lead the church in Jerusalem.
But what we don’t know is how hard it must have been to be Mary—to hear the angel Gabriel say, “Fear not, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. For He will save His people from their sins,” and to hear her cousin Elizabeth say, “When I heard the sound of your greeting, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”
And what a burden it must have been to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem, so pregnant, and to give birth in a humble cattle stall. Yet how glorious to see shepherds and wise men, kneeling, bowing, to meet their newborn King, something she pondered so deeply in her heart.
And as she brought the boy Jesus to the temple for the very first time, to dedicate Him to the Lord, how it must have cut her to the heart to hear old Simeon say, “A sword will pierce your own soul too.”
But as He grew to become a Man, as he changed water into wine, she knew His time had come. That’s why it was no surprise that, one day, when she tried to speak to Him, she couldn’t reach Him because of the crowd. Men told Him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.” He answered, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear the Word of God.”
But what unfathomable grief to see Him torn, bloody, and beaten, nailed to a cross. “Dear woman, behold your son,” He said. And to John, “Behold your mother.” Yet what joy to see Him, to hold Him, and to worship Him, risen from the dead!
Each year, as we celebrate Christmas, we sing some of the most beautiful songs of all, songs like “Silent Night! Holy Night!” “Away in a Manger,” and “The First Noel.”
But one of the newer songs of Christmas is one called, “Mary Did You Know?” Written back in 1991, it’s only twenty-five years old.
Apparently, as the story goes, a pastor asked one of his members, Mark Lowry, to write a Christmas program for his church, one called, “The Living Christmas Tree.” And as he started to write, he said he began to wonder if Mary realized the power, the authority, and the majesty that she cradled in her arms that very first Christmas. He wondered if she knew that those little hands were the same hands that scooped out oceans and formed rivers. And he started to think of questions he would ask if he were to sit down with her: “What was it like to raise God?” “What did you know?” and “What didn’t you know?” Then he said, “Over time, the song just happened.”
In part, this is how it goes: “Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water? Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters? Did you know that your Baby Boy has come to make you new? This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.”
What Gabriel asked of Mary that day, wouldn’t be easy. In fact, it would be one of the hardest things anyone could ever do. To say yes meant certain misunderstanding and public shame. To say yes would ruin her pure reputation, and bring dreams of a quiet life in Nazareth crashing to an end.
Besides, she had no way of knowing what Joseph would do. Would he shame her or humiliate her? Would he publicly disgrace her?
Even more, she couldn’t possibly have known what the future would bring—all the heartache, the opposition, the slander, the confusion, the anguish, the despair, the loneliness. And in the end, she would face the greatest pain any mother could ever face—to witness the death of her firstborn Son.
Still, by the grace of God, she knelt in fear and wonder, and said, “Yes.” She said yes to the plan and the will of God.
Author Marjorie Tallcott once wrote about her life at the time of the Great Depression. She was married with one child. And just like everyone else, her small family had little food and even less money. Somehow, they managed to scrape by.
But as Christmas approached that year, Marjorie and her husband couldn’t afford to buy any presents. So a week before Christmas, they sat down with their six-year-old son, Pete, to explain why there would be no presents this year. “But I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” said his father. “We’ll make pictures of the presents we’d like to give to each other.”
So that week, Marjorie and her husband got to work. And when Christmas finally came, the family woke up to find their skimpy little tree adorned with picture-presents of all kinds. There was a black limousine and a red speedboat for dad, a diamond-studded bracelet and a fur coat for mom, and a camping tent and a swimming pool for little Pete.
That’s when Pete pulled out a picture-present of his own--a crayon drawing of a man, a woman and a little boy with their arms around each other, laughing. And under the picture was just one word: “Us.”
Years later, Marjorie said that, though they had nothing, that was the richest, most beautiful Christmas of all.
When Jesus came that very first Christmas, that too was the greatest gift anyone could ever give, for He gave Himself fully, wholly, completely, so that you and I might be saved.
That is, after all, what Peter once preached at Pentecost: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Dear Father, we thank You for Mary who gave herself to You so humbly and completely. Grant that we too may follow her example in faith and life as we seek to faithfully follow You. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen