4 Advent
December 21, 2008
Used
by
John Christianson
Luke
1:26-36, 38
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was
sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name
was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgins name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, Greetings,
favored one! The Lord is with you. 29But
she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this
might be. 30The angel said to her, Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb
and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He
will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God
will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. 34Mary said to the angel, How can this
be, since I am a virgin? 35The angel said to 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 holy; he will be called
Son of God. 36And now, your relative
Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month
for her who was said to be barren. 37For
nothing will be impossible with God. 38Then
Mary said, Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to
your word. Then the angel departed from her.
Back when I was a little boy, some of the
young men were getting very important letters.
They started out, Greetings from the President of the United
States. You have been selected. . . Today, I would be honored to get a letter
like that. Only thing is, that was a
different age, and the stationery said Department of War. It was a draft notice. How many of you men here got one of those
letters? Raise your hand. You didnt seek it. You couldnt duck it like a shoe. It meant all of your dreams and plans would
be put on hold maybe permanently.
Somebody else would be making decisions for you. You were destined to be used.
Thats how it was for Mary too. There wasnt any advertisement posted on the
bulletin boards in Nazareth and the other towns of Judaea.
WANTED Handmaid of the Lord. Benefits: all generations will call you blessed. Liabilities: a sword will pierce your own soul also. Apply at your local synagogue. |
Neither did God send a dozen angels to a
dozen villages to collect résumés from a dozen virgins. Thats not how it worked.
God sent one angel to one maiden with a
draft notice: Greetings from the
Lord. You have been selected. . .
The
Beatles made a big thing out of her agreeing.
Let it be, she said. But
thats no great surprise. This message
wasnt just from the President of the United States. It was from the Lord himself and what Jewish girl would say No,
to God? And maybe you noticed, the
angel only mentioned the good part of the job.
He
will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God
will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. Certainly we can excuse
this young teen if it made her entertain some dreams of glory, like living in
the royal palace, an honored Queen Mother.
Notice, the angel didnt say anything about an urgent emergency stable,
or standing under a cross or beside a tragic tomb. No hint of that until forty days after Christmas when old Simeon
uttered those bewildering words, and a
sword will pierce your own soul also.
[Luke 2:35] I wonder, what did
old Simeon know? Where did he learn
it? Certainly its good that Mary
didnt know it! Maybe, momentarily, she
would have thought about being a conscientious objector before she said
okay. I think she would have cried
herself to sleep many times before she had to.
But
Mary was used. It sounds bad, but it
surely was an honor! She was used BY
GOD! Praise God that he condescended to
use Mary.
God
has used many people. Hes doing it all
the time.
Back in 1982 some of us were moved by people stealing
food in Minneapolis, so we organized the Garden and Pantry Truck as a food
sharing program. We started planning a
refrigerated semi that would run from Worthington to Minneapolis, pick up food all
along the way, and bring it to the hungry.
In
Minneapolis a black Pentecostal congregation bought a used synagogue. It had a huge kitchen. No way could they use it, but Dolly, the
pastors wife, thought about it for weeks.
She said she kept hearing this voice in her head saying, Feed the
hungry! Then she got an idea. Theyd feed the hungry.
In
Lake Lillian, Minnesota, an empty lot next to a church went up for sale. The pastor lived in a parsonage. Hed never owned real estate in his life, so
he bought the lot. Trying to figure out
what to do with it, he came up with a project.
The Sunday School would grow vegetables to feed the hungry. But they didnt have that many hungry people
in Lake Lillian, so he asked the bishop for advice. He said, Call John Christianson.
So we
set up the route. There were churches
in fifteen communities, every denomination, collecting food from all the
neighboring churches, and loading it into the refrigerated semi when Bernie and
I came by. It was a great trip!
When
we got home, Bernie and I were sitting in my kitchen telling my wife about
it.
So
there we were, hauling food into this Pentecostal synagogue, and Dolly said,
Land sakes, whered you get those cabbages.
Ive never seen cabbages like that in my life? Well, those cabbages were from Lake
Lillian. So, heres a congregation in
Cottonwood planning to bring food to the hungry, but needing the food. And heres a Sunday School in Lake Lillian
growing food to feed the hungry, and no hungry people. And finally, here we are carrying that food
into a church in Minneapolis with hungry folk and a kitchen to cook in, but no
food! And nobody coordinating.
Bernie got a funny look on his face. He said, You know, I think weve been
used. I had the same feeling.
If
God has a job to do, God sets out and finds the people to do it. Didnt he use Mary in a great way? Surely God can use us in small ways. And when you know youve been used by God,
theres no greater feeling!
Ill
bet many of you have similar stories.
Im sure there are a hundred stories like that in this sanctuary. Maybe we can start sharing them at the
coffee pot after worship.
So
we will bless Mary for being used and glorify God for using her and giving us a
Savior. Thats the big stuff! But lets not end there. Lets open our ears, look around, and see if
maybe God isnt looking to use us.
Theres nothing to compare with being USED by God.
Amen.
(Comments to John at john.christianson@comcast.net )