 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
"Give It Up" Page 1  | 2 | 3
| 4 | |
Mike Slaughter  |
|||
 I
wasn't feeling like Christmas until last night. I was gathered in this
room with 250 kids from all of our Clubhouse projects and 100 of their
parents. To see the people serve and to see the expression on those
kids' faces. It was an incredible night. I'm feeling like Christmas
now.If you could ask God for
anything, what would it be? To sum it up in one word, most of what we
pray about falls into the category of longevity. In other words, we
pray for length of life and satisfying days. Somehow, whether it's health,
protection, provision, or whatever, it falls into that category of longevity.
At age fifty I have become more aware of my mortality. I understand
now that the measure of my life will not be the length of my days. We
have had over thirty funerals this year at  Ginghamsburg
Church and most of those funerals have been for people under 55 years
of age. One of the young men, 32 years old, was in the class that is
joining this evening. He died unexpectedly this fall. Todd Kress, a
25-year-old who grew up in this church,  was
killed by a hit-and-run driver in Colorado. Last week we had his memorial
service here and people came from all over the country. I realized that
Todd didn't have a great span of days, but he had a great span of influence.
I'm learning the measure of my life will not be the length of my days.
It's not about longevity, it's about legacy. It's about being a part
of giving your life to something that's greater than you are. |
||||
|
Luke 1:30-37 30: But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31: You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33: and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." 34: "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 35: The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36: Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37: For nothing is impossible with God." |
We
are in the first chapter of Luke during these weeks of the advent season,
anticipating God's miracle through our lives. Luke wants us to see a
contrast. We've been talking about the first two characters. Now we
are going to be introduced to the third - Mary, the mother of Jesus,
who was probably somewhere between 12 and 14 years of age. The contrast
is between this young girl that was fertile for God's miracle, fertile
for faith, and an aging priest who had become infertile and routine
in his expectation. You'd expect it to be the other way around. But
somehow the older we grow, the more resistant or inflexible we become
to the possibility of the great things God wants to do. I'm going to
begin in verse 30. The angel has just appeared. This is the same angel,
Gabriel, who appeared to Zechariah and told him that in their old age
he and Elizabeth would become pregnant with John the Baptist. Gabriel
told Mary that she was going to become pregnant with the Savior of the
world. But the angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary, you have found
favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son and you
are to give him the name Jesus." I want to point out something again.
Why Christianity? Of all the religions in the world, this is what God
is doing differently. It was the custom of this culture for the man
to name the baby. But the angel said Mary was going to name the baby
Jesus. That's why I'm a Christian. It's the liberation of all people.
Not just male people, not just people who speak a certain language or
come from a certain part of the world, but the liberation of all people.
"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord
God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign
over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end. 'How will
this be' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?'" There are
two meanings there. A virgin was someone who was under 14 years of age
(all people under that age). A virgin was also someone who had not yet
had intimate relationships. The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will
come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So
the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth,
your relative, is going to have a child in her old age and she who was
said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with
God." I hope you have verse 37 underlined. Here is the key verse for
this weekend: "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to
me as you have said." Then the angel left. Of all the people that God
could choose to be the mother of our Lord, why Mary? Mary, at this young
age, had such a clear sense of her identity. She understood, even before
the angel showed up, whose she was. "I am the Lord's servant." Your
identity, your understanding of who you are in relationship to God is
basically reflected in your prayers. We don't intend this, but many
times when we pray our prayers are generally about provision - about
protection for me and mine. My family, my children. My son is in the
middle of exams. You'd better believe that was one of the things I was
praying about this week. And if you really look at our prayers, so many
of our prayers have to do with God serving us. It's like we expect God
to be a cosmic Santa Claus who spends the entire 24-hour period of every
day taking care of all of our needs. Protecting, providing, and making
sure that everyone's back is covered all of the time. "What do you want
me to do for you? Well, Lord here's what I need . . ." |
|||
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||