Better Not Pout …. I’m telling you why

Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.”
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town. He’s making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty and nice, Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.”
I have never really liked that song. You can’t fool Santa …. He knows it all.  He knows that I used to steal money from brothers and sister. He knows I lied to mom about what time I got in at night as a teen. He knows I used to cuss up a storm with my friends who lived in the neighborhood. What chance do I have for a decent Christmas present now? I might as well just keep on being bad. He knows I have done all these bad things. There is no way I was going to get any kind of descent Christmas presents with all the bad stuff I have done.

As we get older and wiser we tend to equate the same thoughts when it comes to our relationship with God. He knows when I stole money. He knows about every time I lied. He knows I used to cuss up a storm. He knows I have done a lot more bad things. There is no way he could love me. There is no way I could have any kind of descent relationship with him after all the bad stuff I have done. He sees me when I am sleeping – he knows when I am awake. He knows when I’ve been good and bad so I’d better be good for His sake. Or, for the sake of today’s entry, so I’d better be good to find God’s favor.

Mary found favor with God. Out of all the women in the world God could have chosen … why did he choose Mary? Why was Mary the favored one? We really don’t know much about Mary so we can’t be completely sure why. We can guess a little bit about what kind of woman she was to find favor with God and bear the Savior of the world.We have learned that Mary was a humble servant. We have learned that she was a patient woman.We have learned that she was kind. But the Bible doesn’t really tell us these things. There was something different about her compared to  the other millions of women that God could have chosen.

What does it mean to be in God’s favor?

Trying to explain what it means to be in God’s favor is like trying to explain why my wife and I chose each other. There are a lot of variables and there really is not systematic way of trying to explain it. I could try to explain it but I really can’t explain all the variables involved. You have to discover and experience it for yourself.

When a young man asked me how I knew how my wife was the one – I gave him the most profound answer a pastor could give to a student – I just knew! I wanted to know her. He came to me several times with the same question and my an answer was the same. He called me from Denver, Co one day and told me,  “now I get it. I know!” That’s all he said …. I knew he was getting married.

To understand what it means to be in God’s favor we first must understand that we are all in God’s favor..

John 3:16 reminds us, “For God so loved the world that he have his one and only son and whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

Not everyone wants to be in God’s favor – so they reject Him.  Not everyone wants to know God – so they reject Him. Not everyone wants to love God back – so they reject him. Those who don’t want to be in God’s favor – won’t be.Those who don’t want to know God – won’t be. Those who don’t want to love God back won’t be in God’s favor.

Finding favor with God is not a magical formula you can put together and then expect God to be pleased with you and bless you. Mary was not just sitting around expecting God to reward her at any moment. She loved God. She was kind to others. She was patient and was the Lord’s servant. This tells me she was willing to do anything for God. She didn’t choose to be the mother of God’s son but she accepted the opportunity to be the mother of God’s son.

God wants to use all His favored ones. Like Mary, when God wants to use you …. you will be surprised. You just don’t sit around and wait for it. You can’t figure out when, where, why, and how – you are just surprised.

This surprise was going to cost Mary. She could be stoned. She would be rejected by her community. She disappointed Joseph. Her family probably rejected her. She probably experienced anger from her earthly father and got a disappointing look from her earthly mother.

Even though she didn’t choose this direction for her life, she accepted the opportunity to serve God by being the mother of God’s son because she belonged to God and God promised to never leave or forsake her. She had confidence that God was not going to abandon her and let her face this cruel world alone.

You might be in God’s favor but does not mean you deserve certain things from him. It doesn’t give you any entitlement rights. It doesn’t mean you will be chosen to do the grand thing that Mary did. But you will be chosen to do something.

You and I, like Mary, have been chose to serve God. We have accepted his love for us. We have accepted that He is in control. We have accepted that he has plans to prosper us and give us a hope and a future. For Mary, God showed up to her in a big way! And by her reaction – she wasn’t expecting it at all.

Vs 29 says, “Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.”

Like Mary, God comes to each one us. I can’t tell you when, where, why, and how. Like I tried to explain to my youth student many years ago – but you will know.

This is how you will know……

For Mary, what the angel told her, was going to require a miracle inside of her. Mary reminds the angel that she is a virgin and cannot become pregnant. But God tells her, “nothing is impossible with me.”

When God wants to use you …. It will seem impossible to you. Growing up I was nerd. I was smart in school. I was also this short little kid who loved to play sports but wasn’t very good at any of them. I was always picked last because I was the shortest. I was picked on, made fun of because of my glasses and high water pants and turtle neck shirts. I was bullied at school and loved at church. For some reason when I was 18 years old, my pastor picked me to be a part of discipleship group with other adults. Not only was I part of the group. I was required to lead one Bible study with adults. I was terrified and is seemed impossible. I had never lead anything in my life.  To me, at the time,  it seemed impossible. Now it’s the thing I love to do the most.  God took this backward little boy and worked a miracle inside of Him.

God makes the impossible – possible. God’s power will be with us to make the impossible possible. God’s power will make the uncomfortable, comfortable. God’s power will make the awkward moments– divine moments.  When you are doing something that will honor God – your fears turn into faith, your doubt turns into divine duty, and your awkwardness turns into something awesome. This is what God’s power does. I have never seen a mountain move or a sea parted, but I have seen lives transformed because they accepted the assignment and did what once seemed impossible – possible. I have seen marriages restored.
I have seen men start to love their wives and families and be the godly leaders in their home. I have seen hundreds of teens come to know Christ through sports.I have seen God do the impossible in mine and other people’s lives – and I got to be a part of it.

When God wants to use you – it will cost you everything. He will use those who are willing to give up their time, their money, and their entire lifestyle. Look at what Mary and Joseph gave up. Their community rejected them. They gave up their desired lifestyle. They literally risked their life bringing God’s son into the world. For what? To be used by God to change the course of history for everyone.

Mary’s response to this amazing unfolding of God’s plan is simply, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

Are you the Lord’s servant? Are you willing to give up your time, money, and your entire life style to change someone’s history? Being God’s servant is not a burden we carry but it is an honor we have in serving others. This is what God is asking his favored ones to do. We are not here for ourselves … we are here to change someone’s history and make their history, his-story.

God needs some “YES” people – are you one of them?