I Am the Lord's Servant

Introduction

We begin a new series of sermons today on the Gospel of Luke. This series will last well into next year. The Gospel of Luke is really part one of two parts. The other part is Acts. Both written by the physician Luke, they are intended to be a historical account of the life of Jesus and the activity of the early church. But we are to see them as a part of the whole. Luke was not writing two different accounts but one long account of the work of God in this world. Luke’s intended audience were Gentile Christians.

There are several reasons why Luke wrote Luke-Acts. First, according to 1:3-4, he wanted to help his readers know the truthfulness of what they had been taught. Second, while Luke writes from a historical perspective, he is not writing history as we might understand it. His purpose is to reveal that God is actively involved in the events of history. It isn’t enough to give facts, names, and dates; Luke wants his readers to understand those things in light of God’s active participation in those events. Third, Luke announces the coming of the kingdom of God with the presence of Jesus. The word “kingdom” is used 40 times in Luke. Fourth, Luke writes Luke-Acts to demonstrate the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is mentioned 17 times in Luke and 70 times in Acts. Finally, Luke writes to focus on the downtrodden and outcasts of society. The poor, tax collectors, sinners, Gentiles, and women are often focused on in Luke-Acts. The point is that God is concerned about these folks.

All five of these reasons are found in our text this morning. We will be looking at Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she is going to give birth to the Son of God. We will hear for ourselves Mary’s response and we will try to place ourselves into her shoes for a few moments and recognize the impact of her decision to be a part of God’s plan. But most of all we will focus this morning on the element of praise. Luke begins and ends with praise. Mary’s song of praise begins this writing and in 24:53, the apostles end this account with praise. When one has been touched by the presence of God, then praise is the natural result.

Do you realize the significance of God coming into our world? We say that with such regularity that we miss its impact. God came into our world. He was not willing to stand by and watch. He entered our world. He became flesh. He lived with us. He ate, drank, slept, and ran the gamut of emotions. He came to experience this world as we do. We have been touched by the grace of God. Is there any praise for the Father this morning? Is your heart filled with a desire to exalt God’s name? Join with me in a prayer of praise.

An Angel’s Visit

The angel Gabriel visits Mary. This is Gabriel’s second earthly visit. Six months before, he had visited Zechariah and foretold about the birth of John who would become the baptizer. We find out from 1:19 that Gabriel’s job is to be in God’s presence and to go as he is instructed to deliver news. As with Zechariah, so it is with Mary. Gabriel has been sent to tell her some good news.

Notice in verse 28. Gabriel announces that God favors Mary with his presence. She is being selected to do God’s will. Mary is rightly afraid. After all, angelic appearances are not common occurrences. Gabriel announces again that God is going to favor her with a task. She is going to give birth to a child. But not just any child—this is the Son of the Most High. This child will inaugurate the kingdom of God upon this earth. All of this before marriage. Mary rightly asks in verse 34, “How will this be since I am a virgin?”

Gabriel tells her that the Holy Spirit would bring this about. Miraculously, she would conceive. There is no sexual language here. Notice the purposes of Luke found in this section. The activity of God, the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, the coming of the kingdom, and the focus on the downtrodden. Mary is a poor peasant girl. She is not wealthy. She has no claim to fame. According to the custom of the day, she would have been about 13 years old—a poor young Jewish girl. Pregnancy would have resulted in ostracism. We know from Matthew that Joseph took her as his wife, but people can do the math. By the time they married, the baby would have been born just a few months later.

Can you imagine the stigma that would have been attached to her? In our day and time, having a baby before marriage is not stigmatized nearly as much. Realize Mary’s predicament. She is a young girl in a small town whose religion emphasizes sexual purity. Such a blatant disregard for religious law would have led to being a social outcast. How do we know this is the case? Look at John 8:41. In a confrontation with religious leaders, Jesus is called an illegitimate child. God favoring Mary with a task stuck with her and her son for the remainder of her days. From this day forward she would be known as a woman who broke the law of God. But the truth was she obeyed God.

Look in Luke 1:38. “I am the Lord’s Servant. May it be to me as you have said.” And with those words Mary allowed God to change the course of history through her. Did she understand the consequences of her decision? Did she understand that she was going to be an outcast? Did she understand that her fiancée would have left her had it not been for divine intervention? What did her parents think? Were there days when she wanted to hide the obvious child?

Our Response

This is not a time to praise Mary. The truth is she is one of a long list of individuals who have been used by God to fulfill His will. Mary reminds us in her song that the focus is on what God is doing. God came into this world. He came through a poor young peasant girl. By doing so, God demonstrates that it isn’t achievement that impresses him. It is a willing heart. It is a servant heart. It is a heart that says “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Such a heart rejoices because God is using them to fulfill his will, even if it comes at great personal cost.

We want to praise God when good things happen. When things are going smoothly we want to extol the greatness of God. But what about when our service to him leads to being a social outcast? Being God’s servant doesn’t mean things are going to be easy. In fact, the opposite is true. We try to take the edge off of being a follower. We try to point out the benefits—and there are many. But we forget about the challenges, which makes being God’s servant real and worthwhile. We need a challenge. When God entered this world, he could have done so in any way he wanted to.

Why did God choose the lowly to enter this world? We are supposed to understand that when God entered this world, he played by the rules of this world. The poor are ignored. The poor are worthless. So God chose to come into this world through the ignored and worthless. As Philip Yancey in his book The Jesus I Never Knew says, “Jesus grew up in a small town in which a boy of questionable paternity is not treated kindly.” So where does Mary’s song of praise fit? Maybe it fits because she understood something that we need to understand. There is nothing better than being God’s servant, even if it results in discomfort in this life. “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Mary knew she had a purpose to fulfill. It wouldn’t be easy. It would be a real challenge. But she wanted to serve God more than anything else.

John Howard Griffin lived in the racially segregated South in 1958. He knew that the black man was being treated unfairly, but as a white man he couldn’t fully appreciate the black man’s plight. So he made a decision. He would become a black man. He had his skin chemically treated and for six weeks walked the streets as a black man. He found out what it was like to have to walk blocks looking for a drink of water at a black-approved water fountain. He found out what it meant to ride public transportation and be forced to the rear. He found out that only certain restaurants served black men. He discovered that words had a different meaning for a black man. Griffin wrote about his experiences in the book Black Like Me. He became a black man in order to experience a different world. That is what Jesus did. He came into our world and put on our skin so that he could experience a different world.

He came into our world through the pit of society. The rich ignored him. The powerful rejected him. The religious laughed at him. No claim to fame. The Son of God was not here to impress people. He was here to do God’s will. His mother was like him. As Philip Yancey in his book The Jesus I Never Knew reminds us, Mary “was the first person to accept Jesus on his own terms, regardless of the personal cost.” Will you accept Jesus on his own terms? Are you up to the challenge? Accepting Jesus will result in forgiveness of sins, but it will also result in great personal cost. With the joy will surely come a time of pain. “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Will you say those words now? Such a confession will result in praise for what God is going to do through you. There is no greater joy nor challenge than being God’s servant.

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