Sacred Mundane: The Blog

Anticipation has been building for thousands of years. I don’t know what it looked like in the heavenly realm, but I can only imagine the excitement of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, perfectly united and sacredly beside themselves anticipating their eternal Rescue Mission, about to break through from heaven to earth. The stage had been set, the prophecies spoken, the longing, the aching, the waiting, the time of fulfillment had come.

Gabriel would go first. 

And he would go to her. Dewy-eyed young Mary, barely filled out and stepping timidly from childhood to womanhood. Perhaps 13 and newly betrothed. Was she ready to bear the weight of responsibility that marriage would bring?  Before she has time to find out, she’s visited by an angel, and told — surprise! — she’s going to give birth to the Son of God.

Umm … that wasn’t in her plan. 

When the angel appeared we read that she’s “greatly troubled.”  Yes, I’d say so!  But Gabriel assures her,

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”  (Luke 1:30)

Basically, the greatest rescue mission plan the world has ever known is being birthed, quite literally, through a frail teen girl. How good of a plan is that?

Perhaps God didn’t realize that teen girls are the most unstable species on the planet?  

I mean, do you remember being thirteen? My boy-crushes changed with the weather and I could easily swing from elation to depression based on who came to my birthday party. I mean truly, entrusting the glory of God to teen girl?  What if she botched the whole thing?  Probably not the plan I would have chosen.

Good thing I’m not the one choosing the plans.

Because this, God’s plan, was perfect. Mary was not perfect, but she was a godly young girl, a vessel fit to carry the glory of God. In her womb, at her breast, on her hip. She would carefully carry this precious life and play a quiet and exquisite role in the unfolding drama that would change our world forever.

So what was she like? A few thoughts from the sacred account in Luke 1 and 2 …

:: Mary was courageous. It’s hard for us to understand how terrifying this mission would be. She was not married. I don’t know about you, but being unwed and pregnant was terrifying to me as a teen. (A good fear!) It’s hard to even comprehend all that was at stake for Mary to accept this mission. Surely Joseph would cancel the wedding (technically a “divorce” since they were betrothed), and would surely be ridiculed, cast out, rejected, alone. Who would really believe that she’d been visited by an angel and conceived by the Spirit of God? And yet, her response:

“Behold I am the servant of the Lord, let it be according to your world” (v. 38).

Guts. That’s what this girl had. Why? She knew her God. She knew that He was trustworthy, that He would never leave her or forsake her. All other fears bowed down to the fear of God — who was above all good.

:: Mary was confident. Because she was courageous, this enabled her to be confident as she carried out the mission of God. This enabled her to look to the future with faith, confidently knowing that God would only have good things in store. Even though at this time I’m sure hundreds of people would talk badly about her, turn on her, betray her, she says nothing about this rejection and instead looks to the future and says,

“For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed” (v. 48).

And we do. We now see the picture that even Mary did not see. She is blessed because she believed — and obeyed — before the entire picture was made clear. Why? She knew her God. She knew that He is good and does good. He is trustworthy for all the things she did not yet know.

Tomorrow we’ll look at two more characteristics Mary exhibited.  How grateful are we that she wasn’t your typical teen?

And how grateful are we that we serve a glorious God?  More tomorrow … thanks for reading. 

It was the final day of School of Ministry — a one-year Bible training school I attended after college. We sat in a circle, and the final exam was given. It was just one question:

Is God’s glory safe with you? 

Not a question to answer aloud but one to ask ourselves. A daily exam for our hearts as we ventured into ministry. Our common passion was to move about our world, through motherhood or mission work and everything in between, with the goal of bringing God glory. Every effort is for this ultimate purpose.

But could we be trusted not to touch the glory?

The object of Lucifer’s greed was nothing less than the glory of God. All glory belongs to Him, and yet we all, glory-hounds in our hearts, can be so tempted to touch it, taste it, receive it into ourselves where it, wrongly placed, festers and grows like a cancer.  We were never meant to receive the glory.

The word “glory” speaks of weight, of weightiness. Simply put, our feeble frames were never intended to carry the weight of glory only fit for God. He is the only One great enough, powerful enough, big enough, the only one fit to carry this weight of glory. When we try, we are crushed. We see it again and again in celebrities or famous figures — perhaps we call it falling off the pedestal. It’s the same thing:

Feeble frames are crushed under the weight of trying to bear glory that belongs to God. 

It is ironic then, that some faiths have done this very thing to Mary. I am convinced this is the last thing she would have wanted. She was, in every way, a girl who was entrusted with the glory of God. She literally carried the glory of God inside her womb, at her breast, on her hip. And yet she never sought it for herself. It is tragic that so many have mistreated her by worshipping her.

So then what do we do with Mary?

While we certainly shouldn’t worship her, there are qualities about her that made her a safe vessel for the glory of God.  True, it was simply God’s sovereign choice, and yet clearly she manifested the characteristics of humble servant, an empty vessel who would safely carry the glory of God without taking it for herself.

What was it about her? Tomorrow and Thursday we’ll look at four things I admire about Mary, related to this idea of God’s glory being safe with us. She was simply a girl entrusted with the glory of God. Perhaps we can learn from her, and grow in our own ability to carry His glory to the world, amen?

{See you tomorrow, and thanks for reading.}