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(Slide 1) Those that know me well should not be surprised that I developed a sermon series
called (Slide 2) Family Tree…a series that explores what we can learn from the genealogy of
Jesus found in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Family history is my hobby. I can spend hours and hours,
as my wife puts it, (Slide 3) “searching for dead people.”

It’s my mom’s fault. I totally put the blame on her! She’s the one that began the study of our
family history, back when it was hard to do! She made each of my siblings and me an incredible
family history scrap book with historic details and pictures. It’s a treasure! And when she
started researching, you had to visit libraries and dusty archive rooms, rifling through old books
and newspapers. Now, with a few clicks of the mouse in the comfort of your living room, you
can go back hundreds of years. But I’m so glad she passed this love of family history on to me.

(Slide 4)How many of you have watched the PBS show, “Finding Your Roots”? It’s such an
incredible show, at least a genealogy geek like me thinks so. They invite celebrities on and do
the research in order to their reveal family histories to them. Often the guests see patterns or
traits represented in ancestors long passed that they can see repeated in themselves.

Our family histories. Although they don’t have the final say, they play a significant part in
shaping who we are. Both nature, that is, our DNA, and nurture, that is, the manner in which
our parents raised and taught us, are important in who we turn out to be in the new families
we create and as citizens of our communities. (Slide 5) I can tell you that not only did I get my
love for family history from my mom, but I also got my love for travel, my appreciation of
nature and my affection for animals from her as well. And guess what? (Slide 6) She inherited
those same affinities from her father!

Have you ever thought about the fact that the same could be said of Jesus? (Slide 7)At first you
may think it’s a little blasphemous to say that, right? After all, Jesus was God. 100% God. But
remember, although it’s beyond our human understanding, Jesus was also 100% human. His
parents taught him to walk, how to eat by himself, his first words, how not to touch the hot fire.
Though completely divine, Mary and Joseph helped to shape Jesus into who He was as a human
being. Perhaps Jesus liked certain foods as an adult because of how Mary prepared them when
He was little. Maybe Jesus carried himself in a certain manner because He watched His stepdad
Joseph as He grew up.

Today, as part of the Family Tree series, we are going to talk about (Slide 8) Mary the mother of
Jesus. The real Mary. From the very beginning of the church, Mary has been a source of
controversy. Who was she? Exactly what role did she play in the life of Jesus and in the life of
the church…and even in our lives today? Our Catholic friends give Mary a lot of attention and
honor. But their honor goes quite a bit too far as they see her as playing a role in our
redemption. She is given the role of mediator for those who pray, and the title of the Queen of
Heaven. In my search of the scriptures, I can’t seem to find this anywhere. To my Catholic
friends, I must say to you: Mary had an incredible faith, but she was a fallen human, just like
you and me. She was a sinner in need of a Savior, but we’ll talk about this more later.
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However, in reaction to all of this, perhaps we non-Catholics don’t talk about Mary enough. We
bring her out at Christmas, and she becomes a nice little addition to the Nativity Scenes on our
mantels. (Put Mary figurine on the pulpit.) By the way, I’ve got a great story with this Mary
figurine. Back when I wanted to ask Stacey to marry me, I thought It would be fun to get
creative do a little word-picture play, so I gave her four presents. She opened the first, a wagon
wheel. (Slide 9)And I talked to her about how I wanted our love to be forever, just like the circle
of the wheel. Then I gave her this little stuffed sheep, (Slide (Slide 10) and I talked about how
Jesus was the good Shepherd, and how I wanted Him to be the head of our relationship always.
Then I gave her this little figure of Mary (Slide 11) from a Nativity set I had purchased, and I
talked about what a woman of faith Mary was, and how that reminded me of Stacey. And then
lastly, I gave her a picture of me (Slide 12) and talked about it represented me giving myself to
her. So, I lined up the four presents as she opened and I talked, and then I got on my knee and
said, (Slide 13) “Now I only have one question for you. Will you marry me?” And she said YES!

Well, we did all of this at the house of some friends, and when they heard her squealing, they
came out from the other side of the house and looked at the four presents and said, “Oh how
cute: (Slide 14) Wheel – Ewe – Mary – Me! How clever!” To which Stacey went
“OOOOOOOOOH! Those gifts mean that!?!?” (Slide 15) She had totally missed it! Thankfully she
had already said yes, despite her missing my cheesy attempt at creativity.

Anyway, that has nothing to do with the sermon; I just thought you’d enjoy having a laugh at
our expense this morning. But we need to get to it! Let’s talk about Mary. (Slide 16) Now, just
like many of the Catholics have gotten Mary wrong, the Marys in our nativity sets are a bit off as
well. First, Mary didn’t walk around with a halo around her head like this one here. And she
certainly wasn’t a white European. Nor was she as grown as this figurine appears to be. And as
for having just given birth to a baby …well, let’s just say she’s a bit too “put together”. Mamas
in the room, how many of you looked this perfect and serene in the delivery room? Now
imagine giving birth outside in the streets or in a stable???

Addison Stovall sang a great song last year at Christmas, that talked about a Nativity Scene
Mary: (Slide 17)
Mary you look so serene, far too pretty, much too clean
We might think we know you well, but what stories would you tell
Of all the dirt and dust and shame, every burning labor pain
And as I turn to walk away, I hear you say: I am real.

I want us to talk about the real Mary. (Slide 18) Who was she? Most scholars believe, because
of the engagement customs of the time, that she was only about 13, maybe 16 at the most. She
was from an extremely small, podunk, poor Jewish town called Nazareth. Because of where she
was from, she was certainly poor as well. And although the town was Jewish, it and all the
surrounding areas were ruled by an oppressive, yet “peaceful” Roman Empire, that kept this
“peace” at the cost of any lives who dared to oppose it.
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As you saw in the video earlier, and as you can read in Luke chapter 1, Mary was young,
unmarried, and has now been presented with the news that she is miraculously expecting a
child. Now, for a young woman her age today, that would be a real problem, but for a young
engaged girl in Mary’s time, and in her strict middle eastern Jewish religious culture, this could
very well be a death sentence. You see, engagement was a legal contract, and although the
couple did not live as husband and wife, the same rules still applied. The penalty for stepping
outside this contract was clear: Mary could legally be stoned to death according to Old
Testament law. And a miraculous pregnancy? Who was going to believe that nonsense?

Knowing all this, the young teen Mary amazes us all by her incredible, faithful response to the
angel’s news that she would be carrying the Savior of the world. (Slide 19) Look at Luke 1:38
from the NKJV: (Slide 20) 38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to
me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38a - NKJV)

Whoa. She is some kind of 13-year-old! I don’t know what you were concerned with at that age,
but I just remember being mad that we didn’t have cable and I couldn’t watch MTV. Oh, and
also my parents wouldn’t buy me a Members Only jacket. I was a deprived child.

(Slide 21) But Mary is remarkable. She’s not perfect, mind you. She had lots of fears. But she
had faith. She was a trusting teenager. Her answer reminded me of a song we sing often here at
TCC: (Slides 22-24) I'll just say yes; You lead the way. I'm not afraid of what it means for me to
say that this life You gave is not my own. I'm trusting You to hear my yes and lead me on. Yes,
Lord, Yes Lord. My life is Yours.

Let’s think about what Mary’s YES meant this morning. (Slide 25) What can we learn from the
faith of Mary, this amazing trusting teen? Today I want to examine what it means to have a “Let
it be to me according to your word” kind of faith!!! Can you imagine a church, a community…a
world who had this kind of “Let it be to me” faith?

Now why did Mary say yes? Why was she so compliant? Certainly, she was influenced by the
current political situation, the Roman oppression that occasionally expressed itself in violence
and death. In the face of this (Roman) brutality, Mary’s people clung fervently to a hope: a
warrior king who would rise up and liberate them. A Messiah!

Princeton professor and historian James H. Charlesworth, said, (Slides 26-27) “We have a lot of
writings that refer to the coming of the Messiah. In fact, we have hymn books which were
written about the time that Mary was a little girl, about how the king messiah shall come and
conquer Jerusalem and bring in everything the Jew’s dreamed of.”

(Slide 29) You can hear hints of her weariness and her youthful defiance of this oppressive
regime in the song of praise that she shares with her cousin Elizabeth after the angel leaves her.
Lukas read some of that song earlier, and I encourage you to go back and read it in its entirety
later this week, along with the rest of Luke 1. This song of praise from Mary found in Luke 1:46-
55 is often called The Magnificat, which is Latin for the word “magnifies” from the first line.
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German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the Magnificat “the most passionate,
the wildest, one might even say the most revolutionary hymn ever sung.” When you think of
the words of Mary’s song understanding the times she lived in, it’s easy to see why he would
write that.

This week I read a book by Scot McKnight called The Real Mary. He wrote, (Slides 30-31) “The
Magnificat was for Mary’s world what ‘We Shall Overcome’ was to the African American
community in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s.”

(Slide 32) I’m sure that thoughts that she would be carrying THE MESSIAH who would save her
people both scared and thrilled Mary, but I don’t believe this was the major motivating factor
for her “let it be to me” faith. I believe Mary was motivated by her love of and trust for her
heavenly Father.

I agree with Scot McKnight as he writes of why Mary would consent to God’s plan in the face of
such rejection and possible danger: (Slides 33-39) “Because she knew God. She knew from the
pages of her people’s history that the God of Israel was a merciful God who would look after
her. She knew the stories about other women who were threatened in Jewish history who were
protected by God—women whose stories are found in the Bible, women like Tamar, Rahab,
Ruth, and Bathsheba, women whom the evangelist Matthew singles out when he writes his
genealogy that leads to Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Because of Mary’s trust in God, and in spite of
all those threatening thoughts of accusation and rebuke, Mary uttered those courageous words
that changed history: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me according to your word.”

So, what does it take to have a “let it be to me”, an “I’ll just say yes” kind of faith? I’ve noticed 6
things in Mary’s story that will help us define it.

First, a “let it be to me” faith is DARING. (Slide 40) Mary was not the peaceful, demure,
porcelain character in the manger scene. She was bold. Courageous. Now this doesn’t mean she
wasn’t scared. We know she was. The NLT says she was “confused and disturbed” when the
angel spoke. (Luke 1:29) What could saying YES to God cost her?

(Slide 41) As I mentioned earlier, Mary knew that her YES could cost her her reputation. If, for
some reason her community did not stone her as was directed in Deuteronomy 22, she would
go through a public ceremony laid out in Numbers chapter 5. This would bring shame to her
and her family. And she is certainly in danger of losing her relationship with Joseph and would
possibly be ostracized by her family and community. And if she lost her relationship with her
betrothed husband and her community, she was sure to lose any resources she had to sustain
her life. A young single mother with no support system was bound for a life of extreme poverty.
Although she was young, Mary would have been keenly aware that all of these things were in
the realm of possibility.
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What about you and me? When God calls us to do something for His glory and His kingdom, are
we afraid of what it will cost us – our reputations, our relationships, our resources? I wonder if
Jesus though of the sacrifice of his own mother when in (Slide 42) Luke 14 he said: (Slides 43-
45) 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father
and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you
cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be
my disciple. 28a “But don’t begin until you count the cost.

(Slide 46) Mary had a “let it be to me” faith that DARED to let go of her reputation,
relationships and resources in order to do what God wanted her to do. Can we dare to say YES
to Him and do the same as this young teen? What is He calling you to do today that you need to
face with courage despite your fears?

Second, Mary’s faith was DEVOID (Slide 47) of conceit and self-pride. Remember her response
to the angel Gabriel: “I am the Lord’s servant.” (v. 38a – NLT) And then listen (Slide 48) to these
lines she sings to her relative Elizabeth: (Slides 49-52) 46 …“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. 47
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! 48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from
now on all generations will call me blessed. 49 For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great
things for me. (v. 46-49)

(Slide 53) Jewish girls grew up hoping they would become the mother of the Messiah. Can you
imagine how easily this news could tend to make a person puffed up with pride? But instead,
Mary has this attitude: God, I know who I am: I’m just a small-town girl, living in a lonely
world…. Wait, that would make great lyrics to a song. But we can hear it as she sings her song:
Mary knew who she was, and who GOD was.

I wonder if Mary sang that same song to Jesus as she rocked Him to sleep? Perhaps thoughts of
His mother crossed Jesus’ mind when he told his disciples: (Slide 54-56)
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… Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to
be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26b-28 – NLT)

God is looking for us to have a “let it be to me” faith, (Slide 57) one is DEVOID of selfish pride
and conceit and embraces servanthood.

Thirdly, Mary’s “say yes” faith was DEPENDENT (Slide 58) on others who would build her up and
encourage her. Notice what she does soon after Gabriel gives her the news. Knowing that her
cousin Elizabeth would understand, she runs to her! And immediately, Elizabeth, an older
believer who was going through something similar, begins to build her up.

I love this trait in Mary. She didn’t try to be the hero, to bear what God was calling her to do all
on her own! She runs to someone who can help her bear the load!
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This is the brilliance of the church. We need each other; God created us this way! I think that’s
been one of the greatest difficulties of this year. We’ve made do with social media, texts, and
zoom calls. But there’s nothing like being together with the people of God, especially during
difficult times. Mary knew she needed somebody so she found Elizabeth! Imagine with me.
Can’t you hear the little boy Jesus saying, “Mommy, tell me the story again about how you went
to see cousin Elizabeth before I was born”? And she would tell the story again and teach Jesus
about the significance of living out your faith in community. And then as a grown man, he
would teach about the importance of community in handling difficult times with others and say:
(Slide 59) 20 For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.

God knows that when we say yes to Him, our lives can be blown apart. Following Jesus is not an
easy thing. But it should never, ever be a solo thing either. (Slide 60) We must have a faith that
is DEPENDENT on others for encouragement, strength and wisdom, just like Mary did. And just
a note here: we completely understand why many of you are not comfortable gathering in large
groups at this time. This is why we’ve set a cap on the number of registrations for Sundays and
why we follow CDC guidelines. And we will continue to do it this way as long as needed. But as
things improve, and we are believing God that they will, please do not stay in the habit of
staying away. We want you and expect you to come back together. We need you. We need
each other.

Fourthly, Mary was DEVOTED in her faith. (Slide 61) Her simple statement “let it be to me” tells
us that she was determined to be obedient. We can see it in her humility, in her excitement,
and in her sacrifice. Mary had many challenges being a poor 13 year old female in her times,
but despite the challenges, I believe Mary knew God and knew scripture. I believe this for two
reasons: One, the Angel told her 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary…for you have found favor with God!”
Mary had impressed God with her young but strong faith in him! And two, I think we get a clue
when we listen to the song she sings. We can hear at least 12 Old Testament scriptural
references found there. Mary paid close attention at Sabbath School. She knew her God and
she knew her Scriptures.

At one point in His ministry, when Jesus was teaching and healing, a woman in the crowd called
out, (Slide 62) 27 … “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came…” And Jesus was
quick to reply (Slide 63) 28 … “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it
into practice.” I can’t help but think that in His mind Jesus was thinking, “Yes, my mother is
blessed, but not because she is blood related to me. She’s related because she is DEVOTED to
believing and obeying me.”

(Slide 64) Mary was DEVOTED in her faith, but her faith wasn’t perfect. It was DEVELOPING.
(Slide 65) It was a “faith in progress.” Like anyone would, Mary was shaking in her sandals when
the angel showed up. She had questions. “Um, how’s this going to work?” Don’t ya know that
even after the angel left, Mary still had LOTS of questions?

Here’s the thing. When God calls us to something or for something, He doesn’t always give us
all the details. Oftentimes we are on a need-to-know basis. In a few minutes, Paul is going to
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sing a great song that asks Mary lots of questions…Mary, exactly what did you know? Well, we
can see from the text in Luke 1, Gabriel told her a lot, but there were many blanks still to fill.
And with all of those blanks, she still said YES. In Luke 2, when she and Joseph take Jesus to the
temple, an old man named Simeon blesses them all, but gives Mary an ominous warning; the
road ahead would be difficult. And Mary’s soul would be pierced with a sword. Don’t you know
they left the temple that day a little shaken? Little did she know that one day she would be
standing at the foot of her son’s bleeding body, as a soldier pierces him with a sword. That day,
her soul would be pierced as well.

(Slide 66) We can look at the rest of what we know about Mary’s life and her encounters with
Jesus and get a glimpse of this non-perfect, sometimes off-balance, developing faith. In Luke 2,
she is incredibly anxious (as any mother would be) when she thinks she has lost the 12 year old
Jesus, and begins to realize that she doesn’t understand everything that Jesus was about. She
herself, though she was his mother, had a lot to learn.

I was reminded this week, there was even a point in Jesus’ ministry that his own family, (and we
can infer from the context, even his own mother) thought He was crazy. Take a quick look with
me at Mark chapter 3. (Slide 67) Jesus had been healing on the sabbath and was now teaching
huge crowds…and look at what it says in verse 21: (Slide 68) 21 When his family heard what was
happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said. How many of you can
identify with Mary and her family at this point? How many of you have been called by God to
do something, go somewhere or say something, and you are like, “God…are you crazy? You
must be out of your mind!” And then when we say yes to Him, the people in our lives say to us,
“Are you crazy? You must be out of your mind!”

Well, later in the same chapter: (Slide 69-73) 31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see
him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. 32 There was a
crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and your brothers are outside
asking for you.” (They were coming to take him away!) 33 Jesus replied, “Who is my mother?
Who are my brothers?” 34 Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my
mother and brothers. 35 Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

What a hard pill to swallow! (Slide 74) Mary was being forced to a new understanding of what
Messiah meant, and what it meant to be a part of His family. Understandably, like so many in
her community, she believed that her Son had come to deliver the Jews from the oppressive
Roman empire and to set all the wrongs right. She was discovering that the Kingdom of God
was not one of flesh and blood, but that it was something much greater. We can learn from
this. Jesus’ own mom, the one who gave birth to him, did not completely understand Him.
Perhaps this will help us to have patience with our own selves and others as our faith
DEVELOPS. Faith is a journey, a process. For now, we “know in part”, but one day we will see
Him face to face and our faith will be sight!

Lastly, Mary had a “let it be to me” faith that had a built-in DEFICIENCY. (Slide 75) What do I
mean by this? To put it simply, Mary knew that she was a sinner and could not save herself. Her
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faith was deficient. She needed a Savior. Listen to her again as she sings: (Slide 76) 46 …“Oh, how
my soul praises the Lord. 47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! Mary knew from the very
beginning that she was not the savior of her own life, nor the life of anyone else. Her Savior was
God, and she would eventually come to the understanding that her own Son was God in the
flesh, who would save her. You may be wondering how I know this? Two big reasons: First,
when all the men in Jesus’ life (besides his disciple John) had abandoned Him on the cross, their
stood His mother Mary and three other women. She had not given up on him. But this isn’t the
last we see of Mary. We get one more little hint of where her life was headed.

In Acts chapter 1, (Slide 77) after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, the disciples were
gathered in an upper room during the feast of Pentecost, waiting on the Holy Spirit. There were
120 in all, but only a few were named. Listen to this. Acts 1:14: (Slide 78) 14 They all met
together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several
other women, and the brothers of Jesus.

Wow! (Slide 79) Jesus’ own family, the ones who once thought he was crazy were now his
followers! Mary had placed her eternal and complete faith in her Son and was now waiting on
the gift of the Holy Spirit! The trusting teen of Bethlehem was now a faithful follower in
Jerusalem. My favorite line in the song that Paul is going to sing during communion is: Did you
know ghat your baby boy has come to make you new? And this child that you've delivered will
soon deliver you?

So how’s your faith this morning? How does this young woman’s incredible “let it be to me”
faith challenge you? Will you say yes to God’s call?

Maybe this morning the call for you is to place your faith in Jesus as Savior for the first time.
He’s calling you to make the DARING step to trust Him alone to save you. He’s calling you to
turn away from your past, to claim Him as Lord. Maybe today He’s calling you to be baptized in
His name. We don’t have to wait until COVID is over to do that, by the way. We can safely dunk
you!!!

This morning I’ve asked a young friend of mine, Madisyn Phillips, to come and pray for us.
Madisyn will you come on up now and lead us in a prayer, asking God to lead us to a “LET IT BE
ME” kind of faith? Let’s pray.