Sermon Tone Analysis
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Pray
Introduction
I can’t believe we’re into December already.
It feels like only yesterday it was summer.
Since next week is our big radio roadshow and Paul is focusing on Joseph, I thought that today we’d focus on Mary…and specifically the cost of saying ‘yes’ - what does it mean to say ‘yes’ to Jesus?
What are the implications of saying ‘yes’ to Jesus?
What did it mean for Mary and what does it mean for us?
And to do this, we are going to look at different passages throughout the gospels to see some interactions between Mary and Jesus and how their relationship develops over time.
Because in our first passage read today, Gabriel appears to Mary and gives her the amazing news that she will give birth to the saviour of the world.
And Gabriel continued and told Mary that the Holy Spirit would cause her to conceive and she will give birth to the Son of God.
Paul will talk about how Joseph felt about that next week, but as for Mary, later on in Luke there is her song to the Lord - the Magnificat, where Mary is overjoyed that the Lord considered her humble estate.
And Mary’s response to Gabriel was this...
Let it be to me according to your word.
Let it be to me…OK…Yes....I’m in.
Of course there was the whole matter of telling Joseph about this.
Would he believe her? Would he trust her story that and angel told her that she would conceive immaculately?
I mean, of all the excuses for getting pregnant, that’s not the most convincing.
But did Mary know the implications of saying ‘yes’?
Did she understand the cost of saying ‘yes’?
Maybe not at that point, but she grew to understand as life went on.
Pause
Our second passage was when Jesus was in the temple with his parents for passover.
Everyone left to return home and Jesus didn’t go with them.
When the realised this a day later and returned to Jerusalem to look for Jesus they found him in the temple having a bit of a Q&A with the elders of the temple, Mary says this...
We’ve been worried sick, son.
Why would you do this to us?
And what was Jesus’ response?
Now, that’s a big blow to Joseph more than Mary.
Can you imagine how Joesph felt then?
Not only is he NOT his father biologically, but Jesus makes it explicitly clear that he is really ISN’T his father.
Jesus makes it clear that God is his Father and not only that - Jesus has work to do that is not of this world.
But Jesus went with them back to Nazareth…and what did Mary do?
Maybe what Mary was treasuring in her heart was the cost of saying, ‘yes’?
Because saying ‘yes’ to this child would mean that she would have to accept that this child wouldn’t be like any other child.
Certainly, Mary has gotten a glimpse that Jesus is not of this world in this encounter.
In other words, she is aware that Jesus knows his identity as Son of God.
In many ways, this man wasn’t really her son.
Pause
The next passage must have been tough for Mary.
Jesus is in a house, there is a large crowd inside the house and possibly spilling out of the house, because Mary wasn’t able to get in to see her son.
So she’s standing outside, which is symbolic in a sense.
Let’s read it together...
Now, Jesus it making a bigger point here - a theological point - but at the same time, that must have stung a little.
Can you imagine how Mary might have felt - her own son saying that his mother was the person who put God’s word into practice?
‘What about me, son?’
That’s the cost of saying ‘yes’ to Jesus.
This man was holy - this man was different...
In many ways, this man wasn’t really her son.
Pause
And then, at the crucifixion, Jesus is on the cross and his mother is looking on.
Jesus’ own mother - the woman who said ‘yes’ 33 years earlier.
The woman who was told that she would have a baby through supernatural means - the woman who was told she would give birth to the saviour of the world...
The woman who said, ‘let it be to me...’
The woman who knew that Jesus was no ordinary child.
The woman who knew that Jesus was about stuff that was way over her head.
The woman who know that Jesus had a family elsewhere....
That same woman was standing near the cross on which her firstborn son was nailed.
Hanging like a criminal…cursed by the religious law and by his own heavenly FATHER…That same woman is standing watching her own son dying like a criminal and yet he was the only one who hadn’t done anything wrong.
She said ‘yes’ to this.
And right there on the cross, Jesus was doing what was promised.
He was saving his people from their sins.
The man who had done nothing wrong, was taking the punishment for all his people who HAD done something wrong.
The man who knew NO sin, became sin to save those people who WERE sinners.
Right in front of Mary’s eyes - she watches her son die an excruciating and humiliating death.
That’s the cost of saying ‘yes’.
Because in many ways this man WAS her son....and this woman must have felt the real pain of losing her child.
Mary’s son wasn’t going to die like every other person in the world - Mary’s son was going to be executed for the sin of the world - right in front of her very eyes.
But she said ‘yes’ to this…and that was the cost of saying ‘yes’ to the saviour of the world.
Pause
But here’s the flip-side...
Mary had found favour with God.
Mary was given the greatest honour EVER - to be the woman chosen to give birth to the saviour of the world.
And there’s honour that goes along with being chosen.
I was never chosen first in sports.
In fact, there were times I think people would rather have 1 person less in the team than to have me ON their team.
But you’ve heard of jobs where maybe hundreds of people apply for 1 position.
There is something special about being that 1 person that gets the job over the other hundreds of applicants.
Now multiply that by a billion to be the 1 person chosen out of the millions of people to be the one to give birth to the saviour of the world…to be the one to give birth to the God of the universe.
Mary, the most highly favoured lady - the one who had found favour with God was chosen by GOD to give birth to the saviour of the world.
Mary was chosen by God to be the one to feed the saviour of the world.
Mary was chosen to be the one to teach the saviour of the world.
Mary was chosen to be the one to care for the saviour of the world.
Mary was chosen to be the one who got to walk with the saviour of the world.
Mary was chosen to be the one who got to talk to the saviour of the world.
Mary was chosen to be the one who got to tuck the saviour of the world into bed at night.
But most important of all...Mary was chosen to be the one who would be saved by the saviour of the world.
So while there was a cost to saying ‘yes’ to Jesus…The benefits were so much greater.
Mary would quickly come to realise that in many ways her son wasn’t really her son, but at the same time Mary was the one chosen by God to accomplish amazing things.
She was chosen to be the MOTHER of the saviour of the world.
So, yes, it came at a cost - but saying ‘yes’ to this must have been awesome for Mary.
Pause
And yes, there is a cost to saying ‘yes’ to Jesus.
Saying ‘yes’ to Jesus should be life-changing.
Saying ‘yes’ to Jesus should be like a rollercoaster of joy but also hardship.
Saying ‘yes’ to Jesus should mean that your whole life is turned upside down.
So if you’ve said ‘yes’ to Jesus and asked him to forgive your sins, but your life hasn’t changed at all then I would really question whether you have truly said ‘yes’ to Jesus.
Because saying ‘yes’ to Jesus is not easy.
Saying ‘yes’ to Jesus comes at a cost.
Jesus said it himself in Luke 14....
While Jesus was Mary’s son, Mary had to let go of him, because in many ways he wasn’t really her son.
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