Revealed to Mary

(Lk. 1.26-38)

A Magnifying Machine

Explain how the Magnifying Machine works.

Throw in a golf ball, ...some jingle on the keyboard, ...and then amazingly - out comes a football!

It magnifies things, ...which means it makes things bigger!

A Polly Pocket, ...a Barbie doll!

A booklet, ...an encyclopaedia!

A grain of rice, ...a rice pudding!

Jennie, ...Jan!

The word 'magnify' means 'to make bigger' We get the word 'magnificent' from it.

When we come together to praise God, one of the things we want to do is to realize how much greater he is than anyone imagines.

God is a bit like the Magnifying Machine, ...no matter how great we might think he is, it turns out he is even greater.

Introduce Reading

In our Bible reading we hear what happened when God sent the angel Gabriel to tell Mary that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God.

I wonder how you would have reacted?

Introduce Magnificat

Shortly after the angel left her, Mary went to see her relative Elizabeth. Remember how the angel had said that she was going to have a baby in her old age.

When she met Elizabeth, Mary said these words, (OHP).

All down the centuries, Christians have been using these same words to praise God. We sometimes call it Mary's Song, ...but another name is the 'Magnificat'.

Does anyone know why?

(ask)

It comes from the first line. "My soul magnifies the Lord."

It's from the word 'Magnify' that we get the title - Magnificat.

What does it mean? "My soul magnifies the Lord."?

(ask)

Another song-writer put it in these words.

As we say it together, lets imagine how Mary must have felt.

I'll say the little words, and you please respond with the words in bold.

Introduce Monologue

When God has called me to do something new, I've often felt a mixture of excitement and trepidation.

Before I was ordained, I felt called to help with Baptism preparation at my local church.

The fact that couples would invite me into their homes to talk about the Christians faith, was something that I found very exciting, ...but as I knocked on their door, I still had butterflies in my stomach.

The 'Magnificat', which we've just said together, is one side of Mary's story. It expresses her overwhelming joy of being chosen to bear God's Son, ...as she says:

"The Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name"

But I guess that there must have been another side to the story.

How on earth was she going to explain the situation to Joseph, or her parents?

Have you ever been in the situation where you've got something difficult to say to someone. And you think about the best way of putting it, ...going over and over it in your mind?

Well perhaps this is how Mary prepared herself to tell her parents...

Story

Once upon a time there was a woman called Mrs. Keen (OHP).

Mrs Keen lived in a village, and she and her friend ran a Youth Group.

Everyone in the village thought that this Youth Group was wonderful. The children liked it because they could play all their favourite games; ...and the parents liked it because they had some peace and quiet at home.

In fact everyone agreed that the youth group was the best thing in the village.

But there was one problem.

Mrs Keen's friend had a problem with her back, and she'd said that she could no longer help with the Youth Group after Christmas.

Mrs Keen knew that she couldn't run the group on her own.

"I know", she said to herself, "I'll explain the situation to all the parents, I'm sure one of them will be able to help."

But that proved to be harder than she thought. The following week Mrs. Keen visited nearly all the parents, but none of them were able to help.

"O dear", said Mrs. Keen, "There are only four parents left to ask, and if one of them can't help the Youth Group will have to be closed down."

So next week, she tried to see these last four people.

First of all she called to see Mrs. Day-Dream. (OHP)

"Hello" said Mrs Day-Dream, "How nice of you to call. My children really enjoy coming to your Youth Group."

"Well it's funny you should say that", said Mrs Keen, because unless I can find someone to help me, we won't have a Youth Group after Christmas."

"Don't be silly!", said Mrs Day-Dream, "Of course we'll have a Youth Group. Everybody knows that it's one of the best things about our village. We can't close it down! ...But please excuse me, we're just about to eat our tea."

Next Mrs Keen rang Mrs. Good-Intentions.

"Hello.", said Mrs Keen, "I'm ringing to ask if you could help me run the Youth Group."

"My dear lady", said Mrs Good-Intentions, "Of course I'll come and help. I'll come to the very next meeting."

But later Mrs. Good-Intentions realized that she didn't really want to help, and so she never turned up.

The following week Mrs Keen called on Mr. Busy.

"I'd love to help," said Mr. Busy, "but I'm afraid that I've got no spare time. You see, I go swimming on Monday night,

play darts on Tuesday night,

snooker on Wednesday,

visit my mother on Thursday,

out for a drink on Friday,

watch the match on Saturday,

and go to church on Sunday.

...I haven't got a spare moment. Otherwise I would have loved to help!"

Finally Mrs Keen knocked at the door of Mr Timid.

Mr Timid was too frightened to open the door, but he opened an upstairs window.

"Who is it?", he squeaked.

"It's just me", said Mrs Keen. "I've come to ask if you'll help me run the Youth Group."

"Who, me?", squeaked Mr Timid. "I couldn't possible do that!"

And he quickly shut the window, and hid under his bed.

Mrs Keen was very sad as she walked home that night, ..and at the end of the year, the Youth Group closed down.

Main Talk

I don't know about you, but I can really identify with those people in the story.

Over the years I've met several people like Mrs Keen, (and her husband Reverend Keen is even more persuasive!). I've been asked to do things that I don't want to do, and I've responded in one of those four ways.

- Sometimes I've not realized the seriousness of the situation, and have been fairly dismissive;

- Sometimes I've said "Yes", but then changed my mind;

- Sometimes I've said that I was too busy; and,

- Sometimes I've thought that I haven't got what it takes.

Being a Christian does NOT mean that we always have to say "Yes" to Mrs Keen.

But being a Christian does mean saying "Yes" to God.

There's a big difference between Mrs Keen asking us to do something, and God calling us to do something.

And that's a key point that we must grasp, ...so let me say it again.

Being a Christian does NOT mean that we always have to say "Yes" to Mrs Keen, ...but it does mean saying "Yes" to God.

God wanted Mary to do something very special, (to be the mother of Jesus), and he told her by sending an angel.

Now that was a very dramatic way of speaking to her, ...but there again it was a very important task she had to carry out.

The things that God wants us to do are often much more ordinary, ...and the way God speaks to us is much more ordinary.

We're going to have a moment of quiet, and I would like you to think about this question, (both adults and children).

Have you ever sensed that God has called you to do something specific?

(pause)

Now, I'm not going to embarrass anyone by asking you what that was, but can we just have a show of hands. How many of you have sensed that God has called you to do something specific.

OK. Thank you.

Without going into any details, ...could someone say how they sensed God speaking to them. (Just in a sentence.)

Write these up in the OHP...

Possible answers:

- reading the Bible;

- something being on your mind;

- through a Christian friend;

- giving us a 'heart' for something;

- just a feeling;

- a sense of peace;

- through a dream.

If God is really calling us to do something, he will confirm it to us in different ways.

I was recently talking to someone who started to work with youngsters at his local church.

At first he simply saw a need for it.

He talked to other members of the church, and they too confirmed the need.

It was something that he kept thinking about, the idea just wouldn't go away.

And, in the end, he sensed that God was calling him to do something about it.

But there's no set pattern. God calls different people in different ways.

Do you sense that God is calling you in some way?

(pause)

But knowing what God is calling us to, and actually responding to that call are two different things.

It's often at that point we find a tug-of-war within us. We might know what God wants us to do, but there are other things that hold us back. ...Those things which make us say "No" to Mrs Keen, can also cause us to say 'No' to God. ...And that's where Mary's example is so important.

Mrs Day-Dream just doesn't take seriously the thing that God is calling her to, (OHP). But when the angel appeared to Mary she was "deeply troubled" at God's message.

Don't take God's calling lightly.

Mrs. Good-Intentions says "Yes" to God's calling without thinking about the implications. ...And then later changes her mind. But Mary asked several questions to clarify exactly what was required of her.

Don't say "Yes" to God without first counting the cost.

Mr. Busy hasn't got time for the thing that God is calling him to. But Mary simply said, "I am the Lord's servant."

Are you sure that when you're busy, it's because you are doing the things he wants you to do?

Mr Timid felt that he could never do the thing God was calling him to. Mary said, "May it happen to me as you have said." When God calls us to do something difficult, he always gives us the strength and resources we need.

Dare we say those words, "May it happen to me as you have said"?