WEBVTT 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:03.600 Well, this morning we come to the end of our summer series. 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:08.240 We've called it Journeying with Mary, the mother of Jesus. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:15.759 Four weeks ago, Brad walked through the angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:24.719 Keel looked at Jesus' birth, and Sam walked us through, invited us to the wedding at Cana, where Jesus' first miracle was performed. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:32.159 Last week we were with Mary at the foot of the cross as she watched her son die a horrible death before her eyes. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:40.640 Today we close out our series with the last time Mary is mentioned in the Bible, and it's in Acts chapter 1. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:55.520 Following his resurrection, Luke tells us that Jesus presented himself alive to his disciples after his sufferings by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:05.040 And it's noted in this little section that still at this point the disciples were not fully clear on what was going to happen next. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:09.280 What was the nature of Jesus and God's kingdom? 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:17.439 Then Luke tells us they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:21.599 When they had entered, they went up to the upper room where they were staying. 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:32.480 Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon the zealot, and Judas, the son of James. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:41.280 All these, with one accord, were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:47.280 Again, this is the final mention of Mary in the Scriptures. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:50.719 And it feels a bit anticlimactic, doesn't it? 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:56.719 This is the woman God chose to carry, to give birth to, and to raise the Son of God. 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:01.359 And throughout the Gospels, she has shown herself faithful. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.719 Now she just disappears from history. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.919 Well, we're going to wrestle with these and some other questions in our sermon today, including these. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:16.560 What does Mary's presence here at this key moment of the burgeoning church tell us? 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:24.319 And what does the portrait we are given of her life have to teach us as fellow disciples of Jesus? 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:36.879 We're going to answer this question through three aspects that we see through Mary that shed light on our discipleship, which is waiting, offering, and kneeling. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:38.800 So first, waiting. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:46.000 When we see Mary here in Acts chapter 1, she's with the eleven other disciples, uh apostles. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:49.199 Judas has committed suicide. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:50.479 He is dead. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:59.120 There are about 120 other disciples all gathered together in this upper room in the city of Jerusalem. 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:04.479 Now, most many of the disciples were from Galilee, the northern portion of Israel. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:12.479 It was a three-day journey, and so they had likely rented this room or been given access to this room while they waited. 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:23.280 Jesus had told them to return to Jerusalem at his ascension to wait for the promise of the Father, which is the giving of the Holy Spirit, which came on Pentecost. 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:29.520 Pentecost was a Jewish festival related to the harvest, and it was fifty days after the Passover. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:40.800 So putting all of this information together, it looks like Mary, the apostles, and the other disciples waited in this upper room between seven and ten days praying. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:53.280 Now my son Noah, seated right here on the front row, he suffers from an ailment that I think he inherited from me, which is the crippling inability to wait. 00:03:54.719 --> 00:04:03.919 Sometimes when we purchase things online, right, which is where we purchase most things, something uh untoward happens to him. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:09.439 He just can't stop asking me to check the delivery status. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:14.159 He just can't wait for that new whatever to arrive. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:17.519 Now, I say he inherited it from me because I hate waiting too. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:22.079 I actually remember, I'm old enough to remember when Amazon Prime was invented. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:24.480 Do you remember? 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:28.399 For this low, low fee, guaranteed two-day delivery. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:30.480 I mean, it blows your mind. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.160 But today, two-day delivery is an eternity. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:44.319 But if you get online at the right time and you order the right thing, it could be delivered in a couple hours. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:46.959 I mean, talk about power. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:56.319 Talk about technology getting us closer and closer to what our hearts truly long for, which is instant gratification. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:08.800 This inability to wait exposes something in my heart and in your heart, and that is common to human nature, and that is that we so badly desire to be God. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:19.839 It's one of the things that draws us so much to our technology, the ability to do far more than what we as humans and our limitations can do. 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.800 We want to be God, or at least a God. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:33.279 We would love to have the power to control our world, our outcomes, our circumstances, and so it is people, the outcomes around us. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:42.000 And so it is one of the most difficult aspects of being a follower of Christ, a finite creature, that we must wait. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:50.240 And I would say this is probably one of the things that kind of move us outside of being a disciple of Jesus. 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:51.839 We hate waiting. 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:53.439 And yet we must. 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:57.439 A servant waits on their master, on their Lord. 00:05:57.600 --> 00:05:59.600 Why does Mary wait in this circumstance? 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:04.160 Well, she and the other disciples are waiting, first of all, because Jesus told them to wait. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:05.439 He was very clear. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:10.720 Go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father to be delivered. 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:28.959 But also they wait because apart from the Spirit, they don't have the power, they don't have the ability to do what God is calling them to do, what Jesus is sending them to do, as the inaugural members of this new faith community, the church. 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:34.879 In just a little while, just a day or so, Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:36.639 He's going to preach an incredible sermon. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:07:02.240 We're told that his hearers are cut to the heart, and around 3,000 Jews will come forward to be baptized and put their faith in Jesus as Messiah, the man who just 50 days prior had been executed on a Roman cross, the most the worst and most despicable way, most dishonorable way to die in that day. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:06.240 Peter could not have done this on his own. 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:09.040 Now, we love to make fun of Peter. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:17.839 We like to laugh at Peter, and at the end of the day, we like to relate to Peter that he knew firsthand what happens when he works according to his own wisdom. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:22.720 He embodies the saying, often wrong, but seldom in doubt. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:28.160 And doesn't that describe me and you all too often? 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:33.519 The truth is that many of us in this room, we have much to offer. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:37.519 We're well educated, relatively wealthy. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:44.959 We have a lot of things to offer, skills and abilities and experiences. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:54.000 But to do the work that God is inviting us to take part in in the coming of his kingdom, we do not have the power or wisdom. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:58.399 That alone comes from him, or it comes from him alone. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:03.439 And so we must wait, as humble servants must. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:11.199 But, beloved, waiting doesn't mean simply twiddling our thumbs or doing nothing. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:20.319 Mary and the other disciples are praying, they're seeking the Lord, asking for guidance, protection, wisdom, and courage in this moment. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:31.600 You see, often what we don't see when we forget that God is the one at work, that He He is uh He is always at work. 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:38.240 But because we don't see it, we forget that He is doing things in and around us. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:41.840 While we are waiting. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:50.080 Often He's doing a deep work in our own souls, rooting out sin and replacing misplaced affections. 00:08:50.720 --> 00:09:00.399 Sometimes He's doing work in others or in circumstances that must come together before this thing that we are praying and waiting for can even happen. 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:07.679 And sometimes what we are waiting for and what we're asking for in prayer is not the Lord's will. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:12.159 It looks good and right, even necessary to us. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:20.480 But the Lord has an infinite and an eternal wisdom that we must submit ourselves to at the end of the day. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:24.960 And this is the theme present throughout the scriptures, and it's good for us to be reminded. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:33.919 Through Isaiah, God said, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 00:09:34.159 --> 00:09:41.120 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts your thoughts. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:56.639 Paul, caught up in rapturous worship in the book of Romans, says it this way: Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable are his ways. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:01.759 For who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been his counselor? 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:11.600 Where are you struggling this morning to give control over your world to your King and your Lord? 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:17.840 Mary gives us a beautiful picture of the humble servant who waits upon the Lord. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:20.159 Second, offering. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:28.559 There's a great book published by one of my seminary professors called Instruments in the Redeemer's Hand. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:36.080 Just the title gives us a great picture of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:43.519 We don't just wait, but we offer ourselves as instruments in the hand of our wise God. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:46.559 And that's what we see Mary doing here. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:11:01.360 The reason Mary is named, she's the only one other than the apostles named in this final passage where she is mentioned, because she has had incredible influence in this young church community. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:02.639 Think about it. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:08.960 Where did the gospel writers get much of the information that they report to us? 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:11.759 For example, Gabriel's announcement to Mary. 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:13.919 Mary's the only one present. 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:18.480 The fact that Mary remained a virgin until Jesus was born. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:31.200 To the shepherds, what the shepherds saw and said the night Jesus was born, the details of the visit and the gifts of the Magi, or the prophecies of Anna and Simeon in the temple. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:36.159 Mary was one of the few present at the miracle at the wedding of Cana. 00:11:36.720 --> 00:11:41.360 And again, one of the few who heard Jesus speak from the cross. 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:55.679 How could Luke have written after the shepherds had visited Mary and Joseph at the birth of Jesus, that Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart, unless she told him. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:04.240 In fact, so much of the gospel accounts are personal to Mary's experience that some have called them Mary's memoirs. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:10.960 Mary profoundly shaped the scriptures that God has given us. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:19.360 And not only that, but humanly speaking, Mary and Joseph raised Jesus to be the man he became. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:24.720 Now it's true that Jesus of Nazareth was fully God and fully man. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:29.679 But the fact that he was fully man means that he did not come out of the womb fully formed. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:37.679 And in fact, the scriptures tell us that he grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and men as a child. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:54.639 And when we look at the Magnificat, this is Mary's kind of prayer and praise of God, her most profound theological statement that we have recorded, we see an incredible resonance with Jesus' own ministry. 00:12:55.519 --> 00:13:03.200 Care for the poor, care for widows, equity, justice, mercy, and forgiveness. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:18.240 Do you think that it's a coincidence that these are the themes that Mary cares about, exalts in, expounds, shape Jesus, the man whom she helped to raise? 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:24.960 Mary was no mere background character in the life and ministry of Jesus. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:31.279 God worked powerfully through her as and who she was as a person. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:34.480 She was a poor first-century Jew. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:42.799 And that was the lens through which Jesus viewed the world as a man, as a rabbi, and as a teacher. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:47.919 Now, why do I camp out, why do we camp out here kind of rehearsing all these things? 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:53.919 Well, first of all, it shines a brighter light on the influence of Mary in this early church. 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:57.120 In many ways, her influence was hidden to us. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:12.480 It's only when we step back and we reflect on the information that we have and the person that she was that we get a greater view into her profound influence and work in the early church and in the scriptures. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:15.759 But the same is true of us, beloved. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:19.120 That our names may be forgotten from history. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:34.879 We may never be known by the vast majority of people in our community or even in our church, and yet God calls us to offer up the gifts, the talents, the experiences that we have and give them to Him. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:44.240 And He says, I can use these powerfully in the coming of my kingdom and the shaping of what I am doing. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:49.600 You see, beloved, this is what humble servants and a disciple of Christ does. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:54.639 We wait, we offer, and we watch. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:15:01.519 Whether or not anyone else sees what the Lord does in and through us, we know that he sees. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:11.360 And there's a deep satisfaction in knowing that the God of the universe both loves us but also chooses to work through us. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:18.480 But I'll also say as an encouragement, this also means that we never come to church as consumers. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:28.559 In our more cynical moments, the church can look like a purveyor of goods and services that we give in response to tithes and offerings. 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.679 Let me say from the pulpit, God forbid. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:35.279 We are the family of God. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:38.559 We are the community of faith. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:49.759 We come together as forgiven sinners, beloved sons and daughters of God, each offering what we've been given, being blessed by one another and blessing others. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.440 This is the community that Jesus has created. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:16:00.480 What would it look like for you to offer yourself as a humble servant to the Lord this morning? 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.000 Third and final point, kneeling. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.639 I want to meditate on this last question. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:16.080 Why does Mary simply disappear from the pages of the New Testament and really the pages of history after this passage? 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:19.440 We have 27 more chapters in the book of Acts. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.600 We have 22 more books in the New Testament. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:27.519 And yet Mary is never mentioned again. 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:37.679 Now, pretty early in the church, what we would call now the Roman Catholic Church, but really back then it was just the church in the first few centuries. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:42.080 Even early on, Mary began to be elevated and venerated. 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:48.720 But within the scriptures, God was pleased to allow her to step quietly into the background. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:50.320 Why is that? 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:55.279 Well, it seems in line with her familiar initial confession. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:57.759 She said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:01.440 Let it be to me according to your will. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:06.559 Mary was content to play her part and nothing more. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:12.319 She was pleased to offer her life for the kingdom of God and to serve her Lord and King. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:21.200 She echoes the same sentiment as John the Baptist when he said, He, Jesus, must increase, but I must decrease. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:25.200 One of my favorite shows is The West Wing. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:26.240 I don't know if you guys have seen that. 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:27.839 It's an Aaron Sorkin show. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:34.880 It's got great writing, great, if you like dialogue, it's just a fantastic show. 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:39.680 It tries to portray working in the White House in an inspiring way. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:46.319 And, you know, again, in our cynical time, this could be a good show to return to. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:56.079 There are a few scenes throughout the show where the White House staffers that kind of come, you know, and over time you come to love these characters. 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:57.920 I came to love these characters. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:09.680 And at these key moments, a couple times throughout the show, they come before the president and they say out loud, I serve at the pleasure of the president. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:24.480 And what they mean is that they are there, they work in the White House, they see their jobs as pursuing his agenda, his desired ends, and not their own. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:30.160 Now it helps in the show that most of the things President Bartlett chooses to do seem good and wise. 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:34.240 And so, yes, we get on board with these fellow staffers. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:43.759 But often when I think about my relationship to King Jesus as a humble servant, this line comes to mind. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:47.680 I serve at the pleasure of my King Jesus. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:52.400 And I believe Mary embodies this sentiment beautifully. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:56.160 And this is something we can often lose sight of. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:03.440 That our lives are glorified when we glorify our Lord and King. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:13.839 That we gain a greater joy and satisfaction in our lives when we give our lives away to the God who created us, loved us, and gave himself for us. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:16.480 And this is something we can easily lose sight of. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:22.480 We often and rightly emphasize the fact that we are adopted sons and daughters of God. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:23.839 We are the beloved. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:29.759 God loves us even in our brokenness and our sin, and that will never end. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:34.079 And we will preach that and proclaim that to the end of days. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:39.759 And yet, we are also servants of the Lord. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:43.920 And we are called to give our lives for his honor and glory. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.799 And so we kneel, we kneel our lives, our gifts, our prerogatives to him. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:20:01.279 Beloved, in the first sermon in this series, Brad encouraged us to imitate Mary's beautiful confession when she said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:03.839 Let it be according to your word. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:09.119 And I can't think of a better word, a better way to end this series. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:16.160 I encourage you and I commend you to commit this verse to memory and to pray it regularly. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:22.640 If you have any questions about this sermon or if you have any prayer requests, I'll be down front after the service and I would love to meet with you. 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:23.920 Let's pray. 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:27.200 Our Father and our God. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:39.920 Lord, we, along with David, we confess that there's nothing better than to be called into the Lord's service, to be present in your house forevermore. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.440 Lord, thank you that you not only call us servants, but you call us friends. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:50.400 You call us sons and daughters, and you pour your love into our hearts. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:58.000 But Lord, show us this morning and throughout this week what does it look like for us to be your humble servants as Mary was. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:20:59.759 We ask in Jesus' name. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:00.559 Amen.