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Living Hope SDA Church

Christian Martin

Oh Gabriel, Is Jesus Worth It

So today as we meet together, we want to receive an encouraging word from God.

And so let's pause and ask God to speak to us in a way that only he can.

Still small voice speaking to our hearts.

Would you bow your heads with me as we pray?

Thank you for the cross and thank you for the manger.

That's when you came and you were born among us.

And today, Lord, you're the living Savior.

And we ask that you would retell the story of your birth, retell the story of why you came.

May this time of the year be a time that our lives are moved, they're impacted in a way that it may have never had been before.

It's your time to open the Word and allow You to speak to our hearts.

You know, I've come to the conclusion that the mother of Jesus is among the most misunderstood champions of faith in the Bible.

I know it's not necessarily a popular opinion for me to say that, considering that, well yeah, Mary is 1 of the most venerated biblical figures in Christianity.

And not just in the Christian religion, but in other world religions as well.

She's a subject in Western art and music and literature.

We were just in Guatemala and you better believe that we saw images of Mary many many places many many times.

That's because she holds significant religious and cultural importance for billions of people, literally billions in the world, around the world.

And she's regarded as a woman of faith, symbolizing purity, humility, devotion.

For every time we go back to the well-known story of when Gabriel appeared to her, she's praised.

She's praised for the unquestioning acceptance of God's will.

And when we hear this story and just kind of retell the story in our minds, we imagine in our mind's eye a beautiful young lady, young, very young, but with a very outgoing, almost a sanguine personality, happy-go-lucky attitude, relaxed attitude, saying with a smile, yes, let it be according to your will, Lord.

And it's almost like this beautiful story that's very inspiring, but you kind of wonder how realistic is it really?

Because frankly that version of the story bothers me.

It bothers me because when God calls us to do something difficult, Have you been there before?

Has God called you to do something difficult?

When God calls us to experience something painful, Have you been there?

When God calls us to endure something troubling, you get the idea.

God knows the heart, so let's be transparent here.

You and I, we, for that matter, the human race, we don't have that happy, cheerful kind of response, Oh, let thy will be done, Lord.

In this particular case with Mary, I don't believe Mary did either.

I don't believe that was her response in that way, in that way.

You know, I have a friend, this very moment, he's probably preaching, Well, not yet, because he lives in Tacoma, Washington.

But he's probably going to preach this morning.

And his wife was supposed to start a new job at the North American Division headquarters, not too far from here, with plans to move to the area.

We have known each other for years and so when he told me about the possibilities it was exciting to think, oh right, they're going to be around, they're going to be close, we'll be able to hang out.

I was looking forward to it and if I was looking forward to it, they were more.

And they both sensed, they both sensed that it was God's will to start a new chapter in the East Coast until she suddenly and unexpectedly experienced a brain aneurysm.

And today his wife is in a coma in a hospital for the seventh month and counting and counting.

And every day on my friend's social media, every day he posts messages like, Father, I beg you, period.

We can all relate, but in a different way.

And many times it happens in ways that we didn't plan.

Change can create a very significant challenge.

Dealing with fear involves stepping out of one's comfort zone.

That's what fear does to you and makes you do things that otherwise you wouldn't just be eager to do.

It causes you to face uncertainties as it was for me just in the last few weeks.

I have to tell you that, Although I can speak in Spanish, and you know that, I can speak in Spanish.

But preaching in the Spanish language is something else.

And preaching in the Spanish language is very much stepping out of my comfort zone.

I preach countless times more in English than in Spanish.

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Oh Gabriel, Is Jesus Worth It

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