Christ, Be Birthed In Me!!!
Scripture: Luke 1: 46&47
This portion of scripture known as the “Magnificant,” Mary’s song is sung by a young virgin who was pledged to be married. A 14-year- old girl, who one day has an encounter with God. It wasn’t out in the public, made as an official announcement but rather in the quietness of her everyday life. The record states that it was in the 6th month and she was in a small non-descript town called Nazareth; a place where people wondered if anything good could come out of it. It doesn’t say that anything spectacular was happening at that time, just that God sent the Angel Gabriel to speak a Word to her. A Word that will change her life and the lives of other for generations to come. I don’t think she knew or even understand in the moment just how significant her encounter with God or the Word she was hearing really was. The story tells of her being “greatly troubled” at the Word she was receiving and the she wondered what kind of greeting this really was. I mean the Angel was only saying that she was highly favored of the Lord and that the Lord was with her. Really, how afraid can one be with a greeting that had such blessing attached to it? But then again, I have to consider that when the Lord speaks to you, no matter how it comes there is a fear, a reverential fear, if you will … that comes with it. A fear that causes you to bring into question who you are, what have or have not done, to question what could the Lord possible want to do with me. See, when the Lord comes to us with His Word we begin to question ourselves; look at our unworthiness and we tend to forget Who it is that is speaking to us. We forget that our unworthiness is trumped by His Worthiness. Like Mary, we mistakenly look at ourselves and our inadequacies and immediately begin to wonder; and this before He even finishes speaking to us. True, sometimes in our relationship with God, our conversations with God just don’t make any sense; because they stretch us to a place of becoming who He intends for us to be … not who we see when we look in the mirror. But rather it stretches us to see who He sees. We wonder things like what if God asks my blind self ~ to see, or my cripple self ~ to walk or to my broke self ~ to tithe? And we fear, just like Mary in this text; as God was preparing to ask this VIRGIN …TO GIVE BIRTH.
You know the story; how the Angel Gabriel, exhorted her to fear not and proceeded to tell her that she had found favor with God. How he spoke vision and meaning and purpose unto her saying, “You will be with Child, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.” How after she got done questioning herself and the Angel, “How could this be since I know NOT a man?” How the Angel answered and said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you ...” How the Angel finished his proclamation by saying, “For NOTHING is impossible with God.” Mary then responded with this; “I am the LORD’s servant; Be it unto me according to Thy will, oh Lord.” Now that … is a story. And it all happened before the Lord is even born!!! You know there is a difference between being born and be being birthed. To be born is the existing of a thing as a result of … whereas being birthed is the emergence of a thing and the start of its life. Jesus was going to be born, the Angel said it. However, first the Word had to be birthed in Mary in order to bring all of what was being said to her to pass.
Now, this brings us to our text for tonight’; “My soul doth magnify the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” That is Mary saying; “Christ, be birthed in me!!! That is our Word for tonight. “Christ, be birthed in me” In order for us to allow that to happen we must do these 3 things:
We must conceive the Word of the Lord.
We must become pregnant; allow God to plant His Seed in us. Allow His will to be formulated in our hearts, in our minds and in our spirits. Picture a woman when she becomes pregnant. Everything about her changes. The thing that is inside of her begins to shape her in every way; the way she eats; she realizes that she is eating for two now. That everything she consumes will not only affect her but also effect the thing that is growing on the inside of her. The way she walks changes; she realizes her choices are no longer her own but that she has a life growing inside of her and the things she chooses will impact the well-being of that life. Her body takes on a new form; she cannot fit into her old outfits anymore, her old clothes are too tight, that although they may be familiar and comfortable she has to let them go and embrace garments that allow the life on the inside of her breathe. (illustration) The scripture says; “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of God will overshadow you …” When you allow the will of the Lord to be conceived in you; you recognize that your life is not your own, you have been bought at a price. You allow God’s Word to shape you into His own. We must 1st conceive God’s Word.
If we want “Christ, to be birthed in us”:
2. We must surrender to the Word of the Lord.
We must cease to resist God having His way in our lives, we have to yield our personal desires to His Word in our lives. Once we conceive, we have freedom of choice; for God has given us free will. He will not force His way on anybody!!! We have to choose to carry the Seed of His Word or not. If we want to, we can abort it or even potentially miscarry it. It’s up to us. There is a funny thing about being pregnant, your either pregnant or you’re not. There is no half way about it, you cannot be almost pregnant, you either are or you are not ~ it’s your choice. Mary, after her wonderment said, “Be it unto me according to Thy will, oh Lord” She submitted not only to being pregnant but to everything that came with it. The possible loss of her future husband, the sneers that came from the naysayers, the tarnishing of her reputation, the not being believed by those who said they loved her. Not to mention the weight gain, stretch marks, morning sickness and the impending labor pains that were soon to come. See Mary was never promised that her road was going to be easy; rather she was told and believed that, “With God ALL things are possible.” She was willing to endure whatsoever came her way, so that the Word of the Lord inside of her would come into fruition. She recognized that she was being built up and into who God called her to be. Like Mary, we must surrender to the Word of the Lord.
If we want “Christ, to be birthed in us”:
3. We must receive the Word of the Lord.
We must live out the Word of the Lord in our lives even if we cannot see it, YET. We have to be able to experience the truth of God’s Word to us in our day to day life. Mary sang first; “My soul doth magnify the Lord…” and continued with; “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” To magnify means to make One Thing bigger than everything else. You remember in school, in science class, when you were studying living organisms (cells). In order to see the life you had to put it under a microscope and look through the lens so you could see it, so that it could come into your vision. That is what Mary is teaching us here; that if we would look through the lens of faith, no matter what our minds, our will or our emotions are saying or showing to us, we will be able to see the Word of the Lord in us, bigger than anything else. That if we take great delight in the Lord and believe that the joy of the Lord is our strength, we would TRUST Him to perform His Word in us, knowing that it would return unto Him void, but accomplish the thing for which He sent it; in the first place. This is why she could sing this song; because she believed that God was big enough to handle His Word, her life and the Seed that He placed in her. All she had to do was conceive the Word of the Lord, surrender to the Word of the Lord and receive the Word of the Lord, the rest was on God Himself. The same with us. Amen.