GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
LUKE 1:38
38 Then Mary answered, “I am the Lord’s servant-girl. May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
The contrast between Mary and Zechariah is remarkable. The old priest burning incense in the holy place had his doubts when the angel spoke to him about a coming miracle that was, as miracles go, rather ordinary (an elderly couple would have a child). But the virgin girl with no husband at all would be the mother of God! Mary believed without any doubts and said, “I am the Lord’s doulā (δούλη) “servant / slave girl.”
A servant of the Lord in the Old Testament was an eved Adonai. This might refer to the whole nation, “Israel, my servant” (Isaiah 41:8), or to one person praying, “do not turn your servant away in anger” (Psalm 27:9), or to God’s special prophets, “Did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your fathers?” (Zechariah 1:6). Moses was “the servant of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 34:5; Revelation 15:3). It is our pleasure to be the servants of the Lord—it is a humbling, remarkable service to do God’s will. Different servants have different service, and Mary recognized her place. One person’s service might be different from everyone else in a given congregation:
“If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” (Romans 12:6-8)
And if one woman’s gift is childbearing, let her continue with it in faith, love and holiness (1 Timothy 2:15). This was to be Mary’s special place, and she accepted her place in God’s plan with grace and with faith. I don’t know whether my place in God’s plan is large or small or somewhere in between. None of us does. What God wants us to do is to be faithful with whatever task he has given to us. What we yearn for is to hear the words of the Master on the day of judgment: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things… Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21,23). Be faithful with today’s labor in the Lord, and let tomorrow bring what it may.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota