Luke 1:38

            {Prayer}

            The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was passed by Congress on September 16, 1940. It required all men between the ages of 21 and 35 to register with the Selective Service. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Following that attack, Congress amended the act to require all able-bodied men ages 18 to 64 to register with their local draft board for military service for the duration of World War II. In practice, however, only men from 18 to 45 were drafted.

            Within thirty days after the Pearl Harbor attack, 134,000 Americans enlisted in the military. More than 16 million served in the military in World War II, and 6.1 million of those service members were volunteers.

            To help with the recruiting process for World War II, a famous poster that was designed originally for World War I was resurrected. The poster is an icon in American history. It has Uncle Sam pointing his finger directly at the viewer as he says, “I Want You for the U.S. Army.” Today, in our Gospel reading, God points His finger at Mary and says, “I want you!”

            God calls on Mary. Mary responds in faith and trust in her Lord as a servant … ready to serve. Mary was ready to serve on short notice for a big task of being the mother of the ultimate servant … God’s Son, her son, our Savior, who gave His life as a ransom for many. As baptized children of God … may you and I be ready to serve in gladness.

            Let’s set the stage of reading as we dig into it. At the time of our reading, Mary may have been 14 or 15, she’s a virgin, living in Nazareth, and engaged to Joseph. The angel Gabriel comes to Mary with a message that would literally change her life. Gabriel shares words of comfort as well as Mary’s job description. “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:30-31).

            Not only does Gabriel say to Mary, “Stop fearing, there is nothing to be afraid of” but also, “you have found favor” with God. Understand, Mary is not worthy of God’s favor, she is not worthy of His grace, His undeserved kindness. She is a sinner, just like everyone else, just like you and me. She did nothing to earn God’s favor any more than we have. But God had chosen her to be the mother of Jesus and that was enough.

            So what was about to happen? Well, God was about to fulfill His promise to send a Messiah. God was going to send His Son on a mission to save the world, to save mankind, to save you and me from our sins. God did not merely recruit His Son, as someone who would be chosen for a special task. No. God was going to send His Son to pay the sin debt for you and me and all people. As Luther stated, “{Jesus} has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.” After all of these years that God’s people had been waiting … God was going to make it happen. Mary, of all people, was about to be the mother of the Messiah.

            Needless to say, Mary was a bit perplexed. I can only imagine what was going through her head. Perplexed, confused, she did what any of us would have done. She asked a question. But note, her question was not like John the Baptist’s dad, Zechariah’s question. You see, Zechariah doubted and asked for a sign. You see, Mary simply asks for an explanation. “How will this be, how can I give birth to a child, since I’m still a virgin?” (Luke 1:34).

            The angel Gabriel is ready for this. He tells her that her child will not have a human father. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). This child was not to be conceived or born in sin. This child was going to be called the “Son of God.” This child would be God’s Son. In other words, He was going to be perfect. He would be without sin. The title of “Son of God” was a title that belongs only to Jesus. As Jesus himself said, “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16b).

            Gabriel pretty much summed up his whole visit in his last sentence to Mary: “nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:35). The impossible was going to be possible. There was going to be a birth without a human father and the mother was a virgin who was a teenage peasant girl. The ordinary here would be extraordinary, truly out-of-this-world extraordinary.

            Mary’s response to all this? “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). In other words, Mary was ready to go. Mary was ready to serve. Mary was a woman of faith and it was by this faith that allowed her to accept the angel’s message without question. It was by this faith that places herself in the position to serve her Lord. Mary was ready to serve.

            Beyond her faith, what was the basis of Mary being ready to serve? God’s Word. “Let it be to me according to your … word”. She believed the message that Gabriel delivered from God. It was God who was telling her that she would be the mother of the Son of God and she believed it. She heard and believed God’s Word. God’s Word was the basis of her belief and trust in God. It was her faith that allowed her to say that she was ready to serve. But there is one little problem. How would she explain this to Joseph? Obviously that isn’t going to be an easy conversation … but yet … Mary trusted in God and that it would all work out according to His plan.

            Mary was ready to serve. Jesus, as God’s Son, He came, ready to serve. Ready to serve for a bigger task than just being miraculously born. His task, His job description, as He later shared with His disciples: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

            Jesus became a man and came to serve. He taught, healed, and fed people. He went to the cross and rose from the grave to bring salvation. Jesus was a true servant. Paul even summed this up in his letter to the Philippians, “Christ Jesus … emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).

            As a true servant, Jesus made the impossible possible. By God’s grace and favor, He was able to accomplish the impossible. Jesus opened up eternal life to all who believe in Him. He came here to earth on a rescue mission, a mission that took Him from the cradle to a cross. Upon that cross He suffered the wrath of God and death for all of our sins and the sins of the world. And then to rise on that first Easter morning to conquer death. On that first Easter morning … Jesus accomplished His mission.

            So … what about us? Mary was ready to serve! Jesus served. What about us? If we are looking for someone to emulate, someone to copy … we can look at Mary and her response. We are to make ourselves totally ready to serve our Lord. And how does this take place? We have experienced God’s grace through the efforts of His Son. God has given us His written Word that we hear proclaimed. God has redeemed us through Jesus, the living Word. Because of that redemption, you and I, we have the opportunity, catch that, the opportunity to be servants, just as Mary did. Paul put it this way: “{Jesus} died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor. 5:15). You and I … we stand ready to serve. Ready to serve with joy.

            On this LWML Sunday, we celebrate Lutheran Women in Mission. Their motto … it’s all about willing service and attitude of joyful serving. Their motto comes from Psalm 100:2, “Serve the LORD with gladness!” Since 1942, the LWML has focused on affirming each woman’s oneness with Christ, encouraging and equipping women to live out their Christian lives in active mission ministries and to support global missions. They have been and are ready to serve their Lord. The national LWML group has a goal for this biennium, from 2023 to 2025, to raise through their Mite Boxes and offerings, a missional goal of $2.35 million. This money goes to fund mission projects both in the U.S. and around the world. That is what the money we collect in the door offering is going towards as well.

            God called on Mary. Mary was ready to serve as she told Gabriel, “I am the servant of the Lord” (Luke 1:38). God sent His Son to serve, and Jesus said to His disciples, “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). May you and I be ready to serve. May our response as children of God be one of service. Or, as Martin Luther once expressed it, “may I be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” Amen.

            The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.