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By Pastor Brian Bestian
Do you subscribe to any magazines? Most American households do. When I was a teenager, my parents subscribed to a number of them. One of my favorites was the Reader’s Digest. Each month I eagerly anticipated its arrival in the mail. And I always had a certain order to my reading. First, I’d read the humorous anecdotes in “Laughter Is the Best Medicine” and “Life in Uniform.” Finally, with all the preliminaries out of the way, I would begin reading the real-life stories. Each story seemed to tell about a calamity, a catastrophe, a tragedy, or an adversity.
What I found most interesting in those articles was not how the storyteller managed to survive. Since they were writing the article that seemed obvious. Nor was I intrigued by the details of how they managed to get into their particular situation in the first place. That’s because I wasn’t really worried about being attacked by a grizzly bear. No, what intrigued me most was the moment of their revelation. Somewhere in the course of their story, every one of them had a crystal clear moment when they realized they were in dire straits and might not survive. They would write something like: “The grizzly was shaking me by the scruff of my neck, blood was running down my face and I realized I might never see my family again” or, “My legs were pinned in the car by the steering wheel, blood was running down my face, and I realized I might never see my family again.” You get the picture.
After that moment of revelation, almost every writer recorded what he or she did next. They would say, “I’d never been a serious believer in God before, but at that moment I prayed.” Or something similar. It was amazing to me that every one of these self-sufficient and self-reliant people suddenly felt helpless, defenseless, and vulnerable. At that moment of revelation, all of the facades they had built around themselves came tumbling down. At that moment of revelation, all of the charades they had been playing came to a screeching halt. They wanted, they needed, a power to believe in, a God they could speak to—who would hear and help them through their hurt and horror.
What they had discovered was this: When your life is suspended by a thread, you want a sure and trustworthy hand holding the other end of that string. You may act tough, talk tough, and live tough. But most people I know aren’t tough enough to look death in the face and laugh—especially when death is laughing right back.
Vince Lombardi said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” That may be true when you’re on a football field and there’s still two minutes left on the clock, but it’s a lousy idea when the clock of your life is running out. When that time comes, the tough don’t get going, the tough start believing.
But believing in what? In our confused world, there are a myriad of religions and belief systems. Each of them says it’s got the answers to life’s final questions. How can a person be sure and certain? Do our last moments in life need to be spent putting down our money and letting the roulette wheel of religion whirl?
Now I can give you my answer to those questions. But my opinion doesn’t count. No, if you’re going to believe anybody, it needs to be someone who has the experience and the credentials to be trusted. Many such people can be found in God’s inspired, inerrant Word, but there is one I would like you to meet today. Her name is Mary. There are a number of women in the Bible who have that name, so I need to be specific. I’d like to introduce you to Mary, the mother of Jesus. I know, I know, you think you know her already. Some people think they’ve seen her in a screen door or on a piece of toast being auctioned off on EBay. Others are sure they know her because they’ve seen her on a Christmas card stamp, or on a candle sold in the grocery store, or on some priceless piece of renaissance art.
The Mary, pictured in Scripture, is quite different than the way most people think of her. Please, forget about the golden halo and the mystical, heavenward gaze that artists often paint over her head and on her face. The Mary, pictured in Scripture, is a down-to-earth, no nonsense sort of lady. Mary is a practical lady who cares about what happens to others—which pretty well describes the story of a wedding at the little Galilean town of Cana.
Mary is concerned about the wedding. Weddings, in first century Palestine, are big productions. They run for days. Mary talks to Jesus about wine. Actually, she’s concerned about a lack of wine. They’re running out. And that’s not good. To run out of wine is extremely embarrassing for the hosts. And it’s going to take a long time before they live it down, if ever.
Mary wants Jesus to do something about the wine. He tells her, “Not yet!” It’s almost like she thinks He’s got 100 gallons of wine tucked into the back pocket of His robe. Mary instructs the servants at the wedding, “Do whatever He tells you.” “Do whatever He tells you?” Think about it. Mary is asking those servants to trust Jesus completely, totally. She’s asking them to put their entire futures into His hands.
“Do whatever He tells you.” For Mary, those weren’t just words. They were a motto, a creed for much of her life. Thirty years before the Cana wedding, the angel Gabriel visited Mary in Nazareth. He told her that even though she was unmarried and a virgin, she would—by the Holy Spirit’s power—give birth to the holy Son of God. Even more, her son would be the Savior of the world.
Mary knew what that meant. She knew the Old Testament prophecies. She knew that Jesus would do wonderful things. She knew that He would restore hearing to the deaf and sight to the blind and mobility to the lame. She knew that her son would be a Shepherd for God’s people, a Light to those who had been living in darkness, and a blessing to all the nations of the world. But Mary also knew that there would be harsh things to come. The prophets had also spoken of how God’s Son would carry the sins of humanity, how He would be rejected by His people, betrayed by a friend, and die the death that we deserved on the accursed tree of Calvary.
Although a sword of pain would one day pierce her heart, Mary was willing to do whatever God asked. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered with an obedient heart. “May it be to me as you have said.” Have you ever considered what those submissive words could’ve cost Mary? It meant that her bridegroom, Joseph, could call off the wedding. It meant that she could’ve been stoned to death for the crime of infidelity. It meant that her son could’ve been called cruel names. Surrender to God’s will could’ve cost her dearly. But Mary, even as a young girl, was motivated by faith and a willingness to follow God.
Such faith in God’s great grace was not confined to Mary’s younger years. Three decades later, when she attended the wedding at Cana as a middle-aged woman, Mary remained faithful. Mary knew that God always does what is best for His people. That’s why, after Mary told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you,” she stepped back and turned the matter over to Jesus. Mary didn’t know how Jesus would respond, or even if He would respond, but she was content to wait upon the Lord.
Of course, Mary’s story of compliance to God’s will wasn’t finished at the wedding. Her commitment endured another test—a greater test. Outside the city walls of Jerusalem, on a hill known as Golgotha, on a dark and terrible day, Mary watched her son complete the mission for which He had been born. Mary watched as her son, having lived His life avoiding sin and resisting Satan, gave Himself so all who believe on Him might live forever. She watched as His meager possessions were divided among those who crucified Him. She watched as Jesus endured the cruel taunts and the cruel cross so that we could be saved. She watched God faithfully fulfill His promises and finish a miracle of love that we cannot understand—and which we dare not undervalue.
As Mary stood at the foot of her son’s cross, I wonder, “Did she regret her willingness to do whatever God asked? Did she question God’s decisions? Did she wonder if His grace and His promise to redeem the world was still intact? Was Mary, as she saw her son’s agony and anguish, still willing to do everything God asked?” I believe she was. Scripture nowhere records any words of despair or disrespect escaping Mary’s lips. It doesn’t speak of any angry fists being shaken towards the heavens. On the contrary, the Bible only tells of a mother who believed her son, God’s Son, had kept His Father’s mission to defeat sin, death, and devil. The Bible speaks only of a mother whose life was governed by the creed: “Do whatever He tells you.”
Now I don’t want you to think, even for a moment, that Mary is the subject of this message. She isn’t. Mary is just a fine example of the confidence and joy that comes to those who—by the Holy Spirit’s power—believe on Jesus and who acknowledge they’re saved by His life, His sacrifice, His suffering, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. Doing as God says, the believer knows that no matter what happens, they will not be alone, and they can remain unafraid. If a grizzly starts gnawing, or a skyscraper starts falling, or death comes calling, a Christian is given God’s peace which passes all human understanding. Saint Paul summed up the Christian faith this way, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
Years ago, C. S. Lewis said, “There are two kinds of people in this world: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.’” Lewis was right. We can, by the Holy Spirit’s power, believe and do as God says, or we can do what we want. When Jesus walked the earth, people knew that God was in control. They knew that God was their Judge and they would have to answer to Him for their sins they had committed. That’s why, when Jesus came into this world, His message of salvation, the forgiveness that He won, the salvation that He procured, was received by many with joy.
Sadly, our age has changed in its view of our relationship with the Lord. Many people today have thought quite justified to reverse roles with God. They have booted the Lord out of the Judge’s seat and decided that they have the right to sit in His chair and hand down opinions on His actions. While Mary believed she should do whatever God said, modern man believes that God—if He even exists—should do whatever mankind wants and demands.
Lord, preserve us from this kind of pride. Deliver us from such lunacy. Help us to remember our frailty even as we recall Your potent power and great grace. Help us to focus our eyes upon the cross. Keep us standing before the empty tomb. Let us believe on the Savior and do whatever He tells us to do.
During the last century, the young son of a missionary couple in Zaire was playing in the compound that surrounded their modest home. The father, who was standing on the front porch, suddenly shouted out, “Philip, obey me immediately! Drop to your stomach!” Without hesitation, the young boy did as his father commanded. “Good!” the father said, “now crawl toward me as quickly as you can!” Once again the boy obeyed. After crawling a few yards, the father gave his last command, “Stand up, Philip, and run to me!” Philip responded and immediately ran into his father’s waiting arms. Only then did he turn his head and look back. There, in the tree where he had been playing, was a large, poisonous snake.
Now, if Philip had hesitated when his father called to him and demanded to know, “Why should I?” The outcome of the day would’ve been different. The same is true for us. Do whatever Jesus tells you to do. That’s the advice of Mary. In Acts 16:31, the apostle Paul says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” That’s the truth of Scripture. Saved by grace, we do as God asks. We believe.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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