Called to be Mary

(Photo from Pinterest)

     Most of us remember Mary in the Bible. I mean, there are many Mary’s to pick from, but it’s hard to forget Mary, the mother of Jesus. You know, the girl that was so special that God picked her to carry Jesus? Yes, that Mary. 

     When we think about Mary, it’s hard not to think about how blessed she was. How much God must have loved her, to pick her to carry the Savior of the world. She was favored by God. She was called by God; she was chosen by God. She was so special, and that’s something that we’ll never be. 

     Right?

     Wrong. 

     God didn’t love Mary more than us. John 3:16 says this: (do I even have to type this, or are you already quoting it in your head?) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

     Let’s read that again.

     “For God so loved the world.”

     For 

     God

     So

     Loved

     You.

     That’s right. God doesn’t love Mary more than you. True, Mary’s blessing from God was unique and awesome, because God gave her his Son—but...if we believe John 3:16, then God didn’t give His Son just to Mary. 

     No. He gave Jesus to us. Every day, with every heartbeat, God is giving Jesus to us. He’s giving us Jesus’s sacrifice, Jesus’s love, Jesus’s peace, Jesus’s presence. Sure, Mary got to hold Jesus as a baby—which was, undeniably, awesome, but we get to hold Jesus each and every day in our hearts. 

     Which is also undeniably awesome.

     We also can’t underestimate the gifts that God has given us as unique individuals. God has given us each the Holy Spirit, and His gifts manifest themselves in different ways. 1 Corinthians 12 gives the rundown of them, and not all of them are what you think: teaching, encouragement, prophecy, wisdom, tongues, knowledge—all of these are gifts of the Holy Spirit. All of these are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. And Paul does not declare one of them better than the other: Paul writes that the Holy Spirit distributes them as He chooses to the believers. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 says this: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”

     Which means that you might not have the gift of singing, but maybe you have the gift of wisdom. Maybe you don’t have the gift of prophecy, but you have the gift of teaching. One is not better than the other, one is not worth more than the other, just as Paul said. And he goes on to say in the rest of Chapter 12 how the body of Christ can’t function without all the spiritual gifts. Corinthians 12’s list is also not an exhaustive list. Romans 12 gives different examples of spiritual gifts, too: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:6-8).

     God has given you a gift just as He gave Mary a gift. You may think it’s small or unimportant, but if He cared enough to give it to you, then He wants you to use it! Look at it this way: if I’m a boss at a restaurant, I’m not going to give my workers a power saw because they don’t need it. Instead, I’m going to give them a knife, a pot, and an apron, because they are important to their job. 

     And I’m going to expect them to put what I gave them to good use! Remember the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), where Jesus chastised the servant that hid his talent. And, yes, I know that the story is talking about money, literally, but on a metaphorical sense, it is talking about our spiritual gifts. God has planted these seeds of talent in us—He’s actually picked them out special for you; that’s what the Bible says!—and that means that He wants us to water them and give them sunshine, and let Him do the same. 

     Mary didn’t cower in fear from her gift. She embraced it, just as God wants us to do. 

     The second thing that I’d like to focus on was how we consider Mary chosen or called...but the same God that chose and called Mary still chooses to call us as well.

     “What? But God chose Mary to carry His Son. He definitely won’t do that for me!” 

     Won’t He? 

     Now, before you start thinking that I’m spewing heresy, let me show you this Bible verse: “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20). 

     These closing words in Matthew are called the Great Commission, and in it, Jesus gives the disciples and all of us what we are to do: go into the world and spread His Gospel. That means that, while Mary was chosen and called to carry Jesus in the physical sense, we are all chosen and called to carry the news of Jesus wherever we may go. And, just like Jesus still cared for His mother while on the cross (John 19:26-27), He cares about us, too, and will be with us. 

     Without Mary, the world would not have had Jesus.

     But without us, the world won’t have Jesus, either.

     If Christians shut up and sit down, if we refuse to carry the message of Jesus and tell everyone, then Christianity is over. If we don’t tell anyone else, then the Gospel dies with us. So it’s time to speak up and do what we were called to do: spread the word about Jesus! 

     My last point is this: Mary was not any more special than us. So perhaps this isn’t from the Bible, but I feel ilke VeggieTales had its heart right when it said: “God made you special, and He loves you very much.” God cares so much about the sparrows and the lilies of the valleys, and He didn’t even make them in His own image (Matthew 10:29 and Genesis 1:27). Genesis says that God created us, both male and female, in His own image. He imbued us with His wisdom, with His breath, and with His Spirit—and values us all the same. 

     This means that, believe it or not, all human beings—including you, reading this right now—are special to God. He created the world and knew that it needed one of you in it. He was excited for you to be born. He cherishes you. You are his “peculiar treasure,” just the way you are (Exodus 19:5). Isn’t it beautiful to be loved? To be treasured? To know that God would send Jesus to die on the Cross again even if it was just you that He had to save? That you are special, loved, gifted, called, and chosen, just as much as Mary was? 

     So if you’re all these things, then it’s time to start believing it. Start valuing what you have: your life, your gifts, God’s love, and God’s calling, among others. You are called to be a Mary, and nobody else can take your place. God hasn’t given anyone else your gifts, your personality, your life, in your time and space, besides you. 

     So go ahead and use them. It’s what He’s called you to do.