I’ve been pondering a question that people have been asking for 2000 years, since the very first Christmas.  “Why Mary?”  I’ve heard stories about how, long before Jesus arrived on the scene, the Jewish people were looking for the Messiah.  (Some still are today) But I’ve also heard that as people were looking for the Messiah, many little girls grew up wanting to be ‘the Mary’.  After all, it was prophesied long before it ever happened.  They all grew up wanting to be the one.  Even as it was happening, I think the other girls of Mary’s day looked at her and said, “Why her?  Why not me?”

People are still drawn to that question today.  Why Mary?  We wonder, what made her so special?

I believe we can begin to answer that question, at least in part, as we study the scripture in Luke Chapter 1.

²⁶In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^[c] the Son of God. ³⁶Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷For nothing is impossible with God.”

³⁸“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

What makes anyone ‘special’ who is thrust into greatness?  I wonder if it’s not a question we ask more and more as we get older.  We can look throughout history at men and women who have made a difference in the world or done something great for mankind or for God  – people like Moses, or Noah, or even more modern day hero’s like Mother Theresa, or Billy Graham – and we think, why them?  What made them so stand apart?  Why not me?  What is the common thread that ties them all together?

When it comes to the greatness of Jesus, it’s easy for us to say, “well, He was great because He was the perfect, all knowing, all-powerful, Son of God.  And He was all that.  But this week I heard my friend Melanie teach from a scripture I had never noticed before…I know, I’ve been in church my whole life, and I never heard it before!  So listen!  Maybe it will be new to you too!

Mark 1:40-45 ⁴⁰A leper came to him, begging on his knees, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”  Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy.

Jesus healed the man because He wanted to.  Mary had the baby because she wanted to.  People become great and bless humanity because they want too!  I believe it is this element of willingness that sets people apart.  It’s the same reason you choose to do what you do; it’s because you want to!

I often go back to the book, Purpose Driven Life, that so many of us are familiar with, by Rick Warren.  There’s a section in it, that talks about Jesus at His hour of decision in the garden before His crucifixion. It’s a snapshot of that moment that asks, would He fulfill His purpose?  Would He shrink back?  Would He choose to live a comfortable and self-centered life?

We each face that very same issue.  We can choose to live for our own goals, comfort or pleasure.  Or we can live the rest of our lives for God’s glory, fulfilling His purpose for us.

God is inviting us to play a part in His story and to stop trying to write our own.  It’s the only way to stop just existing, and truly live.  To accept His call, to work toward His purpose, to be willing to do life His way, is to answer the question, “why not me?”

If you are willing, it’s your turn!