And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
Watch session one: Jesus responds to our need
As stories go, everything about Mary’s seemed impossible. It seemed impossible that, after four hundred years of silence, God would send a messenger to a young girl probably no more than fifteen years old. It seemed impossible that a girl would find fa – vor with God. And it seemed impossible that through a virgin would come “the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32).
It certainly seemed impossible to Mary.
It’s hard to picture it—an ordinary Mary. A Mary without a glowing halo. A Mary without that expression of demure solemnity we’ve come to associate with her virginity. But the truth is, Mary was just that: ordinary—a noname girl from a no-name town, living in an insignificant corner of the Roman Empire. Still, we struggle to accept her ordinariness.
“But Mary was humble,” we object. Or, “She was holy,” we tell ourselves.
No matter how we put it, we all do it. We buy into the idea that God chose Mary because there was something about her that made her extraordinary. Something that made her worthy of God’s notice. Something that made her special. But that’s not the picture of Mary we get from the Gospel of Luke. Far from it. When Gabriel appeared to Mary and called her “favored,” when he exclaimed, “the Lord is with you,” Mary didn’t know what to do with it. Surely Gabriel had made a mistake. Surely he’d gotten the wrong girl. Mary, the gospel writer tells us, “was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be” (Luke 1:29). Mary’s story seemed impossible. It seemed impossible to her, and it should seem impossible to us—but that, of course, is precisely the point.
Mary’s story is impossible. But for grace. It’s easy to come to Mary’s story and be so overcome by the miracle of the Virgin Birth that we forget about the miracle of grace. We forget that it was grace that sent Gabriel with a message of good news to a no-name town under Roman subjugation. We forget that it was grace that looked on Mary, an unimpressive, ordinary girl, with favor. And we forget that it was grace, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that made it possible for a virgin girl to bear the very Son of God—Jesus, the rescuer of humankind. Grace is the outpour – ing of God’s condescension, the bridge that connects the ordinary and the impossible. It did in Mary’s life, and it does in our own.
We live within the limitations of our ordinariness. Maybe we have ordinary skills. Maybe we have ordinary jobs. Or maybe we have ordinary relationships. But we can find comfort in knowing that the same grace that moved in Mary’s life is the grace that moves in ours. It is the grace of a God who bends to look on us with favor. It has nothing to do with us and who we are, but everything to do with Jesus and who he is.
It is because of grace that Gabriel could say to Mary, “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). And it is because of grace that God says the same to us.
Do you really believe God graces the ordinary? Or are there places you strive to be better than ordinary in order to earn God’s grace?
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The Bible tells us, "YES", He graces the ordinary so I believe it BUT do I really believe He can grace me?? I’m an old, fat, lazy woman…what can I do?!? I always have good intentions to improve myself but I fail daily!!! But there is NOTHING I can do to earn His grace. He gives in freely!!!
Yes! I do believe God graces the ordinary. Throughout scripture we see this over and over again. The twelve disciples were ordinary. I strive to be better–to use the gifts He’s given me, and if I am being honest with myself, it’s not to earn favor or grace, but to be more like Jesus and to please God. As His chosen child, with an abundance of grace bestowed on me, undeservedly as I am a sinner, I know there is nothing I can do. I can only be obedient and grateful.
Yes, I believe God can grace the ordinary. I will oftentimes strive to be better than ordinary to please the Lord. Unfortunately, I’ve boasted about what I’ve done (pride) or bartered with the Lord. I may say, "See me, you know I’ve done ___ so now I earn _____. How arrogant of me!?! God does not bestow blessings based on my works.
Yes God graces the ordinary…. He extends grace to me daily when I mess up.
I do try to be a people acceptor for where people are at in their journey and sometimes that becomes people pleaser when I should focus on being a God pleaser.
I believe God is a God of Grace.
David, an ordinary shepherd boy, became the king of lsreal, the lives of Jacob, Rahab, Gideon, the twelve disciples, Paul – the list goes on. All of their lives displayed the grace of God.
My life is a continuous product of God’s grace. Not something that I have earned, but, it is a free gift from the Lord and I am forever grateful for his grace upon my life.
I absolutely believe that God graces the ordinary: the Bible is replete with examples, not only Mary, but also Moses, Jonah, and even David ("Where others see a shepherd boy, God may see a king."). Billy Graham would have said, I think, that he was an ordinary man called to spread God’s Word. God chooses ordinary people as His instrument to perform in extraordinary ways in order that His will might be accomplished. His power and might are seen in the actions of everyday people. In regard to grace, by definition, that element of God’s functioning cannot be earned. How marvelous it is that God extends His grace to us in the Person of Jesus Christ, that we may know Him and dwell with Him for an eternity!
I am always striving to be better! Never feel I am good enough. Listened to talk tonight about her not praying when others did, because her wants were very simple(boy, permed hair)
I am ordinary. But because of him I am truly extraordinary. As everyone else can be…
Maybe I am reading this wrong but I find it hard to think that I am ordinary and I feel that is rude to say but there is so much in my life that if this was ordinary I wouldn’t this unique. I think I try to be better all the time and in all things which is a strength but weakness at the same time. I have to realize that ordinary is not a bad thing and sometimes being "normal" is just what I need.
God gives grace and it’s freeing to know that. I come from catholic background and you work for your salvation. When I was small I never was taught about grace. I learned about guilt and condemnation. Sad but true. When I became a Christian that was still in my subconscious thinking. Always striving, competing and never feeling that it was enough for God’s approval. I want to be set free from all the legalism.