LUKE 1:36-48

[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,

[27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

[28] And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

[29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

[30] And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

[31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

[32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

[33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

[34] And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

[35] And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

[36] And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

[37] For nothing will be impossible with God.”

[38] And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

What do you do when you have to make a difficult decision?  You might turn to someone you trust for advice.  That person might be a parent or a pastor or a person you’ve known for years.  You probably wouldn’t turn to a child although children sometimes really do know what they’re talking about.   That’s obvious when you look at the words of wisdom that some children shared with their Sunday School teacher. 

Andrew wrote these words of wisdom.  “Never smart off to a teacher whose eyes and ears are twitching.”

Or how about this one. Rocky wrote, “When feeding seagulls, always wear a hat.”

Or, this one. Lamar wrote,  “Never flush the toilet when your dad’s in the shower,” 

Here are a few more.   Carrol wrote, “Never ask for anything that cost more than $5 when your parents are doing taxes.”

Nicholas wrote, “Never bug a pregnant Mom.”

While Michael wrote, “Never tell your Mom that her diet’s not working.”

Heather wrote, “When your dad is mad and asks, ‘Do I look stupid?’  Don’t answer him.”

Joel certainly knew what he was talking about when he wrote, “Don’t pick on your sister when she’s holding a baseball bat.”

This last one from Kelly is the best one of all.  “Don’t ever be too full for dessert.”

Life is full of decisions.  Some of them are simple and some of them are stressful.  Some of them are easy and some of them are excruciatingly painful.   For example, do I tell the doctors to take my mother off the life support machines and let her go?   Do I tell my sister who is facing bankruptcy that I’m not going to help her out financially?   Do I quit my job and answer God’s call to become a minister?

Life is full of difficult decisions and when you have a difficult decision to make it’s easy to get caught up in what some therapists call analysis paralysis. You hem and you haw.  You go back and forth.  You weigh out all the pros and cons and get yourself all worked up. “Should I or shouldn’t I?  What’s the best thing to do?

The next time you find yourself in that situation consider Mary and the decision she had to make when the angel Gabriel came to see her in Nazareth.  Gabriel says, “Hail o favored one, the Lord is with you!”  He then goes on to say, “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. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” 

What Gabriel is basically saying here is, “So, Mary, how would you like to be the mother of the messiah?”  At first glance that seems like a slam dunk decision.  Mary wasn’t exactly jumping for joy though or turning cartwheels though.   That’s because Mary knew that while there were many reasons for her to say, “yes” there were also many reasons for her to say, “no.”

You see, Mary knew that if she said, “yes” she would have to deal with all kinds of gut wrenching headaches and heartaches.  First of all, what would Joseph think?  Well, we know what Joseph thought.  When he found out that his betrothed was “great with child” he decided to quietly divorce her.  Mary also had to worry about her family and friends.  Today people barely raise an eyebrow when a teenager gets pregnant, but back then it was shameful and scandalous.  Mary knew that as soon as everyone found out she was going to be scorned and shunned as a woman of questionable character and morals.  That’s why Luke tells us that Mary was “greatly troubled.”

In the end though she makes the right decision.  She says to Gabriel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Mary says, “yes” but she says “yes” knowing that things will get worse for her before they get better.  That’s important to remember when you have a difficult decision to make.  More often than not when you make the right decision, as Mary did, things are going to get worse for you before they get better. 

For example, as a parent you set rules and say “no” and your children hate you for it. It may be years before they realize that you knew what you were doing and say “thank you.”

A decision to leave a troubled relationship may mean a lot of very lonely nights before you find someone new; someone who brings joy to your heart.

A decision to leave a stressful dead end job may mean that you’ll have to take a cut in pay for a job  that will offer you a lot more – down the road.

A decision to move out of your home and into a retirement condo may mean letting go of a lot of happy memories.  It may be weeks or months before you feel at home in your new surroundings.

Mary made the difficult decision. She said “yes” even though she knew that things would get worse for her before they got better.   One of the reasons why Mary was able to say, “yes” was because she knew that when you make those difficult decisions God will see you through to a better tomorrow.

Mary knew that.  You can see it in the words that she uttered when she later went to see her cousin Elizabeth.   When the baby in Elizabeth’s womb hears Mary’s voice it leaps for joy and Mary cries out, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.  For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed…”  (Luke 1:46-48)

By agreeing to be the mother of the messiah Mary secured a very special place for herself in the corridors of the Christian faith. When you make the difficult decision things may get worse for you before they get better but God will see you through to that better tomorrow.

Many years ago Bill Havens had to make a difficult decision.  The year was 1924 and Bill Havens was supposed to go to Paris to compete in Olympics Games.  Back then canoe racing was an Olympic sport and Bill was a part of the four man canoe team for the United States.  Hi team was one of the best in the world. He had a problem though.  His wife was about to give birth to their first child.   Since this was before the days of jets and international travel the only way to get to Paris was on a ship.  It was a journey that took several days.   So, this was the difficult decision that Bill Havens had to make.  Should he go to Paris and risk not being at his wife’s side when their first child was born?   His wife insisted that he go to Paris.  After all, he had been working hard for many years to make his dream come true.  In the end though Bill made the difficult decision to stay with his wife.  A few weeks later Bill learned that his team won the gold medal.  The news was bitter sweet.  It was even more bitter sweet when his wife gave birth a few weeks later than expected.  In the end Bill could have gone to Paris and made it back in time. Well, there’s an important p.s. to this story.  Bill and his wife named their boy Frank and 28 years later Bill Havens received a telegram from his son.  It was sent from Helsinki, Finland where the 1952 Olympics were being held.  The telegram left Bill Havens feeling very proud. It read, “Dad, I won. I'm bringing home the gold medal you lost while waiting for me to be born.”

When you make that difficult decision you might not end up with an Olympic gold medal.  You might not be able to say “henceforth all generations will call me blessed…” You can be sure though that God will lead you to a better tomorrow.   Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

November 27, 2011