And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore, also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word – Lk. 1:33-38.
A cure for that false humility, mock modesty, and false theology that declines the church and leadership is to learn Mary’s secret as the handmaid of the Lord. Mary, as a model of faith, is about the joyous freedom of the gospel. However, the decline of the church and leadership is about the lack of Mary as God’s handmaid in the church and leadership. In an age and culture that represses faith and draws attention from God’s command and promises, God seeks handmaids to stop the increasing arguments and compel us to trust and obey God.
Mary’s missional expression, ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord’, is about giving and devoting ourselves unreservedly to God so that He may freely dispose of us according to His pleasure. When God’s handmaid as the actual proof of faith restrains and holds their mind captive against unbelief, unbelievers, with their opposing arguments as far as lies in their power and wealth, obstruct God’s mission. While unbelief makes us rebels and deserters, faith alone makes us handmaids, obedient, powerful servants to God.
Mary’s acceptance of God’s promise as ‘Handmaid” was a more significant act of faith. Handmaid, as used in Luke 1 from a Greek term, means bondservant. Mary’s acceptance of such a position and designation was in complete understanding of the human and social consequences. Mary’s acceptance of her designation as handmaid was an expression of resignation to God’s will and faith in His promise. To be the “handmaid of the Lord” is to be submissive and obedient, and is the same as saying, “I fully credit all that is said, and am perfectly ready to obey all the commands of the Lord.”
God visits. The angel who visited Mary tells us of God’s visits to different people and contexts (Gen 18: 9-15, I Sam 1: 9-18, Judg. 13:2-5). The underlying purpose of God’s visits is His mission to humanity. Mary’s response, “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord,” to the divine message is a model of faith for every believer. Mary believed in God’s promises even when they seemed impossible, even the world’s salvation. She was gracious because she trusted that what God said would be fulfilled.
In a world where pride and ignorance lead to errors and committal of mistakes, we can learn from Mary in giving birth to the spread of the Gospel of Jesus. Like Mary, God wants us to admit that we are God’s creatures by this statement, “I am the handmaid of God,” called to live a life of purity in thoughts, words, and behaviour. Mary, as the handmaid of the Lord, provides us with a model to say Yes to God as a Yes to a relationship with Him that leads to a conversion of holiness, set apart of the Lord in spreading scriptural holiness across the land.
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