“May it be done to me according to your word”-This was the ‘no hassle acceptance’ by Mary, mother of Jesus, to the announcement to her by Gabriel that she would bear a son [Luke 1:38]. However, before responding with this statement she questioned the angel’s pronouncement: ‘how can this be since I have not been intimate with a man?” [ vs 34 ] The angel answered and explained that the Holy Spirit was the source of her conception. Perhaps her mental response was something like: ‘Wow! I sort of get it-I will carry a child not of normal origin!’
When Zechariah was informed a short time earlier by the same angel that his somewhat aged wife Elizabeth would bear a son [John the Baptizer], he questioned the miraculous power of God to bring this about [Lk 1:18] Zechariah was rebuked by the angel for disbelieving God’s power and was struck mute until the child was born. Mary’s question to the same angel however fell along the lines of morality, and the long-known command from God to live a chaste life. Unlike Zechariah, her perplexing question perhaps was ‘how could God do this without violating his command for me to live a pure life’?
There are other passages in scripture dealing with the ‘push back’ of someone hearing the command or announcement of God. When the Pharisee Saul [later becoming the apostle Paul] was confronted and blinded by the resurrected Jesus, he was led on the road by the hand to Damascus, where a disciple name Ananias was told in a vision from God to go to the house where Saul/Paul was lodging and lay hands on him for the purpose of removing Saul’s blindness. Ananias ‘pushed back’ against the Lord’s command ‘informing’ the Lord that Saul was a very dangerous antagonist and a serious threat to the band of believers living in Damascus. ‘But the Lord said to him ‘Go! For this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and the sons of Israel” [Acts 9:10-13]
When Moses was encountered by God at the burning bush [Ex 3:4-17] and told that God was calling him to lead the Israelites on a great exodus from Egypt, Moses ‘pushed back’ four times, though the second time might be viewed as a clarification as to who this God was, by name, who was commanding Moses. Moses’ responses perhaps fit into the category of his sense of unfitness, incompetence, or ignobility [an unworthy nobody]. Finally, after several exchanges with God and His effort to encourage him, Moses said “please Lord, send someone else”. At that point the text says ‘then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses”. But the Lord then allowed Moses to recruit his brother Aaron, saying to Moses “I will help both you and him [Aaron] to speak” [Ex 3:15].
Gideon is mentioned in Hebrews 11 as a positive example of faith, though his anxious ‘push back’ is not described in that chapter but is revealed in Judges chapter 6 and following. Gideon said to the angel of the Lord: “Please Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house” [6:15]. In other words, like Moses, ‘Lord, please choose someone else”
These five examples of ‘push back’ reveal we often have difficulty believing God’s miraculous promise [e.g.Zechariah], believing God can carry out His purpose without violating His moral law [e.g. Mary], believing God fully understands and appreciates the dangers the church or individual believers may face in their attempt to carry out God’s command [e.g. Ananias] and, finally, believing that God intentionally seeks out and chooses to use for His kingdom, the weak, the very humble, seemingly unfit nobodies to lead or serve in His Kingdom [Moses, Gideon]. “..God has chosen the world’s foolish things to shame the wise, and God has chosen the world’s weak things to shame the strong” [I Cor 1:27].
Some of the models of faith and obedience in the Bible did not always evidence ‘hassle free obedience’ or immediate acceptance of God’s call. In the parable of the two sons [Matt 21:28-29] Jesus describes two very different responses by the sons as to the command of their earthly father: ‘A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘my son, go work in the vineyard today’. He answered, ‘I don’t want to!’ yet later he changed his mind and went. Then the man [the father] went to the other [son] and said the same thing. ‘I will Sir,’ he answered. But he didn’t go. Which of the two did the father’s will?” asked Jesus. [HCSB]
Have you continued to ‘push back’ against some aspect of God’s call on your life? Like the second son in the parable, have you even said ‘I will Sir’ but have never followed through with obedience to the Father? God made us, he understands our perplexities, fears, feelings of inadequacy, weaknesses, hesitancy, [Heb 4:15]and yet, amazingly, He apparently looks for and even chooses such people to promote His Kingdom and through whom He displays His mercy and power. Even if you have said ‘I don’t want to’ in the past, are you ready now to change your mind?
CJS-Have a blessed Christmas
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