Just say yes

I recently read about a series of mistakes in an advert in a newspaper. The advert was for a TV set for sale. The series of adverts were: 

Monday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale. Telephone 626131 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who lives with him, cheap." 

Tuesday: "We regret any embarrassment caused to Rev. Jones by a typographical error in yesterday's paper. The ad should have read: 'The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap...Telephone 626131 and ask for Mrs. Donnelley, who lives with him after 7 p.m.'" 

Wednesday: "The Rev. A.J. Jones informs us that he has received several annoying telephone calls because of an incorrect ad in yesterday's paper. It should have read: 'The Rev. A.J. Jones has one color TV set for sale, cheap. Telephone 626131 after 7 p.m. and ask for Mrs. Donnelley who loves with him.'" 

Thursday: "Please take notice that I, the Rev. A.J. Jones, have no color TV set for sale; I have smashed it. Don't call 626131 anymore. I have not been carrying on with Mrs. Donnelley. She was, until yesterday, my housekeeper.'" 

Friday: "Wanted: a housekeeper. Usual housekeeping duties. Good pay. Love in, Rev. A.J. Jones. Telephone 626131.

Mistakes can be quite easy and certainly not always so easy to rectify. When I was thinking about today I wondered whether Mary thought that there had been a mistake. Certainly the whole incident was a huge surprise for her. I can’t begin to imagine a heavenly visitation like this.

Mary was a normal young Jewish girl, betrothed to be married and suddenly her whole world was turned upside down. She must have been terrified, being faced with an angel must be a quite a shock but to then be told that God had a big plan that she was to play a vital role in must have been beyond all she ever expected to happen.

God has a tendency to do this. God comes into our lives and our world and turns everything upside down, it could be terrifying and in many ways it is but as we were reminded in the reading from the letter to the Hebrews God has suffered as one of us so that He can walk alongside us, support us and help us. He knows how we feel because He has been through it too.

God offers support, love and to be honest a great adventure as we walk through our lives with Him by our side. This is the life we as followers of Christ are called to, a life of support, of love and of being like Jesus to other people. 

Mary said yes to God and for this she is an incredible example. We in turn are called to say yes to God as we offer love, support and a glimpse of Jesus to all those around us. 

We are called to work with God in bringing His kingdom to earth. Frankly that can be quite a terrifying thought, that God who is so immense would call us to bring His Kingdom. 

We can rest assured though that God’s promises are always true and as we follow Him He walks with us all through difficult and potentially terrifying situations as He promises to be with us. God may sometimes call us to difficult situations but He walks with us. Mary must have been terrified but she said yes. She had the faith of knowing that God would never leave her. In the same way we can know that God will never leave us. 

This isn’t to say that we will always be 100% positive in the face of adversity and that we will never be cross with God but it is to say that God loves us, he promises to be with us and He will never let us down. 

God is with us, He goes through things with us. We can’t always understand them but the moment that we decided to follow Jesus was the moment that we said yes to God. It was the moment that we agreed to live life His way, which meant that it was the moment that we decided that we needed to be more like Him.

God loves us, He will never leave us and all He asks of us is that we will say yes to Him and try to live more like He did.

This means being more like Jesus every day. When Mary said yes to God, she helped Him to bring His kingdom to earth. 

As we have said yes to God so we have helped to bring God’s kingdom to earth. Every timewe try to be more like God to allow His words to transform our lives we are making a difference. 

There is a reflection which helps to remind us of the ways that we can help to bring God’s Kingdom. It says:-

The kingdom of love is coming because

somewhere someone is kind when others are unkind
somewhere someone shares with another in need,
somewhere someone refuses to hate, while others hate,
somewhere someone is patient - and waits in love,
somewhere someone returns good for evil,
somewhere someone serves another, in love,
somewhere someone is calm in a storm,
somewhere someone is loving everybody.

When you think of it like that you realise that it is not that hard to be like Jesus, it is not hard to make a difference in someone’s life. God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you so much that He doesn’t want to leave you that way. God wants us to be more like Him. He wants to come alongside us, so that we know that in even the most terrifying of situations He is with us. God calls us like Mary to bring His word and news to other people.

How do we do this? By being ourselves the people God has made us to be, but also by letting God transform us day by day to be more like Him.

Mary said yes to the adventure of listening to God and trusting Him, we should always seek to do the same. 

I would like to finish with a beautiful prayer written by Mary Sumner the founder of the Mothers Union. This prayer reminds us of our call to love, and support others. 

Let us pray:-

All this day, O Lord,
let me touch as many lives as possible for thee;
and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken,
whether through the word I speak,
the prayer I breathe,
or the life I live.