I had the rare opportunity to get to preach about the life of Mary, who is “one of us,” last weekend in Westerville OH, just outside Columbus, at Heritage Christian Church. It was Valentine’s Day, plenty of people were wearing red, but I wasn’t convinced it was as much that as it was Ohio State Buckeye red — and on a weekend when the Buckeyes thrashed the Illini in basketball. Anyway…
When I wrote The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus
, I was convinced that it was time for a “Protestant Mary” but what surprised me was how resistant many evangelicals are to anything about Mary. I say all the time: “After all, she was his mother” and “At least believe what the Bible says about Mary.” But, frankly, I’m shocked at times. I understand the issues Protestants have with Mary because of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, where the devotion to Mary can overreach what we see in the Bible, but there is an overreaction here at a symbolic level that deserves more consideration.
, I was convinced that it was time for a “Protestant Mary” but what surprised me was how resistant many evangelicals are to anything about Mary. I say all the time: “After all, she was his mother” and “At least believe what the Bible says about Mary.” But, frankly, I’m shocked at times. I understand the issues Protestants have with Mary because of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, where the devotion to Mary can overreach what we see in the Bible, but there is an overreaction here at a symbolic level that deserves more consideration.
So many folks made the weekend special, including Andy and Breena Holt, Jim and Beth Zippay, Debbi Scott, and Richard Johnson. It was great to see some North Parkers, including Keith Palmer, Pam Laing and Britt Dahlstrom. Long ago in a different life I was a professor at TEDS, and one of my students was Matt Roberts and Matt and Sharon showed up with their two boys and it was special to see them.
All this to say, I was asked to preach on the New Testament texts on Mary, I bundled them into a call to decision framework, and here’s the gist of what I said:
Title: One of Us
Her vision is our vision (Luke 1:46-55), her question is our question (2:41-52), her scandal is our scandal (John 2:1-11; Mark 3:21, 31-35; John 19:25-27), her people are our people (Acts 1:14; 2:42-47), but is her response our response (Luke 1:38)?
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