Christmas and bumper sticker theology …

Bumper stickers can serve up some very humorous statements, and even the occasional profound insight.

One Christian bumper sticker that I’ve noticed several ministers dislike states something like this:

“God said it. I believe it. That settles it for me.”

Perhaps it’s just those ministers who prefer something more “theologically sophisticated” that turn their noses up at this saying.

“Just too simple!” some might argue.

Not Mary.

Yes, I’m talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus. That Mary.

In fact, this “bumper sticker theology” would adequately sum up Mary’s experience when told by the angel Gabriel she would soon become the mother of the “Son of the Most High.” Let’s refresh ourselves with that story:

“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, ‘Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!’ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. ‘Don’t be afraid, Mary,’ the angel told her, ‘for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!’ Mary asked the angel, ‘But how can this happen? I am a virgin.’ The angel replied, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For the word of God will never fail.’ Mary responded, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.’ And then the angel left her,” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭1:26-38‬.

Notice Mary didn’t argue, try to refuse, make demands, or push back in any way; she had a single, reasonable question. After receiving an incredible answer, Mary responds, “… I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

You could summarize Mary’s response like this: “God said it. I believe it. That settles it for me.”

Even though Mary was being told she would have a child supernaturally — something only she among all the people to live in the entire history of humanity would ever experience — well, if that what God says shall be, then she believes it, and that’s good enough for her.

It wasn’t good enough for her fiancé Joseph, who would need his own visit from Gabriel to believe such a thing could happen. And chances are, family, friends, and neighbors probably didn’t buy this amazing story of Mary being pregnant by a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.

But for Mary, God said this should happen. So she believed it. That settled it for her.

What does it take for you to receive, believe, and be settled with what God has to say to you through His Word?

Scotty