"I CHOOSE MARY!"
Written and preached by David P. Nolte




ROMANS 15:1-7

At a Christian summer camp, the 6th grade boys and girls were given the opportunity to lead their recreation time. Two of them would be selected as captains who would choose their teams for the event of the day: volleyball, baseball, or whatever. You know how it works, "I choose Tom!" "I choose Sally!" On and on it goes until there are only 2 or 3 mortified kids left, each hoping not to be the last chosen. Think about that. Think about waiting to be chosen. Think about watching everybody else being picked while you stand there feeling like a dope. And think about Mary. You see, at camp, Mary was always, without single exception, chosen last. And then it was grudgingly. She was awkward, and gangly, clumsy and in general a big zero on any team. Her ability to strike out was unparalleled. Her capacity for tripping when in a race was unequaled. Her value as a human being was glossed over by her peers. But inevitably, one captain would be forced to say, without enthusiasm, "I ... choose ... Mary." Mary represents all of us. Oh, yes she does! When we are honest, we must admit that sometimes we, too, are maladroit and inept and in many ways are just like Mary.
  1. WE ARE ALL IMPERFECT AND HAVE SOME GLARING WEAKNESSES AND FLAWS:
    1. Simply because we are human we are beset with flaws and weaknesses. Some are moral weaknesses and flaws and some are amoral. They are inherent. Though we were created in God's image
      1. We have been sullied by sin. We have been rebellious or careless or foolish and have gone a way that is out of sync with God.
      2. We've been blemished by offensive character traits such as selfishness, crankiness, insensitivity, laziness, dishonesty, arrogance, irresponsibility and unreliability.
      3. We've been marred by simple human deficiencies like forgetfulness, ineptitude, physical limitations, incompetence, and ignorance.
    2. We all have some shortcomings and downfalls! We excel in one area but are inept in another. We are learned in some things and woefully ignorant in others. We succeed in some ventures only to fail horribly in others.
    3. Fortunately a person's worth is not diminished by weaknesses and flaws, nor is it determined by strength and achievement or possessions or fame or popularity or proficiency or any other human standard of measurement.
      1. In spite of weaknesses every person has worth simply by virtue of being created in the image of God.
      2. Even with all our imperfections one's life derives worth by serving Jesus Christ and our fellow man.
    4. God knows what we are and what we are not; He knows what we have and what we lack; He knows our strengths and weaknesses, our successes and failures. And even knowing all the bad stuff, He looks beyond our faults and chooses us.

Nobody wanted to choose Mary because she was sure to cost them the game. But Joe, a youth minister, who had several kids at the camp, took Wayne aside and said, "Tomorrow is your turn to be captain." Wayne's face lit up until Joe continued, "I want you to carefully consider choosing Mary first." The boy's face clouded as he thought, "Choose Mary? First? What can Joe be thinking? How could he expect any self-respecting team captain to choose a loser first?" He protested, "But she can't hit a ball or catch or run or do anything right!" Joe reminded Wayne that at least she tried and was a good sport and then, with a wink, reminded Wayne that he, himself, had struck out yesterday. But he really applied the pressure when he said, "Wayne, you know it's the Christian thing to do." But, Christian thing to do or not, Wayne hated the idea. His chances of winning diminished in direct proportion to Mary being on his team. Wayne couldn't see any of the good in Mary because he was so focused on her weaknesses and flaws. We find that we are not only a lot like Mary, but we are a lot like the kids at camp, too.

  1. WE SEE THE FLAWS AND WEAKNESSES IN OTHERS MORE THAN WE SEE OUR OWN:
    1. Jesus pointed that out in Matthew 7:3, 4 (NIV) "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?"
    2. Can't you just envision it? A man sees his friend with a little speck of sawdust in his eye and remarks, "Ooooooooeeee! That thing in your eye must really hurt something awful! Hold still while I take my pocket knife and scrape it out!" How ludicrous if all the time that man had a 2 by 4 sticking out of his own eye.
    3. The Bible cautions us:
      1. Matthew 7:5 (NIV) "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
      2. Romans 2:21-23 (NIV) "You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?"
      3. Galatians 6:1 (NIV) "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted."
    4. Let's pray for a little myopia when it comes to the flaws of others and 20/20 vision when it comes to our own!

Wayne clearly saw and even magnified Mary's ineptitude and didn't want to choose her. But it was time to pick teams and everyone tried to look nonchalant as the captains called out names. Joe said, "Wayne, you choose first." With a lump in his throat, Wayne said, "I choose . . . Mary." Silence. Mary slowly lifted her head, her face flushed with pleasure, disbelief and pride as she stepped forward. After 3 days at camp she finally felt part of the group. There's a lesson for us here.

  1. WE MUST ACCEPT OTHERS EVEN WITH THEIR WEAKNESSES AND FLAWS:
    1. If we accept only the mighty, the strong, the capable, the good, we'll accept very few. Ours will be a terribly small circle. And if others accept only the mighty, strong, capable, and good - we ourselves might just be left out!
    2. God graciously accepts and chooses the weak!
      1. He chose the Jews! He said to them: "The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your forefathers that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt." Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (NIV).
      2. He chose Gideon who esteemed himself the least of his household and of the tribe of Manasseh.  Judges 6:15
      3. He chose Mary a peasant girl to be the mother of Jesus, Luke 1:30.
      4. He chose Bethlehem, least of Judah's villages to be the birthplace of the King,  Matthew 2:1.
      5. He chose a child as the model of greatness in the Kingdom, Matthew 18:4.
      6. Paul said, "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him." 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NIV).
    3. Realizing that God chooses the weak, heed Paul's words: "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." Romans 15:7 (NIV).
    4. There stood Mary without an ounce of athletic skill, not a hint of proficiency, not a trace of grace, but Wayne chose her. There stood all of humanity, without an ounce of heroism, not a champion, not a winner in the crowd, but God chose us.

Several years after Junior Camp, Wayne reflected back upon that day when he chose Mary. He never saw her again after that year, but it warmed his heart to think that maybe she had one good memory of camp; he knew he did. It was when he said, "I choose Mary!" As we gather today we represent that bunch of campers waiting for their names to be called. Jesus Christ is the captain. He surveys the crowd. He speaks, "I choose John; I choose Jean; I choose Harry; I choose Michael, Bruce, Cindy, Dave!" He said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last." John 15:16 (NIV). He has chosen you! As Peter said, "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right." Acts 10:34-35 (NIV). He chooses you - do you choose Him? Or do you say, "Nah! I want to wait til the other captain calls my name!"?   Well, guess who the other captain is!  From the beginning of time until this very moment, Jesus has chosen you. Will you step forward to be on His team? Will you surrender your weakness to His strength? Will you step out in obedience to His call? He still chooses you today - and the really astounding, amazing and almost incredible things is - He chooses you just as you are!

Story adapted from "Choosing Mary" by Dan Taylor in "Letters To My Children" and recorded in "Hot Illustrations For Youth Talks" by Wayne Rice



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