Why Me, Lord?

 

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:39-45 ESV).

 

The context of our reading today is the encounter Elizabeth had with Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was utterly amazed. She could hardly believe what was happening to her. Not only was she expecting a child in her old age, but she also had the awesome privilege of meeting the mother of the Lord Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, she exclaimed, “Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” As we continue our series looking at some of the most commonly asked questions concerning the Christian life, today we consider one of the most common, “Why me?” Usually we ask that question when something has gone wrong. However, our reading goes in the opposite direction. Elizabeth’s life had gone wonderfully right; however, she couldn’t understand why.

 

I’m sure all of us have asked this question at one time or another for a variety of reasons. Something unexpected happened in our lives, and we could not help asking, “Why me?” We tend to ask this question especially when things go wrong. Maybe we have lost someone we have loved. Perhaps we have had to deal with a physical disability, or we were diagnosed with a terrible illness. We may have lost our job, or our business may have failed, and the question was right there: Why me?

 

But there is a more important question. It is at the heart of Elizabeth’s declaration. It is at the heart of the Gospel. Why should we be blessed, even in the difficult experiences of life? Why should we have the privilege of getting to know the Savior? Why should we be so privileged that the Lord should come to earth for people like us, who did nothing to deserve his coming? Why would God pay such a great price to redeem us from our sin? We do well to ask, Why should we be so favored? Let us stand amazed that God should love us so much that he sent his only Son to bring us back to himself and give us eternal life. His love is truly inexplicable!