Faith:
Luke 1:26–38 (NIV)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever. His kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
This is the word of the Lord.
Tommy Branagh:
Well, thanks be to God and thank you, Faith, for reading our scripture this morning. Good morning and welcome to WCPC. My name is Tommy Branagh. I’m one of the pastors here. If we haven’t met, and whether you’re joining us here in person or if you’re with us online, we’re so glad to be with you. And it’s just been so amazing to have some of our students from the Lighthouse participating in the service. This morning you all were over there. You’ve now scattered back out around. But thank you for being our readers and candlelighters on this Sunday and every Sunday in our children’s ministry, the Lighthouse.
Our children have a wonder truth, which is the big idea that we hope they will remember all week. And during Advent, those wonder truths are paired with the weekly themes of Advent that Faith mentioned earlier. So last week our kids learned that Jesus is our hope and today our wonder truth is that Jesus is our peace. So to our students, if you take that wonder truth, Jesus is our peace to the Connect table after the service, you will get a prize.
And so one of my favorite things to do this time of year, as I think is true for many of us, is to watch Christmas movies. And there is one genre of Christmas movie that really centers on people who are trying to find peace by discovering the true meaning of Christmas. Last week, Bart mentioned in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, there’s this moment where the Grinch, with his heart two sizes too small, discovers that Christmas doesn’t come from a store. It’s a plot twist for him to discover that Christmas maybe means a little bit more. Or another movie in this genre is Charlie Brown Christmas. And we follow Charlie Brown as he is looking in all of the expected places for the meaning of Christmas, but none of them can quite bring the peace that he’s looking for. And the great plot twist of that movie comes when Linus takes the stage, blanket in hand and reads a portion of Luke chapter two, revealing the true meaning of Christmas. And we would say that Linus got it absolutely right. The true meaning of Christmas. The thing that this is all really about is Jesus. It’s the true story of God becoming human in order to rescue humanity and bring us peace.
And at WCPC, our big idea this Advent is that the true story of Jesus has the power to become a plot twist in our lives. We believe that Jesus has the power to transform our stories. And so we’re exploring that idea by looking at some of the people who first lived it, the people who were present in Luke chapter one and two. And this morning, we’re going to turn our attention to Jesus’ mom. In our passage this morning, we met Mary, a young woman who’s engaged to a man named Joseph. And if our calendars are correct, then this story that we read this morning is actually taking place sometime around March. Our Catholic brothers and sisters celebrate the day that Gabriel visited Mary on March 25th. They call it Annunciation. And on this March morning, Mary would have woken up just like any other day. I’m sure she ate breakfast. She was probably in the middle of tackling her to-do list. I’m not exactly sure what was in Mary’s day-to-day routine, but I am certain that her routine did not include visits from archangels like Gabriel.
And if you’re with us this morning and you are exploring Christian faith, you might be thinking to yourself, angels. What am I supposed to think about angels? And I’ll just say, next week, Bart, our lead pastor is gonna be preaching a sermon about the angel Gabriel. So save all of your questions for him. Next week there’s gonna be a deeper dive. Today I wanna focus on Mary. And what I really wanna stress is that Mary is just a normal person living a normal life right up until this moment when the angel appears. This day was not something that she was waiting for. It wasn’t something she was anticipating. She did not have this circled on her calendar. But all of a sudden, an angel appears and he delivers some incredible news. First, Mary has found favor with God. Second, Mary’s son is going to be a king. And third, Mary will give birth to the Son of God. So with the rest of our time this morning, I want to explore these three announcements and see how they are plot twists in Mary’s life, but also how they reverberate in our own lives.
So the first big announcement that Mary gets from this angel is that Mary has found favor with God. So let me reread that portion of our passage. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. Now, many of us gathered with family last week for Thanksgiving, and I would imagine that some of our grandparents in the room were met on Thanksgiving morning by a grandson in seventh or eighth grade who said something like, “Grandma, Grandpa, your aura is bussin’.” And upon hearing that, you were probably greatly troubled at their words and you wondered what kind of greeting that might be. And that is exactly how Mary felt when the angel Gabriel said that she was highly favored. She couldn’t understand what this was all about.
And honestly, that’s an understandable sense of confusion because it taps into this long-standing question in the Bible, which is a question I think many of us wrestle with. What kind of people receive God’s favor? From Mary’s perspective, there was probably not a lot to tip her off that she was someone who had God’s favor. Mary did not have any Ivy League degrees. She wasn’t on a 20 Most Influential Women Under 20 list. She had no access to the halls of power. She was not wealthy. She didn’t have a large Internet platform. She was not a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. Mary was ordinary, normal. And unless you knew what to look for, you would have had no idea that this was a woman who was highly favored by God.
So how do we make sense of all this? Well, all the way back in the Old Testament, we learned that as people, we have a tendency to measure each other in pretty much all the wrong ways. We get enamored with lists like Forbes’ Richest Person, or Time’s 100 Most Influential People or People’s Sexiest Man Alive. We are so drawn to external things, but what we see across the story of Scripture is that that’s actually not how God works. So back in 1 Samuel 16, which is an Old Testament book, we find this passage where God is sending his prophet, a guy named Samuel, to anoint the next king. And if there is anybody who should have had a pretty good sense of what God was looking for in a king, it should have been Samuel. This is the person who was chosen by God to speak for God. But let’s see what happens.
1 Samuel 16:6–7 (NIV)
6 When Samuel saw Eliab, he thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Samuel walks into this room knowing that God’s choice for king is there. And his assumption is that the tallest, handsomest, strongest one, that must be the person who has God’s favor. That must be who God’s eye is on. And to that we can just say, truly, there’s nothing new under the sun. But God’s response to Samuel is, “No, Samuel. Man looks at the outside appearance, but God. God looks at the heart.”
And this is essential to understanding this moment between Gabriel and Mary, because Mary is being entrusted with an almost unimaginable task. Mary’s job is to carry, birth, nurture, protect, and raise the Savior of the world. I think we just need to let the weight of that settle in on us a bit. In The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien, the author, writes about how Frodo is feeling right before he volunteers to carry the ring. Here’s how he describes it.
A great dread fell on him, as if he was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom that he had long foreseen and vainly hoped might, after all, never be spoken.
— J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Now, I don’t really want to equate carrying an evil ring with being the mother of Jesus. However, I really do want to draw out the comparison between the enormity of this task, the weight of the assignment. The angel is announcing to Mary that she now stands at the center of history. She will be the mother of the most important person to ever live. The fate of all creation is in her womb. And where did God look to find the person who was equal to that task? He didn’t look to Harvard’s latest graduating class. He didn’t look to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. He didn’t go to the boardrooms of the biggest companies. God did not look to the external things. He looked at the heart. And that search led him to Mary. When God looked at Mary’s heart, he saw someone that was faithful and trustworthy and strong. He saw a woman capable of bearing an unimaginable burden. And as should be no surprise, he was absolutely correct in his assessment. And we can see a glimpse of that even in Mary’s response here in this story. This is how she receives the news. She says, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” What an incredible statement of faith.
Having received this shocking news, and as we consider what this means for us, it’s a reminder that we are so often caught up in striving for the external things that we hope will give us value. We build resumes to impress each other, but God is not impressed by those resumes. God is looking at our hearts. So the reminder for us this morning is that we should be people who are working to cultivate faithful hearts rather than impressive resumes.
The second announcement that Gabriel brought to Mary is this. Mary’s son will be a king. We hear this from Gabriel in verses 32 and 33, where he says, “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever. His kingdom will never end.” So Gabriel announces that Mary’s son is going to sit on a throne. He’ll be a king. And based on everything we’ve just heard about Mary, that is a wildly unexpected outcome. Mary’s not a queen. Mary is not engaged to a king. There is no reason to expect that Mary’s child is going to become a king. And yet again, in quite the plot twist, Gabriel says that not only will Mary’s son be a king, Gabriel says that he will actually be the King, the one that God has been promising would come and set all things right.
We find one of those promises in the Old Testament, Book of Isaiah, chapter nine. Isaiah lived many hundreds of years before Jesus was born. But God used him to give a glimpse into the future. And here’s what he said would happen. As he was looking forward in history, Isaiah prophesied:
Isaiah 9:6–7 (NIV)
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
He will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
This proclamation points to a king who will rule with justice and righteousness, one who will usher in true and lasting peace. So to revisit the wonder truth, Gabriel’s message is that Jesus is our peace. Mary’s baby is that King. He is the one who will bring peace. But that again raises the question, how? How will Jesus become king? How will Jesus usher in true and lasting peace? And the answer to that is actually found in the third announcement that Gabriel brings to Mary, which is that Mary will give birth to the Son of God. So we hear that in verses 31, 32, and 35, where Gabriel says, “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”
I mean, again, speaking of plot twists, that’s a big one. Gabriel says that Mary’s son will be God himself. And this is actually also something that God has been forecasting for many generations. Again, going back to the book of Isaiah, as he’s looking forward. We read this in chapter seven.
Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
And Emmanuel means God with us. So many centuries before Mary, God had already looked towards this moment when Mary would give birth to a son who was her own, but who was also God himself come to be with us. And this is one of the fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith, that God himself stepped into human history. So we believe that Jesus is both fully man and fully God. And if you are finding that a difficult concept to wrap your head around, you could not be in better company. In fact, it took the Church many centuries and multiple councils and creeds just to figure out the right way to talk about this incredible theological mystery. But it is in this mystery that we find the answer to our question, how will Jesus, the son of Mary, ascend to the throne and bring everlasting peace?
But one more question to explore first, because to understand how he will bring peace, we have to first understand why peace is lacking. And on this matter, the Bible is a surprisingly candid book. I think people are often caught off guard and sometimes even a little bit unsettled by all the things that get included in the Bible. It does not shy away from the dark sides of life. Which is also to say that the Bible is not naive about all of the problems that disrupt and destroy peace. And for us, when we contemplate the many potential causes for the lack of peace in the world, we might point towards one of a whole handful of causes. We might point towards systems and structures that perpetuate injustice and inequality. We might point towards interpersonal conflict, or towards scarcity. We might point towards mistaken worldviews or beliefs. And the Bible would affirm that all of those contribute to the lack of peace in the world. But it also teaches that all of those causes of conflict and evil are actually downstream from the true cause, which the Bible says is the rebellion of humanity against the God of the universe.
The Christian story, the story that we believe is true, is the story of a creation trying to overthrow its good and just and gracious and loving creator. And we believe that everything that has gone, is going, or will go wrong is the outflow of that one fact of history, that we are rebels against God. And so if that’s true, then true and lasting peace can only come by ending the rebellion and by bringing about reconciliation. To see the end of war and famine and poverty, we first need an end to the cosmic rebellion. And what history shows is that unfortunately, we humans are too screwed up, too committed to our own cause, too defiant of authority, too much to ever successfully raise the white flag. We just cannot stop fighting God. Some of us may have people in our lives who are a little bit devoted to the chaos. So whenever things get a little too comfortable, they just kind of do something nuts to stir it up. Well, that’s actually all of us. We are all incapable of doing what needs to be done to make true and lasting peace with God.
Which is why God graciously decided to do it for us through Jesus. So Jesus is fully man so that he can be the representative for all of us. He is the chief peace negotiator on our behalf. As one of us, he is authorized to act for all of us. But Jesus is also fully God, because no man could do what needed to be done. So Jesus, unlike anyone who came before him, was able to faithfully resist the allure of chaos and rebellion. Instead, his life was one steady march towards peace. In the Book of Hebrews, which is a New Testament letter that kind of reflects on Jesus’ life, the author writes about Jesus in this way.
Hebrews 2:17–18 (NIV)
17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
So God in Jesus became like us in every way, so that he might do for us what we could not do for ourselves, bringing an end to the rebellion and opening the door to everlasting peace. So the incredible news that was proclaimed to Mary is also the good news that is proclaimed to us. The King has come, Jesus, our Emmanuel, God with us. And as the Son of Mary, he has the authority to make peace on our behalf. And as the Son of God, he is the true King with the power to bring true and lasting peace.
As Mary received this news, she responded with this just incredible poem of praise. And as we close today, I want to close by praying this prayer, this poem over us in the hopes that it might be our prayer as well. So let me pray this, Mary’s words over us.
Luke 1:46–55 (NIV)
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Amen.
