ADVENT 4
December 20-22, 2014
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Luke 1:26-38
“HAVE YOURSELF A MARY LITTLE CHRISTMAS!’
1. Listen
to what God says.
2. Accept
what it means for you.
Luke 1:26-38 (NIV 1984) "In the sixth month, 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 be
with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name 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 the
house of Jacob 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 upon 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 barren is in her sixth month. {37} For
nothing is impossible with God." {38} "I am the Lord's servant,"
Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel
left her."
As our
country grows increasingly irreligious and with the retail world’s never
ceasing struggle to never offend any potential customer many Christians have
found themselves to be the ones offended and irritated to continually hear and
see this time of year the uber inclusive greeting, “Happy Holidays!” “It’s
Christmas!” we say with a not so merry smile on our faces. We should say Merry
Christmas. Great to say but will we have one? That depends where our focus is.
There are so many things that can give joy this time of year but have you
noticed how they can all be a source of angst or hurt at the same time? There
are Christmas parties that should be fun but what if a co-worker gets drunk and
makes it uncomfortable for everyone? There are Christmas presents maybe a gift
or bonus from work. But what if you wanted something else or it’s just not
enough? Family might come to visit but then family might come to visit. We can
demand the Merry Christmas greeting but will we ourselves have one? We can.
Join me today in learning from the master of the merry Christmas. Mary.
Our text of
course takes place before the first Christmas, like we are still before
Christmas. One of God’s named angels, Gabriel, is sent by God to deliver a
message to a young woman named Mary. She had a relative named Elizabeth who was
6 months pregnant. Mary lived in Nazareth
and was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. Suddenly Gabriel appeared
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.” Now there is
something that has to strike us here about Mary. Something important. She
listened. She could have said, “Not now, Gabriel. I’m busy. Don’t you know I
have a wedding to plan? So many things to do. Invitations to get out. I’ve got
to make my dress. Plan my honeymoon.” Of course I’m being just a little
facetious. I think if an angel appeared to any of us we would listen. But there
is something to learn here as we get ready to have a Merry Christmas. We need
to take time to listen. In this last week before Christmas we can all find
ourselves with too many things to do. Cards to get out, presents to wrap,
baking and buying and who knows what else. If we get too far behind we might
start looking for things to drop out of our busy schedules. I know what the
devil will try to get us to drop. You know too. God’s Word. You and I may not
have an angel come to us with a Christmas message but we do have someone else.
God Himself. In His Word. He comes to us and speaks to us in the Bible. He
wishes us a Merry Christmas and it starts with listening. Listening to what God
says to you.
And
then accepting what that means. What did it mean for Mary? "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. {31} You
will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
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 the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." How these words must have surprised Mary! She
had found favor with God! From what we know of Mary later she was a believer
who knew God’s truth in spite of the false teaching many of the rabbis and
teachers of the law were spouting. Later when she went to visit her relative,
Elizabeth, she addressed her song of praise to God her Savior. She knew. She
knew she was a sinner in need of saving and yet God had showed her favor. That’s
grace undeserved love. He had picked her to be the mother of the Savior. That’s
what Jesus means.
And
there was more. "How will this
be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" This
wasn’t a question of doubt. It was a question of humility. She was basically
asking, “What should I do?” Should she go ahead and have sex with Joseph before
they were married even though God said that was wrong? How was she going to
have a child? Gabriel answered her, "The
Holy Spirit will come upon 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} For nothing is
impossible with God.". God
would do it. He would take care of everything. And Mary’s response? "I am the Lord's servant," Mary
answered. "May it be to me as you have said." She humbly accepted
what God meant for her life. She would be the mother of God’s Son.
Have
you ever thought about how hard that must have been for Mary? She would have to
tell Joseph and would he believe her? She would have to have all village ladies
whispering behind her back, the young men snickering when she began to show.
Accepting what God intended for her was not easy. But she did it. That’s a Mary Christmas.
For
us to have a Mary Christmas, like her we need to accept what God says about us
even if others are telling us different. That starts with accepting what God
says about sin. Oh it’s easy to bemoan the sins of society that we see out
there with the sexual perversion of same sex activity accepted as normal, with
child abuse and whatever else we can group among the obvious sins. But
Christian families are no strangers to drug abuse, pornography, drunkenness and
living in sin. Even if we manage to avoid those God also addresses selfishness,
greed and our bitterness toward those who hurt us. It’s only those who know
they need a Savior that appreciate the gift of one. It’s only those who
acknowledge their sins as sins. Do you? Now let’s accept what else God says
about us. He says we are forgiven so that guilt you feel over past sin is fake.
He says we are His dearly loved children for who He will work all things for
the good! He says that our real home is heaven and we are co-heirs with His Son
Jesus. Look forward to that and be happy for those who already have it. We may
have struggles and hard things to deal with but we can deal with them because
He says we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength and nothing
is impossible with God.
In
these last few days before Christmas we know Satan’s going to try real hard to
tear away our Christmas joy. He’s going to try to frazzle us with deadlines,
razzle and dazzle us with presents and cards and light and trees and Santas and
elves and Christmas specials. All these things kept in perspective can add to
the joy of Christmas. None of them are the reason for Christmas. Jesus is.
Christ is. Listen to what God says. Accept what it means for you and have
yourself a Mary little Christmas time! Amen.
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