Good News For The Weak Series

INTRODUCTION

• Over the next three weeks, we will look at different characters in the Christmas story to see how the birth of Jesus was good news of great joy for all of them, a poor young couple like Joseph and Mary, the marginalized shepherds, or even cosmic beings (angels).

• We tend to focus on the scene of baby Jesus in the manger, and let there be no doubt, Jesus is the star of the story!

• However, this story would not be the same without the supporting cast to examine these subsequent three messages.

• I wonder how much thought we give to the supporting cast of the birth of Jesus.

• The story of the birth of Jesus highlights an important point we need never forget.

• I know Christians tend to get excited when a person of prominence or power starts to proclaim Jesus.

• I also get excited to see that because of the potential impact those folks can have because of their celebrity or position.

• I see this play out a bit in the church as folks get wrapped up in the celebrity preacher syndrome.

• When we focus on the celebrity or the powerful and important, we will miss the great things God does through the seemingly weak and what we would call insignificant people in the world.

• Big Idea of the Message: God uses the weak to shame the strong; he does this by choosing the young Mary for the vital task of bearing his Son.

• I would say that the most significant task ever handed over to humanity from God was the birth of Jesus.

• Everything rises and falls with the success of that calling.

• Who did God use to carry out this most vital mission?

• Did He use the rich and famous or the celebrities of the day?

• He used a poor young couple who had no power, no influence over society.

• We know that Mary and Joseph were poor.

• We know this from two details.

• The first comes from the infamous first crib of Jesus: the manager (Luke 2:12, 16).

• Joseph did not have any family connections or influence to provide a more substantial lodging for him and his very pregnant wife.

• In a culture that placed such a high value on patronage and social connections, they had to make do with these humble surroundings as they delivered their first child.

• Second, after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph took him to be presented in the temple.

• The sacrifice they offered was two turtledoves (see Luke 2:22–24).

• This again tells us that they were poor.

• Leviticus 12 outlines the rules for offering a sacrifice when presenting a firstborn male child at the temple.

• The pigeon or turtledove is only to be offered if the parents cannot afford the lamb.

• This option was a demonstration of God’s mercy toward the poor and a reflection of their social status—it was all they could afford.

• Today, we are going to look at Luke 1:26-38.

• This passage is a well-known passage of the Angel Gabriel telling Mary what would happen.

• Luke’s version of this story comes from the perspective of Mary.

• In Matthew1:18-25, we find the story from the perspective of Joseph.

• Let’s begin our journey by turning to Luke 1:26-28.

Luke 1:26–28 (CSB)

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”

SERMON

I. The weak became favored.

• As I touched on in the introduction, we tend to devalue what we consider a lower social standard than ours.

• When God chose the family who would raise His Son, it would be logical to assume He would use a prominent family with the financial means to give the child all the advantages and the things we all think a child needs.

• I mean, doesn’t God value His Son having the latest cell phone with the best cellular plan?

• Shouldn’t the Son of God have all the advantages money and status could provide to Him?

• It kind of makes you think for a minute, doesn’t it?

• Did you know that in 2018, the average American household took on $1,054 of debt during the holiday season?

• If they could afford only the minimum payment of $25 each month, the debt (with interest) wouldn’t be eliminated for five years (Kari Paul, “Here’s How Long It Will Take Americans to Pay Off Their Christmas Debt,” MarketWatch, January 2, 2018, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-long-it-will-take-americans-to-pay-off-their-christmas-debt-2017-12-29).