Introduction: A young boy desperately wanted a bicycle for Christmas, so he asked his parents for the bike; His parents wanted to teach him the importance of prayer, so they suggested the young boy should write a letter to Jesus and pray for one instead."
Not pleased with the response of his parents, he immediately threw a temper tantrum and his parents sent him to his room.
Once he was in his room he decided to take his parents advice and write a letter to Jesus.
Dear Jesus,
I’ve been a good boy this year and would love a new bicycle. Can you see if I can have a new Bicycle?
Your Friend,
Johnny
Now Johnny knew that Jesus really knew what kind of boy he had been that year, so he ripped up the letter and decided to give it another try.
Dear Jesus,
I’ve been an OK boy this year and I want a new bicycle.
Yours truly,
Johnny
Well, Johnny knew this wasn’t totally honest so he tore it up and tried again.
Dear Jesus,
I’ve thought about being a good boy this year and can I have a bicycle?
Johnny
Then Johnny looked deep down in his heart, which by the way was what his parents really wanted. He knew he had been bad boy and hoped he would receive something simply because Jesus loved him. He then crumpled up the letter, threw it in the trash can and went downstairs, where his mother had a Nativity set on the fire place mantle. He then took the statue of Mary wrapped it in a blanket and hid it under his bed.
Then he wrote this letter.
Dear Jesus,
If you ever want to see your mother again – give me a bicycle.
We have to admit some people will try anything to get what they want for Christmas!
Christmas is not about getting what we want rather Christmas is about getting what we need. The first Christmas God was using pinpoint accuracy to bring his plan to fruition to give us what we needed most; a savior!
In this series of messages we have noted how God has used his angels to communicate his perfect plan; a perfect plan that included angelic visits to both Zechariah and Joseph to inform them how they were both to be a part of God’s divine plan.
Today I want us to focus on another angelic message of Christmas. In Luke 1, we find the angel coming to visit Mary with a message of the true Purpose of Christmas.
The text begins with some simple facts.
Luke 1:26-28,
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Christmas is a God orchestrated event!
Vs. 26 tells us it was God himself who sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth. One does not have to study scripture very long to know that God is always seeking out a relationship with man and not the other way around.
It is His holy pursuit of us that demonstrates His love for us – The book of Romans reminds us that God in longing for a relationship with us, that longing finds its fulfillment in Christmas, as God sends his son to us.
While the event of Christmas is God orchestrated, God chooses to use people to bring about his purpose.
Two people are mentioned in Matthew’s narrative;
Joseph – a descendant of David
Last week as we studied the life of Joseph we discovered he was arighteous and kind man, his vocation was that of a carpenter and once he discovered God’s plan he was a willing participant. Yet when Luke mentions Joseph, he mentions only one item about this man he was a descendant of David. Why is that so important to Luke? As Luke was writing this gospel, he wanted his readers to know God was orchestrating Christmas and God keeping His word. A thousand years before Jesus walked on this earth, God promised David one of his descendants would be the Messiah.
The second person is mentioned is Mary
Luke points to her purity stating she was a virgin. She was engaged to Joseph. The engagement normally lasted 1 year, and it was during this time she received a visit from the angel Gabriel with an incredible message; "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
No woman has ever been more honored in all of history than Mary. As the mother of Jesus, she is been the best known woman in the world. Both portraits and statues have tried to capture her likeness, yet the Bible does not speak of her beauty, but of her character – she is highly favored by God and God has chosen to use her in His divine plan. It is important to note she is honored by God not because of her own merit, but because she is God’s chosen instrument for the purpose of demonstrating God’s grace.
Too many people have given Mary a revered place in God’s plan of redemption. Scripture makes it clear Mary is to be honored but not worshipped.
2. Mary’s response to the angel
Vss. 29-34, Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
Concern
“Greatly troubled” one has to remember God has been silent for some 450 years and now a poor peasant girl on the outskirts of Israel is told she has found favor with God. This was too much to believe – after all the Jews were taught God worked in Jerusalem – at the temple not in some out of the way place like Nazareth.
Not only has she found favor with God – God is going to use her; You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
It is at this point her concern causes her to ask a question - “How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
Mary wants details! Mary is like many of us when it comes to being used by God. Often times we want details to God’s plans we want to know how it is all going to work out? How is God going to make this happen?
We may not know how God is going to work things out, that is why Paul calls us to walk by faith and not by sight! To trust him to bring about His purpose for our life
Ephesians 1:11, In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will
Just as God has a purpose for us he also had one for Mary - NOTE
The angel reveals some unique details to Mary about this unique birth.
Vss. 35 – 37, 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. 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. For nothing is impossible with God."
The angel answers Mary’s question in two unique ways
First there is the supernatural presence of God
The presence of the Holy Spirit will be upon her and will overshadow her. In other words this will not be a conception in the normal way – Jesus will not be created to be the son of God as some cults believe, rather through the Holy Spirit, Jesus will take on the flesh of a child by becoming a baby. The apostle Paul further illustrates this when he wrote to the Philippians; Though he (Jesus) was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.
Jesus literally emptied himself to become flesh.
The angel now gives Mary tangible proof this will happen.
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.
Mary if you do not believe this will happen, just look to your relative Elizabeth, she is past the child bearing years, she has suffered with infertility and now she is expecting a child.
It is at this point the angel now gives a testimony of the power of God “For nothing is impossible with God."
The focus of the angel’s testimony is on God. It is God who is the active element in the narrative. Basically the angel is saying; Mary, this is going to happen, God is not limited by the laws of science or biology. God is not bound by a woman’s age or man’s inability. “For nothing is impossible with God”
Upon hearing the angel’s testimony, note Mary’s response
"I am the Lord’s servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Mary demonstrates complete surrender – “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said” The NLT, puts it this way, May everything you have said about me come true
Believing the angel, Mary becomes a faithful servant.
I am sure Mary did not understand all that was to take place in her life.
In the movie The Nativity Story we are reminded she was probably ostracized by her village because she was an unwed mother. I am sure she told people she had a visit by an angel but who would believe her.
At the end of her pregnancy she would be required to travel to Bethlehem, a distance of approximately 100 miles and then give birth in a stable
Then one day she would stand at the foot of the cross and watch her son die a death of crucifixion. Tradition has it, that when Mary approached the cross she asked the guards “Which one?” because Jesus was beaten so badly she could not recognize him. Indeed Mary knew pain and suffering as the mother of Jesus. Yet she was willing to be the Lord’s servant.
3. Lessons from Mary’s visit with the angel.
A. We can have certainty that God will keep His promises.
Since nothing is impossible with God, we know God is not bound by our circumstances or limitations. Christmas reminds us God is the great promise keeper. In Genesis 3, God promised the serpent, someone was coming who would deal with man’s sin problem. In Christmas we find that promise comes true in the birth of Christ.
This Christmas you may be reminded of all the broken promises that people have made to you remember there is one who always keeps his word. Psalm 89:35, (God said) “in my holiness I cannot lie”.
Think for a moment what that means this Christmas
God is able to forgive us when we fail Him – our failure is not final, 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
God will comfort us in our time of distress – He will be there for us when it seems our world is crashing down all around us. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.
He will provide for us – Philippians 4:19, my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
God is faithful to forgive us, comfort us and provide for us these are just a few of his promises.
We can trust God to keep his promises. He will do it in his own time and in his own way, but he will keep his promises.
B. When we willingly serve God, He will take us beyond what we believe are our limitations
Mary asked the question – How will this be, I am a virgin? Mary saw her life on her terms as a virgin she knew she could not have a child without a man. God is not bound by our limitations – if we will submit to him he will move us beyond what we believe we are able to do. I have seen this time and time again; people who step out on faith discover God is there to guide them beyond what they believe they can do by themselves.
In his book LOVING GOD, Chuck Colson tells of a young boy by the name of Trevor. One evening, Trevor was having dinner with his parents; he asked them if there were any homeless people in Philadelphia. His parents told him yes, he then asked if he could go see them.
His parents thought that was a strange request but they agreed to go to downtown and sure enough near the city library they saw several homeless people. It was at that point things got interesting. When they came to a traffic light Trevor jumped out of the family car and gave one of the men a blanket that he had brought with him that evening. When he got back in the car his parents’ scolded him for doing something they believed was risky, but Trevor was unfazed – he asked to come back downtown again, but this time he brought 50 sandwiches again he passed them out. His parents could not get over his desire to serve the homeless. Trevor continued to travel to downtown Philly every week delivering blankets and sandwiches. Trevor began this practice in 1983 as a young boy and he never stopped serving the homeless. After graduating from college Trevor founded a foundation simply known as TREVOR’S PLACE. Today Trevor’s Place provides emergency shelter for homeless mothers and their children, including housing, case management, dining services, mental health counseling, drug and alcohol rehab, after-school programming, life skills, parenting workshops and career readiness training. Do you realize the limitations Trevor faced at first he was too young, he had to depend on his parents to take him downtown. He had limited resources – yet he did not let that stop him he continued to serve.
When we take the opportunity to serve, God removes the limitations of this life to allow us to fulfill His purpose.
Ephesians 3:20 promises, God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
What limitations are you facing this year?
Resources?
Talents & Skills?
What are the events or circumstances that are before you that keep you from making Christmas all that it can be.
Why not make yourself available to God and allow him to remove the limitations.
Conclusion: Some have called Mary a portrait of submission, she willing allowed God to work in her life and as a result she found her life blessed beyond measure. Think about it Mary bathed, played and taught the son of God what it meant to be a son of man.
Mary reminds all of what happens when God chooses to use someone. She brought no outstanding credentials, no glowing resume of record just a willingness to be a servant. Her willingness to be used allowed God to be unfold his plan. The angel got it right – Mary you are blessed among all women – but because of Mary we too are blessed this Christmas.
PRAYER
