INTRODUCTION: A.J. Gordon was the great Baptist pastor of the Clarendon Church in Boston, Massachusetts. One day he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?"
The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field." "What are you going to do with them?" "I’m going to play with them, and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home." When Gordon offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, "Mister, you don’t want them, they’re just little old wild birds and can’t sing very well." Gordon replied, "I’ll give you $2 for the cage and the birds." "Okay, it’s a deal, but you’re making a bad bargain."
The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Christ’s coming to seek and to save the lost -- paying for them with His own precious blood.
"That boy told me the birds were not songsters," said Gordon, "but when I released them and they winged their way heavenward, it seemed to me they were singing, ’Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!’"
This is Advent. And the message of these times is the song of those wild birds. It’s the song sung in every carol this season: Redeemed! It’s the meaning behind every gift given under the tree: Redeemed! It’s the Word the shepherds heard: Redeemed! It’s the assurance Mary received: Redeemed! It’s the star the Wisemen followed: Redeemed!
You and I have been trapped by sin, but Christ has purchased our pardon. He who has this hope in his heart will sing, and you know the song: "Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed!" Will YOU hear the song this season? Will YOU see the signs this Christmas. You can. If you will stand up and lift up your heads, it is all around.
I. THE BRINGER OF SALVATION
Most of us are aware of the entire story relating to the birth of Jesus and before that the birth of his cousin, John the Baptizer. Six months earlier Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, had visited Zechariah and foretold the conception of a son to his elderly wife Elizabeth. Of course he was skeptical, after all she was well past the childbearing age. The birth of this son, John is called ‘good news.’ (1:19)
But Zechariah doubted God and was sentenced to silence until John was born. So Elizabeth conceived and soon her pregnancy became known to all their friends.
Now we move north to Galilee, to the town of Nazareth, where a young, innocent couple, betrothed to marry, reside with their parents. The same angel, Gabriel, now announces to Mary the birth of Jesus.
The stupendous claims which the angel makes for this unborn baby (1:32-33a) would have staggered the Jewish readers of the Gospel as they probably did for Theophilus, the person to whom Luke is writing this account of the life of Jesus. The son of Mary is a colossal figure - he will be the greatest ruler that not only Israel, but the world, has ever seen.
The universal authority of Christ is also a highlight of Luke’s gospel and is first introduced here. The Lord will bare his arms before the eyes of all the nations...”The Lord has demonstrated his holy power before the eyes of all the nations...” (Is. 52:10a) I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Is. 49:6b)
II. THE BIRTH OF SALVATION
Luke tells us that so great a person is to have no ordinary birth. If you haven’t noticed it already, let me tell you that God never does the same thing twice. Every time He does something in the Bible, its always different.
He never calls two people in the same way; He never encounters two people in the same way; He never gives the same assignment to two people. God always works differently in each person’s life. The circumstances of my call to ministry are unique to me - no one else was ever called under similar circumstances. God doesn’t repeat himself.
Mary’s virginity is an integral part of the story. I see three things converging around the virgin birth of Jesus, three things that are beyond question. First, there is the character of Luke.
Luke is a painstaking historian. He is thorough and accurate, what you would expect of a conscientious physician who is writing to reveal everything He knows about the coming of the Messiah. The truth of his gospel is factual. He has investigated the facts, thoroughly and factually. Myths and legends may be what we are used to reading from some religious writers, and these myths and legends may convey some spiritual truth, but these are not what Luke deals with.
The second is the character of his material. For all of his objectivity, he does not hesitate to record miracles where he believes miracles have occurred. If he says Jesus was born of a virgin, it is because he believes that to be a historical fact. This is only the first of many miracles that he records for us.
Thirdly, we have the character of the Savior he is depicting. If the one coming into the world is so sublime a figure, what more appropriate than the manner of his humble origin, yet also so miraculous. This is Jesus - this is “The Lord of salvation.”
III. THE BREVITY OF SALVATION
“For nothing is impossible with God.” (1:37)
We live in a generation that has become jaded about the possibility of miracles. The younger generations seem to want to experience something before they’ll believe in it. They’re a bit like Zechariah, it would seem. If it seems impossible than it can’t be believed, and won’t be believed until it happens to them.
Who can blame them? Have you ever watched some of these charlatans who claim to have healing ministries? There’s always a big show, lots of showmanship accompanies the supposed healing. And then when the big moment occurs, the healing is claimed and everyone applauds.
This is so opposite of the way God and Christ work. Remember Jesus and the daughter of Jairus? It’s in Luke 8. “Then a man named Jairus, a leader of the local synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come home with him. His only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying.” (Luke 8:41-42a)
Then there is this interruption by the woman with a hemorrhage of blood, and Jesus heals her. But in the time it took him to do that, “A messenger arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. He told him, ‘Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now. But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just have faith and she will be healed.’”
“When they arrived at the house, Jesus wouldn’t let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, James, and little girl’s father and mother. The house was filled with people weeping and wailing, but he said, ‘Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.’” Don’t you just love how Luke, the physician, describes how the Great Physician goes about his ministry of healing?
“But the crowd laughed at him because they all knew she had died. Then Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, ‘My child, get up!’ And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were overwhelmed, but Jesus insisted that they not tell anyone what had happened.” (Luke 8:49-56)
Though he was not there, Luke was convinced that Jesus had performed a miracle in bringing this young girl back to life. He had been convinced earlier of the miracle birth so the miracle of restored life was not a stretch for him; neither would the miracle of life restored after four days in the tomb. Nothing is impossible with God.
“Mary responded, ‘I am the Lord’s servant.’” (1:38a) That’s got to be a phrase that God loves to hear from every believer. It shows submission - “I am the Lord’s...” It correctly identifies who we are the servant of.
There are many things that clamor for our obedience and obeisance. For fifty years people have become the servant of the television, the ‘boob’ tube, haven’t they? I’m thankful that we were too poor to afford anything but one of those little 12 inch black and white screened General Electric televisions when I was small. And mother never let us watch too much of it, either.
But subsequent generations have been raised on it. It’s become the most convenient babysitter in a household; just turn it on to some kiddie show or cartoon and they’re enraptured for hours. Enslaved.
Others are enslaved to addicting things like drugs, alcohol, money, or power. They bow down to that idol and do whatever they need to do in order to satisfy it.
Mary was the servant of the Lord. That means she was ready to be obedient even though she probably didn’t’ understand how God and the Holy Spirit were going to accomplish her pregnancy. She had probably heard the “birds and bees” speech from her mother shortly after she was betrothed to Joseph, and listened to her older friends talk about their own conception and child-bearing. This was to be different. She didn’t care how God was going to do it, she willingly acquiesced to Him.
“I am the Lord’s servant.” A servant is willing to do whatever the master requires. There aren’t too many folks willing to serve others. For the past several days I’ve been substituting for an art teacher who’s been going through some very trying times with her own physical problems and her 20 year-old daughter’s brain tumor. I will be back at school, covering for her next month when the surgeries occur.
Art classes are messy. Three of them have been painting. There is clean up time, and for some reason many of them don’t think that’s their responsibility. I’ve been teaching them differently. They are responsible to clean up their table area, their paint brushes, their paint pallets. A few go about the task quietly, getting everything clean and neat. Others argue with me, “I didn’t make that mess.” But it gets cleaned up anyway.
Aren’t you glad Mary wasn’t like today’s teenagers? She was mature enough to realize that God wanted her to do something special, something extraordinary, and immediately agreed to be “...the Lord’s servant.”
It’s Christmas time again. Will you be like Mary, the servant of the Lord, this year? Or will you be enslaved to something else? Remember, you have a choice. You can decide whom you will serve. God...or the world?
