Title: Now That’s a Baby!
Text: Luke 1:26-38
The Big Idea: If we follow the “grown-up” Jesus… we will be servants of the Lord!
Introduction
Babies… parents are seldom objective about the cuteness of their children. While some argue that there is no such thing as an ugly baby, I think if we are honest, some are less than cute.
I don’t know if you are aware that Jim Ditter was nearly named Theo, short for Theophilus. It is said that when he was born the doctor performing the delivery held him up to the light and said, “Now that’s “theawefulest” looking baby I’ve ever seen. So they nearly named him Theophilus. (That’s for the peanut butter, Jim.)
Most babies are cute. Take for example Adam… our youngest grandson. (And no, I am not objective…)
Project baby slide…
However, not every baby is cute and I was taught in my ministerial training, what to say in the event someone proudly presented me with a truly homely baby. Rather than die of fright or gasp in horror or out right lie, we were told to say, “Now that’s a baby!” “Now that’s a baby” is a true statement that may be said of any baby and if you say it with sufficient enthusiasm a proud parent may presume the best.
Our story today is lifted from Luke 1 where Mary learns that she is going to have a baby… a very special baby. And as the story unfolds we learn that Mary has been chosen to bear the only begotten Son of God, our Lord, Jesus Christ. But there is more to this story than the obvious. I want us to look a bit deeper into the activity of God in the story.
The first thing we learn about the way God works out his plan is to understand that his chosen ones are favored.
1. God’s chosen are favored ones.
The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, “Greetings, favored woman!” Luke 1:28a
I suspect Mary blushed at the words of the Angel Gabriel… after all, who was she but a teen-age peasant girl from a little Podunk village in Galilee? There she was, doing whatever she was doing… walking to the village market, preparing a meal, day dreaming about her handsome fiancé, lying on her bed about to drift off into sleep? It was certainly not an everyday thing to have a messenger from God appear and tell her that she was a “favored” woman. I doubt that Mary ever thought of herself as favored or special.
I’ve been reading A Caffeinated Christian. In it the author wrote of his being a still-born baby. The delivery room staff laid him aside and were focusing on saving his mother who was apparently in distress as well. Then someone noticed that a bubble was forming from his lips and they rushed to resuscitate him. So he grew up being told that he was a very special boy and that God must have wonderful things in mind for him because he was left for dead but then miraculously saved. Oh, how special he believed himself to be.
He went through life, even into his adult years, thinking of himself as special… God must have some special mission in life for him.
Then one day he shared his story with a someone who listened carefully then asked, “Do you know what your story means?” “What?” he replied. And the man said, “All it means is that God wanted you to live.”
It was a blunt but powerful message and for the first time in his life, he realized he had thought of himself as someone special while all others were mere commoners with no special distinction or role in God’s scheme of things. He noted that from that moment on he saw every person as special in the eyes of God. (John Fischer, Confessions of a Caffeinated Christian, PP 6-7.)
Paul wrote, “Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ… his unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to him through Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:4-5
All of his chosen are special. All his chosen are favored. Mary was favored in the sense that she was the one who would bear the Son of God.
The second thing we see about the way God works is that he is present and engaged in our lives.
2. God’s presence is promised in Christ.
The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Luke 1:28
Mary was immediately assured that God not only had chosen her for a special role in his Divine plan but that God was also present with her and actively engaged in the plan and the process that stretched out before her.
Many years ago a denominational leader and friend of mine had an ambitious vision to plant 100 new churches on Easter Sunday morning. I think the slogan for the campaign was Easter 100. I know my friend well and I know he was moved by the urging of God’s Spirit… it was no frivolous or overly ambitiously concocted scheme. It was well received by the denomination and prayer and great preparation were in place for the historic Easter 100 event.
The goal was met and 100 churches were planted on Easter Sunday morning across the United States… one conference superintendent with a compelling personality successfully recruited young men to move to small communities across one of the largest states in our country. They were encouraged to get jobs to subsidize their incomes until their churches were able to support them. I may be in error… but I do not believe a single one of those churches in that state is in existence today, largely because those young pastors felt abandoned and alone once they had settled in their communities. Those young men were recruited but had no sustaining encouragement or support.
God does not want his chosen to ever sense they have been abandoned by the God who chose them.
That is why the word to Joseph and to us in Matthew 1:23, is so critical to our understanding of the way God works in our lives. “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel meaning, God with us.”
The Christmas story is about God’s plan to send His Son to come and live among us… the promise is one of presence.
One of the last things Jesus said to his followers was this, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new followers to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
God’s presence is promised and carried out in practice through the coming of Christ. Neither Mary nor any of us is ever separated from the presence of God in Christ. (Romans 8:35-39)
The third thing we see about the activity of God is that his plan has always been to save us through his Son, Jesus Christ.
3. God is working through his Son Jesus to save us.
“You will become pregnant and have a son, and you will name him Jesus. for he will save his people from their sins.” Luke 1:31 and Matthew 1:21
Frederick Buechner wrote a book of character sketches of people in the bible. One of his sketches is of the encounter of the Angel Gabriel with Mary. He imagines what Gabriel thought when he arrived at Mary’s door. “Mary struck him as hardly old enough to have a child at all, let alone this child. But he had been entrusted with a message to give to her, and he gave it. He told her what the child was to be named, who he was to be, and something about the mystery that was to come upon her. ‘You must not be afraid, Mary,’ he said. As he said it, he only hoped she wouldn’t notice that beneath the great golden wings, he himself was trembling with fear to think that the whole future of Creation hung on the answer of a girl.” (Ben patterson, “A Faith Like Mary’s,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 87)
The baby she was to bear was the single most important element of God’s plan and activity in saving mankind from our sins…
It is something of a paradox what we do every year at Christmas time. No where in the bible are we asked to celebrate the birth of Christ… in fact two of the four gospels does not even mention Christ’s birth. But what Jesus and his Apostles do command is that we celebrate his death… that we eat this bread and drink this cup until he comes [again[.
This morning we are celebrating the birth of the savior of the world… but we will also commemorate and celebrate his death.
Paul wrote, “…your faith is built on this wonderful message. And this is the Good News that saves you if you firmly believe. …that Christ died for our sins just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead.” The book of Acts speaks of how he ascended into heaven and of how he will come again. This is our salvation, this is our hope.
A fourth aspect of God’s activity in the coming of Christ is his plan that Christ be the ruler of our lives.
4. God’s eternal plan is that His Son be the ruler of our lives.
“He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:32-33
This concept of one who rules in the hearts and lives of mankind forever escapes the temporally minded who generally think in terms of temporal or earthly kingdoms.
New York Governor Michael Bloomberg wants to set aside the two-term limit and run for a third term as Mayor of New York. The Mayoral office is Bloomberg’s earthly kingdom. Be assured, he will not be May of New York forever and ever.
Hugo Chavez’s ploy is to be president in Venezuela for life… huffingtonpost.com reported that Hugo Chavez, “Venezuela’s narcissist-Leninist president surprised no one when he coyly gave his supporters (more likely minions) permission to petition for a referendum to abolish presidential term limits.” Chavez wants to be president of Venezuela for life. The presidential office is Chavez’s earthly kingdom. But once again, be assured Hugo Chavez will not be president of Venezuela forever and ever. (Francisco Toro, Why Chavez Wants To Be President for Life, The Huffington Post, December 10, 2008)
Earthly kingdoms are limited by time but the plan of God is that his Son, Jesus Christ rule in the hearts of lives of people forever…
The prophet Isaiah said it best, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His ever expanding peaceful government will never end. And he will rule forever and ever.”
Now, this is the place where all of our talk about the baby Jesus comes to a screeching halt. If Jesus exists in our hearts and minds only as a tiny infant, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger... our understanding of Jesus is shortsighted. God’s plan is not that we perpetually swoon over the baby Jesus in a manger, but rather kneel before the Kings of Kings who is seated on the throne of heaven. Our call is to follow a grown-up, King of Kings and Lord of Lords Jesus.
When we catch a vision of King Jesus rather than baby Jesus, we will respond to the call of God upon our lives in the same way Mary responded to God.
5. God’s grace prompts in us humility and a genuine servant spirit.
Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant and I am willing to accept whatever the Lord wants. May everything you have said come true.” Luke 1:38
Mary began her song of praise saying, “Oh how I praise the Lord. How I rejoice in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation will call me blessed.” Luke 1:46-48
Terms like humility, servant spirit, and even servant leadership are popular buzz words in the Christian community. However popular may be the concept, it is not so easily practiced.
Bonnie often reminds me that the truest test of our willingness to be humble in our service to others is not to be humble when we choose to be servants, but to be humble when others expect us to be servants. Mary’s humility was that of a bond slave who does not own herself but belongs to another. Mary felt she belonged to God and it was God’s will that she was set to do.
This week I contrasted Mary’s humility and servant spirit with the total lack thereof of Governor Rod Blagojevich, the Governor of Illinois. . We have all been shocked and amazed by the audacity of Illinois Governor Blagojevich’s abuse of his power. His practice of “pay to play” politics embarrassingly reminds us that some public servants are not servants at all. Mr. Blagojevich sees his position as a way of leveraging personal gain. He is alleged to have complained of the Obama teams’ response when he approached them to see what he could get from President Obama if he appointed Mr. Obama’s choice to his vacated senate seat. The columnist said he cursed Mr. Obama in apparent frustration that, “they’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation.” (Monica Davey, Governor Accused in Scheme to Sell Mr. Obama’s Senate Seat, The New York Times, December 10, 2008)
Mary on the other hand, sang in her song of praise we know as the Magnificat, “Oh, how I rejoice in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl…” Mary on the other hand responded with humility and willingness to serve when given the opportunity to do so.
Her humility and servant spirit is evidence that Mary understood that God was at work… God was orchestrating his plan. Actually there was no other explanation for such a phenomenon to take place. But the angel had assured her that “nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37
Conclusion
This morning, all we can do is simply receive the grace of God, as Mary did.
Nathaniel Hawthorne described happiness as a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you. And it is just like that with the grace of God in Christ Jesus. He is not seized. He is received with grateful humility. May we say with Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant and I am willing to accept whatever the Lord wants.”
