“When Heaven Comes Down: Our Trust Is Validated”
Luke 1:26-38
It’s the last day of swimming lessons, the day of the final testing. The tests determine which swimmers advance to the next level. The last test is to jump into the deep water. The instructor, of course, was already in the water, just a few feet away, to help the child get to the edge, if needed. One little gal is hanging back from the rest of the class. While she had done an excellent job on all the other tests, she was extremely hesitant about this one. She was standing at the edge of the pool but, even with a flotation device on her back, she was not about to jump into ten feet of water. Two instructors were speaking encouragement to her. Imagine the scene.
• “Mary, jump into water and you can graduate from tadpoles to minnows.” On the outside Mary had her arms over her head – but on the inside she was thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding!” So there she stands, hands over her head, immobile.
• “Jump in Mary. You have a flotation device; it will hold you.” On the outside she’s still poised to jump – but she’s thinking “I suppose you’ve never seen a flotation device break or a buckle slip. I could be the first, you know!” So there she still stands, hands over her head, immobile.
• “Jump in Mary. You’ll only be a few feet from the edge.” Still frozen with arms over her head she thinks, “You’ve got to be kidding. Two feet, six feet from the edge, it’s still 10 feet to the bottom! I once heard of a man who drowned in two feet of water!”
• “Mary, you know I’ll be here to catch you and help you. You have nothing to worry about. Jump to me.” Still poised to jump Mary reasons, “How do I know you’re a good catcher? And besides, if I jump now after standing here this long, you’d probably have a heart attack and then I’d be in big trouble! You can talk to me all day long but if you think I’m jumping into that pool just to become a minnow, you’ve got to be kidding. Make all the promises you want, but I’m the one who has to jump in and trust you. Why should I trust you anyway?”
Just what good is a promise? Why should we believe it? Why should we trust the promise-giver? Examining the angel’s encounter with Mary lays the groundwork for answering these common questions. Consider, first, that TRUST IS VALIDATED BY A PROMISE. For background we turn to 2 Samuel 7:11-12, where God speaks to King David. David has been successful as a leader and has led Israel to new heights. Since it was now a period of prolonged peace David felt led to build a house of worship for God. Nathan, the prophet, at first gave his approval. But after speaking with God, Nathan tells David he is not to build the sanctuary. Yet along with the reversal and denial comes a glorious prophecy that provides the CONTEXT FOR THE PROMISE. “‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” God promised that He would establish His permanent line of descendants through David. THROUGH DAVID GOD WILL ESTABLISH A KINGDOM, A PEOPLE, WHO WILL BLESS THE WORLD FOREVER.
This is the background to Mary’s encounter. The angel said, “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.” Mary, a good Jewish girl, would recall the words to David which had been passed down through the generations. MARY, A VIRGIN, WOULD GIVE BIRTH TO A SON WHO WILL PROVE AND VALIDATE THE PROMISE TO DAVID. Talk about a wild, glorious, and hard to believe promise. God would come to earth in human flesh – born of a virgin! Talk about standing frozen at the edge of the pool! Why believe it? Why take the risk? Why trust?
Let’s go behind the context to consider the CLUES TO THE PROMISE. There are at least two clues. The first is that THE PROMISE IS DEPENDENT UPON GOD’S ACTION. The promise was not dependent upon what David or Mary would or would not do God said, to both David and Mary, that He would do the establishing, the making, and the building.
That’s the way God works. Things happen by His initiative. The birth of Jesus would simply be the climax of a steady history of heaven coming down to earth. We’ve already seen where God came down to Adam and Eve, and to Jacob. He also came down on numerous occasions to meet with Moses. He eventually established a presence in the temple in Jerusalem. And God has set a pattern of producing human births. He gave a son to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. He gave a child to barren Elizabeth, a child – John the Baptist – who would prepare the way for the birth of His Son. GOD’S PROMISE COULD BE TRUSTED BECAUSE HE WAS ACTING CONSISTENT WITH HIS CHARACTER. So now God gave a child to Mary. It was His action, not hers, that led to this immaculate conception of Jesus.
The second clue to understanding the promise is that GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY. Before God gave the kingdom promise to David, He reviewed his actions in David’s life (2 Sam. 7:8-9). David had already experienced God’s faithfulness; He knew He could trust God. God’s proven reliability had given hope and comfort to David throughout his trials and in spite of his sins. And Mary could never have accepted the promise without having first experienced God’s faithfulness in her life. Both knew that as God had been faithful in the past, so he would be in the present and the future. Perhaps their motto echoed the words of the old chorus “God said it, I believe it, and that’s good enough for me.”
GOD’S PROVEN RELIABILITY PROVIDES THE BASIS FOR OUR TRUST as well. The birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus are proof of His faithfulness. As Paul later wrote, “All the promises of God find their ‘yes’ in Christ.” God’s presence in our lives, through His Holy Spirit, proves His faithfulness. God has been, is, and will be faithful. How do we know? Why should we jump into the pool? Because God has proven Himself and cannot be unfaithful to His promises.
Trust is not only validated by a promise but it is also VALIDATED BY OUR POSITION. Mary, surprised not so much by the announcement that a king was coming as by how He was coming, asked Gabriel, “How will this be, “since I am a virgin?” In response, Gabriel gave Mary – and us – an affirmation of hope. If Jesus is on the throne, and He has all power and authority, then He is in control. He determines history, not humans or governments. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…For nothing is impossible with God.” Do you BELIEVE THAT NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD? What a statement! Nothing is impossible with God. In our collective wisdom and experience here this morning there is nothing we can think of or point to that God cannot do. God is sovereign – in control of everything. God is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He is the Lord who rules the world. He is all-powerful. Can you think of one thing He cannot do? Certainly there are some things God will not do – but He is able to do them. THERE IS NOTHING – NO THING – GOD CANNOT DO.
Consider the experience of the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 3). God wanted to prove his might, power, and control so he said to Elisha: “You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle, and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; He will also hand Moab over to you.” In other words, God said, “Providing water without rain may seem impossible to you, Elisha, but it’s very simple for me. In fact, if you think this is tough, how will you handle the fact that you will defeat Moab? Now that’s a toughie!” And what happened? “The next morning…there it was – water flowing from the direction of Edom! And the land was filled with water.” God can provide water from nothing. NOTHING – NO THING – IS TOO HARD FOR THE LORD.
Remember Sarah, Abraham’s wife. After waiting for many years God finally spoke to Sarah, when she was well advanced in years, and told her she would, in fact, bear a son. She laughed (Gen. 18:12) and thought to herself, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” In response, God spoke to Abraham, saying, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” From that impossible promise, Isaac was born. God can provide life – even in barren places and empty wombs. Nothing – no thing – is too hard for the Lord.
And then there’s Abraham and this promised son Isaac. God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. But just as Abraham raised his arm to strike the fatal blow, God stopped him. “Abraham looked up and there in the thicket he saw a ram caught by his horns...So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.’” God will provide the Lamb – God will provide for our salvation. Nothing – no thing – is too hard for the Lord.
Following His transfiguration on the mountain, Jesus and His three friends came down to the valley below and found the disciples frustrated that they could not heal a young boy possessed by a demon. They asked Jesus why they could not drive it out. “He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. NOTHING WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU.”
Chisel it into your minds; emblazon it upon your hearts. If a child can be born without a human father, if a virgin can bear the Son of God, if God could crowd Himself into a human body, if the limitless God can limit Himself to human flesh, then there is nothing – no thing – God cannot do!
Perhaps you feel like your life so far has drawn a blank – God can give you a reason for living. Maybe you’re in a blind alley with your faith – God can show you the way. It might be that your faith is dead – God can bring the dead to life. Or are you facing something you’ve deemed impossible? God can do the impossible. Do you feel trapped? God can part the waters before you. Are you facing giants in your future? God has prepared the land and the place; you can win. As someone once wrote, “When God is going to do something wonderful, He begins with difficulty. If it is going to be something very wonderful, He begins with impossibility!” The truth is, with God, nothing – no thing – is impossible. Nothing – no thing – is too hard for the Lord.
Believe nothing is impossible with God. Then position yourself to YIELD TO GOD’S WORD AND WILL. Certainly Mary had questions about the message of the angel. Certainly she wondered about all the ramifications of being virgin yet bearing a child. Certainly she anticipated that people would not understand. But she released everything to God: “Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true."” Can you say with Mary, “I AM WILLING TO ACCEPT WHATEVER HE WANTS?” So be it! Amen! (That’s what ‘Amen’ really means!) Tell God you will be His servant. Tell Him you want Him to use you. Be interested in God’s activities, not yours. What God assigns and allows, “So be it!”
What is the issue for you this morning? What’s the burden, the care, the worry, the temptation, the load, the situation, the relationship, or the issue that has become your impossibility? What is the need that you are convinced will never be met? What is the hope you’ve abandoned? To what have you said, “That’s impossible?” “It will never happen.” Where and in what have you decided to limit God? It is God who can provide your every need. Nothing – no thing – is impossible or too hard for God. Nothing can defeat Him. I invite you now to dive into the pool, to quit arguing with yourself, and come to the manger; it lies at the foot of the cross. Come – and yield your life to Jesus. Bring Him your impossibility. Release it to Him. Then, whatever God does in response, say, “So be it! Amen.” Let us pray.
