“Footprints of Faith”
Luke 1:26-38
[Come in from “Life of Mary” video clip]
INTRO: When I think about Mary, one word blankets my mind: F-A-I-T-H! Every step of the way was a step of faith. Think about it – from…
• The angel’s announcement
• The public’s response
• Joseph’s surprise
• Joseph’s plan
• The “taxing” trip to Bethlehem (pun intended!)
• The last-minute accommodations
• The death threat by Herod
• The return trip home
WOW! This was no doubt a 12-16 month journey where faith was necessary luggage. It was something she didn’t want to leave home without.
We begin to see a glimpse into her faith in the very beginning of the nativity story. Would you turn to Luke 1 and let’s look this morning at the footprints Mary left for us and what we can learn about faith from the very first Christmas.
[READ TEXT]
When you read the first few verses of this portion of Scripture, Luke 1:26-33, you get the distinct picture that fear was her initial reaction. Admittedly, verse 29 says she was “greatly troubled.” And what teen girl wouldn’t have been, eh? But as we work our way through these initial verses, we sense a shift in her emotions, beginning with the angel’s instruction, “Do not be afraid.” She seems to settle for a moment; by listening, remembering, reviewing, she finds peace and calm in the words of the angel, which are actually Old Testament prophecies – the words of God! She heard God’s words, and trusted in them as promises that would come true. No doubt she had heard them before as she was taught the law and read the prophets. But this time her faith in these promises of old brought her personal peace; they seemed to leap into her heart and reassure her that everything was going to okay.
Let’s learn something from this: When I only feel fear, biblical faith calms my heart. This is possible because of God’s promises. Nothing helps my emotions more than the trusted Word of God and the promises it contains!
The specific reason for Mary’s fear in these verses probably relates to what Mary knew would happen to her if she was found to be pregnant – divorce was the best scenario, death was the worst option. In fact, let me show you what it might have been like between her and her parents as this fear gripped her.
[SHOW NATIVITY VIDEO CLIP “I HAVE BROKEN NO VOW”]
No doubt it was tense in their home. And rightly so. According to Jewish law, betrothal established a legal relationship between a man and a woman, binding upon both parties (Deuteronomy 20:7; 22:23-27). It took place after the conclusion of the marriage-contract between the parents, and was performed by the exchange of something of a certain value between the parties. The interval between betrothal and marriage was usually one year, during which time the woman and her property judicially already belonged to her future husband, and unfaithfulness on her part was considered adultery.
According to Old Testament Law the penalty for adultery was death by stoning! However, because Israel was at this time under Roman domination, the Jews did not have the authority to carry out capital punishment. So Mary probably did not face death but she faced divorce, for that is what it took to terminate an engagement to be married. She also faced the social shame of becoming pregnant out of wedlock.
How did Mary find peace and calm? In God’s promises of old! In fact, in her song of praise later (Luke 1:46-55), she quotes a lot of the Old Testament. This is proof positive she was leaning on God’s promises even when perhaps she didn’t feel like everything was working out that well.
Do you respond to difficult and fearful times as Mary did – in faith? It is what God says, not what we feel, that gives us grounds for believing and trusting. His words, not my feelings, are the backbone of my faith. Remember – faith does have an object: Jesus Christ! And faith does have a record: fulfilled prophecy. It is not some kind of free-floating phenomenon. Faith is a response to a declaration by God or about God. And it is upon that bedrock of fulfilled prophecy – God’s promises come true – that I can stand and not be afraid in times of uncertainty and difficulty.
You see, for the Christian, faith is never a blind leap! It is always an informed step of trust. Faith always has an objective basis – it is always based upon the Word of God and the Son of God! In other words, it always based on what God has said and on what God has shown.
Read carefully the description of faith given in Hebrews 11:1-3 – “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
The source of what we hope for and what we do not see is the same source out of which the universe was formed: God’s command! His word! Faith is a choice we make to believe and obey something God has said.
But faith is also based upon an historical reality – what God has shown. And what has he shown to mankind? His Son! Hebrews 1:1-3 says that “in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son” and that “…the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” You see, God stepped into human history in the person of Jesus, a baby born to human parents but bearing the DNA of deity. As the rest of the New Testament explains, this God/Man died on the cross and rose from the dead. Those who believe in him are given the gift of eternal life and are adopted as God’s children. In calling us to believe in Him the New Testament confronts us with this historical fact and calls on us to make a decision regarding Jesus. It does not begin with our felt needs, it begins with the facts! Christianity is not built first upon theological concepts but upon historical reality – Jesus!
So if you want to really live by faith and find a calm heart in troubling times, you’ve got to know God’s Word and God’s Son. Do you? May I suggest that this is best done by one of the oldest disciplines known to the Christian community – daily Bible reading and prayer. While you may say this is old news, I submit to you that the very reason the church of Jesus Christ has gone stale in many ways – cold and powerless – is because we have become enamored with trivial things that really don’t build our faith. Our worship seems to be more about feely songs than the all-sufficient Savior. We are intrigued with sermon presentation, not biblical content. We have been avoiding the very things the apostles and early church elders said was crucial to a life of faith: sound doctrine and Bible study! 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, are Titus 1 are just a few of the passages that ring true with this principle.
This is one of the reasons we at FFC are sold on biblical preaching and the study of the Word even as a large group. You see, I want to cultivate your interest in the Bible, not dampen it. I want your faith to grow and flourish. That happens, not by watching me, but by studying Him! As one guest said last week in an email, “We thoroughly enjoyed the service, and are definitely bringing our Bibles next week!”
John MacArthur is right when he said in a recent article: “…(too many Christians) become spiritual couch potatoes who just come in to be entertained, and whatever superficial spiritual content they get from the preacher’s weekly performance is all they will get. They have no particular interest in the Bible because the sermons they hear don’t cultivate that. They are wowed by the preacher’s creativity and manipulated by the music, and that becomes their whole perspective on spirituality.”
So let’s make sure we understand how Mary’s life shows us how to handle the unexpected things in life that bring fear. Say this with me, would you? “When I only feel fear, biblical faith calms my heart. This is possible because of God’s promises.”
Let’s read further in this passage, shall we?
[READ TEXT]
The remaining verses in our passage today, Luke 1:34-38, seem to take us from Mary’s heart in to Mary’s head. For even though her heart seemed to be calmer, her head was now asking some very logical and legitimate questions. Notice verse 34 – “How can this be?” Let’s be completely frank – All of this was astonishing news! Think about it – Mary was told that she would become pregnant and give birth to a son who would have deity in his bloodline and who would one day be king of Israel. But she has never had any sexual relationships with a man. Literally, what she asked was “since a man I know not,” or “since I have no sexual relationship with a man?” In the Stiles paraphrase of this verse, she is really asking is, “Human facts say I can’t bear a baby without a man. Can you explain how you’re going to override the reproductive laws of life?”
I don’t believe her question was rooted in fear, but in curiosity. You see, God’s Word had calmed her heart; she believed. She didn’t even ask for some kind of confirmation, as Zechariah had. She did not laugh, as Sarah had laughed when she was told she was going to bear a son. She did not dismiss the angel’s words. So Mary’s question was not one of unbelief! She believed what she was told.
Her mind, however, was just a tad blurred by the “facts” of the situation. She simply didn’t understand how she could possibly become pregnant.
Here’s what I learn from this: – When I only see facts, biblical faith clears my vision. This is possible because of God’s power.
Listen very carefully, church – faith and common sense never intersect. And while our faith has a concrete foundation in what God has said and shown so that we are making an informed step of trust, it is still a step across the line of the known into the area of the unknown. It is in this area of the unknown that God reveals his power – that’s when and where he gets the glory!
And make no mistake – pregnancy without a man was definitely an area of the unknown to Mary! So this situation was ripe for God to show his power, wasn’t it? And that’s exactly how the angel answered Mary’s question – by explaining that Mary would become pregnant through the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit. Do you see this in verse 35 – “The Holy Spirit will come upon you…” Yes, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and created the child within her womb. That is why the child was the Holy One who was called the Son of God. That’s the power of God at work!
Is there any greater show of God’s power at Christmas than the virgin birth? I’m not trying to rank the miracles, but in my opinion, this one takes the cake! What a God-ordained way to save the world! And make no mistake, church – the virgin birth of our precious Lord Jesus is crucial to our body of beliefs. Without the virgin birth, we cannot be saved, for then Jesus is like all other men – stained with Adam’s nature from the beginning. But in bypassing the male seed, and in being born of the Holy Spirit’s seed, Jesus, even in is conception, shows us that he is from the Father and without sin, able to save all those who simply trust in his name and believe. Yet, in being born through a woman, Jesus shows he is of us – human! Only Jesus was all God and all man, and so only Jesus qualifies to take man to God. As Paul said in 1 Timothy1:5, “There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” That’s the power of God at work!
If this morning there is someone listening to me who has yet to believe in Jesus Christ, I ask you to consider the facts, then exercise your faith. Jesus is our only way to God, and until a person has believed in his name, they can’t say they are biblically born again – saved. They may be a good person, a citizen in America, a nice man or woman. But no one goes to heaven until Jesus is their only Savior, And that comes at the moment of belief. Romans 10:9-10 says, “With the heart man believes and with the mouth we confess and are saved.” In fact, even now as I am talking, let your heart cry out to God and say to Him, “Lord, I believe. I do accept the truth of the Gospel – that you were born as a sinless man, died on a cross for my sin, and were raised by the power of God – and I take my stand on Jesus as my only way to be right with you. Forgive me now, Lord Jesus, and save me.” Anytime that happens, God’s power is at work! That’s his life-changing, soul-saving power within the hearts of men and women. Look around you – people all over this room are testimonies to the power of God! Hallelujah!
Speaking of looking around at others, these verses show us one of the ways God increases our faith in his power – by looking around at how God has shown his power in the lives of others! Mary was told that “Elizabeth was going to have a child in her old age.” Now remember, Elizabeth had never had children and she was past child-bearing age when the angel appeared to Zechariah and told him that Elizabeth would bear a son (Luke 1:19). Yet, Elizabeth was going to bear a child even in the years of her life when child-bearing was thought impossible. Elizabeth’s pregnancy was proof that nothing is impossible with God.
So what did Mary do? She went right down to Elizabeth’s home for a faith-building visit! She was able to stay with Elizabeth and see another miracle – that a woman past child-bearing age was pregnant. While not as phenomenal a miracle as what took place in Mary, it nonetheless confirmed the angel’s message and cleared Mary’s blurred mind. She probably thought day after day when looking at Elizabeth, “God truly does have the power to override the laws of nature when he desires to do so.”
I wonder if one of their encounters didn’t go something like this:
[SHOW NATIVITY VIDEO CLIP “WHY ME”]
It’s true – others around us often encourage us to trust God in deeper ways. Maybe you wonder…
…how God will meet your needs if you really start tithing. Just ask a fellow tither – they’ll tell you about the power of God in their finances.
…how God will enable you to get your work done if you start putting your family first and being a dad and father at home? Just ask a former work-a-holic and they’ll tell you about the power of God in the workplace on their behalf.
…how God can heal your marriage after all the hurtful words and years of deceit? Just ask a couple restored to a passionate marriage and their biblical roles by the power of God.
I say to you, First Family, nothing is impossible with God!
Keep in mind, however, that only God overrides the laws of nature. And only when he authorizes it. We don’t get to manipulate this at will. That’s presumption. Instead, in prayer and faith we seek God, and if he chooses to override human events and natural laws, so be it. It is up to God to act; it is up to us to believe he can.
So I want to make sure you got this; I want to make sure you know how to keep both facts and faith in their proper perspective. Would you say this with me – When I only see facts, biblical faith clears my vision. This is possible because of God’s power.
You see it now, don’t you? Mary’s footprints, from Nazareth to Bethlehem, were footprints of faith.
The question is – will you follow in Mary’s footprints? How would you have responded if you were Mary? Mary was a woman of faith who rested on God’s promises and relied on God’s power! Would you be willing to walk in those same footprints this week? In fact, let me ask you – what unexpected and unscripted life event has taken you by surprise? Are you responding in faith, as Mary did? Or maybe you sense God calling you to a new task, a new challenge…how are you responding to that? In faith like Mary?
You see, God is most impressed by faith! It is the one thing that ignites his hand on our behalf. Whether at the moment of our initial belief or throughout our life as we trust God for everything he asks of us, faith is indispensable. May we model the faith of Mary today!
[Pray – invite people to respond to the Gospel or to the need for a faith response to a situation or event.]
