Advent 4 – “May it be to me as you have said.”

Advent 4 – “May it be to me as you have said.” – Luke 1:26-38
12/18/05 – Vicar Matthew Peters – St. Paul’s, Union Grove

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

This morning we consider the gospel lesson from Luke chapter 1; the announcement to Mary given by the angel Gabriel. And what an announcement that must have been!

“The angel went to [Mary] and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’ Mary was greatly troubled by 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.’”

To borrow a phrase from the popular TV Chef: “Bam!” Out of the blue, here is an angel of the Lord talking to this girl. And we say ‘girl’ because remember that the usual marriage age in Israel in those days was around 14 years of age. So by our standards we are looking at a high-school aged young lady suddenly confronted with a heavenly being… no warning, just there all of a sudden with a message from God.
I think that it was pretty reasonable of Mary to be ‘greatly troubled’ – When was the last time God sent one of His angels to give a direct message to anyone you know? And if He were to do so, I daresay that most of us would be a little nervous at the prospect of being greeted in such a way as well.
And then consider the message that this angel presents Mary with; “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.”
Now, finding out that you are pregnant, or that your wife is pregnant, is always an exciting and slightly scary time – even in the most normal of circumstances. It often comes as a surprise – be it a big surprise or somewhat less of a surprise – and the realization that another life is now forming within a womb is always a big event!
But whenever such things happen in a more ‘normal’ setting, there have been certain events prior to the announcement that really make the surprise understandable. It is not something that just ‘happens by itself’!
(…and here I would like to give a brief apology to all the parents who will now have to field innumerable questions regarding this subject as a result of coming to worship this morning.)
Now thinking back to Mary’s situation, things are different. There was nothing that would have normally caused such a pregnancy. She even asks the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” – just in case she hadn’t been paying attention in health class that day. Imagine the real surprise for a girl to find out that she was pregnant – without having done anything to become so! Imagine what her family and friends would think! ‘Sure Mary, the Lord made you become pregnant.’ Imagine what her fiancé would think – what would Joseph do when he found out? Well we know what Joseph was going to do, he was about to call the whole thing off! It’s a very reasonable reaction on his part as well, considering that adultery – as it would have appeared that Mary committed to the casual observer – adultery was punishable by death. When we talk about this strange way of conception in confirmation class or Bible study – a virgin to have a child by means of the Holy Spirit – I only lightheartedly have to remind the young ladies that this is not a viable excuse for the present times…
But Mary was going to have a baby…

This Sunday before Christmas our Bible readings center on the theme that God has His own mysterious way of accomplishing His purposes. In the Old Testament lesson, King David comes to the realization that he has built for himself a palace and the city of Jerusalem is beautifully cared for, but the ark of the covenant – God’s seat of dwelling among His people on earth – the ark still sits in a tent outside the city. David sets his mind to change that, and it seems like a noble cause, but God stops him and tells him instead of how God will establish an everlasting house for David, and God will establish for Himself a house. David need not intervene.
And how often is it the same way for us? We get going on something, we start planning and organizing and working toward our goal. In most cases our aim is noble and decent, we just want to make something nice for our family, we want to do our best to serve God. We get very excited about what we are about to accomplish – and then things seem to crumble before our eyes and fall apart into a shambled mess. When this happens, how does it feel? How do you feel if your family Christmas plans don’t seem to work out? How does it affect your day if nothing seems to go the way you planned? Well it isn’t very fun! It feels terrible to watch all of our ideas, our hopes and dreams, our aspirations… going right down the drain.
Now sometimes things just don’t work out. But when we get disappointed, it’s usually because that was a plan that we had counted on. It was our plan! It had to work! But God has a way of making things happen that is quite often very different that what we might hope or plan or expect.

It is part of mankind’s fallen nature to try to run the show. We try to plan, we try to make things happen as we would see fit, we want things to always go ‘just right’. But ‘just right’ according to who? Whose interests are the first ones that we think of when we plan or organize? Are they your interests? Are they the interests of your family? Or are they God’s interests?
And who put us in charge of planning the ‘big picture’ anyhow? So often after something goes wrong in our lives we are quick to ask, “Why God, why?” But what about when good things happen? Why should we deserve anything good? Because we planned for it? Because we deserve something good from God? …I don’t think so.
It is God’s plans alone that are perfect. Its is the will of God that we should always place at the forefront of our concerns. But how often we forget that as we run around in our busy lives – planning and organizing.

What if Mary hadn’t had time for God’s plan for her? I mean she was a well-bred young Jewish girl, engaged to be married to a good Jewish man. She hadn’t done anything to deserve to be found with child. Her life had probably been looking to be rather nice and decently normal up until that visit from the angel.
But by faith, by her trust in God’s will and God’s plan, Mary answered the angel very well – given the situation; “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”
“May it be to me as you have said.”

Mary was able to answer this way because she had been given the hope of faith. She knew that God was not just trying to mess things up in her life – she knew that God’s plan for her was a good one. And the angel had made this very plain as he described this child that she would bear in some nine months time:
“…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.”
And unless Mary was quite dull-witted, which I severely doubt, these words of Gabriel describe to a faithful Jewish person, the coming of none other than the promised Messiah. This miraculous baby would be the Son of God – indeed, God Himself would be born as a child! He would be the saving ruler of His people like His ancestor King David – but would rule over the people of Israel, the house of Jacob, forever! For all eternity! This is only done by God! Such an act of redemption could only be done by the promised Savior of the world!
This Jesus to be born is the One who has been promised by God from of old!

“May it be to me as you have said.”

By Mary, who bore this child at what seemed to be an awkward time in her life, the Christ was brought into the world. And as Luke later records, this child “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52) Jesus lived his perfect life, and then went willingly to the cross, as was God’s plan. He went willingly to the cross to shed His blood and die, in order to take away the sins of the entire world.
So, even though we act selfishly or forget about God’s plans for us. Even as we sin daily and realize that we are fallen creatures worthy of only eternal death and despair…

“…nothing is impossible with God.”

And the seemingly impossible act of removing your guilt was accomplished for you by this child Jesus as he died upon the cross – and as He rose again victorious on the third day!
It is God’s will, His ultimate plan, that you are saved! Through faith in God, through the blood of Christ Jesus – you are saved! Through the washing of Baptism, and through the strengthening forgiveness obtained at His table – you are forgiven!
And now, having been cleansed by our God, we too can rejoice this Holiday Season! We rejoice with the angels and the shepherds, with Mary and Joseph, and with all the faithful down through the ages…
Our Savior is come! We are forgiven! We are saved!

“May it be to me as you have said.” Amen.