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"NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD"
Advent 4B
December 21, 2008
Luke
1: 26-38
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! What would your reaction be if an angel suddenly appeared to you? What would you think if in the middle of a Vikings game, fourth and goal, Vikings to score, an angel appears and says, “Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you.” Of course I know that this is the Holy Land and no angel would appear until the game is over. So what would your reaction be? Would you be thinking to yourself: “Oh, I wish I had stayed awake for pastor’s sermons,” or perhaps you’d be thinking, “What does he want me to do now? Doesn’t he know I’m retired? I’ve done my time.” And here we have Mary. An angel named Gabriel appears to her with just this salutation: “Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you.” She’s perplexed by the angel’s words and ponders the greeting. She’s probably not thinking along the lines of “Why would an angel appear to me? I’m just a young woman in a small town in Galilee, I haven’t done anything special to earn God’s attention much less his favor!” No, she’s probably not thinking that, but it is interesting to ponder. She is indeed a young woman, in a small town in Galilee, at this point in her life she hasn’t done anything special; she’s certainly not a rabbi, nor is she the daughter of one. She no doubt worships in the synagogue and makes the trip to Jerusalem every year with her family, but she’s no theologian. And even though we know how the story ends, this isn’t the way most of us would start something that saves the world. But the tone of the setting of Jesus’ birth sets the tone for his ministry – a Christmas present of salvation in a serene, simple package. Then the angel says “Don’t be afraid, you have found favor with God, you will conceive and bear a son and his name will be Jesus. He will be great, the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign forever…” Now I can see Mary really beginning to wonder. Here she is, betrothed to a man named Joseph, a carpenter by trade. She is young, maybe as young as 12, which was the legal age for betrothal in Jewish society 2,000 years ago. And betrothal then, although somewhat similar to our engagement prior to be marriage, was a much more serious business. The only ways out of a betrothal were divorce and death. And if one of the betrothed died, the other was a widow or a widower, as the case may be. Divorce was generally because of adultery, and the penalty for adultery, even though it was seldom exercised, was death by stoning. “How can this be,” Mary asks, “since I am a virgin?” In other words, how can I conceive of a child since I have never known a man? “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.” You know, this is where some people get hung up – the idea of a virgin birth. But if the God who created the world, who created our ancestors from dust, the God whose Word became flesh and dwelt among us, then why can’t this God create life in a virgin? And of course we know, he can. And the word that we translate as “overshadow” is the same word used when God overshadows the Tabernacle, the tent with the Ark of the Covenant. It’s the same word that is used when God overshadows the mountain of the Transfiguration. And the Holy Spirit comes upon Mary, and the Most High overshadows her and a miracle, a new life is created. And the Son of God, Jesus, the Son of Man, is born and grows and saves his people. He saves us. And in the waters of our baptisms, the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and we, you, me, all the baptized, are overshadowed by the Most High and new life is created. New life whether the baptized is two weeks old or a hundred years old, or anywhere in between. God’s Spirit is the creating, life-giving agent. A holy thing is born, faith, a new man, a new woman, a new child, a new creation! Rebirth occurs and “old things are passed away, behold all things become new” (2nd Cor. 5:17). And it all takes place “according to thy Word.” Paraphrasing the book of James, “we are begat of God’s own will, with the word of truth” (1:18). Nothing is impossible with God! As we who are reborn children of God, who have been indwelt with the Holy Spirit, overshadowed by the Most High, prepare to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, let us echo Mary, let us live the words of Mary, let us pray to the Most High: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Amen. Rev. Bruce Hannum, Associate Pastor
Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota |
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