1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. The message from God’s Word today on this 4th Sunday in Advent is taken from Luke 1.26-38, it’s entitled, “The Amazing Conversation,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. At the center of this gospel reading today is an amazing conversation. It was of the memorable variety. It involved a peasant girl from a small town and a mighty messenger from God. Our lives are filled with conversations. Every day we talk with family and friends, colleagues and neighbors, classmates and playmates. The subject matter is predictable. We speak of the weather, the kids, school, work. Nowadays we could add the pandemic, Christmas plans, and online learning. Most of these conversations are forgettable. They fly away as soon as the last mouth stops moving. But, there are other conversations that we remember. It was the last heart-to-heart you had with your dad before he died. It was the deep discussion with your future spouse that sealed the deal. It was the key exchange which led you to change careers, or choose your college, or name your child. These conversations stay with us. We couldn’t forget them if we tried. They changed our lives.
3. These last few weeks of Advent, I’ve been preaching a series of sermons about how each of the four Gospels begins. Today we are focusing on Luke’s distinct starting point to His Gospel. Unlike John’s Gospel who takes us back to creation and Mark who opens with Isaiah, Luke’s orderly account begins with two related pregnancy announcements—the latter obviously being the more significant.
4. First, let us consider the difference in the two conversations that take place in Luke chapter 1, the first between Zechariah and the Angel Gabriel, and the second between the Virgin Mary and Gabriel the Angel. Earlier in Luke 1 Zechariah asks, “How can I know this?” and refers to the laws of nature (1:18). Mary asks, “How will this be?” and also mentions the natural way: “since I do not know a man.” Both use the verb ginōskō, “to know,” but with different meanings. Mary hearkens back to Gen 4:1 She focuses on the external Word and how it will become a reality. But, Zechariah asks about his own subjective assurance. Zechariah doesn’t believe God’s words (1:20) but Mary does (1:38). In both cases God provides signs to strengthen faith: for Zechariah, his being made mute, unable to speak (1:20); for Mary, the pregnancy of Elizabeth (1:36–37). Eventually, both signs result in songs of faith and thanksgiving (1:46–55; 1:67–79).
5. This is what we hope for every time we come together for worship, that we may trust firmly in God’s promises given to us in God’s Word and Sacraments as Mary did. So often we listen to the inclinations of our own sinful hearts rather than to the Lord. This is the problem we have with the Third Commandment, despising “preaching and his word.” Sinful man looks inside of himself for answers and solutions, rather than outside, from God’s external Word.
6. Have you ever imagined what it would be like to eavesdrop on this conversation that Mary had with the Angel Gabriel? I know I have many times as I have heard the Christmas story being read year after year. We know that Mary was a teenage girl. Probably too young to drive. She lived in Nazareth, a forgettable town in far-away Galilee. We know almost nothing about her prior to this conversation. She was a daughter of the Covenant, a child of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But her people in those days were nothing to write home about. The glory of David and Solomon were a distant memory. It’s likely she lived in poverty and simplicity. Martin Luther suggested she may have been an orphan.
7. To this otherwise insignificant peasant girl came the angel Gabriel. We don’t know much about him, either. Besides Luke 1, he is mentioned by name only in Daniel 8-9. But, for angels, that’s not bad. Only two angels are named in the entire Scriptures. Gabriel means “man/mighty one of God.” He stands in the presence of God (Luke 1:19) and his presence inspires the fear of man (Daniel 8:17, Luke 1:12).
8. Here’s how the conversation went: Mighty Gabriel came to young Mary and said, “Greetings (literally, “Rejoice!”), O favored one, the Lord is with you.” This was a strange way to begin a conversation. Luke tells us Mary was troubled by it. Maybe it bothered her that this stranger knew her name. “Do not be afraid, Mary,” he said, “for you have found favor with God. And you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
9. You can hear the excitement in Gabriel’s voice. This was a big deal. This King had been promised for millennia. 1 Peter 1:12 says even the angels longed to look into these things. But Mary didn’t seem thrilled. She responded with an understandable question: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Gabriel responded, “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 called holy—the Son of God.” He concludes with an understatement, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Literally, Gabriel said no word (ῥῆμα) from God is beyond reality.
10. Without questions about her fiancé, or her wedding, or her reputation, Luke tells us Mary believed. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And Gabriel left. Bernard of Clairvaux speaks of three miracles in Mary’s life. (1) She was a virgin, and yet she gave birth. (2) The baby she bore was also God. (3) She trusted the angel’s message. Martin Luther discussed these three miracles. (Martin Luther, The Martin Luther Christmas Book, trans. and arranged by Roland H. Bainton (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1948), p. 22-23). He called the virgin birth a “mere trifle” for God. He considered Jesus’ being both man and God a bigger deal. But most amazing, says Luther, is how Mary believed the word Gabriel spoke to her.
11. The believing is the hardest part. Sometimes it’s hard for us to believe God is actually with us. Sometimes it’s hard to believe God truly cares, especially this year of 2020 with the pandemic and all. We hear God’s promise of forgiveness and life, but sometimes it’s hard to believe. Which is why it’s important to hear Gabriel’s description of Mary as the “favored one” (κεχαριτωμένη). What made Mary favored wasn’t her family line, or her personal achievements, or her pure heart. She was favored in that God chose her. In the same way in Ephesians 1:6, St. Paul describes Christians as “highly favored” (ἐχαρίτωσεν). He says God chose us to be His daughters and sons out of nothing but His favor.
12. In the end, we’re not that different from Mary. By human standards we’re insignificant. We’ve done nothing to justify God coming to us. But God has had favor on us. He has come to us, as well. We’re so close to Christmas and the celebration of the birth of Christ Jesus our Lord. Today from Luke 1 we remember that the Lord speaks to his people in words and deeds. He remembers his promises and wonders from ages past, and takes decisive action in our lives today through Word and Sacrament. His means of grace create and sustain living faith, which in turn clings to God’s promises and rejoices in his mercy. “Rejoice, O favored ones, the Lord is with you.”
13. This holiday season we may have opportunities to speak to our friends and family about the birth of our Savior Jesus and what Christmas really means. Here’s one conversation along those lines. A veteran pastor recently wrote of an experience he had on a flight from New York to Toronto. “I sat beside a bright, young man who was highly successful. He had an office and a home in Montreal. He had another office in Vancouver and another one in New York. He told me how well he was doing, and then there came that terrible moment that inevitably comes when they ask, ‘Now what is it that you do?’ I try to answer very carefully. If I say, ‘I’m a pastor,’ I know what will happen. After a moment of silence, usually the person tells me about some aunt who is a big Baptist, or that they have a cousin who has read the Bible seven times. But not this young man. When I said, ‘Well, I’m a pastor,’ he said, ‘I want to talk to you. I want to talk to you about me. When I look out, it’s wonderful. But when I look inside, it’s empty.’”
14. The Lord speaks to us his words of comfort and peace. In “the Word made flesh” (Jn 1:14), Jesus Christ, God spoke to man once and for all—through a Man. On Calvary Jesus paid the price—as God, to bring us outside help; and as man, to suffer and die in the place of men. In his Word and Sacrament today: in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, Holy Communion; the Holy Scriptures, preaching, liturgy—wherever God’s Word is, he speaks to you today. Faith responds in rejoicing and praise. As Mary didn’t stop believing in her Savior, so she didn’t stop praising him. As Mary rejoiced in her God, so do we. The same God who brought Mary to faith and accomplished wonderful things in her life is also your God and my God—and the God of our friends and relatives who don’t yet know him. May our conversations with our family and friends this holiday season bring those around us hope and joy that only God can bring through our dear Savior Jesus. “Rejoice, O favored ones, the Lord is with you.” Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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