Courage of New Birth

We’re in our third week of Advent and this week we’re looking at Christmas Courage through the eyes Mary, the mother of Jesus. Our story is found in the book of Luke chapter one. So if you have your Bible, turn with me to Luke chapter 1 and as you’re finding your place, just listen on in as I give some context. Mary’s story begins 6 months after the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth with the conception of John the Baptist.

So Elizabeth is about 6 months pregnant with little John. And in Mary’s story, the Angel Gabriel was sent by God, just Like Zechariah’s story to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to meet with Mary. What’s interesting about this visit is that it’s not like a dream, like the one her soon to be husband Joseph had, nor was it like a vision, like many of biblical accounts we read in the Bible were like.

This was believed to be a forthright conversation as if the angel was standing before Mary and speaking to her as if I am speaking to you. Then the angel in verse 28 came in and said something pretty amazing… he gave her a compliment. This is where I want to begin reading together with you.. look with me in verse 28… “28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman!

The Lord is with you.”29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.” What a greeting… Greetings favored woman, the Lord is with you. I Love what the message version says about this verse, the Message paraphrase version says, “Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her: Good morning! You’re beautiful with God’s beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you.” Now, that’s a compliment!

I dunno about you, but it’s special to hear from someone, I see God in you… or I see Jesus in you. And because I see Jesus in you, You’re beautiful inside and out. It Reminded me of Romans where Paul writes, “Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” But did you notice how Mary reacts to the angels greeting?… in verse 29 she reacts by being deeply troubled and wondering what kind of greeting this could be.

She’s confused! And why not? At this moment, Mary still had no idea what was in store for her as the angel approaches her and tells her that she’s favored and that the Lord is with her. At this moment…Mary probably realized, on some level that most individuals in previous Bible stories, who are highly favored by God, usually means God is going to call them out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary.

Think about it….every time God told someone in the OT that, "the Lord was with them," those people were used by God to be a part of an amazing, faithful journey, but a lot of times that amazing faithful journey also meant amazingly hard trials that sometimes brings with it doubt and hardships. Faith many times is learning to listen even when we’re confused. We don’t always know what God is up to.

That’s the beautiful side of confusion. Being confused is a humbling part of our life. It reveals we don’t have all the answers and we don’t have everything figured out. There are still problems in my life, that I’m unsure of what God has planned. And that is a good thing. God puts us into places where we are confused to show us that we aren’t God. God tells Isaiah: ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord.

‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’” We don’t know what God is up to… Most times… when it comes walking with the Lord. He just nudge us.. he will give us some sort of glimpse at where he’s wanting us to go… and we walk in the direction he points us by faith. John piper once said, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been worried about one thing, and totally missed another area of my life that I should have been paying attention to.

There are things God was doing that I had no clue was happening. I think Mary thought of all these things and like Jospeh, she decided to stay in the conversation with the angel. Because when confusion settles in, We learn that many times confusion is the seedbed of faithfulness. We’ve got to be reminded that there is no faith where there is no astonishment, no turmoil and no uncertainty. Confusion often leads, to having questions..

What was Marys response to her confusion… Let’s read on… beginning in verse 30 30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” Her confusion turned into questioning. Is it ok to ask God questions? Absolutely. Questioning leads to what? Questioning leads to seeking. Questioning means we’re staying in the conversation. Isn’t questioning how your faith began? I dunno about you but when I started having dreams that was leading me towards Christ…

I began asking questions. I had questions that I didn’t know answers to. I went to the boy in high school that was known for his faith in Jesus and I began asking him questions. I went to church with that girl and I began asking questions. Questions lead me to ask one of the greatest questions of my life… Is Jesus who he says he is? Is he truly the way the truth and the life.

Will I believe by faith that Jesus was and is everything he had said he was? I didn’t know… and to be honest, even when I was led to the altar as a young college kid, I still didn’t know what I was doing.. All I knew was, I was not living a life that saw Christ as the pinnacle of my life. I wasn’t… and when I first believed I didn’t have any of the answers I needed…

honestly, I had more questions than anything else and guess what…. that’s faith! Walking with God is walking and asking some tough questions. I’ve asked God what does he want with my life, I’ve asked God how He can love the most disgusting sinful person and forgive them. I asked hard questions.. I came to Him boldly, but with humility, and I learned that God wants dialogue with us. He started speaking to me through his word and prayer and the Bible and by spending time with him, and that time became intimate, and as I began sensing his presence, I became like a moth in the night seeking light.

I learned that as I sought questions and stayed in the conversation with him, he sought relationship with me. And I find that as I grew in this relationship with God, my curiosity didn’t dwindle, My confusion was still there about things I didn’t understand, but as I got older Spiritually, I found more joy in our conversation with God than just asking him questions. Honestly, confusion turned questioning into trusting.

I’ve found that my curiosity turned the conversation more into generosity. the more I spend time with the Lord, in reading and writing, and preaching, and teaching, and worshipping and praying, and all the things he calls us into when it comes to discipleship. I find God becomes more generous with grace and I become more thirsty for his goodness. I delight in Him. And that comes through asking questions and meaningful relationship.

Mary asked questions, she asked how… and the angels response was amazing. Let’s continue to read starting in verse 35. 35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless.

37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” Mary was confused, she asked questions and then the angel gave her three things.. He said, The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the most high will overshadow you and because of those two things… The child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God. What did the angel give her… he gave her a promise.

And then he proves that God is faithful by pointing her to her aunt Elizabeth as the evidence of God’s power to fulfill what Gabriel is saying he’ll do. And before Mary could ask any more question… Gabriel Caps the conversation with this… 37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.” What if I told you that every time we worship. Every time, we praise, every time we say thank you because we’re redeemed children of God, we, are returning God’s word and promise back to him and we are showing in our right worship, that God is faithful and true.

Let me show you, turn with me to Isaiahs 9:6.. Isaiah 9:6.. ready? For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The promise of the Messiah right? Now turn with me to Isaiah 55:11 Isaiah 55:11… ready? “It is the same with my word.

I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” Now what does that mean.. that means, When God speaks, something happens. God can come into nothing, speak something and get anything. That’s the power of God. And When God says, let there be light, there is light. When God says, let the waters part, the waters part.

When God says, your womb will open and let the virgin conceive, babies are born. When God says, let the word from my mouth go out, I assure you it will never return to Him void. Whatever God says, will happen. Do you know what the context and the heading of this chapter in Isaiah 55 is about? Chapter 55 in Isaiah is all about about coming to the Lord. And giving ourselves to the Lord.

It’s a relationship. He calls us to come… he’s wooing us to come… Now watch this… Let’s go back to Luke’s gospel to the Story of Mary and look with me in verse 35… This is Gabriel giving Mary God’s word, right? Let’s remember, this message is from God. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the most high will overshadow you. The child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God.

God’s promise is being fulfilled… God’s word that a messiah to come is being fulfilled and it doesn’t stop there.. remember last week I said, I believe that since Joseph was a righteous and compassionate man who loved God… I believe that he would have taught that to Jesus as well. And I also believed that when Mary listened to the angel say, 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” I believe she would have remembered that phrase for the rest of her life.

I asked Alicia, do you remember 15 years ago when you were pregnant with Gabriel. Like, do you still remember how it felt to be with child for the first time. Do you remember the 30+ hours of labor. And she was like… Duh.. I was there. I was like, That is forever cemented into your heart isn’t it. I believe Mary would have been the same. The last words given to Mary from God through the angel was this..

7 For nothing will be impossible with God.” Where do we hear those words being echoed? It’s in the book of Luke chapter 18 verse 27. Jesus says: “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” What is the context? Jesus just got done talking to the rich young ruler who wanted to know how to inherit the kingdom, and Jesus saying in verse 25: 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Those who heard this message were like, then who can be saved? And Jesus goes, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” He was echoing his mothers encounter with the Holy Spirit. Jesus is telling them…You can’t save yourself… you can’t do it, its impossible… but God can. Paul would go on to say, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…” Are you seeing this?

The birth of Christ in Mary is the same birth of Christ in us. The Holy Spirit will come upon you Mary. That’s what we would call prevention grace. Prevenient grace is the work of the Holy Spirit drawing us to God. The Spirit is upon you. The power of the most high will overshadow you. Overshadowing means: the spiritual reality of His Presence focused upon that object experiences the full effects of His purposes.

What is the purpose? We could say that the initial purpose is for the Holy Spirit to live within us, not out of us. The Spirit gives us life and faith in Christ. and because of these two things… The child to be born will be born in you. Jesus says in John 3: 3“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It’s impossible unless there’s a birth.

John 1:13 says: 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. It’s impossible to man, but possible to God. Remember, Paul to the Galatians? “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…” Galatians 4:19 (NIV) You and I are a part of the Christmas story..

and I don’t know about you.. but that makes me realize that Christmas just got a lot more special and meaningful. That’s good news.. no wonder today is focused on Joy! We’re celebrating the birth of Christ in us! Every Christmas we celebrate Because of the birth of Christ in Mary, I can be reminded of the birth of Christ in me and I can say like Mary Said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Did you catch that…

according to your word. What did God say to Isaiah in 55:11… ready? “It is the same with my word. I send it out (I make nothing out of something, I make the impossible possible), and it always produces fruit (That’s Mary and that’s us, with the Holy Spirit in us we participating in God’s promises.) It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” Our praise this morning…

is taking God’s word 700 years before the birth of Christ, and proving it to be true 2700+ years later. By being here, by opening our hearts in worship… we are praising and worshiping through God’s word, as living examples of his faithfulness. And get this… you’re life is living testimony of the Bethlehem birth. What we have in common with Mary is that you and I, by faith, get to carry Christ in us too.

My Bethlehem happened in December of 2002…. But my willingness to say to God, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” That day never came till 2010. And sadly, many christians who’s eyes have been open to the grace of God never realize that until later in life. You see, I wasn’t prepared like Mary was to hear from God and walk in trusting faith.

I couldn’t wrap my head around, what Jesus says, “with man it is impossible.” Trusting faith comes by the means of relationship. Our faithful life is every day to be a proof that God works impossibilities; our faithful life is to be a series of impossibilities made possible and actual by Gods almighty power. You ever wonder why sanctification is such an important part of our walk, and why we put so much emphasis on holiness as Nazarenes?

Because without being sanctified we will never say to Jesus, “Behold, I am the servant of my Lord; let it be to me according to your word,.” That’s why I believe Mary had courage… she had the courage to surrender and to submit to the will of God. Benediction Be people of joy. Let joy live in your heart and share the joy of Christ with all you meet. Share joy by seeing the good in each other.

Share joy by remembering good times and hoping for good times to come. Share joy by praying for our world. In this Advent season, we need to see, feel, and share joy. As you go out into the wonder of God’s creations, share joy, peace, and hope with those you meet. Amen.*