I invite you to turn with me this morning to Luke chapter 1, Luke chapter 1 as we read together and consider verses 26 through 38, the episode of the angel Gabriel coming to Mary. We know the stories, the history surrounding the announcement and the birth of Jesus Christ. Many of us know these well from our very young days, yet it's good for us, especially in this time of the year, to be reminded once again of what God was doing in history. Just before this portion, you recall the familiar story of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist. As he is fulfilling his duties in the temple, offering incense, the angel Gabriel appears to him to tell him about John the Baptist. The people are worshiping outside. He is inside offering the incense. And of course we know what happened. He has a hard time believing it. And therefore the sign that he was given was a sign that affected him personally. A chastisement. Not able to speak until the time would come. And then following up on that, we have the episode of the angel Gabriel coming to Mary. Verse 26. Hear now the word of the Lord. In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Mary was greatly troubled at 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. 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. How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin? The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God. I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May it be to me as you have said. Then the angel left her. There we end with the reading of God's holy word. May he add his blessing to it. Well, beloved, once again the evidence is clear that we have entered that most wonderful time of the year, as the song says. We have entered the Christmas season. The evidence is clear. isn't it, as the Salvation Army bell ringers are busy outside the department stores, as Christmas music is heard, as parties are being planned and attended, as cards and letters are sent and received, as gifts are being purchased. And of course, who can forget the baked goodies? The evidence is clear. And all of this is true for believers and unbelievers alike. Whether one says simply, Happy Holidays, or whether one gives the greeting of Merry Christmas, It's true for believers and unbelievers alike, all of these things are participated in as we enjoy these things in the Christmas season. Yet for Christians, we know that Christmas is not, first of all, about the effect of the holiday sales on the economy, nor is it about all of these other details, first of all. Indeed, the Christmas season provides an occasion for all of these things that even you and I participate in and enjoy. But for the Christian, Christmas is about something much more important. We know that Christmas is really about a matter of life or death. If you happen to read at least part of the Sharoncare that was handed out last week, you saw that many, both young and old from our congregation, responded to the question, what do you most look forward to about the holidays? And though there were a variety of answers, yet there was a consistent theme. Celebrating Christ's birth. Celebrating the Incarnation. celebrating god come in the flesh to redeem and save in 20 days on december 25 the lord willing we will come together we are planning to come together in a special christmas day servants as dr godfrey reminded us on thanksgiving day except for that that special day namely thanksgiving day our other christian holidays focus on god's work of redemption and just as God's greatness and kindness and wisdom is seen in His creation and providence in His physical blessings of life for which we give Him thanks on Thanksgiving Day. God's greatness and kindness and wisdom is even more evident then in our redemption. And especially in this text, as Gabriel prepares Mary for the virgin birth of Jesus, as God prepares her, For the virgin conception and the virgin birth of Jesus, indeed, those things, what a demonstration of the greatness and the kindness and the wisdom of God. In the Apostles' Creed, we profess to believe astonishing truths of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, including truths of His humiliation, which also includes the fact that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit that He was born of the Virgin Mary. Now, those details are not simply made up in order to spice up what we claim to believe. In order to give us some sort of a wow factor. But those details about our Lord Jesus Christ were prophesied by Isaiah to King Ahaz. We read in chapter 7, verse 14 of Isaiah, Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son. Another version says, the virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son. Those details that we profess about our Lord Jesus Christ were prophesied by Isaiah and confirmed by Gabriel when the time had fully come, as Paul says. As God, through Gabriel, prepares Mary, first of all, with an amazing announcement. An amazing announcement that came to an unexpected audience. Everything about this really is unexpected. Beginning at verse 26, In the sixth month, that is the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, in the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth to a town in Galilee to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. Of course, the unexpected audience is Mary herself. And this amazing announcement is given following the announcement from Gabriel of John the Baptist to Zechariah, an announcement that we might say was given somewhat publicly, even though, again, it was just Zechariah and Gabriel, yet all those worshipers were outside. And we know that that announcement was made known to many, especially by virtue of the lack of Zechariah's speaking ability. Yet John, as Gabriel told Zechariah, was to be a herald. He was to prepare the way for the Lord Messiah. We can say about the heralds' work, at least in part, that their work was included to prepare those being visited for the pomp and circumstance of the coming king or dignitary that was coming to the town. For the parade, for the excitement, for all that was going to take place. However, Gabriel's unexpected audience points to no pomp and circumstance. To no big parade. The Messiah would not arrive by chariot with a great entourage surrounding Him, but He would arrive by conception and birth. And this announcement was brought to a remote village. Mary was not from the grand city of Rome. She was not from the Jewish capital of Jerusalem. But she was from the small village of Nazareth in the looked-down-upon region of Galilee. And Mary was a virgin. I trust you notice as we read this together that this point, that Mary was a virgin, is emphasized by Luke. That's the point as well that our God would have us to understand in a special way. And we'll come back to that. She was a virgin, indeed betrothed to a poor carpenter. Mary, you see, was not a famous cultured person of high rank and position. She was not the kind that one would expect this grand messenger, this grand herald to come to, especially for the work which she was being called to participate in. It was unexpected. But she was the one chosen by God. She was the one of whom Isaiah prophesied. She was favored by God. In verse 28, the angel went to her and said, Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. You who are highly favored. Literally, you who are the graced one. You who have been made the recipient of God's grace. Not full of grace, as the Roman Catholic Church includes in their Ave Maria, Hail Mary, full of grace, as if Mary has grace to be given to you and me, grace that we are to seek after. John Calvin describes this greeting of the angel to Mary as a simple congratulations. A simple congratulations to Mary. You who are favored. Mary was passive. She was a passive receiver of God's grace. It was all the work of God. It was all His choice. It was all His doing. It was because of His own plan. His own reasons. His own pleasure. The only other place that we find this word and this idea is in Ephesians 1, verse 6 where Paul talks about our glorious adoption in Christ Jesus and of that adoption he says, to the praise of His glorious grace which He has freely given us in the one He loves. He has freely adopted us. Not because of anything in us. Not because of our worthiness or what we could do or would do, but because of God's plan and God's purpose and God's good pleasure. And the same thing is true with Mary. You who are highly favored because God has set His love on you, His favor on you. Yet this greeting understandably troubled Mary. In verse 29, Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. She was troubled, agitated, perplexed, confused. Not by the appearance of the angel, but by the greeting. I believe that the idea that we are to have here is maybe you and I have found ourselves or seeing others in this situation when something has come to their mind or been made known to them and they're just kind of shaking their head and looking down, kind of staring off into space. The idea of thinking through it, it just doesn't make sense. Wow, how could this be? She was stunned. How could she, a young woman of such a low social position, be addressed in such a lofty manner and addressed that ought to be reserved for one who was important, one who was noble? And notice, she hadn't even been told yet the most unexplainable part of an unimaginable activity. Gabriel's amazing announcement was of an unimaginable activity. Verses 30 and 31, 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. You will be with child. unimaginable because, well, she was not married. Well, she was in the sense of the betrothal, which meant at that time that the vows had already been taken, the formal ceremony had been done. A betrothal was much more official and binding than our modern-day engagements. It was not to be broken. It was broken by divorce or death. But Joseph had not yet taken Mary into his home. They were not living together. They had not consummated their marriage. She was a virgin, as Luke emphasizes. Yet this angel, whom Mary knew was a messenger from God, says that she would be with child. She would have a child. And this child would be an unbelievable gift to his people, to the world. Beginning at verse 32, 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. He will be great. Zechariah was told in verse 15 that John would be great in the sight of the Lord. He too was chosen by God for important work and because of the work that he was called to do, which we know He would do willingly, He would be considered great in the sight of the Lord. But Mary's child would be great in His very being with His greatness identified and clarified with what the angel says about Him. He will be called the Son of the Most High. Mary would not miss this significance. The Most High, she knew, was the designation for the covenant God, for Jehovah Himself. And in that day, the designation Son of came with the idea of a carbon copy of of possessing the father's qualities. And therefore, Mary knew that Gabriel was saying that this child would be God Himself. He who was the Son of God from eternity would be manifested as the Son of God in the flesh. And this one would be given the throne of his father David, and he would reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end. You see, beloved, all of this was the hope of the Jews because of God's promise to David. In 2 Samuel 7, verse 16, we read, Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me. Your throne will be established forever, the Lord says to David. And it's somewhat repeated in Psalm 89, verses 3 and 4, You said, I have made a covenant with My chosen one. I have sworn to David, My servant. I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations. Verses 28 and 29, I will maintain My love to Him forever and My covenant with Him will never fail. I will establish His line forever, His throne, as long as the heavens endure. All that Gabriel says about this child was the hope of the Jews. And this too is how he could fulfill the name Jesus to save His people from their sins as the angel says later on to Joseph. Again, Mary knew that Gabriel was saying that the time that she and all of her people had been waiting for was come, is here. She knew that Gabriel was saying that the Messiah who had been promised was on His way. And He would come through her. And this announcement met in the second place with a puzzling analysis. Now, I say analysis because her question was not a doubting question her question was not an unbelieving question like Zacharias was when he said to to Gabriel how will this be I mean I'm an old man my wife is old come on how will this be had he forgotten about Abraham and Sarah and we know it was an unbelieving question by the very fact that the sign that he was given as I mentioned a moment ago afflicted him it was a punishment to him a temporary punishment mary's question was not an unbelieving question like zechariah her question was not a question of surprise that the messiah was coming she was looking for the messiah nor was it a question of surprise that the messiah would come from her as we might expect it to be a surprise but hers was a simple question in verse 34 how will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I am a virgin? How will this be? See, Mary does not question or doubt all that was said about the coming child. She does not question or doubt the glorious description given of Him, but she does question that there could even be a child. She had analyzed the situation. I am a virgin. We ought to understand by that that she is saying, I was one, I still am one, and in essence, I will be until Joseph takes me into his house. And we know from the glorious testimony of Scripture that it is no possibility, there is no possibility of this child being Joseph's biologically. Because Matthew says he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. This announcement to Mary was more hard to believe than the announcement to Zechariah. To Zechariah, the angel said, your wife will bear you a son. As if to say it's going to be in the natural way. Yet both of these situations were miracles because of the age of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Yet again, that was not unique. We think of Abraham and Sarah, but Mary's situation was unique never before and never since. Beloved, when Gabriel said you will be with child, Mary understood that this child would not be the fruit of her marriage with Joseph. They would have children, but this would not be the fruit of that. She understood that humanly speaking this was impossible and therefore this simple question was not out of order. It was not a lack of faith. And we know that because it receives a spectacular answer. A spectacular explanation, verse 35. The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. How will this be? By the influence and power of God Himself, the Holy Spirit. Not by the influence of the flesh. Not by the power of the human will. And the result is He will be holy. Perfectly holy, without fleshly defilement, without sin. Because of God Himself. That is how this child would be God, how He would save. And the spectacular answer also came with proof for Mary, a sign. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible with God. At six months, Elizabeth gave visible proof of being pregnant. And we know from the next portion of Scripture that the child was moving. There was no doubt she was pregnant. And at her age, and the fact that Scripture also emphasizes that she was considered barren, at her age, no one would question that her pregnancy had to be a miracle and her pregnancy was to be assigned to Mary, that indeed nothing is impossible with God, even, as hard as it may believe, even a virgin conception and a virgin birth. Finally, then Gabriel's preparation of Mary meets with a humble acceptance. A humble acceptance of Mary's place. I am the Lord's servant. I am His. What obedience! Without any argument, without any back talk, without questioning why. Remember Moses said to the Lord, Why me? Why not send somebody else? Why not send Aaron? I don't really want to do it. Not Mary. By the grace of God, she never questions why. She does not doubt. Instead, she is ready, she is willing to submit to and be used of the Lord for His purpose as she was also humbly accepting not only of her place, but also of His word. May it be to me, as you have said, I am His. Whatever He desires, I am His. Indeed, this demonstrates the amazing faith of a young Mary, possibly a very young teenager, especially since, practically speaking, she knew the potential ramifications. She knew the potential to be exposed to painful criticism and ridicule, or even worse, as Deuteronomy 22 says, the risk, maybe only a small risk by this time, but the risk of being stoned to death as an adulterous woman. The Bible even teaches us that Joseph considered divorcing her quietly. Instead, after the angel set him straight, God used Joseph to protect Mary. But even putting all of that aside, the potential ridicule or criticism as well, who in the world would believe that the Messiah that the nation had long been waiting for would come this way? From a person like Mary, one of a low degree, one who had nothing to offer, one in such a scandalous way, not according to earthly standards or human expectations, how in the world could Israel's hope be fulfilled in this way? Yet this prophecy of Gabriel stays buried in Mary's heart. Maybe just a small group of those who knew it. Joseph, Elizabeth, maybe Zechariah. We don't know. But this prophecy of Gabriel stays buried in Mary's heart with confidence because it was not Mary's job to convince the world of what Gabriel said would take place. The child himself would prove his identity and work. And Mary had confidence because the angel had already prepared her with the words, Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. I am the Lord's servant, she says. The Lord is with me. Dear people of God, this is indeed an amazing story. It's more than just a story for our amusement or our entertainment or even for our wow factor. Christmas is about salvation. Now, that's no secret to you, and it's also no secret that the world and our society is trying to cover up that fact, to mask that fact, to silence that fact with all of the other pomp and circumstance that takes place. But Christmas is about salvation and we do need to be reminded of that each and every year. In fact, every day of our lives. It's about the salvation that we, including Mary herself, needed. A salvation that man had to accomplish but couldn't. And therefore, that man who was needed needed to be God Himself. He needed to be sinless. He needed to be perfect. He needed to be able and willing. And this is how God accomplished that. This is what God is doing here. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. And just as Gabriel to an unexpected Mary, Jesus Christ came not to the elite, not to the powerful, not to the deserving, not to those who think they need nothing from Him, but He came to the least, to the undeserved, to the unexpected, to the hopeless. He said, it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. He says, it's not the righteous that I have come for, but for sinners. Now indeed, as we consider this portion of Scripture, Mary does serve as an example for us of being willing and submissive and obedient to the Word and the will of God. Whatever the circumstances of life in which He may place us. Again, many among our number are faced with difficulties and hardships that hurt. that are troublesome, that set us back. And our temptation is to say, why me, Lord? Please, take it away. But our God, through Mary, teaches us that our response is to be, I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me, according to God's will, according to God's word, trusting that He works all things for the good of those who love Him. Because God is with me. indeed we are to learn that from Mary's example yet our hope is not in Mary but ultimately we are called to submit by faith that our salvation is only of and from and by God and that we too are favored by God as His grace in Jesus Christ is a free gift to us we are called to believe and submit to the truth of the Christmas child and His miraculous conception and birth. Because only this Savior who came in this way, God Himself, can save us from our sins. We know that there are many, even in the evangelical world, who deny this. Because man cannot wrap his mind around it. It is simply humanly impossible. And man can in no way recreate this sort of thing. And therefore, it must not be possible. It must not be true. And those who deny this truth of Jesus Christ deny the only Savior. Beloved, we are called to humbly submit. Say, I am the Lord's servant. This is what He has done. Even though I don't understand it. This is great. This is wonderful. this is for me. Praise be to God that the same Holy Spirit by which Mary miraculously conceived gives the miracle of new birth to dead hearts. Indeed, an amazing miracle, isn't it? And the Holy Spirit of God empowers and enables His people to repent of their sins and to believe in this Jesus Christ, the one of whom our God Himself tells us, the one whom He brought forth for Mary. Our salvation, impossible for you and me, is not only possible with God, but actual in this Jesus. Yes, we boldly profess that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, not because we, with our finite minds, really understand how, but because this is what God says, and this is what God did for you and me. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we praise Your holy name for that gift of faith. That gift of faith by which we are given the assurance of things hoped for. The conviction of things not seen. Of those details that we cannot comprehend. We cannot even begin to figure out. Indeed, O Lord, You are marvelous. And we thank You and praise You for Your precious gift of salvation and how You accomplished it. The means by which You brought it forth. By which God Himself would take on human flesh to give us exactly what we need. Well, Father, we pray that You would drive away any doubts that we might have that we might be immersed in the conviction of the truth of your word as awesome and as wonderful and even as unexplainable as it might be. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake. In his name we pray. Amen.