Well, this morning, I invite you to turn to the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, and we'll be reading at verse 26 through 38 of Luke, chapter 1, it's found on page 1016 in your Bibles. This is the Word of the Lord, beginning at verse 26 this morning. in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary and he came to her and said greetings oh favored one the Lord is with you but she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be and the angel said to her do not be afraid mary for you have found favor with god and behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you shall call his name jesus and he will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the lord god 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 and mary said to the angel how will this be since i'm a virgin and the angel answered her the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you therefore the child to be born to you will be called holy the son of god and behold your relative elizabeth and her old age has also conceived a son and this is the sixth month with her who is called was called barren for nothing will be impossible with God and Mary said behold I am the servant of the Lord let it be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her and there will end the reading of God's word well we consider today the birth of Christ the celebration of what we call Christmas. And I guess I begin with the question of why are we doing this? What is important about it? Why are we celebrating Christmas? Truth be told, it's just easy. We all know this. It's just easy to do a cultural celebration of this while missing entirely what we are called to celebrate every day of our lives and what this is really all about. Every year there's some new controversy over Christmas, some new controversy in the news that you'll see of something that was i mean it was a great cancellation in massachusetts of the christmas tree at the local library and there was a public outrage and fight because the christians said the christmas tree is the symbol of christianity oh my what okay i'll stop i could go for a bit on that. Uproar over the cancellation of the Christmas tree. But did you know that worship's being canceled next week? That worship itself is being canceled because it's a good time for family landing on sunday isn't this something it's happening a lot more than you think and i think it exposes a kind of american idolatry of conflating christ with culture people will fight with great passion for the culture of christmas in america when it has to do with the celebration of family. But they will miss entirely where a celebration of the Incarnation should lead people. Isn't this all about worship? Didn't the wise men realize in a long, inconvenient journey, traveling a long ways, and maybe with a bit of extra self-denial and sacrifice, they wanted to come see and behold their Savior and worship and bow down and worship him so i think you see the the gross sort of hypocrisy in the in the celebrations and the things that are happening but but i i thought today that just for a minute what if we had the ability to talk to mary about christmas what if we had the ability to ask mary about the coming of the savior and sit down with her and ask her about what a proper celebration might look like you know what what would that go and how could we imagine that and if we asked her what is that what does that look like mary what do you think a proper celebration of the coming of the savior through your womb what do you what does that look like i think she would say well chris this is a marvel that god would come in human flesh from someone like me. And if I said, Mary, do you realize throughout history that people would begin to iconize you, make you an icon, and that they would say your womb is holy because you are sinless and that you would become a dispenser of grace and that you would become a co-redemptive with Jesus, I think she would fall over. She would be absolutely appalled at such ideas. And what she would say is, did you read the account? Did you read carefully Luke chapter 1? What do you think we're celebrating? I'll tell you what I was celebrating. I was celebrating God's election. I was celebrating God's election. He chose a nobody for this. And He decided in an overwhelming act of grace to send the Messiah through me, a lowly sinner, to bring Him forth. And I think I want all of you to take from that the marvel of grace that He would open my eyes and my womb to bring forth from the lowly the Savior of the world. I think that's what Mary would have said. Let people study what God did for me and let it become a pattern for what He does for all the lowly. Let it become something to study for what He does for all the lowly. For everyone who believes. That's what this is about. He regarded, she said in her song, my lowly estate. This is what blessing looks like. This is what mercy looks like. I had the privilege throughout history to show to the world what reception of the Messiah looks like from a lowly sinner. So I think the story of Mary is one of the ultimate examples for us of how to receive the gift. you know we talk about gift giving and and what is gift give boys and girls we're going to have gift giving the greatest gift and how it should be received is really through the model of mary and that's what i want to focus on this morning i want to look at mary's favor and then to try to be somewhat creative i i found another f there mary's fortune and then we'll end with mary's faith so that's where we'll begin today looking at this great favor. As you open up Luke's gospel, the accounts of the birth of Christ, John's birth and Christ's birth are really set side by side, juxtaposed, set side by side to compare and to contrast. And when the scriptures do that, which they often do, they want to draw out something very important for us in the contrast and to see it so clearly. Everything really is, when you lay them side by slide is strikingly similar you have you have two cousins and you have two pregnancies and you have two two hymns and then you have two deliveries it's structured the exact same but the heart of the record is to see a glaring difference there's a glaring difference in the response of mary you remember that when the angel gabriel came to Zechariah to make the announcement, there you have the announcement, announcement. When the angel came to Zechariah to make the announcement, something was said of Zechariah that he was righteous, walking in the commandments of the Lord. He was blameless according to the law. A priest in Israel. You couldn't have come to a more notable, upright, great figure. He was set up as sort of representing Israel. But something went really wrong. You remember? When the announcement came? Well, there was no faith. He didn't believe. And you remember what happened. The angel said, you're mute. You're mute because of this. For you did not believe, Zachariah. so the first story demonstrated no faith in the after the announcement and and the need for the forerunner but the second story shows us faith how to receive this gift and so here we are we'll notice um that gabriel what's being shown here we read in verse 26 in the sixth month the angel gabriel was sent from god to a city of galilee named nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph to the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary. Here he comes to a nobody. Here he comes to a servant. Here he comes to a city of no reputation, to Nazareth. Here he comes to a lowly virgin. She's an absolute nobody in the world. She's a virgin. She's only betrothed. She's not valued in the culture. She's an absolute nobody and she's very young. I always get nervous pointing out the age because it's so radically different from our culture. People get kind of agitated about this. The reality is she was probably aged between 13 and 15. All of the historians place her probably at right about 15. A big contrast is set up. From the righteous in Israel, there was no faith. To the lowest on the ladder of acceptance to receive the greatest gift. Do you think there's a message in that? Oh, there's a big message in that. What do we see when we study the Gospels? What do we see when we study the Gospels? What we see is overwhelmingly that it is the lowly. It is the disregarded. it is the weak it is the vulnerable it is the sick it is the blind it is the lame it is the deaf it is the nobodies it is the foolish who are responding to the gospel go through it who didn't the people of great report the rich had a hard time entering the kingdom not the poor why? it wasn't because of just money it's because of pride when you have everything what do you need? it's incredibly hard to hear a message about spiritual poverty when you're living as a king on earth you see it's more difficult and you see this is this is what confronts us in the story of mary i think it's remarkable how many women you know and we we're all sensitive about this in our culture today but it is absolutely remarkable how many women are the ones who responded to the gospel in faith and who were they a whole pile of Marys maybe we needed to study the Marys maybe that should be a study of the scripture all the Marys in scripture the Mary who was the sinner the adulterous woman remember who put perfume on her hair and wiped and cleaned Jesus' feet or the Mary at the end of his life who broke an alabaster flask of oil and poured it over his head And Jesus said, I want everyone to study that. Wherever the gospel is preached throughout history, what she has done will be told as a memorial to her. What in the world is that? Jesus is saying, that is it. Mary shows God's favor. And Mary shows a response. in the sixth month of the angel the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary and he came to her and said greetings oh favored one the Lord is with you what a what an announcement to begin with what an announcement to begin with you know if you go to the catholic translations and you you listen to what they say in this here's what it says hail mary full of grace saying it 10 times you will have more unity with christ because when you say the hail mary you are asking mary to pray for you and mary will do that you are asking her to mediate for you and mary will do that and the more you say these hail mary's you say them when you need support should that agitate you really well if you're a protestant it probably should With one twist of a translation, they built an entirely heretical idea. The right translation is, rejoice highly favored one. Favored with grace. Favored with grace. Mary's not a dispenser of grace. She doesn't dispense grace. She's the prototype of receiving grace. In fact, she is so deeply troubled that the angel would ever talk to her this way. Because the greeting was hard for her. The greeting was hard precisely because she couldn't figure out why God would give grace to her among all women. Why would God do that? Why would God give me grace among all women? Look at me. I'm a nobody. I'm a lowly virgin. I have no status. I come from no town. I'm nothing. This one would be blessed to carry the Messiah. There's one verse I can't get out of my head in this account that Jesus spoke to the disciples in the light of the blindness of the peoples. Remember what he said to the disciples one day? Blessed are your eyes, for they see. And your ears, for they hear. It's the same kind of blessing. Your eyes are the organs that are privileged to see me. Your ears are the organs that are privileged to hear me. Just like that womb that bore me. you are blessed you are blessed and you see that's what we're celebrating first and foremost in the incarnation blessing blessedness we struggle with that concept um you know we work hard and and we think we've got to got to pay back for the gift you know when jesus was giving the beatitudes it's still to this day they're a remarkable study but they're confusing for people they're confusing for people think think about what jesus said in the beginning of the sermon on the mount blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are the meek blessed are blessed are blessed are and and we've stopped and we've said, well, how do we do that? How do we get that? And Jesus was never telling us how to get it because it was a gift. It was a gift to His righteous. It was a gift to His people. And you see, this is what Mary's struggling with. Why are you blessing me this way? Why are you doing that? Every response that understood the blessing of the Lord that truly was contemplating grace, every single response of the person fell into awe and wonder over the fact that such grace would be given to somebody so lowly who deserved none of it. Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven. all of them me do you know what i do blessed are you happy spiritually secure favored by god it's the meaning simon barjona because flesh and blood mortal man didn't reveal any of this to you but my father who is in heaven and you have all you have is described in these things in these blessings are gifts of grace with the fact that god has blessed you when you were nothing and you were lowly and you were nobody and you didn't just not deserve grace you demerited grace a Syrophoenician woman yeah I know I'm a dog dog's gotta eat Mary broken contrite humble deserves nothing why would God do this for me it's the marvel of all of our salvation it's the marvel of your story and this is the favor the same favor listen this is where I'm going with this any believer has today God's not stingy with his good gifts did you know that doesn't bark about it he gives he gives freely of grace knowing everything that you are. Knowing everything that you've done. Ephesians 1. Blessed be the God and Father who has done what? Our God and Father who has blessed us in the heavenly places with every single spiritual blessing. There's not one that lacks. Blessed are you by God. who has favored you and has loved you and has answered your cries and has never left you, and everyone who is of the faith of Mary ought to say, why would you ever show that to me? The prideful never have this kind of attitude. And as she's trying to answer that question, Gabriel responds, Don't be afraid, Mary. For you have found favor with God. That's the starting point of this celebration of the incarnation. You found favor. Dear believer, you found favor. You found favor with God. And He has given you great grace. God chose to give you favor. This is the same favor to us who believe you are favored with grace because he decided to do it. And he didn't decide to do it because he found anything in you. That's overwhelming. And that's the fortune that is now described. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. You shall call his name Jesus, and 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. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end. That's the greatest announcement in Scripture that could be announced. Here she is scared, confused, perplexed, wondering why God would ever consider her and what did he just say? You are receiving and you are conceiving and the son that comes through your womb, his name is Jesus, meaning Savior. He is the Son of God. His is the throne, Mary. Here is the long-awaited one, Mary, all throughout history. I promised I would do this. I promised Israel's waited and waited and waited. Promises were made to David that his throne would be an everlasting throne. Here he is, Mary, through you. I'm sending him to your womb. You are favored in the Holy One. You will give birth to a son. The son of the highest, he will be great. God has chosen you, Mary, to bear the Messiah. You are favored to bring him forth. Mary's question is different. It's not one of unbelief. It's a question of how. How is this even possible? How could God's Son come into my womb? He's eternal. I'm a virgin. It's not a question of unbelief. Explain to me how that's going to work. Gabriel gladly does. Just like at creation, when the Spirit was hovering over the waters, just like the Spirit hovered over Israel and brought them through the wilderness, so the Spirit's coming to hover and rest upon your womb. And you will conceive and bear the Messiah. Nothing is impossible with God. Joseph's out of the equation, isn't he? Here's the truth for us. This is why the Heidelberg's so helpful. Why does he have to be truly human and truly divine? Because only God can pay for our sins. she gets this. But for that to be accepted, He had to take on our nature. He had to become one of us. Through the human nature of Mary, truly God, truly human, in every way like us, except for sin. That's why the Spirit would overshadow the womb. This is the heart of what we celebrate. A spotless son who throughout his whole life would never sin and would never fail and would never break one commandment and would carry the whole way all your burdens, carry all your sorrows, carry all your hurts and pains and carry all your sins all the way to the cross to then bear them and say it's finished to release those who through fear of death were subject to bondage all their life. Now I want you to think today of where this narrative pushes us. Zachariah heard the announcement he did not believe. He faced the curse of unbelief for a time. The lowly virgin, the woman from Nazareth, hears this overwhelming announcement. What's her response? Then Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. I'm just a servant. He has called me to be a servant to bring forth the Messiah. Let it be according to your word, which is the word of God. That's the answer of faith today. Mary's favor, Mary's fortune, and Mary's faith. This is everything the scripture is pressing us to. We have Mary all wrong. Jesus was out on a mission one day in Luke's gospel and he met a Roman Catholic. Did you know that? Don't let that make you nervous. We've got to answer this. There's a great idolatry in this. As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, Blessed is the womb that bore you, and blessed are the breasts that nursed you. Someone got really excited about Mary. Started trying to make her a co-redeemer. Immaculate Conception believes that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved without sin for her whole life. Did you know that? But he replied. Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. That's how Mary responded. I'm your servant. Let it be according to your word. She leaves us a testimony is what she leaves us. Not her own holiness. Not that she herself is full of grace. Not that she is a stainless sinner. But a response that is exactly opposite of that. I am a sinner. But you have called me blessed. Unworthy as I am. I hear your word. And I believe it. You see? that's where we should be in all. That's the faith the scriptures are pushing us to. And here's the best news today. Here's the best news. If you've come to believe the gospel today, if you, lowly sinner, the nobodies here, the ones you think God doesn't take note of you, how could God love you? I've done all these terrible things. The blessing of the Lord upon you is no different. That's what Mary would say. The Lord says the same to you today. Rejoice, highly favored ones. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among all peoples, he would say. For you found grace with God. He has given you His Son who dwells in your hearts by the Spirit who has come to save you. You know, when the angels made their announcement, they said, glory to God in the highest. Christmas cards get it all wrong, not surprisingly. Glory to God in the highest and on earth. peace toward men of your good pleasure. See what they're celebrating. God chose me. I don't deserve that. That's the marvel of election. Why would he do that? I know what I am. And he did. Can it be when I have been this bad to him? Can it be that he would love me when I have provoked him like this can it be when i've been doing these same stupid sins can it be that god would favor me like this and the resounding answer from scripture is yes and amen because it's of grace we learn from mary the blessing of god that results in faith it's hard for us to receive here's what he has said to you today blessed are you dear congregation here's my gift don't try to pay me back i'm not stingy it's free to you receive it like mary did in humility by faith receive your king don't be unbelieving but believing may we respond with mary blessed be the lord for he who is mighty has done wonderful things for me and that's what he's done for you too let's pray heavenly father thank you for so marvelous, a gift. Thank You for favoring us with Your grace. Thank You for being faithful to Your promises. And may, Lord, we be, like Mary, humble in response, thankful in response, recognizing what was said. May it be according to Your Word. You have spoken grace to us. You have told us you favor us this way when we don't deserve it. You have given us the best in your Son. May it be according to your word. May we believe that. Thank you, O Lord, for saving faith as a work of your grace and for election. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.