Fourth Sunday in Advent – December 18, 2011

Luke 1:26-38 - ²⁶ In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 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, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” ³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 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. ³⁶ 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. ³⁷ For nothing is impossible with God.” ³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Dear children of God, called to be his own through the blood of his Son,

We’ve all said it before – or at least something like it: “That was just what I needed!” Perhaps it was after opening that Christmas present; or a visit to the chiropractor for an adjustment. It could be as simple as a hug or card from a loved one; or something more extreme like jumping into a pool after a long day of working out in the hot, dry sun. That was just what I needed!

And after reading the timeless words of our Lord again this morning, isn’t it true that we can say, “It was just what we needed?” And I hope you didn’t miss it! That’s the danger, sometimes, isn’t it? The words can be so familiar that they just kind of roll into one ear and right out the other. But please, don’t let familiarity lead to disinterest! Don’t assume that since you’ve heard it before you know all there is to know; or that you don’t need to hear it again. Let these words speak to your heart! Let them simmer in your soul! Let them dance in your head and melt in your ears. Marvel at them.

For each part of our text this morning drips with significance as Luke transports us to a humble home in the town of Nazareth and introduces us to Mary. The suspense builds as Mary and God’s messenger, Gabriel, carry on their conversation. And then it ends with a beautiful, simple, yet complete confession of faith. Through it all, our anticipation is heightened as we prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of the Savior; and our faith is strengthened as we see that the Virgin’s Son is the very Savior we need.

Six months prior to this visit with Mary, the angel Gabriel had made another visit. It was to a priest named Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, and the father of John the Baptist. Gabriel had been sent by God to announce that Elizabeth, even in her older years, would conceive and give birth to a son. This, of course, wasn’t the first time in the Bible that there would be a surprising pregnancy. Sarah, at age 90, gave birth to Isaac. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, was blessed with children after she was considered to be barren. So, it might almost seem that the surprising was becoming common place; maybe Mary’s pregnancy wasn’t so special.

But Mary’s pregnancy was special. Her case was different. She couldn’t be pregnant. It just wasn’t physically possible. She asked, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Virgins don’t get pregnant! That doesn’t happen! That’s just a fact and Mary knew that well. “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.” It would be a miracle! “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 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, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

With each word – another message for Mary. “Mary, out of all of the virgins in the world; you are the one that the God of heaven and earth has chosen to give birth to the Savior.” With each word – another statement so profound. “Mary, the one conceived in you is no mere man, he is the Son of God.” With each word – another promise fulfilled. “Mary, the one conceived in you will have your blood coursing through his veins, he will truly be a human.” With each word – another hint at the significance of the event. “Mary, in this one Person conceived in you, deity and humanity will be perfectly blended. In this one Person, all the promises of God and all the purposes of God for humankind will be fulfilled.” Yes, each piece of dialogue, every aspect of the message, the questions and answers – it was all for Mary’s sake…and dear friends, it is all for us as well - to make plain to us that this child conceived in Mary, this child born from Mary, was not just her son, but is the very Savior we need. It was just what we needed.

But what, exactly, is it that we need? Well, I suppose you could say that a hundred different people might give a hundred different answers to that question, and you might be right. No doubt some would say we need love, a sense of purpose, money, family, food, and so on. But we who are gathered here this morning aren’t just any hundred people. We are Christians. We are believers. We are people who have been made new by the waters of Baptism. People who cherish the forgiveness of sins given in Holy Communion. So we are people who recognize that what we truly need is an answer to our guilt. We are people who realize that if we don’t have a right relationship with the true God, nothing else we have really matters. We are people who recognize that what we need to know is how, after our short time here on earth, we can be certain we will spend eternity in heaven with God and not in hell with Satan.

No matter how much we might be tempted to try and ignore death; no matter how much we might be tempted to ignore the reality of standing before the Righteous Judge; no matter how much we might be tempted to pay no attention to the fact that we are mortal; no matter how little we think about the fact that our lives could end at any moment; no matter how hard we might be tempted to try and close our eyes to it all; we know how true it is.

Yes, you know yourself better than anyone knows you. And what’s more, you know deep down inside that you’re not always the way that you present yourself. You know the truly despicable thoughts that you let rattle around inside your head. You know the sin that you’ve cherished in your heart. You know the countless times that your motive and your attitude didn’t even come close to matching your outward action. You know what you’ve done when no one else was looking. And it saddens you and disgusts you and frightens you. Worse yet, you know that if all these were left unpaid for, those sins and their guilt would rise up to condemn you.

Yes, we realize that what we need most of all is a Savior to save us from sin, guilt and damnation. But in order to be a Savior like that, our Savior had to be unique. He couldn’t be exactly like you and me, because that would make him sinful too. Yet, he had to be like us, so that he could stand in our place. He couldn’t be exactly like you and me because then he would not be able to resist temptation. Yet, he had to be like us so that he too would be under the Law of God. He couldn’t be exactly like you and me, because then he would be powerless to take away our sin. Yet, he had to be like us so that he could die, because God said sin must be punished by the shedding of blood. And it is precisely that unique, one of a kind Savior that we have in the virgin’s son.

Ever since the fall into sin people have been conceived and born in sin. By nature they are the object of God’s wrath. But Mary’s child would be “the holy one.” By being born of the virgin Mary, Jesus would share in our humanity, but by being conceived by the Holy Spirit, he would not share in our sinfulness. And so, such a human and divine Savior would be able to walk into the wilderness and truly be tempted by Satan, but not sin. He would be able to actively obey each of God’s commandments for us. And it would count for us. He would be able, as the writer to the Hebrews attests, to be “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet [be] without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). The very Savior we need to provide the perfection we lack.

He would be able to stand on the Mount of Transfiguration and the Father would be able to say about him, “With him I am well pleased” (Matthew 17:5). And so, such a human and divine Savior would be able to walk into Jerusalem and allow himself to be taken captive and brutalized, in order to suffer for our sins. He would be able to allow them to drive nails into his flesh and thorns into his skull, as punishment for our sins. He would be able to allow them to drive the very breath of life out of him, because as the sinless Son of God, yet true man, he could die in our place and still pay for every one of our sins. The very Savior we need to provide us with the forgiveness we need.

Once again, the writer to the Hebrews marvelously and majestically brings this across when he writes, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). And again, “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).

It is so simple, yet so profound; so clear-cut, yet so complex. What comfort to know that nothing is impossible with God! What we need and can’t provide for ourselves, God provided in his Son, Jesus, come into our world through the miracle of the virgin birth. So it is true that the little baby in Bethlehem is the Son of God. It is true that that squiggling infant is the Savior of the world. It is true that that infant lying there in the manger is the One who already in eternity decided to come down from heaven - even for you. It is true that all this happened for one like you who deserves nothing, who is alone, who is filled with all kinds of sinful weaknesses and wretched faults, who fails so often.

Yes, so simple, yet so easy to overlook in the hustle and the bustle of the season. Yes, so clear-cut, yet so easy to pass over because we know the story so well. But dear children of God, you cannot afford to overlook it; you cannot permit yourselves to pass it by; because there, in that son of Mary is the Son of God, with a heart beating in love for you; because there, in that virgin’s child, is the only Savior you will ever need, and the only Savior you will ever get. In humble, child-like, God given faith believe it like Mary did.

Indeed, the excitement is mounting, isn’t it? Everybody is running around making last minute preparations for guests, meals, and gift giving. But once again, let us steal away and spend precious moments with the Savior we so desperately need. Amen.