Lewis Memorial UMC

One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee with a message for a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph from the family of King David. 28The angel greeted Mary and said, "You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you." 29Mary was confused by the angel's words and wondered what they meant. 30Then the angel told Mary, "Don't be afraid! God is pleased with you, 31and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. 33He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end." 34Mary asked the angel, "How can this happen? I am not married!" 35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God's power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God. 36Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son. 37Nothing is impossible for God!" 38Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said." And the angel left her.

We have all done things that are difficult! We have faced obstacles that seemed impossible! You may have had to take on a project that seemed beyond your abilities! You may have been forced to handle an improbable situation! Some of these situations came about because of choices you made. Some happened because of choices others may have made. And some are with you because God has called you to do something specific for Him and His Kingdom. It was hard! You didn’t think you could do it! The odds were not in your favor! But yet, somehow, you made it through! You persevered! You succeeded!

There are many examples of this in the Bible to give us encouragement and strength and hope when we face situations in our lives that sometimes are out of our control. Probably the most well known in the Old Testament were people like Noah and Moses. In the New Testament of course there is Jesus, but also His disciples and the Apostle Paul as well. But even before Jesus there was one other – Mary, the mother of Jesus. Have you ever thought about everything she must have been forced to face as she followed God’s plan for her life? Mary was just a young teenager when she found out what God had called her to do. We know of some of what she thought through our scripture reading in Luke this morning, but that probably only covers a little of what she faced in the weeks and months that followed. One of the understandings that we gain in this miraculous story is that sometimes when God calls us to do His will we realize, just as Mary must have, that it is not easy!

As we are right in the middle of our Christmas celebrations and activities I think we need to stop for a little while and remember how this story took place. As Christians we are preparing to celebrate the remembrance of the birth of Jesus as we get closer to Christmas Day, but let’s not forget what took place before His birth. Our scripture reading in Luke this morning reminds us that Mary was called by God to deliver Jesus to the world. What we know from here is that Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, traveled to Bethlehem from Nazareth in Galilee, and then gave birth to her first born child. That much we know! But what about everything Mary must have dealt with during all of this? We assume that she had a pretty normal 9 month pregnancy which in itself is not easy! But we also know through different Biblical scholars that Mary was probably only about 12 or 13 years old so can you imagine everything she must have gone through on a regular, daily basis?

She would have faced whispers behind her back and finger pointing as she got farther along in her pregnancy. I’m pretty sure she faced false accusations and raised eyebrows and questions of all kinds. Gossip and criticism and family pressures and cruel jokes may have followed her every day. I wonder if Mary ever said, “This isn’t easy Lord!”

Let’s face it! It is not always easy to do what God has called us to do! There seems to be so many obstacles in our way sometimes and we wonder why God has called us and how we are going to do it. We question God about it sometimes and wonder if God got the right person for the job. Think about what God has called you to do. Are you doing it? Are you doing God’s will for your life? Are you what and where God wants you to be? I wish I could say that it is an easy road when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, but it is not easy! The guarantee though is that you will NEVER have to travel that road alone! God promised to always be with you and He sent Jesus to fulfill that promise. Jesus then promised that the Holy Spirit will always be with us as well so friends - we are covered!

Once Mary accepted what God had called her to do then I believe that a calmness came over her like never before. There’s just something special about being in God’s will! Mary had to have felt all of the emotions of the situation – fear, confusion, self doubt, just like we do when we first realize what we are to do for the Lord. The angel said something to Mary that made all of the difference for her and it is something all of us should remember at Christmas and never forget -NOTHING is impossible for God! NOTHING! We are the ones who put limitations on God! We are the ones who question and doubt! WE are the ones who think more of the impossibilities instead of the possibilities! I believe God wants to hear more of us say what Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant! Let it happen!” That takes a lot of faith and a lot of love!

We lit our third Advent candle this morning representing the love of Jesus. Do we really need to be reminded to love during Christmas? I think sometimes we forget about that a little during this festive time of the year. “Doing” Christmas sometimes takes a little bit of the love of Christmas away. Or maybe I should say that we allow this to happen. We have to wait for Christmas Day to celebrate the special day set aside as the remembrance of the birth of Jesus. But we do not and should not wait to show the love of Christ to others. People need the Lord and there are many people hurting during Christmas time. Let’s be sure to let the love of Christmas keep us alert and aware of those around us who may be hurting so we can DO God’s will and say, “I am the Lord’s servant!” So let us serve God and serve one another with the love of Christ!

Look back with me at Luke 1: 28. We all are pretty familiar with the Christmas Story and what took place on that very first Christmas. But it seems like every year I see something within this story that jumps out at me or that has a special meaning that maybe I missed before. That’s why I love reading different versions of the Bible and why I am reading from the CEV today. Within this great message for us are these words from Luke 1: 28, “The angel greeted Mary and said, "You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you.” Aren’t these glorious words? I have read these words many, many times preparing for Christmas sermons but for some reason they seem to be like flashing lights for me this year. Maybe God wants us to really understand how much He loves us! We ARE truly blessed because the Lord IS with us! For some of us we need to hear this reminder today. For others of us we may be realizing this for the very first time. The Lord God Almighty loves us and is with us always and because of this and so many other reasons we ARE truly blessed!

The Apostle Paul wrote a beautiful prayer to the followers in the church he started in Ephesus. Part of that prayer was that God would strengthen His people there with the power of the Holy Spirit. Then Paul prayed a prayer that I believe Mary understood very well. Paul prayed that all of God’s people would grasp, comprehend, understand completely, how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. It is not easy to always do what God calls us to do, but if we can grasp just how wonderful God’s love for us is through Jesus then it will be a lot easier. This is my prayer for each of us today as well – that we know just how wide, long, high, and deep God’s love for us is!

Mary was called to do something over 2009 years ago and we are called to do the same today – deliver Jesus to the world! Mary shared her joy with all who came to see what that bright light was all about. If we let the light of Christ shine within us then others will also be drawn to us to see the joy we have. We must deliver Jesus to a somewhat dark and hurting world; to those who are lonely and lost and forgotten; to all who are hungry and thirsty for more then what this world has to offer! For some of us this is not easy. But remember – God is ALWAYS with you and NOTHING is impossible with God!