When God Breaks In: God Does the Impossible

When God Breaks In: God Does the Impossible

Luke 1: 26 – 38

Introduction

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent, and the fourth Sunday of Advent means something. 

Traditionally, this is the Sunday we light the candle that reminds us of God’s Love.  Advent is a season of anticipating the coming of Christmas / the appearance of Jesus.  During Advent we stop to acknowledge that when God sent his Son, Jesus, God gave us true Hope, true Peace, true Joy and true Love.  Jesus was born on the first Christmas, because God Loves us…For God so Loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son…

The fourth Sunday of Advent also means that Christmas Day is right around the corner.  Today is our last Sunday to worship Jesus as the Reason for the Season.  However, it is not our last worship service before Christmas.  We will gather to worship again on Christmas Eve to light the Christ Candle and to remember that God has called us to spread the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love of Christ around the world—all year long.

Over the first three Sundays of Advent, I have preached about how God breaks into our world.  We read three Old Testament stories about how God broke into the world through the lives of Moses, Samuel and Jonah.  Today, we continue to read about God breaking in, but we shift our attention to the New Testament and to the story of how the angel, Gabriel, announced the first Christmas to a young woman named Mary.

When God broke into Mary’s life, God did the impossible and the world has never been the same.

Luke 1: 26 – 38…

Mary was a small-town girl from a fairly insignificant town in Northern Israel.  Nothing good had ever happened in Nazareth and nothing good had ever come out of Nazareth.  If you were from Nazareth no one really expected you to do much with your life.  Boys followed in their fathers’ footsteps and worked in the family business.  Girls followed in their mothers’ footsteps and hoped to marry a good, hard-working boy and then have lots of babies.  More than likely, these were Mary’s goals in life.  She wanted to marry Joseph, have Joseph’s children, and live in Nazareth for the rest of their lives.

Mary’s goals may not translate very well in Twenty-First Century American culture.  Girls in our culture dream of becoming the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or being elected President of the United States.  But, there was nothing wrong with Mary’s goals.  They were good goals.  They just needed to be achieved in the right order.  Get married.  Have babies.  Live in Nazareth for the rest of her life. 

The angel’s announcement shattered Mary’s dreams.  It got her goals out of order.  Mary wanted to do things in the right order—get married and then have babies.  The angels said that God had other plans—Mary was to have a baby before she got married.

God Calls.  Mary Objects.

The angel’s announcement and Mary’s response are similar to other biblical call stories.  Do you remember what Moses did when God spoke to him through the burning bush (Exodus 3)?  God called.  Moses expressed his objections.

When God first called Moses, Moses listed out all the reasons why Moses thought he was not really the best choice. 

Moses’ first objection was a general observation about himself—Who am I?  This is another way of saying, “God, I am a nobody.  You can do better than me.”  Moses knew that he had fled from Egypt because he had murdered a man.  Moses didn’t think God could use a murderer.  Moses did not feel qualified.

Later, Moses objected to God’s call because Moses was not an eloquent speaker.  Traditionally, we have believed that Moses was a stutterer.  Moses didn’t think he would make the best spokesman for the word of the Lord in Egypt.  Again, Moses didn’t think he was qualified, because he was a murderer and a stutterer.

God answered all of Moses’ objections with a promise.  God promised that he would always be with Moses.  God would make up for all of Moses’ shortcomings and use an imperfect Moses to accomplish God’s perfect plan.

I think we can see the same dynamic at work in Mary’s words to the angel.  In verse 34, Mary offered only one objection.  She didn’t think God could use her to give birth to the Promised Messiah, because Mary was an unmarried virgin.  Of course, there were many other objections Mary could have voiced to the angel.  Mary was a simple girl with simple dreams.  Mary lived in a small, insignificant town—nothing good ever came out of Nazareth.  Mary knew who she was and did not feel qualified to be the mother of the Messiah.

Through the words of the angel, God gave Mary the same assurance he gave Moses at the burning bush.  God would be with Mary.  Mary would be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit.  The presence of God in Mary’s life would make up for any shortcomings she felt about herself…And God would use Mary to change the world.

The Virgin Birth.

Mary only voiced one objection to God’s call.  Mary knew that it was impossible for her to have a baby at this time in her life.  She was an unmarried virgin.  It is impossible for an unmarried virgin to give birth to any baby—even the Promised Messiah.

The virgin birth is an important part of the Christmas story, because it is an important part of Christian theology.  The virgin birth informs and shapes what we believe about God, Jesus and salvation.  Another way to express this is to say, the virgin birth explains what we believe.  However, we need to be careful…Because we cannot explain the virgin birth. 

One of the persistent objections to the virgin birth is the fact that it cannot be explained by science.  According to science, things like this are not supposed to happen.  Things like this do not happen.  Science can explain the conception of a baby; the growth of a baby in the womb and the birth of a baby.  But, science cannot explain Jesus’ birth.

At this point we need to offer a description of what science is and what science can do.  Scientists observe natural events and then perform experiments to recreate those events in controlled environments.  Therefore, science is the study of repeatable events.  The birth of a baby is a repeatable event.  It happens thousands of times every day and millions of times every year.  But, the birth of Jesus—the virgin birth—is not a repeatable event.

Science is the observation and study of repeatable events.  History is the study and interpretation of unrepeatable events!

If we search for a scientific explanation of the virgin birth, we will be disappointed.  However, we can study the virgin birth as historical event and interpret it and the implications it has on our theology.  The virgin birth is an important part of the Christmas story, because it is an important part of Christian theology.

The virgin birth reminds us of other miraculous birth stories in the Old Testament.  Abraham and Sarah were too old to have a baby—but God broke in and gave them Isaac.  Isaac and Rebekah could not have children—but God broke in and gave them twins, Jacob and Esau.  Jacob and Rachel could not have children—but God broke in and gave them Joseph. 

Each of these Old Testament birth stories played an important role in establishing Israel as the People of God.  From a human point of view, it was impossible for Israel to come into existence.  Yet, God had made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Against all odds, God broke in and kept his promise to establish the People of God.  This was humanly impossible.  But, God kept his promise.  And, now, God does the impossible once again in the birth of Jesus, who expanded the People of God beyond the racial boundaries of the Jews.

The virgin birth is a new creative act of God.  Just as Adam and Eve were created through the power of the Holy Spirit, So Jesus was born by an act of the Holy Spirit.  Everything in history led up to this new creative act.  This was not an ordinary birth.  God broke in and did something new.

The virgin birth also teaches us that Jesus is the Son of God.  Jesus became the son of Joseph when Joseph named him.  This was a sign that Joseph had adopted Jesus and accepted him as his son.  However, Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus.  Jesus was born the Son of God.

This was an important theme in the Gospel of Matthew.  In Matthew’s opening chapters, Matthew goes to great lengths to trace Jesus’ genealogy.  In this genealogy Matthew shows us that Jesus is the son of Adam (a true human), the son of Abraham (a true Jew), the son of David (a true member of the royal family) and the Son of God. 

The virgin birth affirms that God is at work in the life of Jesus.  Everything Jesus says is the word of God.  Everything Jesus does is the work of God.  Everything Jesus is reveals the character of God.

The virgin birth tells us that God has broken into our world in a new way to do something new…to do something that is impossible through normal human efforts.

Conclusion: Nothing Is Impossible with God

I love the angel’s last words to Mary in verse 37, “Nothing is impossible with God.”  But I do want to point out that this is a double negative—Nothing and Impossible are both negatives.  The angel’s words could also be stated positively…God can do anything!

Think of all the impossible things God did in the story of the Gospel.  Jesus was born of a virgin—impossible.  Jesus lived a sinless life, fulfilling every Law and commandment of the Old Testament—impossible.  Jesus voluntarily offered himself on the cross as the final sacrifice for our sins—impossible.  Three days after the crucifixion, God raised Jesus from the dead—impossible.  God provided the only way that our sins can be forgiven, that we can be made Righteous, that we can have relationship with the holy God, and that we can have eternal life—impossible.  But, nothing is impossible for God.  God can do anything.

If nothing is impossible with God, then whatever you are facing today must not be impossible.  God can do what we cannot do for ourselves.  God can break the power of addiction.  God can restore broken relationships.  God can bring comfort to our grief and hope to the hopeless.

Ultimately, this biblical encounter between Mary and the angel, Gabriel, is not a story about Mary.  This is a story about God.  Nothing is impossible with God!  And God uses simple people like Mary…and simple people like you and me…to do the impossible.

Several years ago, my family was visiting with our extended family out of town (notice that I am not saying which extended family or which church).  We went to church with them on the Sunday after Christmas.  The pastor was not preaching that Sunday.  Their associate pastor was preaching.  He preached a sermon about Mary, the mother of Jesus.  The main point in his sermon was to emphasize Mary’s faith and purity.  He basically said that God can only use people like Mary, who are faithful and pure.  I left church that day feeling worse than I had felt when I entered the church.  I didn’t feel like I measured up and wasn’t sure if I was good enough, faithful enough or pure enough for God to use me.

There are two mistakes we can make when we talk about Mary, the mother of Jesus.  One mistake is to say more about Mary than the Bible says about Mary.  The danger is to overemphasize Mary’s character and purity.  Some even elevate Mary to the point of worship.  Another mistake is to say less about Mary than the Bible says about Mary.  The danger is to reduce Mary to a biological role—to say there was nothing special about Mary, she was nothing more than a biological mother to Jesus.

I think the remedy to these mistakes is to take seriously how Mary responded to the angel.  In verse 34, Mary asked a simple question: “How can this be?”

There are two ways a person can respond when God breaks in and calls.  The wrong response is to say, “I knew it.  I am faithful and pure.  I have known for a long time that you wanted to use me.  I have just been waiting for you to finally figure out that I am the person you are looking for.”  The right response is, “How can this be?  Who am I?  I am inadequate for the job.”

Instead of focusing on Mary’s faith and purity, I think we should focus on Mary’s humility!  God uses humble people, who trust in the presence of God to overshadow all our inadequacies and shortcomings.

Mary is an example for us.  We don’t need to say more about Mary than the Bible says about Mary or less about Mary than the Bible says about Mary.  But, the Bible does tell us that Mary was a recipient of God’s Grace and the Holy Spirit.  Mary is an example for us, because she allowed God to use her to do the impossible.

It is not possible to be good enough, faithful enough or pure enough for God to use you.  However, it is possible to resist God’s call and resist God’s work in your life.