Fear Not: The Impossible

Luke 1:26–38 CSB

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 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. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” 35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

INTRODUCTION:

There are many times in life that God calls us to do something we don’t feel qualified, equipped, or gifted for. We think of it as an impossibility.

But the Word of God tells us time and time again that our God can do the impossible.

Jeremiah 32:17 CSB

17 Oh, Lord God! You yourself made the heavens and earth by your great power and with your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you!

Isaiah 43:19 CSB

19 Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

God can do the impossible, but not the illogical. while God's power is considered limitless, he cannot perform actions that would contradict basic logic or self-contradictory concepts

God can not make a married bachelor.

God can not make a square circle.

God can not make a stone so heavy he can’t lift it.

God can’t make an honest politician.

What is impossible to God? Not that which is difficult to His power, but that which is contrary to His nature.

Ambrose of Milan

What does that mean? The only thing that it is impossible for God to do is do to something against His nature. There is nothing impossible for the power of God.

Meaning - it is impossible for God to not be loving.

It is impossible for God to not be merciful.

It is impossible for God to not be kind.

It is impossible for God to not be sovereign.

Anything dealing with His power is in the realm of possibility!

Maybe you are here this morning and you are dealing with what you believe is an impossible situation:

1) Conflict in a relationship - it will never get better!

2) Financial burdens beyond your reach - it will never get better!

3) Medical diagnoses with no cure - I will never get better!

4) Facing a major life transition - will it get better?

These all seem like impossible situations from our standpoint.

The story of Christmas is the story of the IMPOSSIBLE.

When we start with the story of Mary - we really see a scenario of impossibility.

MARY HAD 3 IMPOSSIBLE SCENARIOS (At least from a human perspective)

1. A Impossible Pregnancy

Notice that when the angel comes to Mary she only has one question.

I think we would have had multiple questions. We would need quite a few more details about what is going to happen and how is it going to happen.

Mary only has ONE question - “How can this be since I am a virgin?”

It’s a natural question. It’s an impossible question. People who are virgin’s can not have children.

It’s even more impossible because of WHO this baby is. It’s not your average baby. It is God. As Charles Wesley said in his hymn….

Christ, by highest heaven adored,

Christ, the everlasting Lord,

Late in time behold him come,

Offspring of a virgin’s womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail, the incarnate Deity,

Pleased as Man with man to dwell,

Jesus our Immanuel!

Charles Wesley

There are many people today who have problem with the virgin birth. The number of people who believe this is going down.

The virgin birth of Christ is a TENT POLE of the Christian faith. The tent falls without it.

If Jesus wasn’t virgin born, then that means he must have had a human father, and therefore he would have been born with a sin nature.

BELIEVE THE ACCOUNT. Yes, it is an impossibility. But your impossibility doesn’t mean anything to God.

2. An Impossible Community

I think in Mary’s mind there’s a lot more to her one question that than simple biology.

She wants to know how she is going to do it and be a single mother. She has no idea what Joseph is going to say (let’s explain that in a minute).

Single mothers were outcasted by 1st century Jewish religion.

Can you imagine the prayer line when Mary started showing? Oops.. I mean the Gossip chain.

Every time Mary went to the store, she was looked at and judged. After all, this was Mary’s hometown. Word traveled quick. Everyone knew that she was pregnant.

Which, church, is why we need to be careful. We need to care for the outcast, not lead ourselves to gossip about them or look down upon them. The church of Christ has done too much of that for the last 2,000 years.

Do you know why I believe Mary had such a hard time with her community? According to the census rules (that were coming up) only Joseph was required to go to Bethlehem. So why did Mary go? Mary obviously made the traveling much more difficult - she was 9 months pregnant. She wanted to go to get away from the whispering; and the judging; and the stares.

She was in an IMPOSSIBLE situation with her community.

3. An Impossible Explanation

How in the world can she explain this to Joseph? She’s barely starting to wrap her head around it herself.

It’s an impossible explanation!

Now let’s talk about Mary and Joseph and their relationship. They were “betrothed.”

There were 3 stages in a Hebrew marriage:

Engagement (a formal agreement made by the fathers/ quite possibly was a prearranged marriage)

Betrothal - the ceremony were mutual promises were made.

Marriage (approximately one year after betrothal - when the bridegroom came for his bride at an unexpected time)

When the couple was under stage 2 (betrothal) they were under obligations of faithfulness. A divorce was required to break the betrothal. This was not a casual promise.

But even though Mary and Joseph’s marriage seemed to be arranged - it appears from the Bible that Joseph loved Mary. When he found out about her pregnancy he wanted to divorce her quietly. He didn’t want to make a stink about it. Mary could have been forced to face Jewish law and be stoned.

But can you imagine being Mary and trying to explain this to Joseph? Can you imagine being Joseph (before the angel came).

You and I would have come to the same conclusion - who have you cheated on me with? Who was it?

And there’s another impossible situation - Mary and Joseph were poor!

Why would this be impossible? Kid’s aren’t cheap!

Leviticus 12:8 CSB

8 But if she doesn’t have sufficient means for a sheep, she may take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. Then the priest will make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.”

Luke 2:24 CSB

24 and to offer a sacrifice (according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons).

So Mary had a totally impossible situation on all sides.

BUT MARY FACED AN IMPOSSIBLE SITUATION WITH…

1. Virtue (vv. 38)

Luke 1:30 CSB

30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

When God looked over the face of the earth for someone to birth His son, He found an obscure village with an equally obscure girl.

What drew God to having Mary as Jesus’ mother? Mary’s virtue.

Mary was a real believer. She followed the law of God and wanted to please God.

God requires CLEAN vessels for use.

2 Timothy 2:21 CSB

21 So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

God looked over the whole earth and saw the virtue of Mary.

Now, this does not mean Mary was sinless.

The Catholic church believes that Mary was free from sin from the moment of her conception. The Catholic catechism entitled “The Immaculate Conception” says that Mary was “free from all sin, original or personal.”

This is not true. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God - even Mary. There was only one sinful human - Jesus Christ.

Mary was sinful. But Mary was virtuous at the same time. So, we can be like Mary if we desire to be.

2. Humility

Luke 1:38 CSB

38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Most scholars believe that Mary was 12-13 years old when the angel came to her.

How many 12 or 13 year olds that you know would say that?

That’s an incredibly mature statement!

It shows Mary’s humility. What pride there could have been with being the ONE WOMAN from all humanity chosen to birth the Messiah. But Mary didn’t take it with pride - she took it with humility.

One word that describes Mary’s humility is the word usability. She was willing to be used in ANY way that the Lord wanted even if the situation was utterly impossible (from her viewpoint). Could that be said of you?

3. Surrender

Luke 1:38 CSB

38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Mary surrenders herself completely to the Lord’s will.

Mary literally sings “I surrender all.” And she did. She surrendered it all to God.

Have you ever wondered if Mary had life plans before the angel came? Her life plans are now out the window. She is now following what God wants for her to do.

Do you have Mary’s level of surrender?

Some of us have Winston Churchill’s level of surrender to God - “NEVER SURRENDER”

I think it is interesting that He chooses a 12-13 year old girl to bring His plan to fulfillment. Why?

Us 20 and above crowd wouldn’t surrender half as quickly as Mary did.

Us 20 and above crowd would have a whole lot of questions.

Us 20 and above crowd need some promises made to us.

But not a young, virtuous girl. She’s all in.

Let’s test this today. If God came to you tonight and said, “I have decided to take you from America to Africa to spend the rest of your life preaching and teaching the Bible/ loving the people of Africa - what would your response be?”

What was Mary’s secret? She believed that if God brought her to it, He would bring her through it.

This is something we must remember. God does not call us to do impossible things only for us to fail.

Exodus 14:10–22 CSB

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.” 15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to break camp. 16 As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 As for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” 19 Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. 20 It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lit up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.

Moses knew God hadn’t brought them this far to desert them. God will finish what he started.

Mary knew that too.

The key to Mary and Moses (and every other saint of God in the Bible) was simple FAITH. That’s all it takes.

Remember - YOU are never called to do the impossible. That’s for God to do. All you have to do is have FAITH.

And sometimes we struggle with faith. Sometimes we doubt our faith.

I don’t know if Mary ever doubted. The Scriptures don’t tell us if she did or didn’t. I would imagine I would have some doubts if I was Mary.

“Never doubt in the dark what God showed you in the light.”

ENDING:

So, yes there are impossible situations in life. But let us take from Mary’s example today - may we live a life of virtue, of humility and of surrender so that we can see the power of God do the impossible!