Experiencing Hope like Mary
Living the Christmas Story • Sermon • Submitted
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· 7 viewsMary's example of Hope helps us today
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Introduction
Introduction
The Christmas Story has been in existence for over 2000 years. Contrary to popular opinion, the Christmas Story is not about boy named Ralphie, but rather about a baby named Jesus. His birth changed the world and has provided eternal life!
Christmas
Even though most of us were not around to see the original nativity take place, there is much to learn by looking at its characters and how we can learn from them the attributes they demonstrated, and apply those attributes to our lives today!
Outside of the Baby named Jesus, we probably think of Mary more than any other character in this story. We could do well to learn much about Mary as we begin this Season of Advent.
Listen to Mary’s story:
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
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. 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. For nothing is impossible with God.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
This Sunday of Advent we have lit the Candle of Hope. In scripture, Hope is a confident expectation for the future, describing both the act of hoping and the object hoped for. When grounded in God, hope provides the motivation to live the Christian life even in the face of trouble. Biblical hope is hope in what God will do in the future with an understanding of what He has done for us in the past!
We see that evident in the portrayal we have read of Mary.
First we see
Hope Intrigued
Hope Intrigued
Mary was young woman, probably a teenager. She was a virgin and had been engaged to a man named Joseph. Both Mary and Joseph were devout Jewish people that had heard and studied prophecies that portrayed Hope for the nation of Israel. They had to have heard a passage like
But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear me.
Mich
And they had to have heard Isaiah’s prophecy
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah
So we recognized that Mary would have been hopeful about the coming of the Messiah because her customs and traditions all pointed to this. She would have been intrigued at the mystery of such prophecies. Our word intrigue comes from a French background that helps us in our language which means to have interest, to be fascinated, or perhaps puzzled.
Hope can be intriguing in that we can have an interest or fascination in the mysterious ways God reveals Himself to us. No doubt Mary would have been intrigued by the appearance of an angel to tell her this news.
She was greeted as “You who are highly favored” and comforted with “the Lord is with you” in the same sentence.
This had to intrigue Mary further because she had seen many instances in her Jewish tradition where others before her had sought favor from God:
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Moses sought it:
But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “O Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?
Remember me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.
You showed favor to your land, O Lord;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
So Mary was greatly troubled at these words.
I am sure she asked in her mind, “What have I done to get this favor?”
“Why me?”
Perhaps you and I can relate to this!
Perhaps you have heard all your life that God is our source of Hope and He is our redemption, but we never fully understood that we could experience it personally.
You think, I have read about God and His love for the world, but I am not sure it was meant for me. Maybe it was meant for that other person, but not for me.
Mary was reassured by the angel Gabriel, “Do not be afraid, Mary you have found favor with God.” You and I can also be reassured, “Do not be afraid, (INSERT YOUR NAME HERE), you have found favor with God!”
The Hope that was intriguing to Mary and the hope that is intriguing to you and me comes from the same Big God that loved us enough to have sent His Son that we can have abundant life!
We have Hope Intrigued, and we also have HOPE INSTILLED.
Hope Instilled
Hope Instilled
The word instilled means to infuse slowly or gradually. I have learned that in my life with Christ, I was changed instantly when I asked Jesus into my heart. I have also learned that when instill the word of God in my life daily, it changes me and gives opportunity to grow slowly and gradually. You see, the Christian life is not a sprint, but it is a marathon and we must train accordingly.
I see this in Mary’s life! I believe her parents, who we know nothing about, had instilled in her the word of God.
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
It seems that Mary had this instruction and it was instilled in her. When this angel came to greet her, it was surprising that it was her he was talking to, but it wasn’t surprising that the angel was talking about prophecy being fulfilled.
Because of the Hope Instilled in Mary, she was able to understand that God was at work. Even in the mystery of an angel standing before her, telling her this incredible news, and she was able to accept it!
You and I can learn many thing if we allow hope to be instilled in our lives.
I am reminded that the word of God does not return void.
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
We
We can be assured that our Hope, in what God will do in the future with an understanding of what He has done for us in the past, can be instilled in us.
The mystery of the Gospel indeed is intriguing. The more we instill it into our lives, it becomes ingrained.
Hope Ingrained
Hope Ingrained
Ingrained means deep rooted. Mary’s hope had become ingrained in her life.
You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
Psalm 118:22
Test me, O Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Mary knew that her Hope was ingrained deep within her. She had faith God would do what He promised!
A few verses earlier in this chapter we learn about the same angel Gabriel appearing to Zecharias foretelling the birth of John the Baptist. Zecharias did not have the same faith as Mary. He asked, “How can this be?”
Mary asked, “How will this be?”
One asked with doubt, the other asked with assurance!
Blessed assurance Jesus is mine!
Mary understood the prophecy from
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah
This prophecy affirms both the Humanity of Jesus as Mary’s Son.
It also affirms the Deity of Jesus as God’s Son!
Mary knew that this emphasis was on the greatness of the Son not the greatness of the mother!
Mary’s HOPE INGRAINED gave her an understanding that God’s Timing is Perfect!
This portrayal also shows that God’s location is perfect!
Just as we see hope intrigued, and hope was instilled in Mary, God has also instilled hop in me and in you!
As a result, it is ingrained in me, it is ingrained in you! Just like Mary, I am assured that He is faithful and trustworthy and will meet our needs!