I Believe: The God of the Impossible

Luke 1:26–38 NASB95

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “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; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

INTRO: Do you believe in God?

Now, I know what you’re thinking… “What kind of question is that?” The central understanding of our faith is belief. John 3:16, Romans 10:11

I was talking to a friend of mine who was struggling with belief…he says he believes, but he described it as an abstract kind of belief. It didn’t really affect the way he lived... and I think that our country has a problem here. We don’t really understand “belief”. When it comes to Christmas, we have the most remarkable confession and testimony of a God who came to man… yet looking around, I see that the Christmas season has seemingly been consumed by our surrounding culture.

Our culture is increasingly overshadowing the true meaning of Christmas, distancing people from the Christmas narrative in Scripture and supplementing myths and fables for our eager consumption.

Our kids are more enamored by Santa than the Savior

More interested in presents under a tree than the presence of Jesus

Engulfed in the make-believe magic instead of the supernatural work of Almighty God.

Why? Why is it that so many work so hard to convince their children to believe in a sleigh-driving elf, but leave Jesus as a simple icon in a Nativity Set? Why do people put so much energy and effort into the Elf on a Shelf, but barely give a nod to the Messiah in a Manger?

Over the next few weeks, we are going to reflect upon the wonder Christmas and sincerely establish the depth of our belief. Today, we will look at this very familiar passage in Luke 1, with a sermon entitled, “I believe: the God of the Impossible” This sermon has three parts, so if you picked up a bulletin on the way in, you can open that up to the sermon guide and follow along.

We begin this passage with what can only be described as an:

Extraordinary Encounter (26-29)

At a specific time (6th month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy) a specific Angel (Gabriel) was sent to a specific region (Galilee) to a specific city (Nazareth) to a specific person (Mary).

This is extraordinary! Out of all the times, all the areas, all the people, what are the odds that it would happen to this person at this time?

Did you know that you have:

1/500 chance of being born with 11 fingers or toes?

1/12,000 of finding a pearl in an oyster?

1/114,195 being struck by lightning

1/10,000 of being injured by a toilet…

(That was a weird statistic… )

Well, whatever the numbers are, Mary’s odds were one in an eternity!

And, you see, there was nothing really extraordinary about Mary that she could control.

True- She was a virgin. Most unmarried ladies in that culture were.

Also - She was engaged to Joseph. This is an important detail to fulfill Scripture, but Mary had nothing to do with it. Her and Joseph’s parents arranged this marriage.

She was what we might call a passive agent- she did not do anything to warrant the angelic visit, but here we are. This should be a clue that this is not about Mary, it’s about God. Just as creation itself is about God’s will and power, so this visit is about God’s purpose.

You see, Gabriel sums it up in his greeting, calling Mary the “favored one.”

Favor, by its very nature, is not earned, but given. God chose to bestow favor upon Mary.

You might think of God’s favor like winning the lottery. It’s unbelievable. Mary knew this.

The text says she was perplexed… this is similar to Gabriel’s encounter with Zacharias. He was a priest, John the Baptist’s dad (Luke 1:12), and he was “troubled.” I think I can imagine being a bit troubled or perplexed about this encounter.

For Mary, she had to be wondering what was going on. An angel, which I imagine was unmistakable, had come to her and called her ‘favored’ and declared that the Lord is with her… this greeting had her puzzled. Why call her favored? What does this mean? I don’t think for one second she knew what this was about. She was not expecting this and was likely pinching herself, trying to ensure that she was really experiencing what she thought she was experiencing.

Discuss: There are over 2 billion people who have no access to the Gospel around the world. There are nearly 27,000 unchurched people in Transylvania County. What kind of encounter will it take to get the Gospel to them?

This was a extraordinary encounter. But, as we move through this passage we see that this encounter led to an:

Impossible Announcement (30-37)

Gabriel tells Mary that she has been hand-picked by God to bear a son who will be the fulfillment of the OT prophets- He will be the long-awaited Messiah! And this is not ordinary kid, Gabriel says He will be the “Son of the Most High” and His kingdom will never end (Isaiah 9:1-9).

I want you to imagine yourself in Mary’s shoes. All the Jewish teachings were pointing to the time when God would personally intervene in history to bring about salvation. And God could have chosen to do this in any number of ways, I suppose. But His perfect plan was to involve Mary. She would carry in her womb the “Word made flesh” (John 1:14).

But how could this be? Mary was a virgin.. do you know where babies come from?

Can you picture this conversation? Mary gets told this, and she says to Gabriel, “Um… don’t you know that babies need a mommy and a daddy?”

But Gabriel had the answer- God Himself would be the Father. This was not about Mary, it was about God. You see, God would illustrate through this pregnancy that man can not save himself! It must be God acting upon man! Therefore this Child would be called the Holy Son of God! She was to name Him Jesus, which means “Yahweh is help” or “Salvation”

You and I need to grasp this truth today. We need to take time to reflect upon this announcement, that God alone provides salvation through Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life! (John 14:6). You can’t earn salvation, you can’t be good enough; you can’t sacrifice enough; you can’t do it, friend! Only by the grace of God through Christ Jesus!

Mary has no claim to fame- she was simply the chosen vessel to bring Jesus into this world; to bring the hope of the world to mankind. How could this be? This is not just unlikely, but down right impossible! Throughout all history, mankind has not been able to look upon God, but now, God would insert Himself among His creation. He would step down from His holy throne, and put on humanity in order to pursue us, to redeem us!

The announcement of Gabriel is the announcement you and I make when we tell the wondrous story of God coming to us!

Sometimes I think we gloss over this- Do you realize how lost and hopeless the world is apart from Jesus Christ? Friends, it’s not just that things were bad, if God Himself did not intervene, we would all be tragically, hopelessly lost. BUT- that’s exactly what Gabriel tells Mary. THIS - the Righteous branch of Jesse, the Messiah, the Holy One, the Redeemer who crushed the head of the serpent, God with us- this is an impossible message.

Yet, as Gabriel reminded Mary, “Nothing is impossible with God!” In fact, Gabriel gave Mary another bit of impossible news- her old cousin - she was way past child-bearing years and had not had any kids… this old lady was 6 months pregnant!

I believe this was news given to help solidify and assure Mary of what was really taking place.

Discuss: What impossible promises of God are you struggling to believe?

The encounter was extraordinary, the announcement was impossible, but what we see in Mary is a demonstration of

Simple Faith (38)

Mary responds the only way she knew how- simple, obedient faith. (read v.38)

Perhaps, many of us would receive that news and run the other way. Mary probably knew that this was going to ruin her plans. In fact, because she was engaged, to be found pregnant either meant shame upon her and Joseph for violating their purity or condemnation upon herself for having an affair. Her showing up pregnant was a huge risk! She could have been stoned for violating the covenant of her betrothal. Yet, it was not about Mary, it was about God.

Mary believed God. She believed in WHO He is and she believed what He revealed to her. And because she believed God, the only thing to do was trust Him. To surrender her life and embrace the role that God had chosen for her.

Think about it: If you really believe that God is Creator, Redeemer, Sovereign, Infinitely holy and powerful, what other response could there be? If you really believe God, are you going to tell Him “no.”

No, I won’t go into ministry, on mission trip, etc.

This is not to say that Mary didn’t have fears or even doubts about what was to come. In fact, I believe it was very important for her spiritual and mental health that she would go and visit with Elizabeth and see first hand the miracle that Gabriel communicated regarding her pregnancy.

I want to ask you again, Do you believe in God?

Discuss: True belief results in external expressions of faith. What does your life say about your belief in God?

Every one of you has had an extraordinary encounter with God’s Word today. God has given us a most remarkable revelation of Himself through His word. We have been exposed to the impossible announcement of salvation.

This Christmas story demonstrates the depth of Mary’s belief… But do you believe in the God of the impossible?

I’m not talking about intellectual or theoretical, I’m talking really.

Does your belief in God result in your surrender to the plans He has for you? Does your belief in God result in your anticipation of His second coming?

Some of you have been watching from the sidelines, but God has chosen you to be an active part of His mission.

Are you serving in the church?

Are you sharing your faith?

Others of you may be thinking that God can’t save you… you think that it’s impossible that God would redeem your life. You’ve done some awful things and you don’t deserve His grace.

Friends, God’s favor is not earned or deserved, it is not about what you have done, but wholly about WHO God is!!

You can surrender to His lordship this morning.