Hearing the True Story through the Noise
Luke 1:26-45
The measure of a good gift is first, that the giver be in the gift – and next, that the receiver know and receive the giver in the gift.
George MacDonald
When you look at that standard, you can see why some of our gifts ring hollow. The gift picked up at the 7/11 at 11 pm on Christmas Eve because it was the only place in town that was open and an onion chopper was the only thing that looked at all like a present – there’s not much of you in it. It seems like only an obligation and demonstrates nothing of your love.
On the other hand, that meal that you slaved over all day simply because it’s your loved one’s favorite food and you want him to have a special evening… Then, when he comes home and scarfs it down while watching the hockey game… That’s also unfulfilling. There must be both the giver in the gift – and recognition of how much is in the gift and an appreciation of it – if the gift is going to bring great joy.
The Christmas Season is a time of gift giving. We often say that we take time to remember the greatest gift ever given – the gift of Jesus. So, today, we will take MacDonald’s two criteria for a good gift and apply them to Jesus as we look at the story of Mary hearing about the gift. How much of God was in this gift? And, we will also take time to ask how to receive this gift and whether we have received the Giver in the gift.
#1: The Gift (How much of the Giver was in the Gift?)
There are two astoundingly different parts to God’s gift that we see in Luke 1 and Gabriel announces to the young virgin named Mary that she will have a son. Both are true – and both must be grasped together if we will appreciate what God has done.
Side One: The astounding supernatural nature of the Gift
I sometimes think we have heard this story so often that we are no longer shocked by it. But, let me pull out a few of the statements made here and you women should ask what you would think if an angel were to come to you and say these things (of course, the coming of an angel is not an everyday occurrence either. And, angels did not seem to be little Hallmark Card cherubs. Each time they appeared people would be terrified.)
*A child with an eternal kingdom (the one prophesied since David). 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end (1:32-33).
Everyone knew then what we know now – that this world is out of order. Nothing is perfect. Things are not the way they should be. (Any amens?) But, the Jewish people also knew God’s promise that he would come and begin to make all things new. One was to come who would be in the line of David who would draw people to himself and eventually restore people to right relationships with God, with one another and with the world. When he’s finished, we will have a world with no war, no injustice, no pain, and no tears. Gabriel told this young woman, “The son God will give you is the one who will be king of kings, lord of lords, and head of an eternal kingdom! Mothers, you wouldn’t say, “Ho-hum” if that happened to you.
*No husband needed for this child. “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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” (1:34-35).
Only God himself is called “the holy one” in the Bible. God is the one giving birth – God is the one being born. Albert said that this would have been the biggest publicized Maury Povich show if anyone claimed this in our day. “Last week, woman gives birth to an alligator. This week, woman gives birth without any male involvement!” People would find it hard to believe now. But, it was no different then. Even Mary had a hard time accepting it! 21st C people say ancient people were gullible enough to believe anything without any questions. But, Mary had the same questions we have today.
*The Lord sending the baby is the baby. But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (1:43-45).
This is something I had never noticed I heard an assistant pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church point it out. Aunt Elizabeth somehow knows that when Mary comes to her with Jesus in her womb, this baby was “the Lord.” And this fact is a fulfillment of what “the Lord” had promised. Do you see it? The Lord sent the baby in v. 45 and the Lord is the baby in v. 43.
These are three shocking claims – of God’s supernatural entrance into the world. But look also at the other side:
Side Two: The equally astounding humility of this supernatural Gift.
I want to say here simply that God chose to be born through one who was young when youth was not admired. God was born through a woman when women were not respected. He was born to one who was poor when poverty was viewed as a curse. He came to be savior through one who claims to need salvation herself. God is declaring that he sees people differently from the way we see one another. He is showing that he shows favor to the humble – that he blesses those who feel lowly. This is the one who was before creation entering creation. This was the immortal becoming mortal. This was the unlimited taking on limitations. This was the impossible becoming possible. When I think of Macdonald’s measure of a good gift: God himself was fully in this gift and he chose to come wrapped in the most humble of packages. Now, we must ask whether we will recognize him and receive him?
#2: Opening the Gift (Do you know and receive the Giver in the Gift?)
I want us here to notice the process of Mary’s faith. We are all a bit different in how we respond to God – but I think we can learn a lot from her. God sent a message to her through an angel – telling of a gift to her and to the world that would come through her. But, she didn’t just say immediately, “Well, OK.” No there was a process of how God worked with a person he loved, a person who would soon know his blessing.
Step 1: Careful thinking and evaluation – Notice v. 28: The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary did not simply say, “What an honor!” No, we read in v. 29: Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. As was always the case, the angel was a troubling presence. It would be for most of us. And the word for what Mary did is “dielogizeto,” with the word “logic” in it. It was a word for quickly thinking through all the options. “Is this an hallucination? Am I dreaming? What did I eat this morning? Or, is there any way that this is possibly real?”
It’s clear to me that God has made us in his image and wants us to use the minds he has given us. They will let us down, of course. We are not all knowing. Still, we should use the minds God has given us to seek the truth. When I was in graduate school years ago, I remember reading through John 14:6 when Jesus identified himself as the truth. I wrote in my notes, “When we seek the truth, we will eventually come to Jesus. We never have to say that we believe even when we don’t think it is true. Jesus does not ask us to put our minds outside on a coat rack when we worship him. We must surrender our minds to him. Faith may be more than thinking – but it is not less.”
Of all the options Mary had before her, the one most compelling was that God was speaking to her. So, she took the next step.
Step 2: Honest questioning -- The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and… his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (1:30,34)
Notice how Mary ignores at first all the great promises about the son and cuts right to the big question, ”Wait a minute! I’m a young virgin and it’s not cool in my world for people like me to have children. And, how can this happen anyway?”
So, how does God deal with us when we ask him questions? Have you ever noticed how differently God dealt with Mary when she had doubts and with old Zechariah when Gabriel told him in 1:13ff, “Your old wife Elizabeth will have a son and he will bring you and the world joy and delight and he will be great.” Zechariah asked, “How can this be. I’m old and more impossible yet – my wife is old!” And Gabriel said, God sent me with good news and you reject it.” Slap, bang – and the old man was struck dumb. “
But, Mary asks a similar question and is met with kindness. “Mary, God is at work and his work will be good. No word from God will ever fail.” (1:35-37) What’s the difference in these two? All of us who have ever taught know that there are two ways to ask questions: One is a question that really doesn’t want an answer. It is cynical and suggests, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I already know what you’re saying can’t be true!” And the second way is to ask a real honest question. Zechariah asks the first and Mary asks the second. Read through the Psalms and prophets and you will see that God respects our questions and doubts when they are real – and when they remain open to him. If you have questions, ask them of God. If you don’t understand, then don’t pretend you do. Seek God honestly, and he will always, always deal with you graciously.
Mary did question honestly and her honesty led to one of the great statements in the Bible: “No word from God will ever fail,” or (the older version) nothing is impossible with God. This is a precious, precious promise that I hold onto over and over. We would never have had it without Mary’s honest question. Proud doubt keeps you from God. Honest doubt leads you to him.
Step 3: Faith -- “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (1:38)
Notice that the faith that led to blessing was not just "believing the message" but involved trust. Mary committed herself fully to God. It meant for her a loss of pride – she would know scorn. And it meant a loss of control. She wouldn’t even be able to name her own child. God reserved that right. Do you remember my two questions about commitment a few weeks ago? Let me show them to you again:
*Am I willing to do whatever Jesus wants here?
*Am I willing to thank him for whatever happens after I’ve committed it to him?
Mary surrendered everything she was and would be to God. And, she probably only had a beginning sense of how hard it would be to thank God for this blessing when the scorn and the mocking and the uncertainty came in the future. I wonder if she remembered her commitment when she saw her son hanging on a cross – dying to save her and the world from sin. Again and again, she would have to say, “Lord, may your word to me be fulfilled for I am your servant. My life is yours.”
Step 4: Joy in faith -- At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea… And Elizabeth exclaimed, “Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” (1:40, 45-47)
We’ve seen Mary with confusion and then with questions and then with a heart of surrender. Only later do we see the joy of trusting God. After the time with Gabriel, she flees to the hills to get away from those who would look at her skeptically and mock her. She goes to the one person who would know that Mary was not crazy – to Elizabeth, who had also had an angelic visit and a miraculous pregnancy. In community with Elizabeth, Mary is able to find peace – and then experiences the fullness of joy.
This is the role that Christian community is to play in our lives. We struggle at our schools, in our unbelieving families, or in the workplace – but then we come to be with others who also have met God. We remember that the message is true. And, in community we are to find joy to equip us for what we will face the rest of the week.
This was how Mary opened the gift of God – the gift who was and is God. God has given himself to us. Will you, as MacDonald said, “Know and receive the Giver in the Gift.” If you do, let me tell you that your life will never be the same – just as Elizabeth’s and Mary’s were never the same.
#3: Transformed by the Gift (What happens when we receive this Gift?)
Everything became different about Mary’s life. But looking at it very, very broadly:
*She would always know that God knew her, loved her, and was with her. Do you remember Gabriel’s first words to her? “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” As we know, that “favor with God” brought short-term shame. It’s such a contrast with Elizabeth. Her visit from Gabriel took away her shame of barrenness – not so much a shame in our society as it was in hers. In hers, it was the greatest shame. But what took away one woman’s shame (after so many years of waiting) brought another woman shame (with years of waiting to see him resurrected). But, once we receive God into our lives, we always know he knows us. We remember him saying that he loves us and that his favor is on us. And we learn to rest in the fact that when we receive Jesus, we have Immanuel, God with us. It changes everything.
*She would always know how God sees people -- Read her song in 1:46-55 and you’ll see that she rejoices that God knows and respects those who are humble and lowly – those who need a savior. God is ready to show grace to all people – to all people. When you read the life of Jesus, you see this truth being lived out over and over again – showing favor to lepers, prostitutes, Samaritans, Gentiles, tax collectors, shepherds… This is why followers of Jesus have a basis for reconciling with all kinds of people. We cannot be proud because God received and blessed us. We seek to have our Lord’s eyes – seeing all people as being people of worth. We must pray for God to give us those eyes of Jesus. Teenagers are often criticized for only wanting to be with the popular kids in schools. I contend that this problem is not just with teenagers. We don’t outgrow this trait of our fallenness that leads us to hold certain people at arms length. But, when we have been embraced ourselves by the grace of God, we must grow to show it to others.
*She started a journey that would end in shalom – I love Elizabeth’s words in 1:45: Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her! This applied to both her and Mary – and to us. And this is the richest meaning of that word “blessed.” It means the fullness of life that God alone can give. It’s life to the full that can only happen when God is in the place he was in before Genesis 3, i.e., he must be in control of our lives. Let me tell you, the life controlled by God is blessed. It may not be easy – but it’s vibrant and good.
We now move from remembering the beginning of Jesus’ earthly life to remembering the end. Look again at MacDonald’s words: The measure of a good gift is first, that the giver be in the gift – and next, that the receiver know and receive the giver in the gift.
God gave us his Son – and the Son gave his life. When we see Jesus dying for us, how much of the Giver is in the Gift. Do you see him there dying for you? Do you recommit your life to this one who gave all for you? As you prepare for communion, I put our two commitment questions again in front of you:
*Am I willing to do whatever Jesus wants here?
*Am I willing to thank him for whatever happens after I’ve committed it to him?
Greg Waybright • Copyright 2010, Lake Avenue Church