Let me remind you again about the Angel Tree. If you can help right back here after we dismiss
to help deliver gifts, that would be awesome. Our band and singers will be going to the
Salzbacher Center for the Homeless tomorrow night. We thought about toting the tree down there, but
thought better of that. So we're not going to do that, but we're going to take all the musicians
and the instruments and the equipment, and we'll be doing the music down there for the
Salzbacher Center if you'd like to come and hang out with us. It's right next door to the jail.
Today we're beginning a new series called The Call of Christmas, and today is a call to provide.
There were two British inventors in the 1800s, William Cook and Charles Wheatstone. They developed
the technology that allowed telegrams to be sent electrically. On January 11th, 1838, Samuel Morse
sent the first telegram in the United States. It went over the wire for two miles, and they just
thought that was awesome. We've come a long way, haven't we? But as telegrams became more popular
back in the day, people began to get upset when a telegram would arrive, because most of the time
it was bad news that'd be a death or an accident or a sickness or maybe even a war. And so these
short messages of bad news were hard for people to handle. So in 1933, Western Union came up
with a plan to create a singing telegram, and this was a way to receive messages and make it
more enjoyable and maybe even fun. Suddenly receiving telegrams became very popular and exciting.
That began an entire industry of how to creatively deliver messages. Now I looked it up
yesterday online, and we have a singing telegram company right here in Jacksonville.
But God did not send a singing telegram to Mary to give her the news about the Messiah.
But I think Mary would agree that the method that God used was very creative. Luke's Gospel
records this unexpected message that came from Gabriel the angel and was received
by Mary, the lady from Nazareth. And this message was good news. In fact, it was the start of the
best news that anyone had ever heard, the good news, the gospel, that we can have a growing
relationship with Jesus Christ if we'll just accept it, His free gift into our heart.
So here's the message that Mary received. It's recorded in Luke chapter one. If you want to
follow along in your Bible, we'll have it for you on the screen. Luke chapter one, verse 26.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, 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.
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.
God, you will conceive and give birth to a son and you will call him 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 Jacob's
descendants forever. His kingdom will never end. How will this be? Mary asked the angel,
since I am a virgin and 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.
Even Elizabeth, your relative is going to have a child in her old age
and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God
will ever fail. I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May your word to me be fulfilled.
Then the angel left her. The message from the angel was anything but sad.
Instead, this amazing news from the angel, Gabriel to Mary was a call to her to provide.
Every Jewish girl prayed and dreamed of the privilege to one day carry and provide the long
awaited Messiah of God's people. The thought of being chosen to be part of God's plan
is beyond amazing and what a great honor. For the call of Christmas, it's just like God
to choose the most unlikely person from the most unlikely place in the most unlikely
circumstances. Sometimes that's just the way God rolls. Verse 26 sets the stage for us.
In the sixth month, the angel, Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.
The city of Nazareth is very different from the city of Jerusalem. You see, it makes sense that
the Messiah should come from Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish world. Nazareth was
off of the beaten path. Jerusalem was seen as a significant city. Nazareth was seen as very
insignificant. Here's what the people of that day thought of Nazareth. John chapter one, verse 46.
Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And the region of Galilee where Nazareth
was was very different from the region of Judea. Galilee was out in the Boonies. Judea had a big
city. Galilee was not kosher. Judea was known for keeping all the religious rules. But God chooses
the most unlikely choice, Nazareth, in Galilee. But guess what? God's call to provide can happen
anywhere He chooses. No matter if you live in the big city or you live out in the country.
No matter if you're on the right side of the tracks or the wrong side of the tracks.
No matter if you live at the beach or you're from the west side, God knows where you are
and He has a message for you. He is calling you this Christmas. Wherever you are this Christmas,
God can use you as a part of His plan to do His will. He knows where you are and He has plans
for every one of us no matter where we come from. Verse 27 goes on to tell us that the one who would
be called on to provide the Savior of the world would be the most unlikely person in the eyes of
the world. So God sent Gabriel, verse 27, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph
of the house of David and the virgin's name was Mary. The fact that Mary was betrothed
to Joseph was a bigger deal than our engagements today. A Jewish engagement was considered as
sacred as the marriage itself. The marriage would be consummated later but the commitment
and the covenant was just as strong. The fact that the mother of Jesus would be a virgin was
prophesied by Isaiah many years before, Isaiah chapter seven and verse 14. Therefore the Lord
Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call
His name Emmanuel. Luke has given us details that tie back to the Old Testament prophecies and he's
saying to all of his readers, here is your sign. Luke goes on to tell us what Gabriel said to Mary
in verse 28. He came to her and said, greetings, oh favored one, the Lord is with you.
The more things change, the more things stay the same. While this greeting from the angel
sounds unique at first, it's the same way the angel of the Lord greeted another unsuspecting
person with a call to provide. In the book of Judges, God called a man named Gideon to set
his people free from oppression. Judges chapter six and verse 12. And the angel of the Lord appeared
to him and said to him, the Lord is with you, oh mighty man of valor. The message from the angel
to Gideon and to Mary includes the reminder that the Lord is with you. The name in Isaiah's prophecy
for the Messiah was Emmanuel. Emmanuel means God with us. It's another way of saying that the Lord
is with you today. The call of Christmas is a reminder that the Lord is with us. The call to
Mary was a call to provide. Only someone very special in the eyes of God would be called to
provide the birth of the Christ child. The fact that she was a virgin meant that God would be
involved to create the life inside of her. The one who was called to provide for the salvation
of all the world. This call to provide was scary and we could understand why Mary would be fearful.
Verse 29, but she was greatly troubled at the same and tried to discern what sort of greeting
this might be. And 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 call his name Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give to him
the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom
there shall be no end. See the names we give our children describe our hope for our children
and this name would certainly bring hope to all the people because the name Jesus means the Lord is
salvation. Mary was being called to provide the birth to the savior of the whole world.
Mary was not the source of salvation as some people believe. It was God who chose to put his
favor on her. It was God who created the source of salvation in her. The theological truth is Mary
by herself could not produce a son but God can produce a son through her and his name is Jesus.
And this is the complete expression of the gospel that we are not able to provide a sacrifice
ourselves so God has chosen to provide hope for us. That's the good news. That's the gospel.
The call of Christmas was to an unknown virgin from a little country village. Mary's call was to
provide what God had decided. She simply made herself available and God took care of the rest.
As Mary is processing from the angel what was said she asked a logical question since she had not
had sex. How could she become pregnant? Verse 34. And Mary said to the angel how will this be
since I'm a virgin? She didn't say that she didn't believe. She was asking trying to understand what
God was doing. You know God never gets tired of us asking honest questions of him. It's okay
with God for us to seek him and try to understand who he is and what he is trying to do in our
lives just like we have to do. Mary was learning to trust God with the details. Mary was being
called to be part of the promise. Her part was to provide the birth for the savior of the world so
Mary accepted her call to provide and she put her trust in God to do what he promised to do.
Mary was given the opportunity to join with God in the call of Christmas.
God provided the details through Gabriel in verse 35. And the angel answered her the Holy Spirit
will come upon you. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born
will be called Holy the Son of God. As Luke writes about this conversation, he mentions the Holy
Spirit seven times in just two chapters. Luke does not want his readers to forget that the call of
Christmas is all about the work of the Holy Spirit. Not only will the Holy Spirit come upon Mary to
explain to her the details of what's going on, Luke also tells us that God's power is going to
overshadow Mary in the process. The word for overshadow in the original language means the Holy
powerful presence of God himself. The same meaning from this word was used in the Old Testament when
the cloud that overshadowed the temple was filled with the glory of God. We see this in Exodus
chapter 40 verse 34. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled
the tabernacle and Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. The presence of God described in the Old Testament
is the same word overshadowed that Gabriel used to explain to Mary. God's presence through his
Holy Spirit is going to be at work in such a way that there is no doubt that what is going on in
this story is happening right in front of us is something that's holy. This week, during the
singing Christmas tree, the presence of God in our parking lot, not in the church, out in the
parking lot was so real, so powerful that it cannot be denied. That's because God inhabits the prayers
and the praise of His people. God is with us. He is real and He is amazing. As our choir sing
and our band played in the parking lot, I was overshadowed by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
As I would watch the singers sing and the band play and I would see people that I knew their story
and how God had brought life change to them in an amazing way. That's what overshadowed by the
Holy Spirit does. This same word is used again in the story of the transfiguration of Jesus in
Matthew chapter 17. He was still speaking when behold a bright cloud overshadowed them and a
voice from the cloud said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.
Bible scholars believe that this overshadowing of God is not a static thing, but an active
thing. It is creative. It is productive. The Holy Spirit calls a virgin to conceive. It's the same
Spirit of God that was at work in the creation of the world as recorded in Genesis. The earth was
without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering
over the face of the waters. That's the Spirit of God overshadowing.
Life change happens when the active Holy Spirit is at work. The overshadowing Holy Spirit not
only provides, but he protects and he creates. It brings about conception in the womb that Mary
provides. The call of Christmas for Mary was a call to provide. The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary
and it enables her as the Spirit always does to do more than you could ever think you could do,
to be more than you could ever think you could be by yourself. God's power on the outside,
God's Holy Spirit on the inside together results in things being done that are absolutely impossible
without God. At the same time, God is supernaturally providing the details
of how the Messiah will be born to a virgin. The kindness of God is seen by how he provides
someone to walk along beside Mary, verse 36, and behold your relative Elizabeth in her old age
has also conceived a son and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren for nothing
will be impossible with God. So fear not nothing is impossible with God. Most likely Mary suffered
embarrassment and loneliness as a result of being the person picked by God to bring to us
his chosen one. The angel not only gives God's message to Mary that she will deliver a son
while still being a virgin, but he also tells her that she has a friend who she can share this
strange and wonderful experience with and this friend is her relative Elizabeth. It's always
better to walk through the tough times of life with someone else who understands what you're
going through. God knew this. God provided for even the smallest details every emotional need
that Mary would experience God provided for. The angels announcement to Elizabeth's husband
Zachariah and the angels announcement to Mary were very similar. In each case, Gabriel said
that they would give birth to a son who was to play an important role in God's plan. They were
both given a son that was named by an angel and both were born under unusual circumstances,
but there are also some differences. One was a messenger, the other was the Messiah. John was
a prophetic messenger. Jesus was to be the Messiah. One was a birth in old age. The other
was a virgin birth. John was born to old parents. Jesus was born to a manger, to a virgin in a
manger. One was to be the priest of God. The other was to be the servant of the Lord. Both of the
parents were troubled and afraid. They questioned how it was possible for these things to happen,
but there was a difference between how both accepted what Gabriel said. Zachariah didn't
believe and so he lost his ability to speak. Mary instead believed with God. Nothing is impossible.
Mary put her trust in God because she believed what he said, Luke 1.37,
for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord.
Let it be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her. The fact that nothing
is impossible with God may be the most beautiful statement in the Bible. What is your impossible
this Christmas? Is your impossible your job? Is your impossible at school? Is your impossible
your finances? Is your impossible your marriage? A strained relationship with your kids that seems
impossible. What if your call of Christmas this year is a reminder that nothing is
impossible with God? What if your call is like Mary's to provide space for a growing relationship
with Jesus? What if God wants you to allow your life to be overshadowed by his Holy Spirit
as he works in your life and in your circumstances? The process can sometimes be painful. It was
painful for Mary, but necessary when something new is created in you. Sometimes it requires
counseling. Sometimes it requires self-discipline. Sometimes it requires confession.
And sometimes forgiveness is required. But whatever God may lead you to do in your impossible,
know that you will not be asked to walk it alone. God is with us. He is Emmanuel. He is Jesus.
And what we need to do today is to provide space for God to begin new life in you. That's what
Mary did. And her call of Christmas was a call to give completely of everything she was and had
to give birth and nurture to the Son of God. Today, would you answer the call of Christmas
like Mary did and be willing to do whatever it is that God wants to do in your life?
Life for nothing will be impossible with God.
