The Announcement Series: It s a Boy Luke 1:26-38 December 16, 2018

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1 The Announcement Series: It s a Boy Luke 1:26-38 December 16, 2018 Welcome again to worship. The story goes of three small boys were in a Christmas play put on by the Sunday School department. They represented the three wise men and they were to give their gifts to baby Jesus. The first boy stepped forward, held out the gift in his hands and said, Gold. The second boy stepped forward, held out his gift and said, Myrrh. The third boy stepped forward, held out his gift and said, Frank sent this. Many times, Christmas is hard for us husbands what to get your wife. I came across this Gentlemen s Guide on What Not to Get Your Wife for Christmas : #10: A Vacuum Cleaner: The only possible way to make this a cool gift would be to give the hands-down coolest vacuum cleaner of all time, which I m afraid hasn t been invented yet and probably never will be, considering that there is pretty much only one thing to do with a vacuum which is vacuuming. #9: Socks: Nothings says you didn t try as much as socks. #8: Sweatpants: Even if she likes them, you run the risk of coming across as Merry Christmas, Fatso! #7: Gag Gifts: Gag gifts aren t funny. To anyone. Especially your wife. #6: A Magazine subscription to Field and Stream, Sports Illustrated or Shooting Today. Even if she likes sports, you re like in trouble for this one. #5: Small Appliances: nothing says love like a toaster. #4: Donations to Charity: Nothing like making your sacrificial gift that costs somebody else. #3: A cleaning kit: Just because it was boxed doesn t mean it s a gift. #2: Christmas Decorations: It says you waited until the last minute and bought the first thing you saw inside the door at Wal-Mart. #1: Red Glassware: I learned this one from my mom. I had given her a lot of cheap glassware one year. She never used it, and I never knew what happened to it. We are in the midst of our series It s a Boy! We are talking about the wonderful news that a baby is to be born, the Messiah, the Christ child, who was announced by prophets of old and anticipated by an entire nation. Today, we are going to talk about the announcement, so I invite you to turn to page 6 in your bulletin. I want to read from Luke s Gospel, the first chapter. READ LUKE 1:26-38 (NLT2) Imagine a young woman being asked by the angel Gabriel to give birth to God s Son. I mean, he was asking her to have a child, conceived outside of marriage, and Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph. And in Mary s day, the Law said that if a woman engaged to be married was found to be pregnant by someone else, she was to be put to death! I mean, God was asking a lot of her, was He not? Add to this the fact that in Mary s day, giving birth was a very risky proposition. This was before modern medicine. A very high percentage of women died during childbirth in those times. 1

2 And then, Mary had hopes and dreams of her own. She was supposed to marry Joseph. Joseph was a really good man. She was in love. They had made plans together. They would have their own family. What would happen to all that if Mary ended up pregnant and Joseph wasn t the father? There s not a chance he would stick by her. I mean, what would she say? I am pregnant by the Spirit of God. An angel came and ask me if I would be the mother of God. And so, I said Yes. My child will be the Savior of the world. Would anyone believe that? Would Mary s friends believe that? And what about her family? What if someone you knew got pregnant and told you that kind of a story? What would be your response? Would you believe them? There is no doubt, Mary was in a tough situation. She was being asked to take a huge risk. It could smash the dreams she had for herself. It could get her killed. It would not have been the easiest thing to do. I m sure there was a lot of questioning, a lot of doubt, a lot of second-guessing. The time before Jesus birth was not all peachy-andkeen. Recently, Myra and I had a conversation with our son Kevin. He is our cynic, our skeptic. He can t stand Fox News and his parents conservative ideas. In the conversation, he said, This notion that there is a war on Christmas is just made up, or if there ever was one, it s over. The naysayers have given up. I would have to disagree to that. I think there is still a war against Christmas, because the evil one wants to diminish and discount the story of God being born in a manger to save us from sin. Today, we have school principles saying and doing weird things to eradicate the story of Christmas, like banning candy canes because they tell the Christmas story (which they do). We have ridiculous claims of racism in the Charlie Brown Christmas classic. We have the over-the-top suggestion that a Christmas carol is sexually exploitive, even that God committed harassment to Mary by not asking her to become impregnated. There is such a corruption of the Christmas story today. Yes, there is a war against Christmas; this year, there are just some new tactics. In the midst of all this controversy both today and for Mary God comes and reminds us of the true story of Christmas. And I think there are four statements Gabriel says to Mary that she needed to hear before taking on this request of the Lord. Let me share them with you and hear what we may need to hear today, Christmas First, The Lord is with you. Verse 28: Gabriel appeared to her and said, Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! 1 This may sound trite, but it isn t. As Mary s pregnancy, and her lack of a wedding ceremony prior to conception, will develop, the idea of the Lord being with her will be the farthest thing from anyone s mind. Here appears to be a loose, promiscuous woman who becomes pregnant before she was married. That will be what people say. She is a sinner, they will think, every time they see her. Far from The Lord is with you idea. I don t know about you, but when times are tough, when I am in pain or hurting, when it seems you can t see any light at the end of the tunnel, the belief, The Lord is with you carries me farther than I thought ever possible. 1 Luke 1:28 (NLT2) 2

3 To know that the Lord is with you means that you know God cares about you. He cares about your job; He cares about your fears; He cares about your spouse; He cares about your children; He cares about your parents; He cares about your worries; He cares about your finances; He cares about your car and your house; He also cares about your character, and He cares about you caring about Him and caring for others. He is a caring God. In the right-hand column, I want you to write, The Lord is with me in my. Put that issue you are facing in the blank, then repeat it to yourself this week. No matter your situation this Christmas 2018, hear the words of Gabriel to Mary and to you: The Lord is with you. Second, Don t be afraid. It is amazing how many times in the Bible an angel appears to someone, and the immediate response is fear. So, angels have to comfort and assure them by saying, Don t be afraid. Verse 29 and 30: Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. Don t be afraid, Mary, the angel told her 2 The Greek here indicates Mary was both upset and puzzled upset by the appearance and puzzled by the angel s words. When Gabriel appeared to Joseph, he said, Do not be afraid. On Easter Sunday morning, Matthew records: Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. Don t be afraid! he said. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. 3 It is scary when angels show up unannounced and with strange and unbelievable news, so they assure us, Don t be afraid. So many of us are facing the surprises of life, things that just pop into our normal routine. Rarely are they positive; they are not You won the Lottery, or You ve just been promoted to the best paying and easiest job in the company or Here s a free car. Most of the time, the surprises in life are a cancer diagnosis, an F on a report card, a divorce notice, the death of a loved one, another overdose, a furnace or roof replacement. The angel says, Don t be afraid. God has got you. No matter your situation, even the pregnancy of an unwed mother, Don t be afraid. In the right-hand column, write I will not be afraid of my surprise. Third, The Holy Spirit will come upon you. Verse 35: 2 Luke 1:29-30 (NLT2) 3 Matthew 28:1-6 (NLT2) 3

4 The angel replied, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you 4 A study of the Old Testament will show you that the Holy Spirit was present, but only in moments, at certain times, and then gone. But when the Spirit was there, something wonderful happened. Take the case of Samson. What gave him his strength? It wasn t his hair. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit would come upon Samson, and then he would do these incredible feats of strength. It was when the Holy Spirit came upon Samson that he had his power. And that is what Gabriel says to Mary: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And it is through the Holy Spirit coming upon her that Jesus is conceived. My friends, when we are to do the work of God, it is futile unless we have the Holy Spirit come upon us. We try to do too many things in the church without the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer. We just keep plodding along, organizing, planning, working, and forgetting that the presence of the Holy Spirit is essential for powerful, spiritual work. But Jesus said in Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 5 The Spirit is required for Spirit work. Write down in the right-hand column, I will ask the Holy Spirit to come upon me. Finally, Nothing is impossible with God. Mary comes up with an obvious reason why the angel is wrong: she is a virgin. But that is nothing to God. In the late 1800 s, Ira Sankey was very famous for being D.L. Moody s song leader. On Christmas Eve of 1875, he was traveling up the Delaware River on a steamboat. Some of the passengers recognized him and asked him to sing for them. So, he sang the old hymn, Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us. One of the lines in that hymn says, We are thine, do thou befriend us. Be the Guardian of our way. As Sankey finished the hymn, a man stepped out from the shadows. He asked Sankey if he had ever served in the Union Army. He said he had. Then the man asked, Can you remember if you were doing picket duty on a bright, moonlit night in 1862? Sankey was very surprised and said, Yes. The man looked up at him and said, I was there too. But I was in the Confederate Army. It was my job to shoot you that night. As you stood there, completely exposed in the bright moonlight, I drew my aim. Then you lifted your head and began to sing the same song you just sang. When you finished, it was impossible for me to take aim again. I thought, The Lord who is able to save that man from certain death must surely be great and mighty. Nothing is impossible with God. God has more power than you can ever imagine. Your problems may seem massive to you, but they are easy for God to handle. Give your problems to Him. Write down in the right-hand column, God can handle my surprise. 4 Luke 1:35 (NLT2) 5 Acts 1:8 (NLT2) 4

5 Let me ask you something. Will you hear the words of the angel Gabriel today? Will you believe and hold onto these words: The Lord is with you? Don t Be Afraid? The Holy Spirit will come upon you? Nothing is impossible with God. 5