Christmas 2019 Sermon Series: What’sApps from Heaven
8th December 2019 - Luke 1 v26-38 – Gabriel to Mary
WhatsApp is communication whereby you can send messages and have conversations with people on your mobile free of charge.
in our series “WhatsApps from heaven”, We are imagining what it would be like if the angels contacted the characters in the Christmas story through WhatsApp.
We will consider five different characters during the 5 Sunday mornings in December 2019
· Zechariah
· Mary
· Joseph
· Shepherds
· Magi
Last week, 1st December, we looked at Angel Gabriel contacting Zechariah (John the Baptist’s dad)
This week, 8th December, it is Angel Gabriel again, but this time contacting a young Northern girl, a virgin, named Mary who lived in Nazareth.
The WhatsApp conversation could have gone like this…
WhatsApp #1
Gabriel:
· Don’t think of angels as all soft and feathery and weak & fragile…
· An angel, who appeared to Daniel in the Lion’s Den hundreds of years before, . he closed the mouth of the lion!
· Gabriel = “Strong” / “Hero” / Chief among the angelic ranks!
Gabriel, Luke 1v28:
“Greetings”
“Rejoice / Be glad / Be delighted”
“Hail”, sounds like a nasty weather forecast?
Whatever Mary was doing, Gabriel certainly got her attention
“You are Highly Favoured”
You have been honoured with blessings / You have been shown much grace”…
John the Baptist’s mother: blessed are you among women.
Random? Purposeful? Chosen!
“The Lord is with you.”
A great truth to hold on to
She was a young girl ( possibly aged 14-16) living in a village that had a bad reputation (Nazareth) – whom people thought nothing good could come from – She needed to hear this.
But Mary wondered how to take this!
Mary’s WhatsApp reply was:
“errr…that’s bit scary!”
Mary, v29:
Greatly troubled
Not surprised!
Not every day that the chief of the angels says “Be delighted Mary, you are highly favoured… “ and then adds “The Lord is with you!”
His words/message/greeting troubled her!
The Lord is with you!
“OK, why tell me that!?!?”
As a faithful Hebrew girl who trusted Yahweh… She knew that truth
Why did she need to be told this?
Sounds like what happened to the Judges in Israel’s distant past: to Gideon, Deborah, “The Lord is with you…” was followed by some details that were hard to take….
Mary: “What is going on?”
FOR US TOO in our worries, plans, thoughts: “The Lord is with you.”
· We all have things to cope with!
· May seem small to others, but are huge to us…
· Sometimes others don’t understand
“The Lord is with you.”
Let’s get into this young girl’s mind = she was scared – greatly troubled at his greeting!
She needed more info
WhatsApp #2
Gabriel now tells Mary a little more of what is going on! Mindblowing!
Gabriel, v30-33:
Angelic Reassurance,
“Do not be afraid.” – There is nothing to fear if the Lord is with you…
“Do not be afraid.” God is not going to hurt you – you have found favour with God.
God has chosen you for the most amazing task any woman has ever had in the history of the world
You are going to have a Baby (v31)
Gender = male = a son
Name = Jesus (which saves a lot of fuss and arguments about “what shall we call the baby”!)
Your baby will have a supreme status, v32
Three things about Baby Jesus…
Great – Not many angels call many men great!
Son of the Most High
King – like King David
Awesome
He will be everlasting, v33
Reign forever
Kingdom that will never end
No ordinary baby – no ordinary child – no ordinary man; exceptional.
This is amazing stuff! Just take it in.
There was a guy who won £105million on the lottery; when he received the news “verge of a heart attack!”
Imagine how Mary felt at this news which is better than and worth far more than £105million!
See her young teenage brain whirring round!
My son will be a king forever and ever and ever!
My child will be the Son of the Most High God!
And I am a virgin! And I will conceive this child! And he will be the greatest person who has ever lived!
And I am a virgin?
Mary, v34, Mary’s WhatsApp reply:
“Is that even a thing?”
I’m a virgin!
I’ve never slept with anyone, I’ve never had sex with anyone…
How can I get pregnant? That just doesn’t happen!
“Gabriel, You may be an angel but maybe you’ve never been to sex-education at school!”
Mary is confused, puzzled…
What is going on?
So Gabriel speaks again with an explanation of how this will happen, and a reminder of who Mary’s son will be
WhatsApp #3
Gabriel, v35-37:
How this will happen v35
Through the supernatural work of God
Through the Holy Spirit & the power of God.
Mary would have known all about God’s Spirit and power from her meditation on God’s great works in OT...
The two go together “The Holy Spirit & power of God”
Joshua had the Spirit when the walls of Jericho fell down
Samson had the Spirit when he tore a lion apart with his bare hands
Elijah had the Spirit when fire fell from heaven!
God can do this if his Spirit is involved
“That’s how it will happen Mary! God’s power and Spirit will bring this about.”
A reminder of who this boy will be, v35b he will be The son of God.
The One who speaks with the authority of God his Father
The One who commands the wind/waves and heals the sick/lame/blind/deaf
The One who raises the dead to life
The One who can forgive sin!
“Remember Mary, nothing is impossible with God”, v37
What and Angel to Abram: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
In the Old Testament it says that God has spoken his word, and so it has to happen – it cannot fail.
Trust the faithfulness of God
Don’t look at yourself and your age, circumstances Mary – look at God and what he can do
We need to be reminded of that too!
So, Mary has the answer to her question, “How will this be?”
Now Mary knows!
She woke up one morning like every other morning… …And then this happened!
And she went to bed that night expectant, heart beating fast – will I feel anything, will it happen when I’m asleep?
And she wondered…
How am I going to tell people? My mum/dad? Joseph my fiancé? My friends?
How am I going to carry him in my womb for 9 months?
How am I going to bring this baby up – the son of God! I’ve got to give birth to him, swaddle him, change his nappies, feed him!
“I’m just an ordinary girl I like going to Joe & the Juice with my friends… and now I am going to be so different?”
I am going to be the mother of the Son of God –Everlasting King!
IS this all too much for this young girl?
Will she do a Moses & reply: “Please chose someone else?"
“OK. I’m ready and willing; let’s do this!”
Her WhatsApp back is amazing: v38
“I am the Lord’s servant!”
This is how she saw herself
This was the identity she gave herself
This was the self-image she had of herself!
So, she knew the LORD was her Master
God was God
He was the Sovereign One
We see her submission to God
She lets go of her own plans for the future and submits to God’s plans for her
Her own wedding plans?
Like every other little girl she would have played weddings..
She looked forward to that day for ages… and it was not far off/Joseph… it was going to be so special… celebration… family and friends and music and dancing and food… so happy…
That day won’t quite happen in that way now
She was being asked to sacrifice her wedding day!
Can I sacrifice my wedding day?
The control of her life.
She was out of control, like an eclipse of the sun.
A bigger plan than hers (her wedding day) was taking place…
Her words show her complete submission to the will of God…
with all it would mean for her
with all the consequences –
with all the misunderstandings
yet she submitted to the will of God
Her life would never be the same again!
The next 9 months would be a roller coaster… morning sickness / aching back / weight gain / hormonal changes / tiredness / dislike for things she liked before
The remaining years of her life will be changed forever…
But she willingly submits to the will of God…
Breathe in her words…
sense the commitment…
see her surrender…
She gave the Lord empty hands (all offered up to God, her plans, her wedding day, her womb, her future). She offered Him her submitted life – “I’m yours…”
How could she do that?
Because she knew who she was! She had the right identity about herself: “I am the Lord’s Servant.” This is her self-image.
And so, for us:
1/ We are pounded by the world’s value that we shall be our own masters & decide our own future and career paths…
We shall be in charge – take charge of the situation/ take control of our lives…
I am the Master of my fate – the captain of my soul!
One of the most touchy areas of life at present: My rights! My life! My choice! I decide!
Imagine if Mary had said this to the angel!
· ?Hold on a minute Gabriel: “It’s my body, I’ve got my rights, I make my own choices!”?
· But she said: “I am the Lord’s Servant”.
2/ A young girl with this sense of identity, attitude will have no problem in submitting to God and surrendering her all to him…
It’s when we see ourselves as masters – as in charge that we have a problem with surrender and submission to God’s will.
But we are of a different kingdom: We will not stand on our rights – the right to run our own life – No; we are His: “I am the Lord’s servant…”
Like Mary we need to make that conscious decision to turn our will and our lives over to God so that He can work His will in our lives.
1/ We need to come to that point of surrendering ourselves to God
To say to God with heart/mind/words: “I am not my own…” “I belong to you God – I surrender to your ways.”
2/ But we often hold on to our own self-rule
“I’ll be sovereign – let God submit to me…”
We can often forget who The Sovereign One is…
When we get it the wrong-way-round we try to run our own lives, according to our own plan, with our own ideas, doing our own thing… With no conscious reference to God we just get on with life…
We miss God’s blessing and we can ruin our own lives
3/ Our submission to the will of God is an on-going issue…
We get it sorted at the beginning of the Christian life: own him as Lord!
Throughout life we need to reaffirm that commitment and surrender
4/ In the Bible “submission” is connected with another B-I-G Bible word – Trust!
· God can be trusted – relied on – leaned on – He doesn’t fail or let people down
· And He is GOOD! He doesn’t want to make our lives a misery or dull – He is not out to harm us or to be cruel to us… He LOVES us…
·
He says “Trust me with your life…” “Trust me with your heart” “Trust me with your all…”
Mary willingly submitted to the will of God and surrendered to Him…
and hence Jesus, the Son of God, the Everlasting King, was born to be our Saviour.
Pastor Paul Pease’s sermon on 8th Dec 2019