Luke 1:26-38, 47-55

Gabriel got his orders. They came directly from the Almighty Himself. He was to carry a message to earth and personally deliver it. Usually a lower angel would take the message. But this time it was different. The last time Gabriel himself had delivered a message it was to the great prophet Daniel. It was the great prophesy of the 70 weeks of 7 years that revealed God's plan for all time.

This must be some message and it must be to someone important. The angel Gabriel looked at the address. It was some small town in the backwater province of Galilee called Nazareth. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth," he had heard people say.

And who was it he would speak to? A king or prophet traveling through Galilee on their way to some place important? To some common carpenter named Joseph? No, to the girl engaged to Joseph the carpenter, whose name was Mary!

Then Gabriel looked at the message and realized why he and not some other angel of lower rank was commissioned to carry the message. It was a message greater than any he had ever delivered. He chose his words carefully: "Greetings favored one, the Lord is with you." She certainly was favored. What other young woman would be blessed by an angel of such high rank visiting her? And what other person would be so blessed as to give birth to the only begotten Son of God? This Mary would witness the love and grace of God in a depth that no prophet of old hade ever known!

Well, I am not sure that is exactly the way it happened, but that's the way I imagine it. Luke makes it clear that a great chasm was being breached here with Gabriel's visit to Mary. Usually in the Bible angels are not named. Luke could have said simply, "An angel came to Mary." But he didn't. He gives us the name of the angel and what a name it was. Gabriel was one of the more famous angels.

He also identifies the place as a small town in Galilee called Nazareth. If you were to tell someone from another state that you live in Irmo, SC, they would say "Where?" You would say, "I live in a small town outside Columbia, SC called Irmo." Nazareth was an insignificant town; the Irmo or Ballentine of Galilee.

Even Mary is not named directly. She is called, "a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph" then as a footnote, "Whose name was Mary." She was finally named in a culture that usually only recorded the names of men. She was no princess or queen. You want to know what she was like? Look around that the teen age girls around you. That is what Mary was like.

Yet a great angel, perhaps and archangel, the one who legend said would blow the last trumpet at the end of time, visited her. But it was to announce a much greater visit. God, no mere archangel but God in the flesh, was coming to Earth! The divine and angelic was manifesting itself to people. But not just the kings and prophets but to the fiancé of a carpenter. To the people of the small town of Nazareth. In the world of that day Mary's worth as a person is that she might give birth to future carpenters to carry on the work of their father. But God said, "No, she will give birth to Jesus the carpenter of Nazareth who would carry on the work of his Heavenly Father!" And for the first time in history the name of an angel and the name of a virgin were recorded in Scripture in the same breath!

You see that's what Christmas is all about. The heavenly and divine and angelic coming to us! The only begotten Son of God, the price of creation, was coming to earth. But not on chariots of fire or clouds of glory. He was coming in the birth of an otherwise unremarkable boy to a family unnoticed by the world.

In Jesus Christ that is the kind of thing God does! He comes to common everyday people like you and me. He brings the favor and grace of God to us all. It is not wonder that when she sang of this Mary said, "He has looked with favor on the lowliness of His servant."

In Jesus, God comes to people like you and me. Through His Holy Spirit grace and love are born anew in our hearts. After her conversation with the angel Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." She submitted herself to God's will as unbelievable as it was. Let us submit ourselves to God and let his love and grace be born in us this Christmas!

And in the 12th month of the year of our Lord 2008, the Word of God came to a development on the outskirts of Columbia SC to a United Methodist church by the name of Grace. Greetings favored ones. You have been blessed by God. By the power of the blood of Christ and the presence of His Holy Spirit the love and grace of God will be born in you. You are called to be an instrument of God's power and might, God's mercy and grace in this world.

What will you say? "Who me?" "No, you want the big church down the street or the talented person at the other end of the pew." "Maybe after the new year, 'cause my calendar is full right now."

Or will you say, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word?"

"You've won the lottery!" "Your special gift is waiting.." "You could be the next 10 million dollar winner!" "Claim your prize now!"

It seems just too good to be true, and it usually is. You know the routine. Someone claims that you have been specially chosen to receive a free gift through some special promotion. Just call a number or press 1 for more information. But usually all you get is a high pressured sales pitch. You didn't win anything, except for an opportunity to get your ear talked off.

That is the way the world is. There are no free lunches. If they give you something free you wait for the other shoe, or sales pitch, to drop. It is limited time offer for a free subscription trial for 30 days!

It's no wonder Mary was a little apprehensive at the greeting from the Angel. When the angel Gabriel came to Mary he said "Hail, O favored one." Luke says that Mary "was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be." (Luke 1:29) I can imagine she wondered what kind of greeting this was. I mean what should someone think. "Favored one" - "Chosen One" - "You have been chosen by a special lottery!"

But Mary was not dealing with a telemarketer or even a door to door salesman. She was truly favored by God. She had been especially chose to be the vehicle through which grace came into the world. The man speaking those words was an angel who had come from the very presence of God!

This was a genuine offer. Mary had been specially chosen by God. Mary, a poor peasant girl, chosen by the Almighty to be the mother of the Messiah! It seemed too good to be true. Mary accepted what the angel said, but did not seem to fully believe it.

But the Angel gave her a sign. Her old barren Aunt Elizabeth was six months pregnant. So Mary went to see her and John leapt in Elizabeth's womb and the Spirit told her that Mary carried the Messiah and she said "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" Only then did Mary fully believe. She was blessed, favored, by God, not only to witness the coming of the Savior of the world, but to play a crucial role in His arrival! No wonder Mary sang for joy about God lifting up the lowly!

"Greetings, favored ones! The Lord is with you!" What, you don't believe me? Blessed are you among people! Would it help is I had some wings on? You still don't seem to get it. Almighty God has blessed and favored you and God is with you!

OK, so I'm not the angel Gabriel come from glory above. I'm just preacher Alex from Summerville. But what I said is true. God Almighty has blessed you. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you carry the life of God with in you.

And you have a crucial role to play in bring the Savior to the world. You role is to bear Jesus' light for all the world to see. God has sent a savior. He lives in you. You are blessed.

Christmas is almost here. The world is getting more and more frantic each day. It is through your life that God bring Jesus into the world. Imagine how Mary felt when she realized that she was truly carry the hope of the ages in her womb and how she sang for joy.

You carry the hope of the ages in your heart! It is your role to bring the love of God to birth in you everyday life. You are truly favored by God.

Blessed are you among people, and blessed is the fruit of your heart!

The virgin birth causes trouble for many people. There are even some who believe in Jesus Christ, but who cannot bring themselves to believe in the virgin birth. I know of people who, when saying the Apostles' Creed, skip over that part that says "born of a virgin." Many of these people point to the passage I read from Isaiah and argue against the Virgin Birth. If you noticed the translation of Isaiah I used says, "a young woman shall conceive and bear a son." But many other translations say, "A virgin shall conceive." That's because the original Hebrew word used there should be translated "young woman" but the same word could be used to refer to any young woman who is a virgin. If you look at the context of this prophesy in Isaiah's day you will see that the woman being referred to was the King's wife. She was a young married woman and not a virgin. She would conceive and bear a son and that was a sign of God's care for Israel. Centuries later the Hebrew was translated into Greek and the Greek word used can only mean "virgin." So Luke read the Greek and misinterpreted it, or so some argue.

Now before I go any further let me make one thing perfectly clear: I believe in the Virgin Birth. I believe that Mary was a virgin, and that God, not Joseph, was Jesus' Father. I also believe that Isaiah's prophesy was a prophesy on two levels. On one level he was speaking of the young woman in Isaiah's day who was the King's wife who would bear a son. On the other level he was also speaking of the Virgin Mary who would bear God's Son. I believe that God inspired Isaiah to use that particular Hebrew word because it could be understood as both "young woman" and "virgin." If you look in Isaiah 7:15-17 he is obviously speaking of King Ahaz's son. But in Isaiah 9:6-7 he says this child will be "Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." That is obviously a reference to God's Messiah who would come centuries later. I also believe in the Virgin Birth because it makes sense that if Jesus is the sinless, only begotten, Son of God, then God would literally be his Father.

So, I believe in the Virgin Birth and I advise you to believe in it as well. However I do not consider belief in the Virgin Birth as necessary for salvation. There are many who say that belief in the Virgin Birth is essential to new life in Christ. But the Bible doesn't say that anywhere. It says God sent his Son, "so whosoever believes in him shall have eternal life."(John 3:16) In Romans it says, "if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."(10:9) All that is necessary for salvation is believing, trusting, in God.

Having said all that, let me get back to my point. Many people have problems with the Virgin Birth. The logical incongruities make it difficult for them to accept the doctrine. How can God, who the Bible describes as light and Spirit, sire a child? How can a virgin conceive and bear a son? How can this be?

Brothers and sisters, that's exactly what Mary said. When the angel told her that she would bear a son she said, "How can this be since I do not know a man?" It even boggled Mary's mind. First of all there was this virgin business. But that was just the beginning. How could it be that God had chosen her to bear the savior when there were many more rich and powerful women? How could it be that God had chosen her time and generation from all the times and generations in history?

The angel tried to answer her question. "The Holy Spirit will come upon you. It will over shadow you. Your son will be God's Son. Hey, by the way, your old aunt Elizabeth is six months pregnant as we speak." All this was an entirely accurate explanation, but I imagine it still left Mary wondering. Then the real answer came; the answer to her bewilderment. I imagine Gabriel shrugging his shoulders as he said, "Nothing is impossible with God."

How can this be? Everyone knows that a virgin can't conceive and bear a child. It seems impossible that God would choose a poor peasant girl to give birth to God's son. But we are dealing with God Almighty here. With God nothing is impossible!

Christmas is a mystery. "Mystery" is a word the church uses for something we don't really understand, but believe anyway. How can it be that a virgin can conceive? How can it be that God became human? How can it be that the one who spoke the universe into being became a babbling baby? How can it be that the author of gravity must learn how to hold his head up? How can it be that a carpenter can bring hope to the world? How can it be that a poor homeless boy can bring real good news to the poor and not merely empty words like the politicians bring? How can it be that a persecuted refugee can offer freedom to the oppressed? How can it be that heavenly beings announce the birth to shepherds and leave King Herod and Caesar in the dark? How can it be that wise men cross the known world to see him while the people next door are oblivious to his birth?

Christmas is a mystery; one great big "How can it be?" I don't understand it all, but I believe in it. I believe because I need to believe. If the mystery of Christmas is not true, then we are alone in this world. If hope was not born at Christmas, if love did not come as a baby, if God was not made flesh, then we are alone and helpless. So I believe in Christmas with all my might, because without it I am without hope.

How can this be? It can be because God Almighty says it can be. Christmas is impossible by human designs and devises and conceptions. But with God nothing is impossible.

Your life, your situation, the condition of your world may seem impossible. You may say, "How can God bring a blessing out of this mess?" Let me give you a Christmas gift. It is the gift of hope, and it is wrapped in swaddling clothes and tied with a bow of impossibility. When you open it and say, "How can this be?" remember "nothing is impossible with God." When all seems hopeless and impossible remember nothing is impossible with God.