The Annunciation of God’s Plan

December 17, 2017, Advent 3


Luke 1:26–38 [The Annunciation]
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32He 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, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36And 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. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38And 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.

God had a plan to bring salvation to this broken, fallen world. This world would be healed and raised up through the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ. But to take upon himself the sin of the world and die as a sacrifice, God the Son needed to become the Son of Man, the Son of Mankind, a human. And so it was that Mary of Nazareth became the mother of Jesus/the mother of God. God sent a messenger to Mary to explain his plan. The messenger was the angel Gabriel.

I believe in miracles. I believe that if God is god, and if he is almighty, then he can do anything. As the angel Gabriel said, nothing will be impossible with God. Even perfect love is not impossible with God. This world is a mess. There is sin and hate and greed and fighting and pain and disease and death. And yet, God loves the world. I am sure no ordinary human could love all the people and grief of this world. But Jesus, who is true God and true Man, could love the world. And still does. And that is the plan that the angel revealed to Mary.

I respect Mary very much. When she heard the plan of God, she accepted the plan. She said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. It would not be easy for Mary. Her neighbors knew she was not yet legally married to Joseph. They would gossip about her. They would try to shame her. That was even though she would become the most honored woman on earth! The angel had said to her, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Years later, people would try to shame Jesus as he was being led out to the cross to be crucified. Then he would take the sin and shame of the world upon himself. Then the cross would be his glory as he became the One who would save us from sin and the devil.

Mary accepted the role given to her by God. But I wonder if you and I would be so quick to accept the plan of God for ourselves if we knew how much danger and hardship and shame and inconvenience there would be. I mean, people are interested when told that the plan of God is eternal life. Then God gives them a part to perform in the plan of salvation. Their part is belief and trust and service to God. It is a life of doing the will of God. But people want to do their will. They want to sin freely as however they want to. It is hard to accept the will of God for their lives.

But even Christians who have accepted Jesus as their Savior sometimes balk at the plan of God for their lives. This happens when an angel comes to them and reveals the plan of God to them, and tells them what their part in the plan is. Let me give you an easy to understand example. You hear or read about mission work in Africa and you feel called to go to Africa and become a missionary. The Holy Spirit might not deal with you in the dramatic way that he dealt with Mary. The Angel Gabriel might not come to your house or visit you in a dream. But if you have ever felt called by God to do something, you know what I mean. To hear the call of God might be really exciting and you might be ready to pack your bags and be off to Africa, or maybe just pack your book bag and be off to the Sunday school room to teach the children. Some missionaries do not have to go very far.

But what if you get the call to go to your “Africa” and you know the Holy Spirit is calling you, but yet you do not want to go. Africa is far away, it is hot, it is dangerous, it is away from the family. You doubt if you can learn the local language, you doubt if you have the proper skills to work there. And you think in your mind that it is a stupid plan. You may be like the Prophet Jonah and get on a boat and head in the opposite direction away from the “Nineveh” that God has planned for you.

In my career as a missionary and pastor, I have felt God’s call. First to come to Japan. I had my bags packed and was off in less than a week. About 25 years ago I was called to start a new church in a small town in the Shiribeshi area of Hokkaido. At first I thought it was a dumb plan by the district office, and I was scarred to go. I did not think I could do the work. But I didn’t want to disappoint anyone in the district. And I knew I could not get out of it. Even the Prophet Jonah could not run away from the plan of God. I knew I had to trust the Lord. If he thinks I can be useful in his plan, then he will give me the tools and skills that I need. He will give me the Holy Spirit to do this work. Besides, as the Angel said, nothing will be impossible with God. I had to believe and have faith, and finally I said with Mary, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. And we worked to bring the word of salvation to that town. Then 18 years ago God had another silly-sounding scheme, to come to Okinawa. Then again, after prayer and meditation, I could say with Mary, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your plan.

I know that some of you have felt the call of God in your lives. That is the call to faith and the call to service. For me, it has been the call to work within the organized structure of the church. For you, maybe the call has been to do God’s work in the secular work place. Maybe it is in the school or in the family. That does not mean you have to talk about Jesus all the time, it may be that you simply do your work as best as you can. God’s work can take many forms.

That is why I respect Mary so much.
She was not looking for honor or fame.
She was not looking for riches or gain.
God told her his plan and made it plain.
At first she didn’t understand; asking the angel to explain.
Maybe she thought it was rather silly or insane.
After all, as she said, how will this be, since virgin I remain?
But she came around when she heard the Child’s name
And learned he would continue King David’s reign..
Even though the work of the Holy Sprit seems odd,
nothing will ever be impossible with God.
Then she believed and accepted what God would ordain.
And trusting and faithful she did remain.

Mary was truly blessed by God. We are also blessed when we accept the Gospel plan for our lives. We have Jesus in our hearts and in our lives.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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