December 6, 2015, The Second Sunday of Advent

Angels announce the Good News of the Birth of Jesus. So this Advent-Christmas-Epiphany Season, I want to look at the angels in the Christmas story. Last week we looked at the Angel Gabriel as he met with Zechariah in the Temple with the message that his wife would have a son, who would be John the Baptist.

Today let’s look at Gabriel as he meets Mary to announce that she will be the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God.

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.

Mary thought that the words of the Angel were strange. In English, Gabriel says “Greetings—hello”, but in the Japanese translation the Angel says “Omedeto—Congratulations.” In a few minutes we will see that the Japanese is a very perfect translation, but at first it seems strange. “Omdedeto” is like “Happy Birthday, tanjobi omedeto.” “Happy New Year, Shinnen Omedeto.” “Congratulations on your graduation, Omedeto,” “Congratulations on your marriage, kekkon omedeto” and the like. But for Mary it was not a holiday or her birthday, so the word “congratulations” seems out of place. And so at first she did not understand the greeting, but also I think that maybe she did not trust Gabriel. Sometimes I get an email that says, “Congratulations! You are very lucky! You may be a winner in the Irish Sweepstakes! Send $30 and your bank account password today!” I am sure that just as today, there were scams 2000 years ago in Palestine.

But this was no scam. Gabriel told Mary the plan of God. He said,

30 “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Let’s look at these words. Mary does not need to be afraid, because the Lord is with her. She is not “lucky” by chance, she is blessed by God. She is one of God’s favorite people. God has chosen her to participate in the Plan of Salvation. The Plan of Salvation is that Christ must come to the earth and as a human being take the sin of all human beings upon himself and die in our place. Therefore Christ must be born as a human baby. And this is Mary’s part in the Plan of Salvation. Therefore the greeting of the Angel is appropriate. When someone tells us that they are going to have a child, we respond by saying “Congratulations,” just as Gabriel said. Since the child is to be the Savior, Mary is to name the child “Jesus” which means “The Lord Saves.” This child will become great because he is the Son of the Most High, the Lord God. He will become the King of Israel in the line of King David. But his Kingdom will be far greater than that of David, because he will not have a kingdom of this world, but an eternal heavenly kingdom.

But Mary is still thinking in earthly terms. She has not yet married Joseph. 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” She seems to accept the Angel’s message but she asks for more explanation.

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon 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. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”

In other words, Gabriel says that the Father of the Child is God. He gives her a sign: that her relative Elizabeth will have a child. That was a miracle. For Mary to have a child will be a miracle also. “For nothing is impossible with God.”

And then there is the miracle of faith. Mary says, 38 “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

This is the point in the story when we today have to either accept or reject the Angel’s message. It is not only about the virgin birth. It is a matter of whether or not we accept Jesus as our own King. Will we confess and call Jesus our Savior or not? The Holy Spirit created life in the womb of Mary. Has the Holy Spirit created faith in our hearts or not? Can we say with Mary, “I, too, am the Lord’s servant”? In other words, “I believe in Jesus as my Savior.”

The second part of Mary’s faith confession is important, also. “May it be to me as you have said.” In other words, “Lord, let your will be done in my life.” In other words, this is repentance. God is changing our lives. Mary’s life changed. Our lives change, too. The Holy Spirit creates faith in our hearts. And that creates peace and love and hope and charity and kindness and forgiveness and humility and joy.

The Christmas Angels will sing about that joy. Let us join in their praises.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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