How Did We Get Here || Christmas Eve

Good evening, everyone! Tonight, I want to focus on a conversation between two people that changed humanity’s course and has gathered us here tonight. It comes from Luke 1:26-38. We will break this conversation up into a couple of parts and talk about some essential parts that will hopefully help you understand the importance. Let’s start with Luke 1:26-28

During Elizabeth’s sixth month of pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin who lived in Nazareth, a town in Galilee. She was engaged to marry a man named Joseph from the family of David. Her name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Greetings! The Lord has blessed you and is with you.” (26-28)

Can you imagine someone introducing themselves to you like that? This is someone Mary has never seen before, and THIS is the greeting she gets? Mary is confused, thinking, “What does this mean?” So, I ask you, what does this mean? What does it mean to be blessed? It means to be highly favored by God. Mary was so loved by God that He gave her the job of being Jesus’ mother. What does this mean for us, though? “Blessing” is a word that we often hear/use, but we may not understand what it really means. To be blessed means to receive this crazy and unconditional love from God. God blesses all people with this love each day no matter what. No matter what we go through or what we own or how much we own. No matter what, the blessing of God is always with us and is ultimately shown this season through the birth of Jesus.

But Mary was very confused by what the angel said. Mary wondered, “What does this mean?” The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, because God is pleased with you. Listen! You will become pregnant. You will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and people will call him the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of King David, his ancestor. He will rule over the people of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end.” (29-33)

We hear about two people, David and Jacob. They aren’t typically focused on during Christmas, so…who are they and why are they important? Jacob was the beginning of the 12 tribes of Israel, the people that Jesus would rule over almost one day. David, another one of Jesus ancestors, is known for taking down the giant, Goliath, and becoming king of Israel. They waited for Jesus to come back. From Jacob to David and to Isaiah and Micah, the Old Testament prophets whose words we just read. They all were waiting eagerly for this story to come true.

Mary said to the angel, “How will this happen? I am a virgin!” The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. The baby will be holy. He will be called the Son of God.” (34-35)

Mary has every right to question this, in my opinion. Physically, based on our understanding, this can’t happen. So how does it happen? Enter the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will surround Mary, and the power of God will surge through her. I’ve compared the power of the Holy Spirit to the additional source of energy when you’re competing in a basketball game. It’s the extra source to go out and do what needs to be done when you believe you can’t do it. Mary felt like this was impossible because she was a virgin. God works outside what we is possible and grants us the strength to do what we feel like we can’t.

Now listen! Elizabeth, your relative, is very old. But she is also pregnant with a son. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant for six months. God can do everything!” Mary said, “I am the servant girl of the Lord. Let this is happen to me as you say.” Then the angel went away. (36-38)

Elizabeth is Mary’s cousin, who has been pregnant for six months with John the Baptist. Elizabeth was super OLD and had been unable to get pregnant throughout her life. She and her husband thought all hope was lost, and then she conceived a son. The angel Gabriel told Mary about Elizabeth’s pregnancy to show that the impossible can still happen through God.

Last Christmas, we couldn’t celebrate Christmas together in person. Over the past two years, we’ve been through periods when gathering together was impossible and having a sense of normality felt impossible, but God showed up in new ways. Now we gather together, which after EVERYTHING felt impossible. Then we see this virgin teen chosen to give birth to our Messiah, yet another thing that seems impossible. As we see in this story, God works with and through the impossible, and we celebrate His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, tonight to remember that. Amen.