The Mystery From Ages Past

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0:00 We've been working through this Advent book that Ms. Tangsu prayed a prayer out of for us this morning just a few minutes ago. And it's a collection of reflections from all of you through a series of texts that Carol put together for us. She found an electionary. This beginning of the church year, this four weeks that lead up to the celebration of the incarnation on Christmas, which will be here at seven on Christmas Eve celebrating the incarnation together.

0:30 We'll do our candlelight and we have a system we're hoping to be able to get candles to people that are gathering at home, kind of like we did for Easter so that you can light your candle while you're streaming at home with us while we light our candles here. So watch her way to the news about how to get that later on. But leading up to that, we've been working through these texts in that Advent book. And there are two this morning that I wanted to look at that come later in the week for you if you're following along in that book. And the first text that I wanted to look at this morning is in Paul's letter to the Romans.

1:03 And it's the very end of that letter in chapter 16. So if you're typing it into your phone, we're in Romans chapter 16 verse 25. And this is another one of those sections we were talking about it last week and really the week before. That's just really pretty. I mean, you could just read it and appreciate the beauty and miss some of the depth of the complexity of what Paul's talking about here. So we'll read it once and just enjoy it.

1:34 And then I want to look at a couple pieces of it together. The very last section of his long letter to the church in Rome. He says, now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ. According to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but now has been disclosed. And through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God to bring about obedience of faith.

2:07 To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. Amen. That's pretty. There's a lot of church words in there, but it's pretty. Forevermore is a pretty word. My favorite little phrase in there is the mystery that was kept secret for long ages. The mystery that was kept secret for long ages. If you think about what that mystery might have been, I was trying to think about that.

2:39 Remember the idea of Paul as a Hebrew of Hebrews, like steeped in the Jewish tradition. What would have been the mystery that the Israelites were trying to square that was not clear? The thing that would have been unclear. I thought that maybe I wrote down a couple things. Maybe it could have been how could God be just and good? Is this mystery that's like this almost paradox that is an Israel would know its first hand, right?

3:14 When they had fallen short of such clear expectations of God, how could he be just? Carry out justice where people get what is due to them? How could God be just and also be good for them? How could God punish their enemies and not them? How could God be just and good? The mystery from long ages is like you see the Psalms when they're in exile, the Psalms of lament.

3:49 You see, somehow they, as they go back with Ezra and Nehemiah, the hope, one mystery from long ages would be how, on what basis does humanity have any hope for the future? This can be in the short term and the long term. How do individual people have hope to change patterns of behavior that seem ingrained? How does humanity, how do individuals have hope to change emotional rituals that feel like a rut you'll never get out of?

4:25 But also this could be true in the large scope of things. How does humanity as a whole have hope? When death comes for us all and power always seems to corrupt. How does humanity as a whole have hope? The mystery from long ages. And then the last one for me is this idea, are we left alone? I was thinking about Paul writing this, the mystery that is made known, the mystery from long ages past that is finally made known.

4:59 Remember that the way that God can be just and good is Jesus. The ground on which humanity, humans and humanity have hope is Jesus. And the answer to are we left alone? Of course, is Jesus. I was trying to imagine what that was. I feel like I was trying to remember a time I had felt that, are we left alone? And I was remembering actually the first time I got dropped off at college.

5:31 I've said before it was some kind of miracle or pulling strings from my family that got me into the University of Florida as a freshman off the deferred list and in. And because I had been deferred and got accepted late, I got like the very last pick. I got noticed it seemed like I don't know eight weeks before we left. I found out I had a dorm that I could move into. It's very late. And when I got there, I realized why it opened up late.

6:02 It was on the top floor of an unair conditioned building, right? And there was no elevator. You're walking up the stairs in Gainesville, right? And so everyone that got assigned it once they realized where it was, they said, no, thank you. I'll get an apartment, right? And I remember moving into the to the dorm. And at the time the dorm had two rooms and there was nobody else in there. And so I had set up the my parents came with me and I had my little stereo and I put my posters on the wall and I fixed up one bed like a couch and one.

6:38 And I felt pretty good. I just had a pretty good situation. We got some fans and put it in the window so I wouldn't sweat too terribly when I was in the fourth floor of an unair conditioned building in Gainesville. But I remember that when my parents left, they spent the day with me and then they're driving home. And I'd have a car, right? Because you don't need a car. You're a freshman. You're living on campus. And I remember for a few moments like actual panic.

7:09 Like, oh man, I am here completely by myself. And completely alone. One of the famous names for Jesus is Emmanuel. His name is God with us. It can be easy just taking a few moments of quiet to start to ask the question, where do I have hope for the future?

7:52 How can God be good in a world that seems like there is so much injustice? Am I actually alone in the world? Christmas is God's great answer to this mystery, long hidden and untold. The second reading for us this morning that I want to look at gets to that. It's in Luke's account of the gospel at the very beginning of Luke chapter 1.

8:23 It's a famous section of the Christmas story, Luke chapter 1 verse 26. Luke recounts, in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin, betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

8:53 And he came to her. I like that Luke has this very storytelling approach. He says, in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God. Of course, he doesn't know that. He wasn't there when God dispatched Gabriel. But we believe that Luke got most of his source material, especially from this part from Mary herself. So he would have just put this in here for us so you could get into your mind, the situation that happens.

9:27 There is an angel Gabriel who is dispatched for particular purposes at particular times. And this time Mary finds herself the recipient of a visitation from Gabriel the angel. To a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph the house of David and the virgin's name is Mary. And he came to her and said, greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the same and tried to discern what sort of greetings might be.

9:59 Of course, there's nothing bad in what Gabriel said to her. There's no reason for her to be greatly troubled other than the fact that Gabriel is a little bit of a disarming presence. The messenger of God sent is not what you normally encounter. In most of the tradition tells us you could expect them to look like a commanding kind of military presence usually.

10:29 Because they can't note military. The host is a military term. So it's probably not like the chair of but like a cupid floating down like a little chubby baby. It's probably a really kind of disarming figure. And so Mary almost can't hear what's said because what Gabriel says is really lovely. Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. Great. But she was greatly troubled at the same and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

11:03 And the angel said to her, hey, don't be afraid, Mary. He doubles down. You have found favor with God. Mary, this is good news for you, not bad. Don't be afraid. You have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. And you shall call his name Jesus. And he will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

11:35 And of his kingdom, there will be no end. And Mary responds very logically, how's this going to happen? I can't have baby. Right? And the angel answers to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And therefore the child will be born, will be called Holy, the son of God, and behold your relative Elizabeth in your old age is also conceived in the six months. And for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary says, behold, I am the servant of the Lord that it be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her.

12:11 You know, a lot has been made maybe of this response of Mary. And I think appropriately, remember that I was thinking about how else Mary might have responded. Mary takes Gabriel seriously the first time. Remember, Zachariah, John the Baptist's dad, he gets the visitation, says you're going to have a good son and he says, yeah, right? And he can't speak then because he doesn't believe it. Remember Abraham and Sarah get the promise of a son and she laughs and gets in trouble because she can't believe it.

12:47 Right? There's a lot of other ways that Mary may have responded. Remember when Moses gets the calling to go and deliver Israel and he's so impressed with his own shortcomings that he is going to be able to live. That he is sure he raises actually the anger of God. You see in that conversation, God himself gets frustrated with Moses because he finally says, Moses, it's not about you, man.

13:19 It's about me. Mary in the moment with the disarming angel in front of her, believes that she's not afraid, believes that God can give her a baby, those he's a virgin. And when he says the baby will be the deliverer of all, she says, okay, what do I do next? Let it be to me as you have said. I was thinking if Mary were around right now, what did we have made a big deal about her?

13:54 Like there's probably, it's not hard to imagine that there was some kind of celebration of Mary while she was alive because Luke was able to find her and interview her. Right? And she wasn't alone at the crucifixion and as Jesus hangs on the cross, he charges one of his disciples with taking care of her. So we get the feeling, but I was trying to think, would we have made a celebrity out of Mary today?

14:25 Like would Mary have like a video blog with the three simple steps to trusting God with your future? Right? Like this is a really big deal. In to Paul's point, this has been promised for a long time. Jesus is the answer to all of the mysteries. At the end of all of our questions about existence and divinity and eternity stands the incarnated God in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

15:05 And it hinges, starts right here at this moment with Mary in the space. Like a lot is happening right here over this young woman, maybe 13, right? Like young woman. Right? And I was thinking what a miraculous thing and isn't it funny that she's not like, we don't see her starting some money. But she's not like a manastic order even.

15:44 And then I thought, you know, maybe that's not, maybe that's not so hard to believe. And I was talking with a friend earlier this week and he was telling me a story, just a brief story, about a turning point in his life where he didn't know where the next solution would come from, how he would move from one season of life to the next, right?

16:20 This could be a lot of things. This could be how am I looking for work? Where is money going to come from? Will we ever have a child, right? Will I ever find someone to love me? Like he was at this turning point in his life. He didn't know how he was going to get from one season to the next. And the story he was telling me was how God miraculously provided a solution, and he was not going to be able to do it. And he was thinking about how, I don't know if it has happened to you, but you're here.

16:54 So my hunch is, if we talked through your story, we would find key little points where God came and said, hey, you are not alone. Indeed, you have reason to hope. Indeed, God is good. Each of us maybe don't have visitation from Gabriel, but have quiet moments where God unbidden, unexpected, provides a solution for us to keep moving forward in life.

17:37 And the interesting thing for me is like Mary, it kind of gets run over. Like not quite enough and fair for the moment. Right? Now, that's reasonable. I can imagine why Mary doesn't leave the conversation with Gabriel with a megaphone announcing she will now give birth to the Savior of the world miraculously.

18:15 Right? Because it's not the sort of thing that you say. A God's provision taken wrong might look like Mary thought a lot of herself. So she doesn't announce the way that the creator of the world thinks well of her. God's miracle in collaboration with Mary, if she were to announce it, may make it look like Mary plays some role in the divine story.

18:58 And people might think that she is a little full of herself. And so she doesn't proclaim that she's having the Savior of the world from a megaphone on every corner. Of course, the danger here would be that over the years when Jesus gets lost in Jerusalem or is running around with the kids in Nazareth and Capernaum that Mary talks herself out of the miracle of God.

19:36 At this point, it would be key for her that as we'll read on Christmas Eve, she pondered the events of that night in her heart. This is what I'm hoping this season is a moment for you. Look, Jesus is the answer to mysteries of ages past.

20:06 The fulfillment, the demonstration that God is good, that you have every reason to hope. And for heaven's sakes, you will never find yourself alone. Christmas is the evidence that the God of ages past has come down to bring miracle into your life, to catch you up in his divine narrative that is ushering humanity to new heavens and new earth.

20:40 He can handle your finances, your love life, your career. He can handle the lonely places and the hard places. He will keep the good times sustained. His joy is deeper than the passing joy of great show or football. Like one season or one gift, right? Christmas is this deep down payment and promise that your God is good and that you are not alone.

21:22 The thing I was thinking this morning is it's also this invitation for you to remember this season all the times God has showed up for you in the past. And let those moments build hope for the ones that are coming in the future.

21:55 I love how he closes this socksology. He says that according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but now has been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God to bring about obedience and faith. And then he says to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.

22:27 I love that phrase. We're talking about that this Christmas would be the reminder to look back at the way God has come through for you that he's demonstrated that he is good, that you are not alone, and the hope that he will do it in the future. And this is what is in Paul's doxology. The glory that God would receive glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. I love the word glory. I understand the word glory to me that things would be revealed for what they really are, for what they truly are, and that all reality would come out of the God through the person of Jesus Christ that we would see God as the beginning and end of all beauty.

23:09 That we would see God as the beginning and the culmination of wisdom and justice and mercy. That the pieces of love we encounter here find their origin and completion in the God. And Paul is saying, may the glory, all glory be forevermore given to the God through Jesus Christ. That in Jesus we see this seed of what we will know forever, that indeed God is good.

23:44 God is also just. God is with us today and forever. I hope that we can be, like Paul says, people of faith in light of that truth that comes to us through Jesus of Nazareth. Let me pray. Hey, Lord God, make us people of faith this morning.

24:14 Remind us of your gospel, the gospel that you have come as delivering King to liberate us now and secure for us future forevermore in your glory. Take us there now, tomorrow and the days come. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.