Luke 1: Mary

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0:00 We're going to talk about Mary too, actually, our Mary as well. And the best gospel to look at the story of Mary is Luke's gospel. If you want to look there with me in Luke chapter 1 is where we are. And I thought we've been talking the last several weeks now about people who God has

0:32 worked through in the story of Scripture to accomplish things. And things that God could have done on his own. And I thought, man, we'll just keep doing that through Advent here because that's what the story of Christmas is, right? And so we're going to follow the, when we tell the kids a story about someone from the story of Christmas, we'll do the same for ourselves. So we're going to look at Mary this morning. And in Luke chapter 1 is Luke tells us the most about Mary. And I've said this before, but a lot of scholars think that most of Luke's gospel, he got from

1:09 Mary. Remember, Luke was a Greek physician who went, traveled with Paul on several missionary journeys. We know he wrote the Acts of the Apostles and there's a section of the Acts where it switches into first person where it says, and then we went here and we went there. And so most people understand that Luke traveled with Paul in a small group of people on his second and maybe third missionary journey. And we know that the same writer that wrote Acts of the Apostles also wrote Luke because

1:40 he says that in a couple of different ways in each of those books. And so at the beginning of Luke, he says that he went around and interviewed people to write a comprehensive story of the life of Jesus. And so many people think that one of his information sources was Mary because he's got these stories about Mary that the other gospels don't have. And it's interesting to think I was reading some about Mary to get ready for this. And you know, the Catholic Church teaches that Mary was a perpetual virgin, that she

2:18 stayed a virgin her whole life. And I was trying to figure out, I was trying to read about where they come up with that. And actually it's for them, it's part of the tradition of the Church. Early in church, like still in the second century at the nations, even Jerome starts to mention that Mary was this way. And you can imagine why they'd want Mary to stay this way, especially in that culture.

2:50 I like the idea of the venerated Mary. I like the idea that you can imagine Luke going to find Mary. Maybe she stayed in Nazareth. Maybe she went up to Antioch. Maybe she stayed in Jerusalem with John. But wherever she settled as an old lady, I love to imagine Mary as an old lady.

3:20 And remember in the Luke story, he gives us that little insight. Whenever you read Luke chapter two, it says all these things happened and Mary pondered them in her heart. And you can imagine Luke after having traveled through the Roman Empire, after having seen Paul be stoned and kicked out of town and run out of town, after preaching on marketplace corners, after seeing synagogue split about the way of Jesus, going to some quiet little

3:52 place where Mary, the mother of Jesus, is retired and waiting for whatever comes next for her. Everything down next to her having long conversations and especially about this very beginning, about the visit of Gabriel, about the time she spent with Elizabeth as they were both pregnant together and John leapt in her womb. About the visit of the shepherds and the journey of the Magi, about the escape to Egypt.

4:25 It's fun to think about the idea, the reality, the existence of Mary. And so it's fun to look at this in Luke. Luke chapter one, maybe starting at verse 25, 26. We just heard that Elizabeth, though she had been bearing her whole life, will have a son, an important son, will be called John and he'll be a forerunner for Jesus.

5:00 And then in verse 26, in the sixth month that angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed or a young lady betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. Nazareth was no big deal. Do you remember later Jesus, they would say what good can come to Nazareth but the stench, but the stink.

5:30 Nazareth was a town where there weren't a lot of homes built above the ground. People lived in a lot of caves like earthen homes. There was a lot of sheep herders. It was not a big place. Jesus gets most of his disciples from Capernaum, which is a neighboring town near the Sea of Galilee where there are fishermen. There's a little bit more commerce, a little bit more going on. Nazareth there was not much going on at all. And you start to think about if there is a creator, God of the universe, who made the

6:02 whole world and since the dawn of humanity has been awaiting the right moment to change the course of humanity, to recreate, since they left the garden having promised a deliverer. You can think about the moment that he has been waiting. God has moved through Egypt and Sinai, through the ark, through the kings and the walled cities and the Jericho's and the Philistines and the Hittites and the Babylonians and the

6:33 Assyrians and King David and King Solomon. God's done all of these things and at the right time, at just the right moment, God has found favor with a 13-year-old young woman in an earthen home in Nazareth. I mean, it's crazy that this is the spot, the place, the one, the time. It's crazy. It's completely counterintuitive and not the way I would do it.

7:08 I don't want to speak for you. It's not the way I would do it for having to say. I would get someone a little bit more visible, probably, with a little bit more agency or opportunity, someone with a little bit more power, probably, someone a little bit safer who could be protected. There's no reason that we can come up with why Jesus finds her. Gabriel says as much.

7:40 You see, he goes to this woman, a city in Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David and the virgin's mother, name, was Mary. He came to her and said, greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was troubled at the same and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. We've talked about it before, but if an angel who's been in the presence of God and peers

8:13 out of nowhere, most people are usually very afraid. You get the impression when you read stories of angels in the story of Scripture that they're not usually a cherub-like little plump babies with wings. You get the impression that they are people who are, or that they are beings that are intimidating. People are usually afraid when they get an encounter from an angel.

8:47 And Gabriel appears to Mary and she's afraid. But she was greatly troubled at the same and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God and behold you will conceive in your room and bear a son. And you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great. He will be called the son of the most high. And Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.

9:21 And Mary said to the angel, oh man, how will this be? I am a virgin. How can I have a kid? Verse 35 and the angel said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the most high will overshadow you and the child will be born. And will be called Holy, the son of God. And 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. For nothing is impossible with God and Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord.

9:54 That be to me according to your word and the angel departed from her. So this is how God is going to do it. He is going to bring Jesus into the world first into the womb of Mary. And I just made like a quick little list. God works through women who are unlikely mothers throughout the story of Scripture. It's like one of the themes for him.

10:29 Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Hannah, Samson's mother, Elizabeth, all these women. One of the themes you could read the story of Scripture from the perspective of women who were not supposed to be pregnant who are by the hand of God. It's one of the things that God does in the story of Scripture. In a lot of people have tried to imagine why. The best answer is because this is then they could say that God was involved.

11:03 Then God knows, look, you were supposed to have a kid and now you do. Sarah, now Isaac is no doubt. Rachel, Rebecca, Samson, hey, if you give me this kid, he'll make him a Nazareth. He'll be powerful and strong. Elizabeth, now you know John is the forerunner. Of course, before I've really thought about it, it's really beautiful to me when Mary

11:36 says, how can this be? He says, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and then the Son will be born. It's like image of God the Father. Mary, God sent me from His presence, Gabriel says, because you have found favor and you'll have a son and the Son will be the Word of God, the Savior of the world. How will that be? Well, the Holy Spirit will overshadow you and the Son will be conceived in your womb. There's this like three parts of God.

12:09 This all parts of the Trinity are present at the incarnation over the young lady Mary. And so one of the things I've thought about with this story of Mary is God is doing something very significant here. It looks almost like a second creation, like the Father wills, the Spirit hovers and the Word constitutes the will. It's like these three persons of God all colluding over the person of Mary to incarnate the Word

12:43 in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth. And I think that's like a compelling idea and kind of beautiful. It's like it takes all three persons of the Trinity to bind the unbounded God in the person of Jesus. It's such an act of God that only God can do it and even God can't undo it. Jesus, this Word of God will always be enfleshed in Jesus of Nazareth from even now. But what I was thinking about for us this week in light of the conversation we've been

13:15 having is why bother with Mary at all. God knows how to make people. And we know that there is a problem with humanity. This is why Jesus has come, right? We talked about it, you see it in the very beginning, this fatal flaw. The God of creation in life has imagined creation out of nothing.

13:49 All aspects, right? Waterfalls and blades of grass, petals of flowers and lions. God has imagined all of creation, mountains and ravines, right? Clouds and ant hills. God has imagined all of creation and given it to humanity. And before humanity could do anything to earn it, they didn't exist in the world. God creates it all and then out of his own benevolence and grace forms out of the dust

14:25 of the earth, the first ones and gives them everything. And though the God has given them everything, the critical moment, they're sure God is holding out on them and doesn't have their best interests at heart. And this fatal flaw tracks with humanity all the way through the story of creation all the way down to you, I'm sad to say, right? There was a moment in the history of the universe before you existed, before you were

15:01 conceived and brought forth into the world and having nothing to do with you. You could not merit your own creation no matter how hard you wish you could. You did not exist. And of the great grace forethought, volition, intent of the God, the ultimate act of grace and mercy, just because he wanted to, God brings you into the world, creates you in the

15:37 womb of your mother, nits you together right there. Why? Because he wanted to. God gives you everything. And like the first ones, and Mary herself, in the large and small decisions of your life, more often than you cared to admit, you are sure you know better than this God. That this God does not have your best interests at heart.

16:12 That though generosity is the way to live, we choose miserly living. Though God is in charge of all the things in all the world, we are sure we'll never have enough and live in fear. Though he, God has told us out of love, I bring you into the world and into love, I take you forever. All the love you have, you need, you get from me, we manipulate and take love from the people

16:47 around us as though it's all we'll ever get. Though God says, I've got a future for you and will provide for you all you need, we greedily exploit and buy and take and hoard. We are sure we know better, a better way to live than the one God lays out for us, that what we can get for ourselves is better than what God can give, which makes me wonder when

17:21 it's time, at just the right time, to bring the one into the world will change everything why does he bother with Mary? Why mess with her womb at all? Of course theologians speculate and we could spin out some doctrine if you're interested in spinning out doctrine, find me afterwards.

17:54 It's logical, though not explicit in scripture, why God would... But the short answer I think is God uses Mary because God is interested in redemption. I mean, isn't that the story of scripture?

18:29 Like part of me wonders, why not at the moment of Nazareth, at the moment of Gabriel and Mary launch some proto-human into the world, some new race untainted by the problem, by the fatal flaw of humanity, bring some beautiful new creation into the world to which we can all marvel, untainted by limitations, by what Paul calls the old Adam or life according

19:00 to the flesh, all life according to the spirit, all new creation heralded by a host of angels and worshiped by all, why not do that? Bring something new. I don't know, but I know if he had done that, he would have left Mary behind. The best Mary could do is adore rather than participate.

19:38 And throughout the story of scripture, whether we're talking about Noah or Jonah, God is interested in working through us, with us, to redeem us. You are redeemable.

20:09 God incarnates Jesus in the womb of Mary miraculously, and then they get family. Mary actually gets to be mother to the first one, the Savior of the world, the incarnated Word of God, the first human living fully submitted to the Spirit of God.

20:39 Mary gets to be his mother and go look for him when he is lost. I was thinking about two key moments, John's gospel, one the very beginning of his ministry. Jesus is at a wedding, and weddings are a big deal. The whole neighborhood is there, it's a three-day party. Everyone that they know is there, Jesus along with all of his disciples and his mother. They run out of wine, remember you know this story, and Mary is like, oh, our friends have

21:12 run out of wine, that's embarrassing for them. Jesus, why don't you do something about it? She doesn't tell him what to do, she just figures, Jesus, I've seen you growing up, I've known you your whole life, you'll solve this problem somehow. Jesus says, mother, you know it's not the right time for me to start that stuff. She looks at the servant and says, he'll figure something out, just do whatever he says. He looks at her and he says, I just like right before that, right before he tells the disciples

21:42 what to do, that exchange. When he says, woman, it's not my time. And if you read it, it feels disrespectful almost, to call her woman, but in the culture, in the space, in that moment, this is a term of endearment. And I love that Jesus of Nazareth, who will go to the cross through the tomb, defeat the devil and accomplish us, has someone to call dear woman, mother, whom I love, I'll do this

22:15 though I don't want to because you asked me to. And it's bookended at the very end of his life when he's hanging on the cross and he's in his final moments about to experience separation from God and the full weight of the brunt of the sin of all humanity for all time. He's hanging on the cross and he looks down at his mother, Mary, there again and says to her, ah woman, take the disciple whom I love as your son.

22:50 John, take this woman as your mother. He takes care of her at the very end. Ah God redeems humanity because he wants to. But more than that, he endows humanity with the capacity to love meaningfully. I'm saying that I want you to know you're going into a season where maybe family is fraught,

23:26 where you have like cascading memories of the years, how each time Christmas has gone for you, new years has gone for you, you have a easy to stack up memories of our successes and failures of what's been wrong and what's been right. And however the scales go for you, whether you have more good or more bad, I want you to know that you have been redeemed by the God of the universe merely because he wants

23:58 to, because he recognizes that a redeemed you is worth living humanity. Sorry, a redeemed you is worth living with forever. He would not have you left behind. What is ushering into an infinite number of Christmases and wants redeemed you there, you have more capacity than you know.

24:30 Sweet little Mary didn't know what she could accomplish when God redeemed her. Same is true for you. Maybe this year as you walk towards the incarnation and repent of your fatal flaw, your confidence, all the moments and minutes where you are sure you knew a better way, where the God was holding

25:02 out on you, you repent of those, maybe as you do that, you will also be awakened to the capacity within redeemed you. From Mary's womb came the Savior of the world, redeemed and empowered by the Spirit. What comes from you?

25:33 Let's pray. Hey Lord, thank you for this room of people, the ones you have redeemed. Just what your redemption means for us in this season. Give us that appropriate mix, Lord, of repentance and hope that we might participate in the celebration of your incarnation Christmas.

26:03 Wow. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.