Mary, and fear of favour
By Rev. Dr. Brent Russett- Asbury Free Methodist
December 4th, 2022
Luke 1:26-38
As we are travelling through this Advent season, we are looking at overcoming fear. Last week we looked at fear through the eyes of Zechariah. This week we are going to look at the story of Mary.
The more I read the story of Christmas, the more I find myself in it. My guess is that you may see yourself in this story too.
Luke 1:26–30 (NIV)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, 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. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
As the curtain opens on this snapshot of life, we have a normal girl who was probably between 12 and 17 years old. She lived in Nazareth a pretty normal town. It wasn’t really a centre of commerce, it wasn’t a government city, it didn’t have a university — it was just a town. It would be the equivalent of Almonte, Arnprior, Smith Falls or Perth.
It was the kind of place where, when people found out that this was Jesus’ hometown, they asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth.” Can anything good come from Arnprior? 🙂
An angel was dispatched by God to Nazareth to Mary. Up until this point in history, Mary was unremarkable. But God knew where she lived. You may think that with 8 billion people in the world living in Lanark County that you don’t stand out either. But I want to assure you, God knows where you live.
When some people hear that, they hear it as a threat, as if God were a mobster. “I know where you live.”
We have been looking at Fear in the Christmas story. There are all kinds of fear. Last week we looked at the fear that comes from the wounds of life. We looked at the fear to hope again.
This morning I want to look at some other fears. These fears are polar opposites of each other, but they come to many of us. The one fear is that God does NOT know where we live.
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I was speaking to a friend of mine whose father was dying of cancer. My friend told me how his father was terrified of death. My friend has told his father about Jesus and how he can have God as his friend and be assure of eternal life.
But my friend’s father had a hard time grasping it. Why would God care about me? — What if God doesn’t know where I live? What if when I die, there is no God, or God doesn’t show up? What if this life is all there is? What do I have to show for this life? What if when I die, God ignores me? Our minds race down that path, and fear sets in. What if God doesn’t know where I live?
But the opposite is also true. What if God does know where I live. I had a conversation with a woman who had been a Christian for less than a year. Her life had been radically transformed. Before she was a Christian, she made her living as a stripper, and she had some pretty nasty addictions.
There is a fear that comes in, what if God does know where I live. It is one thing for me to meet God in church on Sunday morning. But if God knows where I live, what if he saw me when…. And fear and shame set in. If God does know where I live — then he saw those moments. And all of us have had less-than-stellar moments.
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Luke 1:28–29 (NIV)
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.
The angel says, “Hi, you are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” And to paraphrase verse 29, Mary freaks out. – or to use the formalized version, she “was greatly troubled”.
The message was you are highly favoured, and the Lord is with you, and that sends Mary into a tailspin. The message is good, and Mary’s response is to freak. What is up with that?
Maybe it was just a teenage girl having an illogical response. You parents of teenagers might easily read that into the passage. But everything about this passage shows Mary to be extremely perceptive.
I think she intuitively understands that if what the angel says is true, well, that changes everything. This is no longer a normal town; in a normal time, I’m no longer a normal girl. God knows me. He is with me; he’s on my side.
The God who spoke, and set the world in motion, is with me. What if he speaks again? I’m toast.
Luke 1:30 (NIV)
30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.
The angel tells Mary the very same thing he said in the first place. “You have found favour with God”. But this time he says Don’t be afraid.
When an angel says something twice, you probably want to take note. You have found favour with God. Let it sink in, Mary. You are not going to be toast. The God of the universe really likes you.
There are two great fears we vacillate between. That the God of the universe doesn’t know where we live, and we are all alone as we face a cold, harsh world. Or that the God of the universe does know where we live, and he knows all about us, and we are toast.
But the Angel is saying something very different to Mary. You are not alone; you are not toast. You are highly favoured.
Just before you start down the path of, That’s Mary, I’m me. You don’t know where I’ve been. Let me tell you what the Bible says about every person who will open their life up to Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:3–8 (NIV)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,
What those verses are saying – to those of you who are followers of Jesus – is that you are highly favoured. For those of you who put your faith in the work of Jesus, it is saying – you are highly favoured. And if you are as perceptive as Mary, you will know that this changes everything.
Now the angel goes on to tell Mary some things.
Luke 1:31–33 (NIV)
31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
The angel says, Congratulations, it’s going to be a boy. Which might have been great after an engagement to Joseph and after the honeymoon – at a gender reveal party – with loudspeakers and a public announcer – but this was coming from an angel, and it was a way before the honeymoon.
Mary’s shaking her head, and then the angel says, Oh – and he is going to be the Son of God – Oh, and he is going to be a King, the king of Israel, and his kingdom won’t end.
Impossible, at least, that is how I would have found it.
Last week we looked at the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth. An angel told him something improbable was going to happen. His basic response was – How do I know I can believe you – prove it. Mary is told the impossible is going to happen, and here is her response.
Luke 1:34 (NIV)
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
It’s a different response. It is not one of questioning the truthfulness of the angel; it is about questioning the process. She is not questioning if it will take place; she is questioning how it will take place.
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I love my job. It is a lot like the angel Gabriel’s job. I step into people’s lives and tell them things that are true but impossible to believe.
I tell people that God really loves them; in fact, he likes them and he is on their side. And often, they respond just like Mary. How can this be since I am still a sinner? Oh, they don’t use those words, but I can see it in their eyes. They are not sure that they like themselves, so they are pretty sure that God couldn’t love them. At least not with a love that is deep and personal. I know God loves the whole world, and I am clumped in with the world, but I am not sure he really cares for me. How can this be?
I tell people that they don’t have to earn God’s favour. They don’t have to be good enough for God to like them. I tell them that God isn’t using a scorecard, to figure out whether he likes them. It is about grace: Undeserved favour. You are saved by grace through faith; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should think of boasting about how they earned their way into God’s good books. They look at me and say, How can this be? This is news too good to be true.
I tell people you are forgiven. Sometimes people deal with the shame and the guilt of the past. When this is the case, they ask, “How can this be?”
I tell people that God has a call on their life. He has the perfect place to fulfil their destiny. Many people ask, how can this be?
I tell people in the middle of great personal struggles that God can give them them strength. That he will be with them in the middle of the brokenness. People say I feel so weak; how can this be?
Well, in answer to Mary’s question
Luke 1:35 (NIV)
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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.
Now I am not sure that Mary was a whole lot wiser after she heard the angel’s response. All she probably heard is that God is going to do it. It’s a God thing.
People, God really does love you. It’s a God thing. People you don’t have to earn his favour, or earn brownie points, it’s about grace; it’s a God thing.
People when you ask Christ to forgive you, you are forgiven, really. It’s done. It’s a God thing.
God has a place and a purpose and a plan and a destiny for your life. It’s a God thing.
And you may not see it now. You may not understand it now. But the holy Spirit will overshadow you, and it will come to pass. In fact, the angel said.
Luke 1:36 (NIV)
36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.
Then the angel points back and says, as a sign, God is already doing the impossible. Your aunt is going to have a child and she wasn’t supposed to be able to.
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If you will look around, there are already signs that God is at work. You are here. God has been guiding you along the way. There are signs around that a God thing is about to happen.
But you know what, Mary’s intuition was right. If all this is true, then things cannot stay the same.
The two great fears are gone. Fear that God doesn’t know where you live and you are all alone in a cold lonely world. Or fear that God does know where you live and you are toast. You are highly favoured; the Lord is with you.
But if the God thing happens, then things aren’t going to be the same. For Mary, it was a baby. For those of you who have been parents, you know how a baby can radically transform your lives. Whenever a God thing happens, it is no different.
Your life will not be the same. You will be on a spiritual adventure, unlike anything you can imagine. The question is, are you ready to go there yet.
***
There are a number of you who have been walking with Jesus for a while. You have heard the message that you have God’s favour. But for whatever reason, it hasn’t sunk in. You have been keeping your distance from God because you know in your mind but don’t know in your heart — that God’s heart is towards you.
Will you hear the words of the angel first spoke to Mary, but now spoken to you? You are highly favoured. You are highly favoured. Will you say quietly to yourself, I receive that? You are highly favoured.
There are some of you here who have yet to start on a Spiritual adventure with Christ. As you have been listening, you know that fear of God being too far away to help or too close resonates with you. Hear God’s words to you today. He loves you deeply. He wants to do a God thing in your life. The only question is will you let him.
Mary’s response once she had heard all that the angel had to say was “May it be to me as you have said.”
That is not the only response she could have had. She could have said no way. She could have said – find someone else. She could have been ruled by her fear. But rather, she embarked on the adventure of a lifetime. Will you say- may it be to me as you have said? That is the response that leaves us open to having God-sized things happen.
God knows where you live – and that is a good thing. It changes everything.
Sermon Questions – November 4th, 2022
Luke 1:26-38 – Mary and Fear
Introduction:
1. What are you thankful for today?
2. What are you praying about this week?
Digging in
3. Read Luke 1:26-38 – Where is this story taking place?
4. The sermon talked about two fears. God does not know where we live, and God does know where we live. How can these thoughts cause fear?
5. Read verses 28-29. Why do you think Mary was “greatly troubled” by Gabriel’s words?
6. Read verses 28-30. In these three verses, the angel tells Mary something twice. What is it, and what do you think it means?
7. Read Ephesians 1:3-8. How are followers of Jesus “Highly Favoured?” (List all the ways mentioned in this passage.)
8. Read Verses 31-34. What is the difference between the question that Mary asked and the question that Zechariah asked? (Luke 1:18)
9. Read verses 35-36. Mary asks how – the angel basically tells her that it is a “God thing.” What are some “God things” that happen to us when we give our lives to Jesus?
Application
10. Read verse 38. What would it mean for us to adopt this same attitude toward what God has promised us?