“Touched by an Angel”

“Touched by an Angel”

December 18, 2011
Advent 4b

Luke 1:26-38
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
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. 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.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 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[b] 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 unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

The Angel Gabriel came to Mary with a message from God. That is the job of an angel, to deliver messages. Sometimes in the Bible the message is delivered directly by an angel, sometimes the angel appears in a dream, or sometimes the Holy Spirit inspires someone with the message from God. But when people receive that message, often the reaction is the same as Mary’s: misunderstanding, objection, refusal and then acceptance. I think of Moses who received the message of God in the burning bush. At first he objected to the mission to free the people of Israel from Egypt because he thought he was unqualified. But God promised to go with him. I think of Abraham and Sarah who were promised a child, but who laughed at the idea because they were so old. But the words of the Angel proved to be true. I think of the prophet Jonah, who heard the command to preach to Nineveh. But he ran away, and the Lord had to show him with a great storm and a great fish that when God gives a command to do his work, the prophet must listen and do it.

Mary said, Luke 1:34 “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Was she just asking for more information, or was she looking for a way out, a way to refuse the work that the angel had just given her? She really did not fully accept the message of the angel until she was given proof, proof that “nothing is impossible with God.” Only then could she trust God and say, Luke 1:38 “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

Have you ever been spoken to by an angel? You have been, you know? The word angel means messenger. We find it in words such as evangelist, evangelism, and evangelical. We have all heard the Word of God spoken by angel-like messengers: evangelists, preachers, teachers, and fellow Christians who have spoken words of God’s love and pardon. The first message we heard was probably something like “God is love” or maybe the Christmas Gospel story. We might have believed it right away, or may have had doubts and asked for more information like Mary did. “How can this be since I am a sinner?” “How can this be since I believe in science?” Then the messenger told us that “nothing is impossible with God.” When in faith we can accept that, everything becomes possible for us. We can have faith, trust, and peace.

Has an angel ever come to you to give you a special mission for God? Have you ever felt that God was calling you to do something for Him? The message may have come from someone, or in a dream, or in a vision, or in your imagination, or in your planning. Maybe you were given or felt the call to do something really religious: to become a pastor, start a mission project, support a mission project, tell a certain person about God, invite someone to church, teach Sunday school, etc. Maybe not something particularly religious, but maybe you felt called or were given the call to do something that fulfills the general Christian life: like loving your neighbor, like getting involved in a social project or movement or to help someone. Sometimes tasks like this can seem too big for us. “How will this be, since I am not educated or skilled?” “How will this be, since I do not have much money or time?” “How will this be, since I do not think this is from God but just my own imagination?” “How will this be, since everyone else is against it?”

And then we see the Christ Child, lying in the manger or carried by His mother Mary. How will this Child become my Savior? We see the Christ whipped and mocked and led out to be crucified. How will this Man become my Savior? We see him dying on the cross. How will he forgive my sins and give me life if he dies? And then we hear the Easter Angel. “He is not here, he is arisen!” How can this be? “For nothing is impossible with God.”

These words are the power of a Christian’s life. They are words of promise. Abraham, Moses and Mary believed the promise of God. Peter and Paul and the Apostles believed this promise of the Easter Angel and the Holy Spirit of Pentecost. All Christians have heard the words of Gabriel and have celebrated the birth and death and resurrection of the Christ. This Christmas, it is our turn to have the faith of Mary. We have seen the glory of Christmas and Easter. God has done what seems impossible. He has given us salvation and eternal life. Therefore we can say with Mary,

“I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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