Messy Christmas – Week 1 – “Surprised by Grace”
Luke 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”
29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
32 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.
33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”
34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”
35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
Intro:
- This week, we kick off our Christmas Series “Messy Christmas.”
- Where we are looking at the Christmas Story
- And seeing how it intersects with our messy lives
- This time of year is messy
- Why? Busyness, Family Drama, Gifts, Preparations, Meals, Parties, Loss & Pain
- All this is happening in the middle of the often-lost reminder of the story of Jesus Birth
- In this season, His story is sprinkled here and there like the toppings of a cookie
- But more often than not
- He takes a back seat to all of our mess
- The truth is… what our mess needs most is Jesus!
- Even though if we are all honest
- We don’t think we deserve him to be in our mess
- At least not in the way He wants to give himself to us
- We will go to church and special services, knowing we need him
- And that we want to at least be in the same room with him
- But because of our sinful struggles, shortcomings, and messes, we begin to think
- “Does He want to be in the room with us?”
- Asking questions on the inside like “Does He really Love me?”
- “Am I really forgiven”
- “What do I need to do to appease Him?”
- “How do I get off of his Naughty list?”
- Never realizing we are asking the wrong questions
- Whether you’re in this room today
- And you have been with the Lord a long time, short time, or have never made him Lord
- It is my prayer today that you find or experience renewed Hope
- That you maybe will find a new way of thinking or a fresh perspective of Jesus
- And how He sees and loves you
- From some today you may even leave here “Surprised by His Grace” for you
- And we will turn to the scriptures to find
- More specifically, in the verses we just read
- Let’s look at it more closely together
- Starting with the first four verses again
Luke 1:26-28
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”
29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
- A lot happens in just these first few verses
- In the Context
- We find out that a newly engaged couple (Mary & Joseph)
- Are about to get the biggest surprise of their life
- God chose them to bring Jesus (His Son) in the flesh into the world
- Now, we could stop and focus on how messy that must have been
- Think about
- Joseph has to go around and tell people his soon-to-be wife is pregnant, but not by him
- That God somehow did it.
- And that the reason they know God did it is that they were visited by angels
- And “Oh yeah, our new Baby is Jesus, the Savior of the world.”
- Talk about messy; it sounds like some of our own family drama
- But that is not where I want to spend our time today
- I want us to see something a little deeper than the surface story
- I want us to see how God is putting His grace on display
- And that in the same way He offers it to Mary
- He is offering it to us today
28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”
29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be.
- Notice the words of the angels, Greeting
- “Favored women”
- This was not just his way of saying “Hey Mary you are extra special, and God chose you for his ultimate plan.”
- No, the angel is telling us all something in the greeting
- And it’s in the word “Favored”
- As we have talked about before, the original New Testament that we are reading from was first written in the Greek Language
- And the original words do not always translate well to the modern language
- So, we may see that word favor
- And go straight to something like “extra special.”
- But the word translates as “Grace.”
- He is saying Grace to you, Mary
- Gods undeserved, unmerited favor to you, Mary
- Notice Mary’s reaction
- “She was deeply troubled by this statement,” wondering
- How could she be greeted this way
- The truth is…it is the same for us
- Today, you woke up and whether you felt good, bad, happy, or sad
- God looked down and said, “This is my son…This is my daughter, and I am pleased.”
- And instead of leaning and embracing His grace being extended to us
- We begin to question him…But don’t you know what I did last night, what I thought, how I acted
- What kind of greeting is this?
- I don’t deserve those words
- Notice then what the angel says to her
Luke 1:30
30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
- He says it again
- Mary, you heard me right the first time
- Don’t be afraid, you didn’t miss it
- You have found favor “Grace with God”
- The word “found” is used in the context
- Where something lost is found or where truth or revelation is discovered
- For many in this room, you were once lost, but now, because of Jesus, you are found
- And He wants to remind you of His Grace…That
- He still sees you the same way today with all of your mistakes and mess up
- As he did the first day you came to him (rejoicing over you)
- Later on, in this same book of Luke, in Chapter 15, He tells three parables
- To remind us of that truth
- He says in
Luke 15:6 – The Lost Sheep
“Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep!’
Luke 15:8 – The Lost Coin
‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’
Luke 15:32 – The Lost Son
32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
- Today, no matter how many times you have messed up
- God extends His Grace to you as his child
- He daily still rejoices over you…because you were once lost and are now found
- In fact, He says it this way as we start each new day
Lamentations 3:22-23
Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!
- You may find yourself this morning surprised by such a greeting
- That He is looking at you, not with eyes of disgust and disdain
- But through eyes of mercy and grace
- Why? The angel tells her and us why
Luke 1:31-33
31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.
32 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.
33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”
- The why is Jesus!
- Why? Because Jesus is Great
- Why? Because of His faithful love
- But we look at how amazing that is
- And say How?
- How can He do this?
- Mary says the same thing
Luke 1:34
34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”
- Mary Says, How?
- “I have not done anything to make this happen.”
- “Don’t you know how this works?”
- “I have to do something to produce Jesus in me.”
- “I have to work harder, try harder to have this kind of grace.”
- And Jesus looks at us and says…
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
- The angel confirms this with his reply to Mary
Luke 1:35
35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
- This is the work of the Holy Spirit
- “My grace is not given to you because of what you have done.”
- But by my spirit and power
- You will have Jesus formed in you
- You will carry with you my grace no matter where you go
- And just to put the icing on the cake
- The angel says I will prove it to
Luke 1:36-37
36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless.
37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
- He tells her about her cousin where, in the natural something impossible is happening
- And says, just like what you see in your cousin is impossible
- What I am doing by giving my Grace to you through Jesus is impossible on your own
- It is my gift to you!
- This messy Christmas is about the greatest gift ever given
- Hear me this morning!
- It can never be a gift if I have to earn it or buy it for myself
- I just get to receive it!
- So, what is Mary’s response to all of this?
- What should our response be?
Luke 1:38
38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
- “I am the Lord’s servant.”
- “I confess you as Lord.”
- “I see who I am in light of who you are.”
- It is the same for you and me
- We just need to throw up our hands in praise and say
- “Jesus, I know I don’t deserve this impossible grace and mercy.”
- “But I confess you as Lord”
- I am grateful that it is not up to me to decide
- You chose me despite me
- I was lost, but now I am found
- Thank you!
- May that be our confession today: “I am the Lord’s servant.”