"Ava Maria"

Dr. Michael Browder, Pastor
Sunday, December 14, 2008

What would you do if an angel appeared to you? This is something that doesn’t happen every day. What would you do if God spoke to you directly? How would you react? This is the question at the heart of our scripture lesson this morning.

Today we have the wonderful story of the Annunciation. The story is about the young woman, Mary. Mary is at the young age for marriage in Bible times. She is surely younger than 20 years old, and quite possibly younger than 16. She is engaged to an older man, Joseph. Many people think that Joseph was a widower. Theirs is a relationship right out of Fiddler on the Roof.

Mary is just minding her own business one day, when the angel Gabriel appears to her. He doesn’t identify himself as an angel. He simply says: “Hail! You are filled with God’s grace and blessing. The Lord is with you. You are the most blessed of women.”

By the way, this is where we get the words of the song Ave Maria. It is Latin for the angel’s words: Ave Maria, gratia plena. Benedicta tu in mulieribus.

The Bible says that when Mary saw this, she started wondering in her mind: What on earth is going on? I can’t say that I blame her. If I was a 16-year-old girl, and some heavenly being walked up to me and said, “God has made you the most blessed of women,” I think that I, too, would wonder what is going on.

Only at this point, does the angel say, “Fear not.” “You don’t need to be afraid, Mary, because God is with you.” Notice the difference between this encounter and when the angel appears to the shepherds. To the shepherds, the angel’s first words are: “Fear not!” Here is a difference between Mary and the shepherds: Her character, her relationship with God is already so close that Gabriel presumes that he can start speaking to her without even having to say: “Fear not.”

Gabriel then tells Mary she is about to conceive a child. It is going to be a son. The angel tells Mary that she should give him the name Jesus. In Hebrew, the name Jesus is the same as Joshua. And it means, “He saves.” The baby, that Mary is about to give birth to, is going to be our Savior. Even his name reminds us of this fact.

And then the angel gives several facts about who this baby Jesus is going to be.

• He is going to be great. You can say that again. He is going to be the greatest person who ever lived.

• He is going to be the “son of the Highest.” That is, he is going to be the Son of God. Jesus will be divine as well as human.

• God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. Jesus is the promised King, the Messiah, or “anointed one,” of the royal line of King David.

• He will reign over the house of Jacob. This means that Jesus will be the king of the Jews, but also the ruler of all of God’s people.

• His kingdom will have no end. That’s my favorite one right there. Jesus not only comes to save us. He also comes to bring us eternal life. Eternal life! Think about it. His kingdom will have no end.

At this point, Mary says, “Whoa! Let’s back the cart up for a minute. Did you say something about having a baby?” “How am I going to have a baby? I’m a virgin for goodness sakes.”

And then the angel drops the big bomb. (As if Mary’s mouth is not already wide open in awe over what’s been said so far.) He says: “Get this, Mary. The Holy Spirit and the Power of God are going to enter you. And you are going to have a baby, even though you are still a virgin.”

At this point, Mary is completely silent. No more obstacles to point out to Gabriel. No more puzzling questions in her mind. She is just completely frozen in amazement.

And so the angel just keeps on chatting. He says, “And furthermore, do you remember your cousin Elizabeth? The one who is childless and well past menopause. Well, she, too, is going to have a baby. What do you think of them apples?

And then Gabriel says something that Mary had always known in her head and her heart, but she had no inkling of how powerfully true it could be prior to that day. The angel said, “Nothing is impossible with God.”

My friend, I think that somewhere buried in the back of your mind, you believe that: “Nothing is impossible with God.” You probably think, “Well, as God, that’s pretty much his job description, isn’t it? As God, he can do most anything he wants to. The whole gamut is open to him.”

Yes, you and I say these things, but we don’t really expect it. You don’t expect the sun to stand still, or the flood to come, or people to rise from the dead. If you were a virgin, you certainly would not be expecting to have a baby.

But, beware. God is looking to do some amazing things. And sometimes he’s looking to do them with you. I don’t know when your day will come. And I don’t know what amazing thing the Lord has in mind. But just you watch. God is going to be doing some amazing things in this world. And you never know. You just can’t tell when he might be about to do them with you.

Finally, Mary speaks. And what she says shows the depth of her faith and her character. In fact, her words become the paradigm for every one of the Lord’s followers from that day on.

Mary says: “I am God’s servant.” In fact, she says, “I am the Lord’s personal slave: His handmaid.” [Greek doule] “If this is what God has proclaimed, then let it happen to me. If this is the Lord’s will, I am ready.”

Praise God! What a response! This is what God is hoping each of us will answer. This is what the Lord is waiting, and listening, and longing for you and me to say: “I am a servant who belongs to God. Let it happen in my life just as He says.” Mary’s son, Jesus, would some day put it in these words: “Not my will, but thy will be done.”

Can you say those words? “I am your servant, Lord. Let it happen in my life just as you say.” “Not my will, but thy will be done.” When you kneel before God in prayer, let those words be found in your heart, and on your lips.

After the angel departed, Mary went to see her best friend and confidant, her cousin Elizabeth. As Mary approached, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb, John the Baptist, leaped (that’s lept in King James English). The unborn John leaped when he felt the coming of Jesus in Mary’s womb. Some of us wouldn’t notice the Lord if he came with 10,000 angels. But John the Baptist worshiped him even before he was born.

Mary and Elizabeth shared their good news with each other. Not one, but two miracles! And then Mary bursts out in a song of praise to God. (You didn’t know that Luke’s Gospel was a musical, did you? But there it is. Right there in the middle of the scene. Mary breaks out singing.

And her song is one of the greatest hymns of praise of all time. She says, “My very soul magnifies God.” In Latin, the word “magnifies” is magnificat. That has been the name of this song for more than 1500 years. We remember that Hebrew poetry has parallelism, and we can see that when Mary reprises her theme, saying, “My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” In other words, “I have rejoiced in God in the past, and I am affirming the Lord’s greatness right now.”

She says, “God has looked down on my faithfulness, even though I was a servant. And now all future generations will call me blessed.” Because she was a servant, Mary became a saint.”

Then Mary continues another parallel word of praise. She says, “God has done great things for me. Holy is his name.” Then she says that God has mercy and blesses all those who fear him. She is talking to you and me. She says, “God has blessed me. And if you come to him with faith, he will bless you too.”

And then she goes on to say, “Don’t worry if you are poor. Don’t worry if you are oppressed. Don’t worry if people treat you like a servant. Those are the very people God loves the most.”

Mary had faith in God and she was touched by God. And let me tell you, people who truly belong to God have a heart for other people in need. People who truly belong to God have a love for other people who are poor.

There are many more things that could be said about Mary from the Bible: How she interacted with Jesus during his ministry. How she stood at the foot of the cross. How she was a leader in the early church.

But the two most important facts about Mary, the things that made her blessed by every future generation, are found in this annunciation story.

First, Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit. No one has ever been more full of the power and presence of God than she was. Second, Mary was a servant of God, filled with deep and profound faith. Probably no pure human being has ever had more faith than Mary. She was totally committed to God’s will being done in her life, whatever it took.

This story is in the Bible because God wants every one of us to be like Mary. It is God’s will to fill each of us, you and me, with his Holy Spirit. But that process comes through faith. The more we empty ourselves through repentance, the more God can fill us with the Holy Spirit. You need to have deep faith and trust. You need to be a servant. Just like Mary. You may not give birth to Jesus. That job has already been taken. But the Lord still has important work for you to do. Just as Mary opened her life for God to come in, won’t you also open your heart and life to God?

Let us pray: Lord we thank you for the story of Mary. What an amazing young woman she was. Help us to be more like her. May we trust you with all of our heart? May we be faithful as your servant? But, oh, Lord, may we be filled with your power and Holy Spirit. Amen.