Cry Out:
For He has answered!
“The Lord Is With You!”
Luke 1:26-38

†  Jesus! Son! Savior †

May the grace and peace of God which passes all understanding enable you to ponder the depth of His love. For you and your world. Amen!

• Hail Mary… full of grace, the Lord is with thee..

As someone who grew up Roman Catholic, hearing the gospel this morning seemed, well, a little off.

I mean, I know it is perfectly accurate when it says,

“Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

but I will always hear this passage in the way I memorized it as a kid,

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee….

It means the same thing – and we have to understand what it means, and more importantly, why it means that….

It is not for us a prayer to her, but as with so many in scripture, an opportunity to contemplate the work of God in her life, that we might comprehend His work in ours.

The reason for this is clear, though we don’t carry Jesus physically for 9 months, we are still united to Him, because “we are favored by God”, or to use the old words, “we are full of grace!”

• Confused and disturbed – at a message from God?

Before finding out she was about to become pregnant, Mary reacted to the presence of the angel, and his opening line about being favored—filled with grace.

It isn’t a bunch of “praise the Lord!” and “Alleluias.” She was in shock. The older translations say she was “greatly troubled,” but the modern translation does a good job—she was “confused and disturbed and she tried to think what the angel could mean!”

If she was confused and disturbed by an angelic being telling her she had been found in favor with God, that she would be blessed beyond belief, how much more would she be confused by the idea of carrying Jesus for nine months and giving birth to the One who would die to save mankind?

But we have the same confusion when it comes to God visiting us. We have the same reaction when God is calling us to something – especially if it is difficult and may leave us open to ridicule, or lead to uncomfortable conversations.

Who me God? How can this be? I have never done anything like this before!

Or maybe we answer like Moses, I am to shy, I can’t speak, I don’t have the charisma, I am not the right age, I don’t want to go live in the desert, I don’t….

It’s not that we don’t believe in God, but we struggle to depend on Him when what He has planned for us is beyond our imagination, beyond our comfort zone.

It would so easy to say “no”, it would be so easy to say, “that’s impossible, it would be so easy to dismiss the call of God on our lives.

Or so we think….

• Our Response to the Word of God not failing

The angel gave her an answer, this is how it will be, and here is a great thing you can do to confirm this, go check with your cousin Elisabeth, she’s got some interesting news… even though she’s over 75-nearly 80- she’s pregnant! You remember her – the one everyone gossiped about because she was considered cursed and barren…

Now I would suggest – even hope that none of our 70 plus year olds would have to get pregnant for God to make His point about your life being one that is special, but if it has to happen….

Seriously, we have a promise that proves it, the presence of the Holy Spirit given to us as we were born again with Him in baptism. The Holy Spirit who Jesus promised will “teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” John 14:26 (NLT2)

It is the same thing that Paul taught about when he wrote,

“¹⁸  I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, ¹⁹  and how very great is his power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰  which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world.”  Ephesians 1:18-20 (TEV)

That Holy Spirit, who came upon Mary and resulted in her pregnancy and our salvation, is at work in us- blessing us, filling us with His grace – as much as He filled Mary with grace, and because of the same death and resurrection that makes this all possible.

So as we transition from Advent to Christmas in this service, as we celebrate God coming into the world to dwell with us…

You may find this confusing and overwhelming – as much as Mary did, when the Angel spoke those words,

But Greetings my friend, the grace of God is poured out on you, for the Lord is with you!

Now bring Him into the world – and let God’s word determine your life, for you live in Jesus… AMEN!