Why don't you go ahead and grab them and turn to the Gospel of Luke. If you don't have a Bible, there should be one right there in front of you. If you're new around church and don't know where Luke is, that's okay. It's in the New Testament and it's the third book in. And so we're gonna dig in this morning. We're in a series of this season called Regifting Christmas. And we talked last week about the idea that the first and best, and I hit my microphone, the first and best and most valuable gift of Christmas that was given was of course Jesus himself. and that this gift of Jesus is meant to be given away, is meant to be regifted, if you will. And while we know that the idea of regifting has sort of a negative connotation, our hope this season is that we can redeem that idea. And last week, we looked at the story of Joseph and his encounter with the angel and how that Jesus coming means that the source of shame has been pulled up by its root. Because what Jesus came to do was enter into our shame. Here's Joseph, engaged to Mary, discovering that she's pregnant, and it's not his child. And that's a shameful situation, and Jesus is in the midst of all of it. And as Joseph begins to hear what God's plan is in all of it, what he hears is, is that this person, this baby that's going to be born, is going to come and forgive sin. Like that's the purpose of his coming. And we talked about how shame at its base is really is rooted in sin. How in Genesis before the fall there wasn't shame, then they sinned and they noticed they're naked, right? And shame enters in and we've been marked by shame ever since. and that Jesus in his coming not only enters into our shame and walks around in it with us, but he's going to pull it out by its root. All of which brings us to our text this morning, which is in Luke chapter one. Let's read it together. I thought I was already there. Apparently I'm not. Picking it up in verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary, and he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high God. And the Lord will give to him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son and is in the sixth month with her who was called Baron. For nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. and the angel departed from her. And those days Mary went with haste into the hill country to a town in Judah, and she greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leapt in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And wise is granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me. For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leapt for joy, and blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant, For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. For he is mighty, has done great things for me. And holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud. In the thoughts of their hearts, he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. And Mary returned with her about three months and returned, remained with her about three months and returned to her home. Some years ago, I had just, I was transitioning from one job to another and Anita and I were in just a difficult sort of place financially, weren't doing very well. Of course, I was like, we're fine, right? Because that's what we do. And there was a knock at the door and someone from our church had brought us this Thanksgiving basket. We'd somehow gotten on that list, right? And while part of me is grateful, there's this part of me that's like irritated. I'm like, well, I don't need a basket. You think I can't like get a turkey for my wife and daughter? What's the deal? Like, I didn't say any of this out loud, but that's what's going on inside me. My response to a gracious gift is, well, I don't need it, I'm good. And don't you know I can take care of myself? I think so often that's our response. We fail to recognize our own need. Our big idea this morning is this. Did I go too far? Whoa, I really went far. Okay, there it is. The coming of Jesus means the favor of God rests on the poor and the broken. The favor of God rests on those who recognize their own need, that they're poor and broken and really aren't able to provide for themselves. They recognize that they need a rescuer, a savior, and a redeemer. And so, let's take a look at it. Favor with God is rooted in who He is, not who we are. Picking it up in v. 26. In the sixth month, the angel of Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary, and he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. And she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. In these verses, we meet Mary and we learn that she's a young woman from Nazareth. And Nazareth is this little sort of backwater place where really the town didn't amount to much and the people in it, by all accounts, did not amount to much. In fact, we read in John's gospel that someone wanders aloud. Can anything good come from Nazareth? Speaking of the Lord Jesus. And so here she is, she's Mary, she's not from any place special, and she's among a people that aren't anything special. And it's to her that this gift comes. And what we notice is that what the favor is rooted in is not what she's done. You'll notice when he says, you have found favor with God, what he says is, are all about who Jesus is. You shall conceive a son and he will be great. And he will be son of the Most High God. And the Lord will give him the throne of his father David. He's reciting for Mary what Mary would have recognized as God's covenant with David. That his throne would last forever. That that promise is being fulfilled. And this favor that she has found with God is not rooted in where she lives. Not in the people she's among. Not in anything she's accomplished. But what the angel Gabriel highlights for her is who her son's going to be. that our favor with God is going to be rooted in that. And so it is with you. There is no earning with our God. To have favor with him, we need to recognize that we offer nothing, that we're backwater people on a backwater planet who've turned from him. And that if we're going to have favor with him, it's going to be rooted in who he is, not who we are. It's going to be because most high God became man and lived the perfect life that you should live and I should live. And then bore the wrath that you deserve and I deserve on the cross and rose again to new life. That that's how we're going to find favor with God, that there is no other way to do that. And we notice as well that she's concerned about what kind of greeting this is going to be. She's like, well, an angel's here. You ever had someone say, we need to talk? And you're like, what? Like usually when someone comes to my office, it's not because things are good, great, and wonderful, right? Usually there's something going on. And so my blood pressure spikes a little bit. That's going on with Mary. And the angel says, don't be afraid. For you have found favor with God and he proclaims to her news. Maybe, could it be that in our fear, in our doubt, in our worry, in our hurry of the season, that what we need to do is remember the news. The news of a baby born who is going to be most high God and is going to make all things new. See, the antidote to her fear was news. The antidote to her fear was news rooted in who the person and work of Jesus is. Are you fearful this season? Do you find yourself gripped by worry? Do you find yourself riddled with doubt? The antidote to all of it is news of a baby born. That if we believed on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, then forgiveness of sin is yours, and we have found favor with God. Mary is gifted with the gift of favor from God. And that gift came in the form of Jesus. And this is the gift that we have to give away this Christmas. We have the gift of favor with God. With news that can keep at bay all of our worry and all of our fear and all of our cares. That the only thing that can deal with it in any kind of lasting way is the news of Jesus and his coming. And that's what we have to give away. And because we found favor with God, what that does is it enables us to extend that favor. So we can offer forgiveness to that person in your family that there's tension with. You can just offer forgiveness because you've been forgiven much. You can be the person to reach out and go, you know what, we haven't talked in a long time, but it's Christmas. And I've found favor with God, and so I wanna reach out to you. We can reach out to our neighbor with the love of Jesus, not worrying about whether or not they're going to reciprocate, because our security isn't bound up in it. It's bound up in that a baby came and became a man. and loves us so. And so we're freed up to love others. This gift of favor with God is meant to be given away. And so we can offer favor and forgiveness and peace because of a baby born. Because what we have is news, good news to share. And I don't know about you, but it seems like there's a shortage of good news, doesn't there? All the news that's out there, whether it's real or fake, is usually bad. But we have the best news ever. That Messiah has come. That Emmanuel, God with us, like we talked about last week, is here. And this is news that's meant to be given away. So, Since we have favor with God, how do we respond to this grace or this favor? What happens? Okay, we found favor with God. We've recognized that we are poor and broken, that we have nothing, that there's nothing in us that can merit it, that it's all rooted in who Jesus is and not who we are. How do we respond? Well, what do we do with that? Well, first we respond with faith, picking it up in verse 34. And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, since I am a virgin? And the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, and the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and in the sixth month with her, who was called barren. for nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. Mary responds to this most amazing news with a very natural question. Okay, how? How will these things be? Now she's not like saying that they won't be, she's not like questioning that they will, but she's wondering how is this going to happen? What do you, I don't understand, help me get it. And what's interesting here, she's worried because she's a virgin, like how is this even possible? And the angel tells her really how her virginity is not an obstacle for God. In fact, it's kind of a requirement in this case, right, because of the prophecies. that the Messiah would be born to a virgin. And so the thing that she thinks is an obstacle is not, it's not an issue for God. In fact, it's the thing that is required. And then he tells her the story of how it's going to be. He's saying, here's what God's going to do. Here's how he's going to use you. Here are the things that he's going to work in you. And by the way, I'm able to do anything. Elizabeth is pregnant too. You see, here she is, no doubt, no doubt running the scenarios in her head. I mean, there's an awkward conversation with Joseph coming. She knows what this is gonna mean for her in her community. Because unmarried, pregnant women in that community have a high price to pay. Not like ours. I mean, maybe in some communities there's some, but not like for her, it's huge. It's a big deal. And so she hears what the Lord is going to do and what his plan for her is. And it means that her dream for how her marriage was going to start is over. Right? Her whole, her storybook, whatever, that's all gone now. And what does she say? She says, may it be to me as you have said, I am your servant, I'll do whatever you say. She does two things. She believes what the angel told her. Okay, I'm in. I believe you. And yeah, it sounds crazy and totally different than anything my life or my culture or my situation would expect from me, but okay, I believe you. And then she says, and I'll do whatever you say. You, Lord God, have the sovereign right to tell me how I ought to live, what my dreams ought to be, how I should move forward. And she says, I'll do whatever you say. The faith she shows is obedient faith. Obedient faith. The gift she gives back to God is her faith and her obedience. Oh, that we would respond that way. That we would come to the end of ourselves and give to God the gift of faithful obedience. Because faith without obedience is not faith, it's intellectual agreement. Faith without obedience, without saying, okay, God, you have the right to do whatever you want with me, isn't faith. It's intellectual agreement. And for her, it goes so much deeper than that. Okay, Lord, I'm all in. Whatever it means, whatever it costs, whatever amount of pride I have to swallow, I'm all in. What steps of faith this Christmas might he be calling you to make? What areas of your life might he be calling you to surrender and go, okay, Jesus, I'm all in? I'm all in no matter what the cost is to me. No matter how much pride I have to swallow, no matter if everyone I know in my whole community thinks I'm crazy. I'm all in. May it be as you have said, and do with me what you like, because I'm yours. Because I'm yours. When was the last time we offered ourselves to Jesus in that way? Just said, man, I'm yours, I'm all in, no matter what. No matter what it costs. Because that's how we respond to the favor of God. And remember, she's just heard that the long-awaited Messiah is coming, and her response is, okay, I'm in, whatever you say. And we know that he's come, right? We know that he's come, and we anticipate that he's coming again. that we would respond like Mary and go, I'm all in. I'm yours. Do with me whatever you want because I am your servant. So we respond with faith, with fellowship, picking it up in verse 39. In those days, Mary arose and went with haste to the hill country to a town of Judah. And she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she exclaimed with a loud cry, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb left for joy. Unblessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. So in these verses, what we see is that Mary's response to this news, this most amazing news, is to seek out those that she can share it with. So she hears the news that the Messiah is coming, and that Elizabeth is gonna be having a baby, and so what she does is she books it to her place. And she tells her of this amazing news. Messiah has come. Gabriel came, he talked to me, he told me that his kingdom's never going to end, that he's going to be most high God, and he's gonna be living under my roof. What a mighty and merciful God we serve. And notice what happens in Elizabeth because she shares this news. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and she pronounces a blessing on Mary and her baby. Isn't, is that not what we hope and pray happens here every week? That as we proclaim the good news of Jesus, of our having found favor with Him, we know the world is looking for a Savior and we have found one in Jesus. And as we proclaim that to one another, our hope is that the Spirit would work in our hearts in such a way that blessing comes out of our mouths. Is that not what we're hoping happens here? and in your homes, and in your neighborhoods, and in your workplaces, that when we hear the news of our having found favor with Him, we gather as many people we can and we share that news in such a way that the Spirit of God applies the truth of that to our hearts, and blessing, it springs up in us and out of our mouths. that that would happen, that that would happen here and everywhere, because we're so excited about what's happened. You see, her hearing the news about Jesus causes her to seek out community, and she seeks it with her cousin Elizabeth. Our hope in our prayer as we re-gift Christmas is that we would see this happening all around, that we would proclaim Him and His soon return, and that doing so would produce joy in the work of the Spirit. And it's why the gift of Christmas was meant to be given away. So seek out others with whom you can live out obedient faith with. Seek out others with whom you can live out obedient faith with. A great place to do that here at Hillside is in your life groups. In our life groups, we would be proclaiming Christ to one another and it would move us that the Spirit would work in us and blessing would happen as a result. See what Mary does is she hears the news and she seeks out. She seeks out people that she can share it with and live it with. In fact, she stays there, we think, until John's born. She stays three more months. We know from the end of the passage. Partly longer visits were more common. Then some of you were like, I don't want my relatives for three months. That's not what I'm saying. I am saying, though, that what if the focus was the good news? One of the focuses we were proclaiming to each other here in the sanctuary, out in the lobby, in the parking lot, the good news of Jesus, that we have found favor with him. How might the spirit move? And might not blessing be on our lips instead of the complaining and worry and bitterness that so often fills our mouths this season? I think this could change everything. So, go to your neighbors, your local rescue mission, armed with coats and sweatshirts and what have you, and do so in the name of Jesus. Call your estranged mother, uncle, sister, friend, and offer grace because of the grace of Jesus. Because this work of grace that you've been favored in this way is meant to be given away. It's meant to be given away. And what the result is, is joy, the work of the Spirit and blessing. Don't you want that? I want it too forever and amen. And finally. with worship. Picking it up in verse 46. And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their hearts. and he has brought down the mighty from their thrones, exalted those of humble estate, and has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. Having gathered with Elizabeth and presumably Zachariah, Mary's heart turns to worship and notice the elements of her song. She recognizes her humble estate, her brokenness before him. And all who find favor with God recognize their own need, their own brokenness, their own lack of resources to do anything about their sin and the darkness and emptiness and chaos that results. We recognize our own inability to do any of that. And then she moves on from her poverty and emptiness to the goodness, greatness, and mercy of God. She moves away from her lack into his plenty on what he's done and what he will do and the things he's done for her and the things he's going to do for the world. How the hope for the poor and the oppressed and how Jesus' hope for the poor and the oppressed and the powerless. And this is what worship is. Worship is a response to the revelation about who Jesus is. Worship is a response to revelation about who Jesus is. And so she responds by saying, I'm poor and humble and nothing, but oh God, you're everything and you're going to do, you've done great things for me and you are hope for the poor. And all those who think they're something, the rich and the high and mighty don't have anything because they insist they can do for themselves. They're like a fool rejecting a Thanksgiving turkey. Because they think they're something. But the Lord does for those who cannot. See, there's this lie that people say the Bible says God helps those who help themselves. And that's like the opposite of what the Bible says. The Lord rescues those who have no hope of helping themselves, who can do nothing apart from him. The Lord doesn't help those who pull themselves up by their bootstraps. He helps those who recognize that they're nothing. And so the rich and the poor, the rich and the mighty are put in their place because they depend on their wealth and their position rather than Jesus. What Mary's proclaiming here, what she's worshiping for, is that He rescues those who are desperate and need rescuing. Those who are desperate and need rescuing. And here's the truth, that's all of us. All of us need rescuing. All of us need to respond to God for who He is by recognizing our own brokenness and our need for a Savior. See, what Christmas is about is less about like giving gifts and receiving the gift of Jesus. And we respond by worshiping Him and giving it away. By proclaiming it to those who are near and to those who are far away. All of which brings us back to our big idea. The coming of Jesus means the favor of God rests on the poor and the broken. The coming of Jesus means that favor is not found in good deeds or riches or status. It means that the rich and the powerful will not have the last say. It means that if we humble ourselves and look and acknowledge and look our spiritual poverty in the eye and cry out to him for mercy, it is mercy we shall find. And then his grace and his mercy will rest on us. And the response to this is faith. Believing him when he says that we are forgiven and free. and then responding to that freedom and that love and that grace and that mercy by being obedient to him and saying, Lord, I'm yours. Whatever the cost, whatever you're asking me to do, whatever it means for me, I belong to you. And so do with me as you will. Lord, I'll get over my anger and bitterness at my sister. I will, because I know that's what you want me to do. I will move past my ambition. For so long, I've made ambition the main thing. And Lord Jesus, I confess I've been ambitious for all the wrong things. Would you fill me with the ambition for you and for your kingdom? Lord God, I'll do whatever you say. And two, we're to respond with fellowship, with seeking out community, people that we can walk in obedient faith with, proclaiming the gospel to one another, because it's not just for those who are lost, but for those who are found. You see, I need Jesus as much today as the day I first met him. I'm as desperate for his work in my life today as I was on that day at Hillard Comstock Junior High in 1989. See, I still need to hear the message even now, that my sins are forgiven, and that I am not defined by the parts of me I wish no one knew, that I belong to Him, and that in the end, my works merit nothing, and so I can rest in being His. That's what I need to hear this morning. It's what I need to hear when you'll come into my office. And you need to hear it too. And if we're committed to proclaiming that to one another, the Holy Spirit will apply that truth to our lives, and then the result will be blessing welling up in us, being on our tongues and out our mouth. Then Merry Christmas becomes not a greeting, but a proclamation. An admission of our own desperate need, and that our need has been met in a baby. And finally, we respond with worship. Proclaiming His goodness and greatness and mercy and power and ability to save. His goodness and greatness and mercy and ability to save. When we encounter Jesus for who He really is, the only thing we can do is worship. We respond to Him for who He is and what He has done. and we give him glory and honor because of it. By the way, that's why we gather here every week. I mean, there's lots of things we could do on Sunday morning, right? But we gather here as a way of proclaiming his worth, that he's more important than an extra hour of sleep or empty aisles at the shopping market so you can get your stuff done. He's more important than football glory, right? I'm gonna get email about that. I'm serious though. Our gathering here is our way of prioritizing him and saying you're more important than all that stuff. And so we gather together and we tell each other the gospel. And the idea is, is that the Spirit applies that to us and then we're blessed throughout the week. That's why we do what we do here, just in case you're wondering. This Christmas, may we give away this gift and tell those who are near and those who are far that favor can be found with God. And let's allow Christmas to move us to worship Him Because in our needy and lost state, he sees you and loves you and sent his son to redeem you. Let's worship him for who he is and what he has done. Let's pray. Oh Lord Jesus, I just thank you for your coming. And that because you came, we have found mercy and grace and pardon forevermore. that because of you we can respond in faith and with gathering together to fellowship and to proclaim your goodness and with worship because of who you are and what you have done. Lord, there's some here who've never said, Lord, I'll do whatever you want. I'm yours, whatever it means. Would you move in them this morning? And there are some who've said that but just haven't surrendered all the way. Would you enable them this morning to give to you the gift of their surrender and recognizing their own need? Lord God, we are just grateful for your mercy to us. In Jesus' name, amen.