Please stand for the reading of God's word. The Proclamation of God's Word, from Luke 1, 26-38. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of 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. And the Lord God 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 this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold, I am a servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. You may be seated. Okay. Well, have you ever been asked to do something big? something maybe a little bit too big that seemed impossible, maybe, at first blush, but because of the person who was asking you to do this big, maybe even impossible thing, you loved them, you respected them, you thought, well, I'll give this a try. Kids, you probably have experienced this with your parents. You may not remember being a toddler, but I'm sure there were many times where your mom or your dad sat down in the living room a couple feet away from you, and they extended their arms out to you, and they said, come, And as a toddler who really could not walk, all you could do was couch surf, you decided to give it a try anyway. And I'm sure there were many attempts where you mostly fell but were caught until you finally got the walking thing down. Maybe you remember a parent teaching you how to ride your bike. Man, it sure looked easy when other people rode their bike, but when you got on, it was all wobbles. It seemed impossible. You probably crashed a number of times, but that parent kept assuring you, you can do this. Just keep trying, you've got this. Or how about this one? When I was 15 years old, my parents were teaching me to drive, and they had a manual transmission car, a GeoPrism, and they wanted me to learn how to do the stick shift, and so my mom took me out to the high school parking lot. And she figured, hey, no traffic, right? So let's get down this whole clutch timing thing with the stick shift, the whole feel of it first before we get out onto the road. And man, for the life of me, I could not figure out this whole clutch thing. And I was stalling this car out time after time after time. And my mom, bless her heart, she could not figure out how to stall because she was so good at this. And she's trying to understand what's going wrong. And we ended up very, very frustrated. So she taps out. And she has my dad, you know, take a turn at this. And we're still at the high school parking lot. And, you know, I'm still in the same situation and I can't figure this thing out. And my dad says to me, and my dad is very laid back. He is not like a hard driving person at all. He says to me, take it out on the road. And I'm freaking out. What are you talking about? That's impossible. Take it out onto the road. But you know what? We took it out onto the road, and I pretty quickly figured out how to do that clutch, stick, shift, timing thing because of all the pressure of all the cars around me. So Dad was right. Good job, Dad. Man, God does the same thing with us, right? He calls us to big things that sometimes feel impossible. And he wants us to trust him rather than trust our own selves. And we see this exact dynamic at play in the scripture passage that we heard this morning. And in that passage, we see that nothing is impossible for God. His word will never fail. And so therefore, we can trust him at his word. We're going to see three things that kind of stand out from this text. The first is that the God of the impossible speaks. The second is that the God of the impossible sends. And the third is that God's word will never fail. So first, we see that the God of the impossible speaks. We see here in Luke 1 that God is ending 400 years of prophetic silence, which Javier said last week very well. From Malachi to Matthew, 400 years without a true prophetic word from God. God's people throughout their history in good times and in bad had grown accustomed to having God's prophets declaring to them God's word. Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and on and on, for prophecy to cease for 400 years was striking. It was disorienting. It was haunting. The people of God must have wondered, where is God? Why is he so silent? And we can relate to that feeling. We know what it's like to wait through a silent period. As New City Church, we are in a period of waiting. We're waiting for a new senior pastor, six months and counting. Individually, in our own lives, there's no doubt that there's some of us right now who feel like we're in a long and endless waiting period. We're waiting for God to show up. It's been weeks, it's been months, it's been years, and we need him to speak. We need him to act. As the worldwide body of Christ, we are in a period of waiting, from the first advent of Jesus 2,000 years ago to his second advent, 2,000 years and counting. We know what it's like to wait through silent periods with God. But let me offer you two comforts in the silent period. First, God still speaks in the silent periods. He speaks by his Holy Spirit, and he speaks especially by his Word. Even in those long seasons when you feel like God isn't speaking to you, or even listening, he is still speaking by his Word. Just as the people of God for 400 years, from Malachi to Matthew, could read the Word of God and hear God speaking to them, even if faintly. So too, we can hear God speak to us today through reading his word, through prayer, through the leading of the Holy Spirit within us. He who promised that he will never leave you nor forsake you, but rather that he will be with you always to the end of the age, he will never cease to speak to you by his word. Second, God's silent periods will not last forever. The silent periods will come to an end, And that's exactly what we see here in Luke 1. In God's perfect timing, the silent periods of our lives come to an end. That's perspective that produces hope in our hearts. Psalm 30, verses 4 and 5 say, Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Here in Luke 1, we see the end of a significant silent period. God is once again speaking to his people through his angel Gabriel, and he has a double announcement. So the first thing that we see is that the God of the impossible speaks. The second thing we see is that the God of the impossible sends. God sends a herald, the angel Gabriel. Whereas before we're told that Zechariah saw an unnamed angel of the Lord in verse 11, and then that angel is identified or identifies himself as Gabriel in verse 19. Here in our passage today, we're told right away that it's Gabriel who is sent to Mary. His first announcement was last week to Zechariah and to Elizabeth. He was announcing the forerunner, John the Baptist. Here we have Gabriel's second announcement. God is sending his son, Jesus. Gabriel tells Mary many wonderful things about this surprise baby. His name will be Jesus, in verse 31. In verse 32, he will be great. He will be the son of the Most High. He will be heir to the throne of David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, in verse 33, and of his kingdom there will be no end. In verse 35, he will be called holy and the son of God. If you know nothing about the Bible, today happened to be the first time you even heard of Jesus, I think it would still be plain to see that this baby Jesus is very special. But if we listen to this announcement from Gabriel with Jewish ears from the first century, we begin to hear and to see and to understand just how deeply significant this announcement is and how deeply significant the baby is that's being announced. This baby will be named Jesus Jesus is a common Hebrew name, which we've heard of, which we have, called Joshua. And it means Yahweh saves, or God saves. It comes from an Old Testament figure and prophet, Joshua, who led the people of God out of their Exodus wanderings and into the conquest of the Promised Land. Turns out Gabriel makes one other visit. In Matthew 1.21, he visits Joseph and he explains that this child will be named Jesus, just as he does here to Mary. And he explains that he's named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. So, this Joshua, this Jesus, will lead his people out of a far more deadly peril, which is that of their own sins, and into an eternal kingdom from which they can never be exiled. This baby will be great, the son of the Most High. This is echoes of 2 Samuel 7, verses 12 to 16, which say, When your days are fulfilled, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. This baby will be the heir to the throne of David. Echoes of Psalm 132, verses 11 to 12, which say, The Lord swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back. One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne. This baby will reign over the house of Jacob forever. echoes of Daniel chapter seven, verses 13 and 14. And I saw in the night visions and behold with clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. and his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. This baby, his kingdom, it will have no end. Echoes of Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 and 7. For unto us, a child is born. To us, a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it. This baby will be called holy. Echoes of Psalm 1610, which Acts 2, 25 through 32 quotes and attributes to Jesus and says, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your Holy One see corruption. This baby will be called the Son of God. Echoes of Psalm 2, 7 and 8, which says, I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. See, if we listen to Gabriel's announcement with Jewish ears from the first century, alarm bells are going off everywhere. It's happening. He's here. He's finally here, the one that God has been promising all this time. The Messiah, the son of David, the one who rescues us from our sin and frees us from our oppressors, who will turn the upside down things right side up. The anointed one who will establish the rule and the reign of God. He's coming. He's coming now. What kind of baby is this? Well, it's precisely the baby that we need. Our Heavenly Father, who created us and loves us dearly, has become the object of our scorn and rebellion. We constantly choose our own way rather than God's way. Apart from Him, our hearts are sick with sin, and that's exactly why He's sending His baby son, to save us from our sins. If we would simply acknowledge what's true, that we are sinners alienated from God and in need of His restorative work, seeking His forgiveness and reconciliation, Placing our full faith and confidence in Him, He will rescue us from our justly deserved condemnation and welcome us into His family. This is the gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you feel your heart inclined towards Jesus today, if you're ready to turn to Him for the first time, cry out to God and receive His Son as your Lord and your Savior. This baby, is also precisely the baby that God has promised to send, which we've just seen. All of which serves to prove another point, which is that God's word will never fail. And that's the third thing that we see. God's word will never fail. Now let's take a minute to consider Mary, who's also at the center of this story that we've read. Here's some things that are true about Mary. Scholars believe that Mary, at this time in this story, is about 12 to 14 years old. Middle schoolers and high schoolers among us, if you have been tuned out until now, now's the time to tune back in. Mary is a very young teenager. She's 12 to 14 years old. She's betrothed or engaged to Joseph, who is in all likelihood between 16 and 19 years old. There's some debate about that, but that's the way I lean on this one. And so you see that God is writing a teenage love drama into the very center of the most important story of all of history. The baby Jesus is going to be born to some teenage parents, which is incredible. Mary is also a virgin. Now I have to say from time to time it becomes fashionable to call into question whether Mary really was a virgin or whether it's necessary to believe in the virgin birth. because after all, maybe virgin just means young woman or unmarried, like our English word maiden does. But I think the text is very clearly presenting Mary as a virgin, not just a young, not just unmarried, but clearly as a virgin, and we'll see more on that in a minute. Mary is also from Nazareth. Nazareth is not on the maps. Nazareth is a village existing in obscurity. Which means Mary probably would have expected to live a life of obscurity. She probably had no expectation of being a public figure or an influencer. She had no expectation of making a headline or a history book. She probably just had an expectation of living an ordinary, humble life in an obscure village in the ancient Near East. You could say that in the eyes of the world, Mary is a nobody from nowhere. And it's to this girl that God sends one of his chief angels and says, Mary, you get the joy and the honor of being the mother to the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Mary, I choose you. Here's an application for you and for me. God chooses nobodies from nowhere. to play major roles in accomplishing his plans and purposes for all of redemptive history. See, you don't have to be from a big city. You don't have to have a big TikTok or Instagram following. You don't have to have a great educational background or a great professional resume or professional network. You don't even have to be in your 20s. God can use you. If your heart is wholly given to God, he can use you and he will use you. Now, Mary has a question. This is all wonderful news. It's overwhelming news. But she has a question, and that's understandable. Verse 34, she asks, how will this be since I'm a virgin? The Greek here says, how will this be since I do not know a man, literally. So first, this is where it's clear that virgin means virgin. Mary has faithfully followed what God has commanded. She's kept herself sexually pure until marriage so that she can honor God and give her whole self to her husband. The second thing is, Mary's question is a clear juxtaposition with Zechariah, who we heard about last week, who also had a question. And a couple things to note. The actual wording of Zechariah's question and Mary's question here are really not that different. The key difference is not in the words of the questions that they ask. Rather, the key difference is the heart posture of their question asking. Remember from last week that we saw that Zechariah was called righteous and blameless along with his wife, Elizabeth, and yet he doubts God's word to him. spoken through Gabriel. Now here's the thing that I love about the Scripture. It's not just a collection of stories that are made up. And so it doesn't just have simple, flat, two-dimensional characters, as a storybook might have, where some are good and others are bad. Rather, the Scripture is an accurate retelling of history, of real history, of real people who are complex, And that's why it can be true at the same time that Zechariah is both righteous and yet doubting. Mary, although the text doesn't explicitly call her righteous and blameless, like it does for Zechariah, nevertheless, she also seems to be righteous and blameless. She's called the favored one in verse 28. And in verse 30, she's found favor with God. She has kept herself a virgin. like we just pointed out. And Mary asks her question in verse 34 from a believing heart, from a trusting heart, which we see in her response in 38, which says, she says in verse 38, behold, I am a servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. Now that's what I call radical, simple faith. See, whatever dreams or plans Mary had for her life up until now, whatever dreams she might have begun to have about her children, her family, her married life with Joseph, that's all changing in this moment. Whereas Elizabeth just celebrated that God was removing reproach from her life, removing shame from her life by giving her a child, here Mary, who is also getting a child, is willingly embracing a life that will be overshadowed with shame. That's because And if you're a parent, imagine your teenage daughter or son trying to explain this situation to you. No amount of explaining how an angel from God told her that she would become miraculously pregnant by the Holy Spirit would really adequately do. It couldn't stop the shaming glances from her family and her community or silence the mumbling gossip. Mary's life would be a life of being misunderstood and unjustly shamed. And Mary is willingly embracing that life, a life full of difficulty. Now, how can she do that? She can do that because the Word of God will never fail, for nothing will be impossible for God. Look at verse 37. In the ESV Bible, the angel Gabriel concludes by saying, for nothing will be impossible with God. And that's a true sense of that sentence. But a closer word-for-word translation of the original Greek would have Gabriel saying something like, And if you look at the New Living Translation, it actually has that. That's ironic. Usually NLT is more idea-for-idea. ESV is word-for-word. But here we are, a little flip-flop. So, if the word of God will never fail, Mary can trust God at his word. If all that God has promised in his word is coming to pass in this moment, And if God wants Mary to be a central part in his great plan, then Mary can surrender all of her plans and her whole life over to God. If the word of God will never fail, well, what else is there to say? Behold, I am a servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. In closing, here's where this hits me. thinking about my own life, that it's pretty important. I don't know if you can relate. I get very caught up in my own plans, in my own problems. Sure, I want God's help and I want God's blessings, but do I want God's plan? I mean, do I really want God's plan rather than my plan? Am I willing for God to change everything in order to get me on his plan? If I'm honest, I'm much more likely to respond like Zechariah than I am to respond like Mary. But, O Lord, give me a heart like Mary and a heart like Elizabeth, two women of faith who were ready for your appearing." 2,000 years ago, God ended a long silence announcing that he would finally send his long-anticipated son, Jesus, to be king over God's people and to inaugurate an eternal kingdom Jesus, before his ascension to heaven, promised that he would one day return. In Hebrews 9, 27, and 28, we read, just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Jesus will come again to gather his people to himself and, as the Jesus Storybook Bible says, to make all the sad things come untrue. Therefore, we can have hope while we wait for his second advent. We can have radical and simple faith like Mary as we await the sure coming of our Savior, Jesus. Nothing is impossible for God. His word will never fail, and therefore we can trust him at his word. Let's pray.