Third Sunday in Advent (Lessons and Carols)

Father in heaven, we thank you that we have your word, that you have revealed it to us,

and that Jesus was not some plan B, but was from the very beginning.

We thank you that we can go through your scripture and hear the prophecies,

and then read that the prophecies were fulfilled.

Therefore, Lord, we can be confident that what is yet to come will be indeed fulfilled.

So, Lord, we look to you and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.

We will briefly look at our seventh reading.

This is the reading that Jack read. It is the Annunciation, Luke chapter 1, 26 to 38.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

This is the story where the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she will miraculously be with child,

and that her son will be the savior of the world.

This child will be unlike any child that has been born, either before or since.

For this child will be fully human, but also fully God.

This is a short sermon, more of like a homily.

There's too much to cover in this section.

But I want to take a look at two big aspects of the incarnation,

of God becoming man and dwelling amongst us.

We'll understand in these two big points how the incarnation really is our hope.

Not just a hope, but the hope that we have.

And we'll look specifically at the condescension of God in the incarnation,

and also the presence of God in the incarnation.

So we'll begin with the condescension.

Bit of a story.

My first week living in Ottawa, I moved here in the fall of 2006,

and a friend of mine who grew up here, he invited me to join him on a basketball camp to teach some kids.

And the camp wasn't in Ottawa.

It was in Mysticini, which is a Cree community in northern Quebec,

kind of really close to James Bay.

So we hopped on a flight from Dorval to Shibugamu,

and then we took a two-hour, around two-hour, like the worst dirt road trip into Mysticini.

And it was a good time.

I was there with one of my good friends.

But also, it turned out that two players from the Toronto Raptors were going to be there as well.

They weren't like stars.

One guy, he would be on the Raptors for, like, I don't know, five minutes,

and then bounce out of the league.

The other guy was a rookie.

So it's not like I was starstruck.

But nevertheless, here they were.

But one thing we noticed about these guys,

and this is no judgment against them.

I'm sure they were there because of contractual obligations.

But it was very clear they didn't want to be there.

They were condescending, in a sense, to us.

They were fulfilling their obligations, and they left early, actually.

So again, no judgment.

I don't know where these guys were at.

This was their off-season.

Maybe they just needed extra rest.

But it was very clear that we were beneath them,

and this camp was beneath them.

They were condescending to us, and we all knew it.

Luke chapter 1, 26 to 38,

Luke 1 · chapter mention

tells a story about God, the Son of God,

condescending to us,

not just a few of us,

not just a community in Nazareth,

a woman in Nazareth,

but to the whole human race.

God, the Son of God,

who created everything,

chose to descend and take up to Him human flesh,

remaining fully God,

but also becoming fully man.

God did not command us to ascend to Him,

but decided to condescend to us,

to descend to us.

And unlike the basketball players

from the Toronto Raptors,

He did it out of love,

not out of obligation,

not because we somehow twisted His cosmic arm,

we didn't force God,

we didn't put Him in a bind

so that He had to,

under contractual obligation,

descend into humanity.

But because of His great love for us,

He condescended to us.

He moved into our loneliness,

taking up residence

by taking up our humanity.

But it's not just that God,

the Son of God,

came down from heaven to earth,

but ended up in a seat of power.

It's not like He was conceived in Jerusalem,

or Rome,

or any other place

that you could use as,

in a sense,

a beachhead to launch out your ministry.

He went to Nazareth.

Nazareth,

a dinky town,

far from bustling.

In fact,

later on,

Jesus will be,

He will be mocked

from being from Nazareth.

What good can come from Nazareth?

Not only that,

Mary herself was not influential.

She was a peasant woman.

She didn't have much means.

She came from humble means.

She is not royalty,

and she did not deal

in great power.

She did not have much agency.

And yet,

God came down to her.

It was a part of His condescension,

His descent,

so that we did not have to ascend.

You can feel the shock of Mary.

We see this in verse 28 to 29 of verse 1.

It says this,

Greetings,

O favored one.

The Lord is with you.

But Mary was greatly troubled at the saying

and tried to discern what sort of greeting

this might be.

So you see,

God descends

into the lowliest possible region,

into the lowest possible rung,

socially speaking,

and He comes not as some kind of full-grown man

with this developed,

incredible intellect

or huge propensity for war.

He comes as a child in the womb

of a woman who is poor.

In a time when archaeologists would,

they suppose that there was basically

about a 50% infant mortality rate.

One in two children likely died in infancy.

And this is the place where God comes.

2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 says this,

2 Corinthians 8:9

Friends,

in this manner,

God the Father

chose to send God the Son

and the Holy Spirit was at work

through it all

to take on flesh

in the person of Jesus Christ,

to seek and save the lost.

He comes to inaugurate His kingdom

in this way.

The kingdom of Christ

that begins at the Annunciation

is a kingdom that we read

will have no end.

So it seems,

in a sense,

the most unlikely scenario

that could have possibly worked out

may be impossible for it to work out.

And yet,

this is what God chooses.

There's no way that Mary

or the chief priests

or the Pharisees

could somehow claim

that they had a part

to play in redemption.

It is all God

and all of His choosing.

And this is fantastic news for us.

He does not, again,

demand us to ascend.

But He recognizes that we are poor.

So in a sense,

the incarnation,

the condescension of God to us,

the descent from God,

the Son of God,

to earth,

it is God's recognition

and His message to us

that we truly are poor

and broken

and unable to pull ourselves up

from the mess that we find ourselves in.

And He knows that

the only way

that we can have redemption

to mend the chasm

between us and Him

is impossible.

So He does the impossible.

And He gifts us

with His very presence.

And this leads to the second aspect

of the incarnation.

It is God's presence among us.

We read in verse 32,

verse 33,

And the angel said to Mary,

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,

that He will reign over

the house of Jacob forever.

And of His kingdom,

there will be no end.

In response,

Mary asks

the angel in verse 34,

How will this be

since I am a virgin?

If we had more time,

we'd dig into this.

But just briefly,

we see that in this question,

God does not command

some kind of stupid blind faith.

that God delights

in a curiosity

for the truth

that wants to know Him.

We can dig into God's scriptures

and not take it necessarily

at face value

if there is a pebble in your shoe

or something that's kind of

gnawing at the back of your head.

But He welcomes us to seek Him.

And He says,

If we seek Him,

He will be found.

Continues on in verse 35,

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.

Notice that the work

of the Holy Spirit here

is active in a similar way

that we see the Holy Spirit

act in creation.

In the opening verses

of Genesis 1,

it says that the Spirit

hovers over the formless void,

the formless seas,

the formless earth.

So what we see,

in a sense,

what Gabriel is saying

is that the conception

of the Virgin

is no less a work

of divine creation

than creation itself.

You and I create

from readily available materials.

But God creates from nothing.

And in the womb of Mary,

we are seeing God create,

the Spirit of God create,

out of nothing.

In the same way He created

the earth out of nothing.

When it was formless

and void.

This also tells us

that our redemption

was no small feat

and required something

on par with creation itself.

Our redemption

was not a matter

of a small tweak

here or there.

The right kind of political

or financial system.

It was not a matter

of let's try harder.

But required

a creative miracle

that was parallel

to creation itself.

God has gone

to great lengths

to redeem

and to restore

and to mend.

And this is what we see

in the incarnation.

Friends, make no mistake,

salvation and redemption

cannot be wrought

by your own hand.

It is by an act

of divine miracle

and divine miracle alone.

It's a miracle of creation

where God's very presence

comes to reside with us.

Our Emmanuel,

God with us.

So this brings us

to the second aspect

of God's presence.

Not just hovering over Mary

in a creative sense,

but also it reminds us

of God's presence

covering or overshadowing

the tabernacle

in the Exodus account

or on Mount Sinai

when God is getting

the law.

God's personal presence

in those two examples

and elsewhere.

It speaks to God

giving protection

and conveying

a truly connected

intimate relationship

with his people.

It is a sign

that God is among us

and that he delights

to be among us.

Speaks to God's faithfulness

and personal relationship

that he unilaterally initiates

with his people.

So in the incarnation,

God's very presence

becomes so personally

and deeply connected

to humanity

that he doesn't just dwell

with us

kind of over there,

but dwells with us

as one of us

taking again up

our humanity

into his divinity.

Listen, going into this,

God has been silent

for some centuries.

God has not spoken

to his people

and the angst

for the Messiah

to come

was up to an 11.

Is God coming?

Will he come?

Maybe he's forgotten

about us.

God, come.

Send your Messiah

once again

as people were waiting

for his salvation.

Just when things

seem bleakest,

he speaks one more

promising

everything that we need

for salvation

in the most impossible way,

an unlikely way.

But we must remember,

as the angel tells Mary

in verse 37,

nothing is impossible

with God.

Even our sin

and brokenness,

even the estrangement

we have with God

and one another

that is impossible

for us to mend

on our own

is not impossible

for God.

It's a wonderful reminder

and it can become

so often

a cliche thing

to say.

Nothing's impossible

for God.

But friends,

nothing's impossible

for our God.

And this is the story

of the Annunciation,

the Incarnation,

where God took on flesh

and became

one of us.

Friends,

this beautiful truth

was announced

in Mary

2,000 years ago.

and it is announced

to us afresh today.

Thank you.

Thank you.