Luke 1:5-38 - Grace To and Through the Overlooked wk 2 of Series (Good News of Great Joy for All People)

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

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We began a sermon series last Sunday in the Gospel of Luke.

Getting a chance to hear Luke talk to us about the purpose of writing his book, that we would

have our doubts and our struggles brought to God and have them addressed by his word

with truth about Jesus, who he is, what he did, how he turns our expectations and assumptions

upside down and yet at the same time remains at the center always, always the focus of our

attention and of what God is doing in our lives.

And that's true this week.

Even before we get to the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, he's at the center.

It's all about him.

The whole point this morning as the angel Gabriel comes to two different people is that Jesus

is no ordinary baby.

In fact, that in Jesus, God displays his redeeming grace and his rescuing power in a unique way.

This will indeed be a unique child to be born.

The unique circumstances we'll read this morning surrounding his birth will highlight his unique

identity and mission while at the same time they'll demonstrate the astonishing and unique

power of God.

For now, I'm just going to read the end of the passage we'll look at this morning.

Beginning in verse 34 after Gabriel has delivered a shocking message to the Virgin Mary,

you will bear the Son of God.

Hear God's word at Luke 1 in verse 34.

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 the servant of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

And the angel departed from her.

Pray with me.

Father, thank you for your word.

Thank you for this passage that reminds us very directly that nothing is impossible with

God.

And because of that, Father, we come to you this morning with things that may seem impossible

to us.

And we ask that you would speak to us.

That we would hear.

That we would have not just ears to hear, but minds to understand and hearts to believe.

So, Father, would you do that?

Would you even speak through me?

Through someone who himself must believe again today?

Father, use me and speak clearly through your spirit that we might be changed forever.

Do that because we desperately need you.

We need you to speak to us.

We need you to change us.

And we ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

I mentioned we're going to look at two angelic visits this morning.

Luke sets them up as an interesting study in comparison and contrast.

You'll see that as we read through them.

You'll notice the similarities and differences.

Let's look at the first one beginning in verse 5.

Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, a priest and his wife of pure religious pedigree, have been faithfully following God

for many years.

All the way into their old age, right?

And all along as they've followed God, they've been doing so with a heavy burden.

With unfulfilled longings.

The desire of their hearts to have a child.

But Elizabeth is barren.

We find out later on in verse 25 that this is not only a deep grief for them, but also

a public shame.

The passage is clear that their situation is not, in fact, a divine punishment.

But people in the community have taken it as such.

As an indication of a lack of God's blessing towards them.

A reproach.

A black mark.

A burden that they have now carried beyond their childbearing years.

And as we keep reading, Zechariah goes into the temple of God at the peak of his religious

service to burn the incense.

This would have been the only day of his life he got chosen for this special task.

And in the middle of it, an angel shows up with a message for him.

Verse 11.

There appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him.

But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah.

For your prayer has been heard.

And your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name John.

Imagine the emotion Zechariah is having.

He didn't see this coming and all of a sudden a son.

A son.

We've been waiting for this.

But the angel continues.

Verse 14.

And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth.

For he will be great before the Lord.

And he must not drink wine or strong drink.

And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.

And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah.

To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.

And the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.

To make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

Not just a son.

Not just any son.

Now certainly Zechariah had prayed for a son.

I suspect many times.

But the prayer the angel says has been heard.

Is most likely his prayer for the redemption of God's people.

That he would have just been praying before the altar of God.

For God to break his silence.

400 years.

And send the Messiah to rescue his people.

And that indeed is what the angel is announcing.

Zechariah's son John will prepare the way for God's gracious redemption.

It's happening.

But Zechariah can't believe what he hears.

Maybe you don't blame him.

But he protests that they're too old.

And he asks for a sign.

And he receives one.

A gracious discipline.

To help him trust God's word.

He will be mute.

Until the baby is born.

So this scene closes with Elizabeth rejoicing in God's grace to her.

She says thus is the Lord done for me.

In the days when he looked on me.

To take away my reproach among people.

How incredible she says.

God has heard the cry of our hearts.

Our whole lives we have suffered waiting for a son.

Our whole lives we have suffered waiting for God's redemption of his people.

We've carried grief.

We've carried shame.

We've felt forgotten.

And now both these things are going to happen at the same time.

Both the things we've been longing for and waiting for are coming.

And isn't this just like God?

Who time and again uses childless couples.

In the advancement of his kingdom.

Just think back to many examples in the Old Testament.

You could start with Abraham and Sarah, right?

Childless at the age of a hundred and then Isaac comes.

You could think of Hannah and Elkanah who are blessed with Samuel later in life.

Think of widowed Ruth who not only receives a husband in Boaz.

But then with him bearing children who are in the line of Jesus.

God meets us in our pain and our disgrace to remind us that he's not forgotten us.

And also to show his miraculous power that indeed nothing is impossible with God.

That's the message here.

No barren womb prevents him from giving life and rescuing his people.

He's intent on giving gifts that people have not earned.

He has a son coming for Zechariah and Elizabeth.

And a savior coming for his people.

Elizabeth realizes when she says this at the end of this scene.

I think she realizes in her suffering what our African American brothers and sisters

have learned over the years in their suffering.

As one of their sayings goes,

God may not come when you want him.

But he's always on time.

That's true, isn't it?

It may not always be our time.

It may not always be what we want.

But it is right on time.

Elizabeth helps us hear the message that the angel delivered to Zechariah.

It's a message of grace.

Of unmerited favor from God.

That we'll hear repeatedly this morning.

God's message through Gabriel is this.

Grace to you, Zechariah.

Don't lose heart.

Don't be afraid.

Don't give up hope.

My redeeming grace and rescuing power are coming to you.

And through you to many others.

That's what Zechariah hears.

But then the scene shifts from mighty Jerusalem to a tiny town called Nazareth.

Of which it is said in these days,

Can anything good come from Nazareth?

They didn't think so.

But Gabriel visits there a young woman named Mary

who's engaged to a man named Joseph.

Yes, the Mary and Joseph you're familiar with.

You can be quite confident as you begin to read the portion of God's word

where Gabriel comes to Mary

that Mary didn't have grand thoughts of herself before the angel came.

Too young to be important.

Women were not well respected in the culture of the day.

And besides that, she's from Nazareth.

Low expectations.

Let me explain it to you this way so you.

Get a little bit of the feeling of how Mary might have felt.

I was watching the Olympics this week

and saw a swimming race where all the attention was focused

in the middle of the pool on the American and Australian swimmers,

the powerhouse favorites who were supposed to win the race,

the top qualifiers.

Everybody was watching them.

And down at the bottom in lane one,

almost off of the screen on my TV,

was a swimmer from Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan, the great swimming powerhouse

with a grand total of zero swimming medals

in the history of the country, I believe.

The commentators, of course, glossed right over him

saying something like he had a personal best in the semis

just to kind of get in the pool here,

don't pay attention,

watch the ones in the middle.

And having been dismissed,

with no one watching him,

at the last second this guy creeps up,

sticks out his hand,

and touches first a gold medal for Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan.

Nazareth.

She never would have expected to be of great significance.

But the angel comes and brings grace to Mary too.

Listen, verse 28.

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.

Now, saying Mary was greatly troubled as Zechariah was

has to be an understatement, doesn't it?

She's very young.

Many think as young as 12 years old

or perhaps her early teens at most.

She lives in the middle of nowhere

in a place full of nobodies

and an angel shows up to talk to her.

Just being there would have been overwhelming.

But what's the message?

The message again to her is grace

as it was to Zechariah.

Favored one means recipient of grace from God.

That's what the word is actually saying.

That God's special blessing and God's presence,

the Lord is with you,

both are being promised to her.

You have found favor with God

is again saying God has graciously determined

to bless you.

These words to Mary are often misunderstood,

but the nature of the divine favor

that's coming to her

is emphasizing not her merit,

but rather God's great generosity.

It's not so much Mary full of grace

that attracts God,

but God so full of grace

that He pours out on Mary

so that she is blessed.

First, God promises His grace to Mary.

But then as if that weren't enough,

it gets even more remarkable.

Verse 31,

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.

The grace God gives to you, Mary,

is also going to be through you

to many others.

You're going to have a son.

But again, not just any son.

The Son of God.

His name, Jesus, tells you,

Yahweh saves.

And that's the plan here, right?

As we just read it.

This is the Son of God,

the promised Messiah,

the one who's promised

to reign over God's people forever.

The one that they've been waiting for

to sit on David's throne forever.

He's going to be the hero.

He's going to be the hope of the world.

This is even bigger than a gold medal for Kazakhstan.

This is the most important person

in human history

through all the Old Testament.

The one Mary and all her family and friends

know is the hope of God's people.

They've heard about Him.

He's the one she's read about

over and over in the prophets

but never knew when to expect.

The one of greatest significance

will come through one of seeming insignificance.

The Messiah seemed almost like a dream to Mary

and now I will be His mother?

Mother?

But Mary believes.

She assumes it will happen

but she does want to know

how this is going to work out.

You know, I got a fiance after all.

She wasn't hoping for a pregnancy.

It's going to be complicated for sure

and the angel explains in the words

that we read earlier how it happens.

Just like this miraculous event

taking place with your relative Elizabeth,

the reason this can happen

is that nothing will be impossible with God.

You need to know, Mary,

that God is powerful enough

to overcome your insignificance,

your youthfulness,

your station in life.

He rescues His people

because of His great power.

And isn't this just like God?

To condescend to Mary.

Isaiah tells us that God dwells

in high and lofty places.

Places like heaven.

Places like the temple in Jerusalem

and so on.

But that He meets with the lowly.

that He meets with young Mary in Nazareth

and gives her through Gabriel

the message of grace.

Grace to you, Mary.

Don't lose heart.

Don't be afraid.

Don't give up hope.

My redeeming power,

my redeeming grace,

my rescuing power

are coming to you

and through you to many others.

Now part of the many others

that God's promising His grace is coming to

is all of Israel, His people.

You've probably picked up on the similarities

between the accounts of Gabriel's visits

to Zechariah and to Mary

and I've tried to highlight along the way

some of the distinct differences too.

Look at some of the differences this way.

First of all, Zechariah's a man.

He's male.

Mary is female.

Zechariah is old.

Mary is young.

Zechariah has long been a faithful priest.

Mary's merely a maidservant.

Zechariah is there in the temple at Jerusalem

and Mary is stuck in nowhere Nazareth.

Side note before we move on,

which one of these two responds appropriately

to the angel's message.

It's not the one you might expect, is it?

And we're going to come back to that

as we go through the Gospel of Luke

because as I told you last week,

one of the things Luke is going to show us

over and over again

is it's the insignificant outsiders

who become honored insiders

in God's kingdom.

This is how he works

and this is one example of it

here at the beginning.

Zechariah's mute.

Mary's commended and praised for her faith.

But for now, notice

that despite their different responses,

grace comes to both of them, doesn't it?

To the two extremes of the spectrum

of God's people

covering everyone in between,

grace comes to them.

To both of them

who may have been feeling overlooked.

Imagine what God's people in general

must have been feeling.

Overlooked may have been putting it mildly.

For 400 years,

they haven't heard from a prophet.

Used to happen all the time.

Where is God?

Why is he silent?

Has he forgotten about us?

Certainly they wondered.

We're back home finally,

but with the Romans on the throne,

not the Davidic king

who's supposed to be reigning

and ruling over us.

We've got all these promises from God,

but fulfillment-wise,

I'm not really seeing a lot of it turning out.

Certainly God's slow at best.

God must have seemed very far away to them.

Some, I'm sure, felt the grief

and the disgrace that Zechariah

and Elizabeth felt.

Others, I'm sure, felt the insignificance,

the smallness that Mary felt.

But all of them would have been

in the same place of needing to hear from God,

of being desperate for him to act,

to speak,

to come and rescue.

And so these messages of grace

are speaking to all God's people,

to the old men as well as to the young girls,

to the ones in the temple in Jerusalem,

all the way over to the nobodies in Nazareth.

It's finally happening.

Someone named John is coming

to turn many of us to the Lord our God,

to make ready for him a people

prepared for the coming of the Lord.

And then the Messiah himself is coming,

the son of God, the Davidic king,

the eternal ruler of God's people.

God's fulfilling his promises.

We can have hope again.

He's going to use the old

as well as the young

for his saving purposes.

What about me?

That means me.

He'll use me.

And so we hear the message of his grace.

Grace to you, my beloved people.

Don't lose heart.

Don't be afraid.

Don't give up hope.

My redeeming grace, my rescuing power

are coming to you and through you

to many others.

And that's the message of grace

that each of us needs to hear

and trust this morning.

In general, you see,

it's not too hard for us to believe

that nothing is impossible with God.

It sounds good.

It feels good, we like to think,

that his redeeming grace

and rescuing power

will come to and through the overlooked

because we love a good underdog story,

don't we?

I mean, that sounds great.

Sure, that could happen.

God could do it through Zechariah and Elizabeth.

God could do it through Mary.

He could use anybody.

It's not so easy to believe

when you are the one who's overlooked, is it?

When you're the one feeling the shame

or the disgrace.

When you're the one who feels insignificant

and small.

When you carry shame

or you've experienced rejection

or unfulfilled longings

like Mary or Zechariah or Elizabeth,

it's easier then to respond like Zechariah

to the promise of God's grace.

Oh yeah, sure.

But me?

No.

But us?

No.

We're too old.

I've blown it too badly.

You don't understand.

It's easier to feel that

than it is to respond with faith

like Mary.

I think of just some of the conversations

I've had recently

and I realize that it's very hard

for us to believe this message

for ourselves.

There's the older couple

with grown kids who are wayward

and they worry.

They followed God all their lives

and they expected better

but now it's embarrassing.

Perhaps others will think

they weren't very good parents

and could God still use even them

to reach their kids?

There's the elder who feels

God has seemed distant lately

and wonders if the exciting feeling

of nearness to God

that he loves to share with others

will ever return.

There's the young woman

without children

even though that's the desire

of her heart

and some days she feels marginalized

some days she feels

just painfully empty

and like she can't share

with someone she'd long to share with.

There's the pastor

I don't talk to myself that often

but when I do I try to tell you.

The pastor's struggling

some days to believe

he's significant

if the church is not making

a big splash

like the one across town.

Am I doing great things

for the kingdom?

Is God at work here too

with ordinary,

inadequate me?

There's the guy staring

divorce in the face

and maybe not for the first time

and fearing the shame

and disgrace

that Elizabeth felt

from the community

and thinking he'll be sidelined

in God's plan.

There's the high schooler

who grew up in the church

but now doesn't sense

she has significance.

Wonders about her place

in God's kingdom.

Where do high schoolers fit in?

It doesn't seem

to be a place for her.

There's the mother

who's exhausted

without ever leaving the house

to do something

that feels truly important

to her

and it seems

no one notices

except her toddlers.

Now when we feel emotions

like those

and others

that you may be feeling

it's hard to believe

God's message of grace

is for us

isn't it?

It's very difficult

to imagine there

that God could not only

rescue us

but that he could use us

for the sake of others.

We seem left out

and we get discouraged

and we're hopeless even.

But it's what God says

to us this morning.

It's the message

he wants you to hear.

God's grace to us

grace to you

dear ones

whom he loves.

Grace to you

who feel

overlooked.

Grace to you

who feel

neglected.

Grace to you

who feel

ashamed.

Don't lose heart.

Don't be afraid.

Don't give up hope.

my redeeming grace

my rescuing power

are coming to you

and through you

to many others

it's how he works.

It's people

who feel

overlooked

and disgraced

or insignificant

that God

delights to bring

his grace

to and through.

You remember Daniel

just this summer

and his ordinary faith

in an extraordinary God?

That's the point.

Ordinary people

like us

can believe

the promises

of a God

who nothing

is impossible for.

He's the one

who is great

not us.

I don't know

if you heard

the interview

with synchronized

divers

David Badiah

and Steele Johnson

after they won

an Olympic silver medal

this week.

Apparently all I did

was watch Olympics

this week.

Sorry.

It was a great interview.

They asked him

how do you

keep calm

with the pressure

of the Olympics

bearing down on you?

And they both gave

great responses

one after the other.

How do we stay cool

under pressure?

Well you see

it's not as big a deal

as y'all might be

picturing it

because my identity

is in Christ

they both said.

My significance

is rooted

in Jesus Christ

and so

standing up there

on the diving board

at the Olympics

it wasn't all

that pressure packed.

It wasn't all

riding on that

one dive.

A great answer.

What I didn't love

is how they instantly

seemed to become

heroic Christian examples.

They were the ones

who'd finally

made a testimony

for Jesus

because it made me feel

like if I really

wanted to make

a difference for Jesus

I'd have to start

by winning

an Olympic medal

and then talking

about Jesus

on TV.

And how was I

ever going to get

from here

to there?

What about the lady

facing cancer

at home

with her identity

rooted in Christ?

Or the young person

entering a new school

or the man

losing his job

with their identity

rooted in Christ?

We don't have to be

the Lord's

Olympic medalists.

We can just be

the Lord's servant

the way Mary

was.

See the message

of God's grace

meeting us

in all those

ordinary places

in Jesus

is powerful too

when you share that

with others.

Don't you long

to experience

and express

God's grace?

To have the

rescuing power

of God flow

to you

and then through you

to many others?

It is this

amazingly unique

Jesus

whose angels

are coming

to talk to people

about his birth.

He's promised

in this passage

he's actually

already come

to us.

He's not someone

we're looking forward

to maybe one day

that will develop.

He has come

to us

as evidence

that God

is speaking grace

to us

and himself

the very content

of that message.

In Jesus

God's redeeming

grace

and rescuing

power

have already

come to us

so we can believe

he will continue

to meet us

right where we are.

Because you see

it's not actually

something new

that we are putting

our hope in

and waiting for.

It's not about us

getting everything

we ask for

and all our desires

fulfilled.

Mary wasn't asking

for a child

was she?

Not every childless

couple in Israel

were promised

a son

like Zechariah

and Elizabeth

but everyone

received the message

of God's grace

through John.

Not every

insignificant young

woman in Israel

was promised

to be the mother

of God's son

like Mary

but everyone

received the message

of God's grace

the fulfillment

of God's promises

the hope

for eternity

and redemption

through Jesus.

that's for all of us.

God's message

of grace

for all of us

because it's

here at the cross

isn't it?

That Jesus

provided for us

the greatest

instance

of God's

rescuing power

his redeeming

grace

coming to

the overlooked

because Jesus

himself

became overlooked

by his father.

Jesus himself

took upon him

our shame

on the cross

he carried

our griefs

on the cross

and was punished

and put away

in our place.

What was just

the promise

of a baby

to Zechariah

and to Mary

has become

a man

who lived

for us

and died

for us

so that

what is

promised

in Jesus

would be

true

for all

of us

no matter

how badly

we failed

no matter

how insignificant

we feel

no matter

how undeserving

we are

that all

of us

who trust

in him

would be

welcomed

at the table

of the

father

of heaven.

That's the

message of grace

for you this

morning.

It's the

message Jesus

preaches to us

through his

body and blood

which he offers

to us

this morning.

Grace

to you.

Grace.

He has come

in power

to rescue

us

and he will

through you

share

that good news

of his grace

with many others.

Remember what he

told his disciples

as he instituted

this supper.

He said

I received from the

Lord what I also

delivered to you

that the Lord Jesus

on the night

he was betrayed

took bread

and when he had

given thanks

he broke it

and said

this is my body

which is for you

do this

in remembrance

of me.

In the same way

also he took

the cup

after supper

saying

this cup

is the new

covenant

in my blood

do this

as often

as you drink

it in remembrance

of me

for as often

as you eat

this bread

and drink

this cup

you proclaim

the Lord's

death

until he comes.

this is the

table of the

Lord

where we're

reminded

that nothing

is impossible

with God

where we're

reminded

that he could

save me

that he could

save you

because he could

come

and has come

and has taken

our place

this is not the

table of Southwood

or the Presbyterian

church

if you know

Jesus

and that he

has stood

in your place

for your sins

come

welcome

and eat

with us

if you don't

know Jesus

if you say

that sounds

interesting to me

I've heard him

talked of before

but you don't

know him

and trust him

to be the only

reason that you

could walk in

to the throne room

of the holy God

and be at peace

then don't come

and pretend

outwardly

something that's

not true

inwardly

we'd much

rather you

actually meet

Jesus

not just

the bread

and the juice

that represent

to us

his body

and blood

we'd love

to introduce

you to

Jesus

so I'd

encourage you

not to

take the

elements

but to

wait

and to

come

and to

talk

with us

and hear

more

about who

Jesus

is

let me

pray

and then

we'll

come

to the

table

together

Father

it is a

good thing

that nothing

is impossible

for you

because we

are those

who could

not have

made it

to you

on our

own

we could

never

have done

enough

and gotten

things figured

out enough

to deserve

to eat

with you

and yet

you have

invited us

to come

you have

made the

way for

us

through the

blood of

Jesus

and so

we thank

you

for that

would you

take these

very common

elements

that give

us just a

picture of

his body

and his

blood

and make

them effective

in our

hearts

to build

our faith

and our

trust in

him

that he

would be

the only

one we

trust

strengthen

our

faith

we ask

in his

name

amen

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