LUKE 1:26-33
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call Him Jesus.32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,33 and He will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; His kingdom will never end.”
Luke 1:26-33 LISTENING FOR HOPE
Springford Baptist Church: November 28, 2021.
FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT: HOPE
This time of Advent leading up to our celebration of Christmas is a time for listening. We have been thinking and praying throughout this past year around the whole idea of LISTENING FOR GOD. Believing, as we actually do, that we can listen and hear from God, we can literally be LISTENING FOR HOPE.
If God is not real but only a fantasy, we would have no reason to be LISTENING FOR HOPE.
If God is real but there is no possibility of hearing what He wants to say to us, then again we would have no reason to be LISTENING FOR HOPE.
God is real and we can hear from Him! So we today have every reason to be LISTENING FOR HOPE.
I am thinking about what it is like if you are outside and someone is inside trying to tell you something. You can keep on trying to hear what that person on the inside is trying to say but the walls and windows prevent that communication.
It is only when you are invited inside and can be right there with the person that you can hear what is being said to you.
It is a tremendous relief to be able to finally hear what they were trying to tell you.
God knew that in order for us to hear Him clearly that He needed to come and be right here with us. This is why He sent His Son Jesus. God never intended for any of us to stay outside where we cannot possibly hear. Our Lord Jesus invites us to come inside and to be close to Him and to listen to His message of HOPE.
Mary, when she was visited by the angel Gabriel was a young woman who was LISTENING FOR HOPE. She was prayerfully tuned to God and wanted to hear from Him, but she had no idea what God’s message to her would be.
When the angel Gabriel is sent by God to deliver a message to Mary, what are his first words to her? “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” (vs. 28)
Do we recognize the significance of those words? If Mary is to hear and receive what she is going to hear then she needs the assurance that comes to her, “The Lord is with you.”
This simple truth will make it possible for Mary to listen with HOPE. Knowing that the Lord is with her can calm her fears and uncertainties and give her dependable HOPE for the days ahead.
The same is true for us! Our awareness that our Lord is with us is what we need to hear for whatever we are facing. Mary was given this HOPE that whatever was coming and whatever would be asked of her, she was not alone. We are not alone either. The Lord is with us and so we can also expect to be LISTENING FOR HOPE and attentively waiting for what God wants to say to us.
We are told that Mary was greatly troubled at this greeting. She did not know what to make of what the angel said to her. Mary
wants to hear HOPE in what the angel is telling her, but honestly she is afraid.
We can all relate to this. Even when we know and believe that God is with us, the voices of fear can be so loud in our ears that they drown out what God wants to say.
What the angel has to tell Mary is nothing short of a remarkable miracle. During our online Junior Church with some of our younger ones, we have talked about what is a miracle. Well, a miracle is when something happens and the only way it can be explained is God.
This definition rings true for what happens here in this Scripture and for the message that God has sent the angel Gabriel to deliver to Mary.
The only way to explain what the angel tells Mary is going to happen is God. This is the message of a miracle about to take place. This is the miracle that we celebrate at Christmas that God loved our world and each of us so much that He sent His own Son Jesus into our world. This gives us every reason to HOPE and to be LISTENING FOR HOPE.
The essence of this miracle that the angel tells Mary about is that Mary will be the mother of Jesus and God will be the Father. (vss. 31, 32a) This gave Mary every reason for HOPE and to keep LISTENING FOR HOPE. This message of Christmas gives us every reason for HOPE and to keep LISTENING FOR HOPE!
Yes, Jesus will be, “great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” (vs. 32) The name that the angel said this miraculous baby is to be given is “Jesus”. And Jesus means “THE LORD SAVES.”
Right in the name of Jesus is reason to be LISTENING FOR HOPE! Jesus comes into our world to save us. We need to be saved from sin and evil and Jesus God’s Son can do that for us. THE LORD SAVES so we tune our ears to be LISTENING FOR HOPE.
The last part of Luke 1:33 as the message from God to Mary is not to be missed. We too will want to hear this and receive HOPE from the assurance that,
His kingdom will never end.”
What God is sending Jesus His Son to set up is, “His kingdom that will never end.” (vs. 33)
At various times in history when it may seem that God’s message of HOPE has grown dim and hard to hear, we can be reminded that Jesus is King and that His kingdom will never end! If we are wondering what in the world is going to happen in our world of now when it seems so messed up and chaotic, we can receive this message from God and be LISTENING FOR HOPE. We do have HOPE because Jesus has established forever, “His kingdom that will never end”!