Really?!

Text: Luke 1:26-38

Pastor Phil Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, Utah

December 8, 2024 Second Sunday in Advent

I learned an expression a few years back that has become part of the slang or common language of our day. It’s a question that is really a statement. The expression is, “Really?!” Have you heard people saying that? “Really!?”

According to the Urban Dictionary “really” is a statement of disbelief in a sarcastic manner. It is like the term “seriously?!” but more obnoxious. It can have overtones of expressing disbelief that someone could do something so disappointing.

If a driver cuts you off in traffic, you could say “Really?!” As in, “I can’t believe you just did that.” If you go to Starbucks to get your special holiday drink that you had your heart set on only to find they are out of it for that day, you could say, “Really?!”

There is an element of surprise and disbelief in the phrase. If you hear that American Fork has been named the most livable city in all of America, you might say, “Really?!” To which people in Orem would say, “Really?!”

I first heard the term at a basketball game where a mom of a player kept saying to the referee that she apparently didn’t agree with, “Really?!” Every time the ref made a foul call against her son’s team she would say, “Really?!” She said the same thing when one of the players did something that probably wasn’t really smart.

When someone tells you something that you just can’t believe, you might say, “really?!” as in “Come on, you can’t possibly be serious” or “what are you thinking?” Husbands know this term.

People can hear the events surrounding the birth of Christ and the reaction of cynical hearts can be “Really?!”

Angel visitations? A virgin becomes pregnant because of God? God comes as an infant? Really?! We are in the “really?” time of year.

It’s the Christmas event. And as fashionable as it has become for modern people to dismiss it, it is part of historical Christian faith.

It can be difficult to believe Christ was born this way because this doesn’t happen. No one should be shamed for not believing it or wondering about it. But this morning I want to preach on this part of the life of Jesus, why we hold to it, and why it is important.

We declare the virgin birth in the Apostle’s Creed when we say, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary…”

To believe in the virgin birth we have to be open to the possibility of God breaking into this world beyond what the natural order allows. It is a steep claim. Many would look at me funny. “Really?!” But I know this God.

Gabriel’s visit to Mary is often called the “Annunciation.” It is when God announces to Mary through the angel that she will carry the Son of God. Kathleen Norris is a writer, a Christian, who walked away from faith for many years and then returned to it. After declaring her freedom from Christianity and living in New York City, she returned home to her small town South Dakota Presbyterian Church. She again came to faith. Hers is a great story.

She wrote a piece called “Annunciation.” Kathleen Norris says that to think that God can only do what is within our understanding and acceptable to us is to make idols of ourselves. We, in essence, worship our own powers of understanding. We worship our ability to explain. If we can’t explain it then it must not be real. Just because I can’t totally explain it, it can’t be possible. Really?!

There are many things I can’t explain rationally. Love is one of those things. Hope, joy, the way an orange tastes, people who see loved ones when they are nearing the end of life are other things I cannot explain but that I believe are real. Mary conceiving a child without knowing a man is mystery. But then aren’t we talking about God?

I believe in science. I am fairly well educated. I am mentally stable. And I believe Jesus Christ was born to a woman who did not conceive by a man. Part of this is it made Christ who he was: divine and human.

This is the second time Gabriel has shown up to someone. Whenever Gabriel shows up, watch out. Notice how his two visits are similar and different:

First, he appeared to the priest Zechariah in the temple announcing that Zechariah and Elizabeth would have a child by natural means. That was the focus of last week’s sermon. That child would be John the Baptist. Now he is sent to Mary. We’re told clearly that it is God who has sent Gabriel. God is the one making things happen.

Both times Gabriel has a birth announcement. One is to an older couple past child-bearing years. The other is to a young unmarried girl.

While Zechariah received his visit from Gabriel in the Temple, in the bustling city of Jerusalem – called the center of the world by some – and it was known by others, Mary receives her visit from Gabriel in an obscure Galilean village, very quietly.

One child will be John the Baptist. The other will be Jesus.

Both births will be significant in the history of Israel. The Holy Spirit is involved in both.

Gabriel says that John will be “great in the sight of the Lord.” For Jesus, he simply says that he will be “great”. He doesn’t need to say “in the sight of the Lord” because Jesus will be the Lord.

Zechariah asks for certainty about the child to be born to him and his wife. Mary asks how she will be able to conceive, but also seems more accepting.

Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son will prepare people for the Lord. Mary’s child will be Son of the Most High God. He will be the Lord.

Gabriel comes to Mary and says, “Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you!” The word “favor” is the same word as “grace”. Gabriel repeats it when he tells Mary not to be afraid because she has found favor with God.

Mary is the recipient of God’s grace. There is nothing in and of herself that deserves or has earned this. God has chosen her, called her, and comes to her by his grace.

But this favor of God will not make things easy. She will have to go through the ridicule and inconvenience of being pregnant before marriage. She will face the disappointment of Joseph who will want to end the relationship and “dismiss her quietly.” She will go through the terror of having to flee her home to escape the rage of King Herod who is hunting her child, She will have the lifelong burden of knowing other mothers lost their sons because of her son in Herod’s rampage in and around Bethlehem. She will ultimately see her Son arrested, tortured and crucified.

Mary, you are favored. Favored? Grace? Really?!

Did she realize how dangerous God’s grace and favor can sometimes be? Do any of us?

Gabriel describes the son she will have like this: He will be given the name Jesus. He will be called the Son of the Most High. Gabriel drops two big names from Israel’s history, two giants in the people of God: David and Jacob.

Mary’s son will be given the throne of his father David. David was the greatest king in all of the history of Israel. When David was king, Israel was master of its own fate. Independent. Prosperous. Free. Those were the good old days. The Lord had promised King David that his throne would always be in existence. But after David died, and his kingdom fell, the throne was destroyed. Jews believed that God would someday send One who would restore the kingdom of Israel. This One would be the Messiah, an Anointed One.

Gabriel tells Mary that her son will sit on this throne and will reign over the house of Jacob. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham. Jacob along with Abraham and Isaac are one of the three patriarchs of Israel. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel when he wrestled with a man – possibly an angel? The passage isn’t totally clear. God’s people were named after Jacob meaning Israel.

Mary’s son, sitting on David’s throne and reigning over the house of Jacob. It means that Jesus will fulfill the destiny of God’s people. Lastly, Mary’s son will himself be a king and his kingdom will have no end.

Mary hears all of this and asks, “Really?” But there is no 2024-sarcasm or disappointment in her question. Only wonder.

You do have to wonder: A woman with child without having known a man. This is mystery. This is outside of the natural order of things. How will it happen? Gabriel says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”

Just as in Genesis 1 where the Spirit of God was hovering over the nothingness ready to create a world out of nothing, so the Spirit of God will come upon this girl and create something out of nothing. We read in Genesis 1 that the earth was void and without form when the Spirit appeared, so Mary’s womb was void until the Spirit of God filled it with the Son of God.

Many Christmases I like to remind people that the Holy Spirit is part of the Christmas event. Get an ornament for him for your tree. Someone design a Christmas card with the Holy Spirit. Notice how much he shows up in Luke 1 and 2.

In fact, we see hints of the Trinity here: God the Father sends his messenger to give the message that the Holy Spirit will bring about the conception of God the Son. Father, Spirit, Son. In unity.

When Gabriel says the power of the Most High will overshadow Mary that is the same word used in Luke when the cloud of God’s presence overshadows Jesus when he is on the mountain and is transfigured before Peter, James and John.

It is the Holy Spirit who will come upon the disciples at Pentecost and bring into existence the church. It is the Spirit who makes anyone a son or daughter of God.

Gabriel doesn’t provide any explanations. He just says that the power of the Most High will overshadow Mary.

This is why the child will be called holy. This is why Jesus is different. This is why he is apart from every other person who has ever walked this planet. The way he was born is part of his identity. If this isn’t real then we have to take Jesus down a notch, and he is no different than your or me.

Gabriel tells Mary of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, which is also absolutely of God, though through natural means. And then Gabriel says, “For no word from God will ever fail.” Sometimes it reads “For nothing will be impossible with God.” Every word will not be impossible with God. Every word.

In Jewish thought words aren’t just means of communication. Words are action. God creates the world by speaking it into being. He says that the word that goes out from his mouth will not return to him empty but will accomplish what he desires and achieve the purpose for which he sent it.

Mary responds to Gabriel, “may it be to me as you have said” or “let it be with me according to your word” Mary believes the word. She doesn’t fight or resist. She lives in to God’s will.

Isn’t this what her son will pray when he is in Gethsemane? Not my will, but your will be done.

Mary is open. She is submissive, obedient, believing. She identifies herself as a servant of the Lord. She sees her purpose and role in life not in herself, but in relation to the Lord.

I am struck by the quietness of this private encounter. God sends an angel and it isn’t on any radar screens. No broadcasts. No one sees this encounter. It is going to take Mary to tell others about this and maybe that didn’t come for some years later. We don’t know. There is so much happening here that no one can see.

I think that is how God still works. There is so much happening that we can’t see. God is gestating in people’s lives. He is quietly working in circumstances unbeknownst to us. Sometimes it can seem so unlikely. Like a pregnant Mary. But God is moving. God doesn’t care if anyone publishes or posts it.

Don’t dismiss the quiet and the hidden. Mary. Nazareth. An angel’s private visit. A small child. No one saw it or paid attention to it. There are things happening in and around us that we aren’t aware of but God is working in those things and using those things to further his purposes.

There are those who say “Really?!” to Christmas with plenty of cynicism and disbelief. They want a comfortable encounter with a God who is too familiar and too far-off. That is not the God of the Bible. His encounters are not always comfortable. They can’t always be seen. But our God is not distant.

Christmas should lead us to worship. It’s a mind blower. It’s supposed to be. It is supposed to expand our hearts so that our hearts can bow down before God.

Would we really want a God whose activity and ways are small enough for us to explain in all aspects? Do we want a God who we can totally fit into the compartment of our understanding? Really?!

Did all of this happen because God loves us so and has reconciled us to him? Does he care about me? Does he want me to hand over my life to him? Does he really want me to talk to him and he will hear?

Did God really come to earth as a human being? Was the baby who was brand new really older than eternity? Really?!

Yes. Really.

Prayer:

Almighty God, we marvel at the way you came to us on this earth. Open our hearts again to you in these days of Advent as we move toward Christmas. Help us to believe. And where that is hard come to us with your mysterious grace so that we can see you.

Amen.