Luke 1:26-38
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 favored! 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.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
I can't imagine Mary being excited about the words from the angel. She was about to become pregnant as an unwed teenager. A virgin at that. I can't imagine this led to great joy and peace in Mary's life. She knew that if what the angel foretold actually would come to pass it would be anything but peace in her life. Her fiancé Joseph would likely divorce her (he could even demand she be put to death), her parents would likely disown her, her child would be branded as unclean throughout his life, and her fellow Jewish believers would ostracize her. No, this was not good news for Mary at all. In fact, I can't think of much worse news for an unwed teenage girl in the first century.
And many of us know what it is to receive bad news during the Christmas season. We know what it's like to receive that diagnosis from the doctor, that word about our aging parent, that memo from our boss, that letter from that collection agency. We know what it's like to receive that bad news. Often that bad news we've received during the Christmas season over the years sours our celebration of Christmas for years and decades to come. But it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, what seemed to be awful news turned into the ultimate Good News.
So how do we handle those blue seasons of our lives? Where can we find hope and joy in the midst of those blue seasons? This Sunday we are going to be examining what Mary must have been going through, how she found hope and joy, and the lessons we can learn so that we too can find that same hope and joy. I look forward to seeing each of you in worship this Sunday at OKC First Church!
Pastor Lesly
