1

ANNUNCIATION Sermon preached by Pastor C. John Steer Autumn Ridge Church December 22-23, 2018

Scripture: Luke 1:26-38

Have you ever met an angel? I suspect most of us would answer in the negative. And yet Hebrews tells us it is possible to entertain angels unaware. So maybe the honest answer is, “I don’t know.”

Today I want us to meet an angel called and watch what he does and listen to his message because it gets right to the heart of the story. This angelic encounter is recorded in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel, where we read these words:

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him .

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, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 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 the Son of God. 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. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:26-38)

That scene is packed with spiritual drama and human emotion. Perhaps that’s the reason why artists and poets have embraced this encounter between Gabriel and Mary. Many of the great artists have depicted it.

Here’s one of my favorites. It is by Duccio. This hangs in the National Gallery in London, the city where I was born and raised. The art gallery is just across the road from Charing Cross train station.

When I had half an hour to wait for my train, I had the choice of standing in a cold station or going into the warmth of the National Gallery. The gallery always won, particularly at Christmas. 2

I spent many happy moments gazing at this masterpiece. Duccio is seeking to capture the drama of Luke 1.

This picture shows Mary in her home in Nazareth. Gabriel enters uninvited and greets her. Now Gabriel is an Archangel. He is a top angel. A CEO of angels. He has come straight from the throne of God with an urgent message so he has a spring in his step.

Gabriel offers his right hand in a gesture of blessing, which makes his salutation visible to us. We can almost hear his words, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

But Luke tells us that, “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.” (v.29) We are not surprised that Mary is troubled. She has never seen an angel before. It is an overwhelming experience. Duccio has masterfully captured Mary’s perturbed attitude as she lifts up her eyes shyly to the angel.

The artist has placed a white pillar between the angel and Mary. It seems awkward. We would like to remove it so Mary and her divine visitor can face each other. But the pillar represents the barrier between heaven and earth. Mary shrinks behind the pillar as if it were some sort of defense. She raises her right elbow in a warding-off movement, which makes her cloak take the shape of a protective shield.

Her left hand drops down beside her. It is clutching the book she had been reading. This is opened to a page that predicted this very encounter. The text in Latin says “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. You shall call his name Emmanuel.”

This is Mary’s destiny. She cannot avoid it. So her movement backwards is blocked by the prophecy in the book and the wall behind her. Her only exit is by the way of obedience.

Do you see how Mary is pointing behind her? What does she want us to see? To answer that question we need to know that the painting is part of a spectacular altarpiece called “The Virgin in Majesty”. It is on display in Siena Cathedral in Italy. In forty different panels it tells the story of Jesus. It is informing us that history is not driven by human decision but divine will.

The virgin and child are at the center. They are surrounded by angels and saints from different centuries. Beneath the main portrait of Jesus and Mary are a series of smaller paintings depicting how Jesus’ birth came about. Starting on the bottom left, first comes this , then the Nativity, then the Visit of the Magi and so on. Between each of these scenes stands a prophet whose inspired proclamation made the event inevitable. So the divine messenger Gabriel gets the series going. Next comes Mary, who is pointing to the prophet Isaiah. Mary understands her selection is no accident. The birth of Jesus has been in the mind of her heavenly Father from the beginning of time.

We will leave this painting for now, but I mentioned that many of the great artists loved to portray the Annunciation. So during this message you are going to see a number of their masterpieces on the screen.

Now this event is known as THE ANNUNCIATION. Annunciation means “announcement.” Clearly this is one of the most important announcements in history. So let’s listen carefully to what the angel is saying to us.

3

First, we hear something significant about GOD. We are reminded that Christmas starts with God. It is God who sent his angel Gabriel to Nazareth. It is God who gives the angel his message. It is God who chooses Mary to be the mother of the Messiah.

It is good to be reminded that there would be no Christmas without God. There would be no lights, no trees, no carols without God. There would be no gifts if God had not given us the perfect gift of his Son. It is God who does the planning. For this event in Nazareth takes place nine months before Christmas Day when Jesus is born.

But think of this. As God planned to intervene in Mary’s life, so he has planned to intervene in ours. As God had an announcement for Mary, so he has an announcement for us. That announcement is that God made us, God loves us, and God wants us to love him back.

As we continue to listen to the Annunciation we hear something significant about ANGELS. We may not often think of angels but we should because they appear throughout the Bible, especially at important events. Angels are involved at least six times in the Christmas narrative.

Here’s the line up: 1. An angel appears to Zechariah to tell him about the birth of John the Baptist. 2. An angel appears to Mary at the Annunciation. 3. An angel appears to Joseph to tell him to take Mary as his wife. 4. An angel appears to the shepherds. 5. An angel warns Joseph to take Jesus and his mother to Egypt. 6. After Herod died an angel tells Joseph they can go back to Israel.

The word “angel” means “messenger.” That’s what angels do. They convey and carry out the messages of God. They also protect God’s people. We see on two of the occasions that angels warn Joseph of impending danger. So angels represent God’s care of his people.

For the most part angels remain invisible to our eyes. But occasionally God’s people are given a glimpse of them and this can greatly strengthen our faith. I suspect most of us will never see an angel in this life, but we will see plenty in the next life because Revelation says that heaven is full of cherubim and seraphim, of ordinary angels and archangels. They will join us in offering our adoration and thanksgiving to the Lamb who is on the throne.

Next in the Annunciation we hear something significant about MARY. After Jesus, Mary is the central character in the Christmas story. She is an amazing woman.

I mentioned that painters have loved to portray Mary. But so have poets. Some of them have done so in creative ways. For example, George Herbert used an anagram to express Mary’s extraordinary role in our salvation.

An anagram takes the letters of a word or sentence and rearranges them to give another meaning. So for example, “A Very Happy Christmas” yields, “My archivers spy a path” or “Vampires try a shy chap.” George Herbert used this device in a short poem on Mary. “How well her name an army doth present, In whom the Lord of hosts did pitch his tent.” So Herbert rearranged “MARY” to make “ARMY”.

Mary is all the more remarkable when we remember she is probably only a teenager. She is clearly overwhelmed by this encounter with the angel as we would all be. Yet she keeps her wits about her. 4

When informed she is going to have a baby she asks, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” (v.34) Mary knows the facts of life. She is aware that virgins don’t have babies.

This tells us something encouraging about the will of God. It is all right to ask questions when we don’t understand what God is saying to us. Notice the angel does not get angry with Mary and say, “Don’t you have any faith?”

Instead Gabriel says, “Do not be afraid, Mary.” (v. 30) Mary is spoken to by name. God knows who we are. He knows all about you and me.

So Gabriel does not rebuke Mary for her question. Rather he explains, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” (v.35) Our God does not ask us to take things on blind trust. He has given us minds to use and he answers honest questions.

However, Gabriel’s explanation reveals the reality of the supernatural. There had never been a virgin birth before and there never would be again. That is why the virgin birth is at the very center of our faith. It is why we find it in the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Westminster Confession, and all the great foundational documents of Christianity.

The Annunciation of the angel to Mary is a powerful illustration of the role of the church today. For you and I are to bring Christ to birth in the world. Theologian John McQuarrie writes, “Just as Mary was the bearer of Christ, so the Church his body, brings Christ into the world.”

So the angel provided an answer to Mary’s query. But it is a supernatural one. We will never grasp what Christianity is all about if we take out the supernatural. For Christianity is about Christ. From his birth through his life, to his cross, resurrection and ascension there are supernatural events after supernatural events.

Now believing in a miracle-working God is hard for some of us. But is it is just what we need because we face problems that are too big for human solutions. We need a supernatural God who can intervene in our life and do what no human being can do.

Then from the angel’s Annunciation we hear something significant about JESUS. The angel gives Mary the same instruction he will shortly give Joseph, “You are to call him Jesus.” (v.31) In Hebrew “Jesus” is “Yeshua” or Joshua. It means "The Lord saves." It was common in those days for parents to call their son Jesus in the hope that he would grow up to be the Messiah who would save his people.

The angel wants us to grasp why Jesus has the power to save us. So Gabriel explains, “Jesus 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, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (v.32-33)

That title “the Son of the Most High” means that Jesus is the divine Son of God. He is also a king who will sit on a throne and reign over a kingdom.

This is an extraordinary claim to make about a baby born to peasants and placed in a feeding trough. In the next chapter Luke reminds us that Caesar Augustus is the man in charge of the world of that day. 5

Augustus was the adopted son of Julius Caesar. He became sole ruler of the Roman world after a bloody civil war in which he overpowered all his rivals. The last to be destroyed was Mark Antony, who committed suicide not long after his defeat at the battle of Actium in 31 BC.

Augustus turned the great Roman republic into an empire with himself at the head. He proclaimed that he brought justice and peace to the whole world. He called himself the “Son of God.” People said he was the savior of the world.

But Luke is reminding us that on the eastern frontier of that great Roman Empire, a baby will be born who really is the Son of God, and our Savior. The Roman Empire soon collapsed but Jesus will reign forever.

These are comforting truths for grieving people. Last week I heard from a friend of mine. We were at school together for ten years. We went to the same seminary. We pastored churches for the same length of time.

His wife has just died of cancer. He is devastated and so am I. But we comfort each other with the thought that his dear Jenny is better now than she has ever been. She is part of Christ’s eternal kingdom, and we will see her again in the Father’s house.

Listening again to the angel’s Annunciation we hear something significant about the HOLY SPIRIT. Let’s go back to our painting. Duccio depicts the Holy Spirit as a white dove. This illustrates Gabriel’s statement to Mary that, “The Holy Spirit will come on you.” (v.35)

It reminds us that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in the form of a dove at his baptism. It is the Holy Spirit who is able to make the impossible possible. Perhaps we think, “I could never become a Christian.” But the Holy Spirit can make that happen.

“I can never have victory over that particular temptation.” But the Holy Spirit can help us kick the habit.

“I would never have the courage to step forward as one of our 20 by 20 missionaries.” But the Holy Spirit can take away our fear and equip us for service.

It is the Holy Spirit who enabled a teenage girl to become the mother of the Messiah. The Greek Orthodox Church refers to Mary as the “Theotokos”, or the “Mother of God”. If the Holy Spirit can do that for Mary think what he can do for you and me.

Then in the Annunciation we hear something significant about OURSELVES. For this wasn’t just an announcement for Mary but for us. That’s why it is in the gospels.

The amazing truth is that it is not just Mary who found favor with God. For nine months later the angel would tell the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14) God’s favor rests on us too. The proof of that is Jesus’ coming.

The Annunciation means that we don’t have to be afraid, for God has a plan for our life. His plan is that we might know his Son and become part of his eternal kingdom. The best possible way to respond to Christmas is to follow Mary’s example and say, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” (v.38) 6

One of the beautiful carols we sing at this time of year is “”. It was written back in the mid-1800s. A parish priest in France asked a poet called Placide Cappeau to write a poem about Christ’s birth based on Luke’s gospel.

Now Placide was not a Christian. He had no interest whatsoever in the things of God. But he wrote the poem and loved it so much that he asked his friend Adolphe Adams to put the poem to music. Adolphe was also not a Christian. “O Holy Night” became immensely popular in the Catholic churches in France.

Then someone in the church hierarchy realized it was written by an unbeliever and said, “You’ve got to shut the song down.” But it was too late because “O Holy Night” was so beloved.

Another interesting fact about this carol is that it was the first song ever broadcast on the radio. In 1906, about 50 years after the song was written, Reginald Fessenden was a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He did what many people thought was impossible. He took a makeshift generator and a transmitter. He then plugged in a microphone, and for the first time in history a man’s voice was broadcast over the radio.

It was 1906. Reginald read Luke chapter 1. Then he picked up his violin and played the first song broadcast over the airways. It was “O Holy Night.” It was heard by the few people who had Morse code receivers.

Now it would be nice if I could tell you as a result of writing “O Holy Night” that Placide and his friend Adolphe became Christians. But that didn’t happen. You see it is possible to know all about the Christmas story and enjoy singing about it and rejoice in its beauty and yet not know the Savior at the center of it.

Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen to us this Christmas. Let’s listen to the Annunciation of the angel and respond with Mary by saying, “I am the Lord’s servant.” (v.38)