Strength to Carry On

Message Transcription

Well, if you have your Bible with you, I invite you to turn over to Luke. Chapter one. We've been journeying through Luke's Gospel, looking at the advent story through the lens of waiting, what it must have been like to wait in that special day. And we looked at the story of Simeon and tried to learn a few things from his waiting. We saw that that Simeon teaches us never to disconnect from God. That one of the things we learned about Simeon was he continued to pursue God. It's one of our values here at Broadway, pursue God that Simeon stayed connected. And not only did he stay connected, he listened and he obeyed. So in the midst of our waiting, how might God be asking you to stay connected to Him, to listen and to obey? We looked as well at the story of faithfulness that we find in Zachariah and Elizabeth that even in their doubting and they're wondering and they're searching, that God continues to provide. I love how in these first two stories we've looked at that both are older. Both maybe think life has passed them by in some extent. I certainly know that Zakaria wondered about that. We hear that in his question to Gabriel. But it reminds us that we're never too old to outgrow the story of God, the work of God in our lives. And so we wrestled some with last week thinking about in this midst of the waiting, what is God inviting us to continue to keep trusting and hoping in Him? Will we hold close to the things that we already know to be true? We saw in Zacharias continued commitment to praying, even at times when words were hard to come by.

But he held on to this promise, this promise that Isaiah gave to the people of God who were in Babylonian captivity, wondering if God had forgotten about them, wondering if God would ever remember them. He said, Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not be faint. This promise that God is continuing to be at work even when we can't see it. And Zakariya continued to pray for his wife. Year after year after year, day after day, month after month. Hoping and holding on to this promise. Even when those prayers. I wonder at times if they even had any words. How do you pray for something when you've been praying so long? Makes me thankful for passages like we find in Romans Chapter eight, where Paul reminds us that not all prayers have words to them. He says, I believe that this present suffering is nothing compared to the coming glory. This glory that will be revealed to us. The whole creation, in fact, waits breathless, breathless with anticipation. For the revelation of God's sons and daughters.

And we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so. But we ourselves, Paul says, we who have the first fruits of the spirit. We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have we wait for it patiently. In the same way the spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. Paul says. We grown just like the world around us, longing for redemption to come, for God's full kingdom to be established here. And sometimes we have words to put to that and sometimes we don't. But thank God his spirit and dwells us and can interpret to the Lord. And wordless groans. The truth that we long for that love, that hope, that reconciliation. This longing hope for the world to be made right. And so God has given us the spirit. And by his spirit, we aren't waiting alone. Not only that, that's a spirit intercedes on our behalf, that God's continuing to be at work in us and through us and for us.

So through the stories of Simeon and Zachariah and Elizabeth, we've learned about waiting together the significance of community, Zachariah and Elizabeth. They waited together. Even in Zacharias silence, they were silent together. Simeon waited in the temple. He was there every day, longing to see this hope fulfilled. That's why one of our values here at Broadway is building community, staying connected. That we weren't made to do this alone, that we don't have to wait on our own. That God gives us His spirit and He gives us one another. And so we gather every week. To be reminded of that great hope this morning. I want us to look again at this story, this time of a young person, of God at work in the life of a young person. These words that Bowen and Leighton read for us just a moment ago. We're going to back up just a couple of verses and look at how Luke opens the story, verse 26. You can look on in yours or follow along on the slides. We're told 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. Luke tells us Mary is a special young woman. She's a virgin, which is another way of saying she is a righteous person. And not only that, she is favored by God and that God is with her. Now. Throughout the centuries, many have tried to depict this encounter through paintings. And so this week I went through and found four or five different ones that I thought were striking to me in some way. I put the the name in the the artist down below. But as you are listening to these words, as you reflecting on what I'm sharing with you, just invite you to take a moment to to consider these depictions of this story, this incredible encounter between the Angel Gabriel and Mary. Mary's told three things that I think would would encourage her. Or at least we are told three things that that might be encouraging to her. And yet the words of Gabriel fall on her the way that they did on Zechariah. See the story of Simeon and Zachariah and Elizabeth. We see these these themes continuing to develop. Simeon was a righteous man. He was devout. The Holy Spirit was on him. Zachariah and Elizabeth were told both were devout and righteous before God, observing all his commandments and decrees blameless only. When Gabriel visits Zachariah in the holiest place there, he says your prayer has been heard. I Zacharias continuing to pursue and connect to God.

Elizabeth when she learns of the news of her pregnancy, she recounts how God has shown his favor to her. All this good news. And yet Mary's response is, like Zacharias, she's troubled. Mary was greatly troubled and at his words excuse me, 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 Jesus. 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. Again. I imagine Mary's head must have been spinning as she's trying to to take in all that she's been told this incredible moment. How will she respond? The angel answered. The Holy Spirit will come on you. The power of the most high will overshadow you. So the Holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. And Mary's response? How will I know I'm a virgin? I know where babies come from, Gabriel, but I haven't participated in that process yet. How is this going to happen? Gabriel's words. Power of the most high will overshadow you. We're going to come back to that in a minute. So the only one to be born will be called the Son of God.

I think maybe to encourage Mary's heart a little bit. He reminds her that she's not the only one that God's working in and working through, doing an incredible thing. 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 nothing is impossible with God Church We say that verse with me for nothing is impossible with God one more time. Nothing is impossible with God. Perhaps that's what you needed to hear most this Advent season. Nothing is impossible with God. No matter what you're facing, no matter what challenge or obstacle is before you, nothing is impossible with God. Nothing. You may want to turn to your neighbor and just say nothing is impossible with God. Go ahead and do that now. Turn to your neighbor. Nothing is impossible with God. All right. Now, this time, turn to your other neighbor and say it like you mean it. Nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible with God. Whatever you're facing, it doesn't mean it's going to turn out the way you want or expect. But nothing is impossible with God. Mary needed those words. To receive a message like she received. Mary needed those words. I need those words. This advent. Nothing's impossible with God. Perhaps you do, too. I love Mary's response. I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered.

May your word to me be fulfilled. Then the angel left her. These beautiful words of obedience. A willing heart. Mary takes Gabriel at her word at his word that she can take God at his. May be to me, as you have said, I'm your servant. I'm a servant. We see here that Mary, she responds in the midst of waiting on her. On her God is to serve. Nothing's impossible with him. I'll hold on to this hope and I'm going to keep serving. Mary is not a passive participant. She doesn't say, God, I'm your number one fan. I'm going to get my popcorn ready. I'm going to sit back and watch you do your thing. She says, God, I'm your servant. And may what you said come true may be fulfilled. See, waiting doesn't mean watching from the sidelines. Mary shows us waiting means engaging in the life that God has called us to by continuing to serve. At that time, we're told verse 39, Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zacharias home and greeted Elizabeth. You know, it's interesting learning this week, studying this passage. Many think this journey that Mary took was probably somewhere around a 3 to 4 day journey. And she took this journey alone. She was young and pregnant and walking through the hill country. Now, I want you to think about those winding roads.

How do you get through the hills? It's not a straight line. It's up and down. It's around corners. It's where places you don't often see Think places where bandits could hide. This was a dangerous journey. Think about the parable of the Good Samaritan. Our Mary takes this journey with incredible courage. Why would Mary do this? And maybe Mary wanted to be around another woman who would understand what she's going through. I'm facing an impossible, unbelievable circumstance that I can't explain to anyone. In fact, when I talked to him about it, the first thing they're going to do is doubt it. Maybe she needed to be around another woman who could say, You're telling me. Maybe when Mary said, I'm your servant, Lord. I'll serve. Perhaps Gabriel was letting her in on a little story that she didn't know. She didn't know about her relative, Elizabeth. And so she wanted to serve. And so she does what she always does. She serves. It's an incredible story, a dangerous journey. But Mary went to go help Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the spirit and a loud voice, she exclaimed. I'm going to pause before we get to what she says. Something I didn't know. I want to point something out. I learned this week in my study, Maybe you already knew this. And if so, God bless you. If not, I hope it's encouraging to you like it was to me.

One of my favorite teachers and preachers, John Wittenberg, taught me this. We were told that Gabriel visits Mary, and Mary is told that the Holy Spirit's going to overshadow her. I word overshadow. This is some loaded language that I really wasn't aware how loaded it was in the Old Testament when the Ark of the Covenant was in the holiest place of the Tabernacle. We're told at the end of Exodus that Moses can't go inside because the spirit of the Lord overshadowed that place. Same word. Might. The Spirit's presence was so thick and palpable, Moses couldn't go inside the holy of holies. We're told that on the ark at the mercy seat with a chair of Mama, that's where God dwells. That's where he'll meet with. That's where he'll be present with his people. I'd never noticed before the connections between the time when David went to bring the Ark and bring it back to Jerusalem so that God might dwell with his people again. How similar and how many parallels there were with this story we find of Mary going to visit Elizabeth when King David is bringing back that ark on its way to Jerusalem. We're told that David and all the men with him, all the people with him, they arose and went down to bail. Judah. Well, in Luke one Mary arose same word and went with haste to a Judean town. Not only that, when the Ark came into Jerusalem, we're told that David blessed and blessed the people in the name of the Lord.

When Mary shows up. Elizabeth blesses bless her you among women and bless is the fruit of your womb. David asked at one point in this journey of the art coming back into Jerusalem, how can the Ark of the Lord come to me? Elizabeth and her greeting to Mary says, How? How can the mother of my Lord come to me? When the ark is finally brought into Jerusalem. We're told that that Michael David's wife sees him leaping and dancing before the Lord. As we heard Elizabeth said, as soon as I heard your voice, the baby in me leapt for joy. Finally, the second Samuel six, we're told that the Ark of the Lord remained in the house of obit item for three months. I may not surprise you to learn that. We're told in Luke one, Mary remained with Elizabeth. About three months. Just as the Ark of the Covenant expressed God's presence with His people. In the Old Testament. Now this. This teenage girl. Somehow in her through her God is being present to his people. She bears the presence of God and is making it available now. Elizabeth sees it and she names it and she celebrates it. Blessed are you. Zacharias saw it and he blessed when his son was born. Mary sees it and she names it. What God is doing, and she blesses and her song that will sing together here in just a moment.

But again, this powerful reminder of God's presence to his people in the midst of waiting. Not always sure what God's doing. Not always able to see where he's going, but willing to see. And to name and to bless. C married to Gabriel responds by saying, I am the Lord's servant. And then she goes on a dangerous journey. To do that very thing to serve. And Elizabeth responds to her by saying. Blessed. Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what Galba spoken to her. Blessed is one who believes. Lester to the one who is willing to trust, who is willing to hold on to hope. Mary, you believe God bless you. Mayor you're willing to trust, you're willing to face uncertainty and danger to continue serving in God's great story. May God bless you. Church. May we continue to believe? That what God has said he will do. Maybe we continue to engage in the life that God has called us to to be servants. God, I am your servant. Let it be to me as you've willed it. What you say will happen. Church, may we believe and be willing to wait with patience to hold on to what we already know to be true. To know that God will bring about what he says will happen because nothing is impossible with God.

Church. Nothing is impossible with God. Church if you're believing. If you're holding on to hope, if you're if you're offering prayers, sometimes with words and sometimes with just groans. If you're striving to continue serving, even in the midst of hard and overwhelming obstacles, you are in good company. God, May this story remind us of the faithfulness of your servants? May remind us of the ways that you continue to call us deeper into a story, even when we can't always see it. But, Father, may we trust in your word the way that Simeon trusted, the way that Zachariah and Elizabeth trusted, the way that Mary trusted, the way that so many countless followers. Have trusted. May we hold on to that hope, knowing, believing, claiming that promise that those who wait on you will have their strength renewed. Those who trust in you. Who believe that that what you say will happen, That God, you will strengthen us. That you will do in us and through us what we could not do on our own. Now, by gathering us together, we encourage one another to keep going, to keep trust and to keep hoping. Father. May that story be our story this Advent season. As so many of us come to it wounded and with a limp. We come as Zachariah did before you sometimes with prayers that just we don't have words. Father, thank you. That you've sent your spirit to dwell in us.

To interpret for us. To intercede for us. With groans. With cries. Yeah. Thank you. That you are willing to use us no matter what age we are, no matter how old we may be or how young we may be. That father you will use and work in and through us. May we be inspired by that? Yeah. This week as we celebrate, as we look forward to. Gathering with family and friends. Being here to worship you. As we like. The crafts reminded us just a little bit ago, take our place in that great continuum of worshippers. Rather. Would you encourage us? Would you give us courage? To keep pursuing sometimes dangerous roads or we don't know. There are lots of ups and downs and turns. But just trusting and believing that you're at work and that nothing can stop you, that no scheme can outwit you. Or change your plans. And Father, may we be reminded that we don't do this road of faith and life alone. We do together. Thank you, Father, for these stories of waiting. Thank you. That we're not the only ones who have ever had to wrestle with this. Thank you. That we're in really good company. Now fathers, we gather to sing, to lift our hearts, to to join our chorus of praise to what Mary sang to you so many years ago. Father, may our hearts be captured in wonder, love and praise In Jesus name. Amen.