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Advent 4 2023
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud 
December 24, 2023
2 Samuel 7:1–11, 16, Romans 16:25–27, Luke 1:26–38

Sermons online: 
Text and Audio:         immanuelhamiltonchurch.com   click “sermons”
Text:                           pastorjud.org   
Audio:                         pastorjud.podbean.com 
itunes:                        bit.ly/pastorjud
Full Service Audio:   bit.ly/ImmanuelWorship

            It is December 24th.  It is the morning of the eve of the celebration of the birth of our Lord. Tomorrow morning we will have a communion service to remember Jesus’ birth, the Christ Mass.  This afternoon and evening and tomorrow morning we will be in Bethlehem for the birth of the Savior.  This morning, for the 4th Sunday in Advent, we are going back 9 months and traveling 90 miles north to Nazareth in Galilee.  Today we go to Nazareth to meet Mary for the first time.

Mary is likely a teenage girl up in the hills in the small town of Nazareth with maybe 400 or so inhabitants.  Everyone knows everyone else and nothing gets past the busybodies in town.  When the angel visits, it seems that Mary is alone, maybe at home, maybe outside working, maybe drawing water at the well, we are not sure.  One tradition has it that Mary was at home and that home is now inside the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.  There have been many churches built and destroyed over Mary’s small house from the time of Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century until the construction of the current church in 1954.  The Bible is unique among religious books because you can actually visit the places you learn about in the Bible because these things really happened.

            Mary is a teenager engaged to be married to Joseph.  From all we can tell, she is a nobody from a nowhere little town until God shows Mary favor and sends the Angel Gabriel to bring Mary amazing news.  Gabriel’s name means, “God is my strength.”  He brings news from the throne of heaven … Luke 1:28 (ESV) 28 …“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 

            Mary is greatly troubled.  What is going on?  What is this heavenly being doing talking to lowly little me and calling me, “O favored one?”  Why is Mary favored?  She has done nothing important.  She is not famous.  She is just a regular young lady from Nazareth.  Why is the Lord favoring the humble estate of Mary?  What does this mean?

            Gabriel continues, Luke 1:30–33 (ESV) 30 …“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 

            Conceive? Bear a son?  Call him Jesus?  The throne of David?  Reign forever?  Mary’s head is swimming with all this information.  What can this all possibly mean?  Mary goes back to the first part of what the angel told her.  “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son.”  Mary is young, but she knows where babies come from and this is impossible.

            Luke 1:34 (ESV) 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” 

            Luke 1:35–37 (ESV) 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 

            Genesis 1:1–3 (ESV) 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”

            In the beginning the Spirit hovered over the creation. At the conception of Jesus the Spirit hovers over Mary and Word of God brings about new life in Mary’s womb. The Lord speaks through His messenger Gabriel and Jesus takes on human flesh as a tiny new life inside Mary.  The Lord’s Word is powerful; it makes things happen. 

            In a world that is awash with words it can feel like words are not very valuable; not very powerful, but today we see the power of God’s Word. 

            In the beginning God spoke -- and the world was created.  Jesus takes on human flesh through the Word of God.  This morning, the Lord’s Words are still powerful as He declares to you that all your sin is forgiven.  His Word is powerful; bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus because Jesus says, this is my body, this is my blood. 

            God’s Word declares you to be His child in the water and Word of Holy Baptism, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Word of God saves you in the Words of forgiveness, the water and the Word of baptism and the Word with the bread and wine bringing the Body and Blood of Jesus.  God’s Word is powerful.  It makes things happen.

            The angel Gabriel has never come to visit me that I know of, and it seems that I would know if he had.  None of you have said the angel Gabriel has come to you.  But you have encountered many messengers of God bringing to you the Word of God.  Many messengers have told you that you are favored by God and the Lord is with you. 

 In a world that is awash with words it can feel like words are not very valuable; not very powerful, but today we see the power of God’s Word. 

            Because Mary carried the Lord Jesus in her womb and gave birth to the Savior who lived and died and rose from the dead, you now carry Jesus in your heart.  You have the power of the Holy Spirit in your inner being, Ephesians 3:17–19 (ESV) 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

            Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus dwells in your heart.  Jesus died for you and rose from the dead for you.  You are favored by God.  Living in this era after Jesus ascended into heaven and waiting for Jesus to return on the last day, you know more about Jesus and what He has done than Mary herself knew.  Through His Word the Lord has saved you.  You may not have heard from an angel directly, but God speaks to you through His messengers and in the words of the Bible.

            In this life there are a lot of other religious options; lots of various people and ideas to follow.  There seems to be a continuous string of spiritual fads that all promise fulfillment.  There are many options, but you know there is no substitute for Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.  When others are abandoning the truth of God to follow after the lies of the devil, the world and their own sinful flesh, and the Lord looks to see if you are going to follow them, you can say in the words of St. Peter, John 6:68–69 (ESV) 68 …“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”  The Word of God is powerful, it makes things happen.

            Blessed are you, O favored one.  The Lord is with you.  Amen.