Advent Day 7 – Nothing is Impossible with God
DSBC December 7, 2023
Luke 1:26-38
Rebecca H.
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 
to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 
Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” 
Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” 
The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. And consider your relative Elizabeth — even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
“See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.


Gabriel, peeking around the corner: Heyyyy Mary! 

Teenaged, unwed Mary, mid-bite of her eggs – **JUMPS**

Gabe: Man, I’m always doing that to people, sorry. Don’t be scared! You’re doing great. God just asked me to pop by and mention a couple things.

Mary, unblinking – face blanches – white-knuckles her fork.

Gabe: ….I’ll get right to it. ((pulls up a seat, starts counting off on his angel fingers)) You’re having a baby, it’s a boy, his name is Jesus, nickname ‘Son of the Most High’, he’ll inherit the throne of David, he’ll reign over the house of Jacob and his kingdom will never end.

Mary – full blown lemur eyes: “Whatareyoutalkingabout.”

Pregnant pause. (har har.)

Having heard nothing after ‘you’re having a baby’, Mary sets down her fork, trembling: How can this be? I haven’t done… (eyes shift left and right)… *that* yet. 

Gabe, sighs under his breath: I told Him this would be awkward.

**clears throat** See, this is going to go differently. The power of the Most High will overshadow you, so this baby will be called the Son of God. Making sense?

Mary – panics in peasant: The what will what, now?

Gabe: Ah, you look just like your cousin, Elizabeth! She made the same face 6 months ago when she found out she’s having a son. Oh – you hadn’t heard? Cool old gal – emphasis on the old. Everyone called her childless, but she’s proof: nothing is impossible with God.

Mary, having lost her appetite, plops her hands in her lap. Is this visit good news or bad news??

Holy Information Overload.

So she says the only thing she can muster: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be done with me according to your word.”

***************************************

Life can be wicked hard.

Wait- can you write “wicked” in a church advent reflection?

It’s Christmas! A time for sparkles and joy, lights and sweets, peace, makebelieve and whimsy.
But for many, Christmas feels like a magnified trudge. Loss is highlighted, brokenness is exposed, expectations are unattainable, and hope feels brittle.

On a good year, wishlists are long, task lists are longer, budgets are tight, and ‘togetherness’ means rolling out the eggshell carpet.
And on a hard year………….. there may not be words enough to express the drain.

We have 4 children – announced to us differently from Mary’s (thankfully) – and this fall, one of our kids received a diagnosis of a learning difference.
There are **for sure** worse diagnoses to receive. We as parents admittedly felt a wave of validation for the struggles we’ve all experienced for a long time. 

But boy, it also felt like bad news. Still does…As the appointments roll in and conversations are pursued, as therapists are researched and options are weighed, as teachers are updated and counselors are introduced, as books are checked out and parenting podcasts are binged, the mounting feeling is one of Holy Information Overload.

I bet you’ve lived this, too. 

You get news that feels mostly bad (if not all bad), and WHOOSH. The blanch. The what-nows. The how-dare-yous. The surely-nots.

The need to hear – to know – that nothing is impossible with God.
For you. For the ones you desperately love. 

And to ascertain what our posture is to be in the interim. 

I can imagine that the news of Jesus’ coming – what we term as “Good News” – had a big feeling of bad news for Mary in that moment. 

But when the initial dust settled, her posture – reeling as it may have been – was one of palms-up, arms out humility and deference to the One she knows, above all, to be Good.

May it be so with us.
When information is a torrent.
When expectations are a trap.

When life is a frenzy.
When we care and we hurt and we fear and we reel.

May we know and deeply believe: nothing is impossible with God. 

Like young, expectant Mary, we are His servants. May it be done to us according to what He, in his infinite goodness and boundless love, deems best. For His glory and our good. 

Amen.

 

Drawing by Aby, 1st grade.