Sermon Notes from our Pastors

 
 

The PROMISE of Advent

Fourth Sunday of Advent; December 22, 2024

Micah 5:2-5a; Luke 1:39-45

(2024 Advent Worship Series: Come, Let Us Adore Him)

 

Introduction

A world of wonder, a world of pain

A world of laughter, a world of tears

A world of beauty, a world to share

But who believes that, who can hear

 

We have the power to make or break

We have the power to give or to take

We have the skill to heal the ill

Creating a world where all are strong.

 

A world of difference, a world of need

 

Lyrics from the 1979 song “A World of Difference” by Garth Hewitt

 

On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, Christmas is almost here. The promise is almost here. But who are those that believed the promise most? Who are those who first accepted it and even celebrated it – even though the Promise was “out-of-this-world,” humanly unbelievable, historically unprecedented? Two women! They believed in the One who was coming who really would make “a world of difference” – and they willing to be participants. It didn’t matter that they were women living in a male dominated world. You only need to read a few verses on – Mary’s song – to realize how much they believed in this Promise of a “world of difference.”

 

  1. Believing the Unbelievable

 

  • Being chosen by God is a privilege, it’s exciting, but can be very scary. Mary was a very young woman, even a teenage girl perhaps, in keeping with the culture of the times. She is first visited by an angel (in itself a scary event), then is told that God has decided to bestow his grace (=undeserved favor) on her. The form that “grace” would take was that she (a virgin) was chosen to mysteriously conceive a son. Wait, that’s not all.
  • This son would be the fulfilment of a Promise given to King David in 2 Samuel 7:12
  • The name giving was significant too. Jesus, meaning Savior
  • He will be called the son of the Most High (a clear reference to God himself)
  • She is told that Holy Spirit with his power would “overshadow” her to make it happen – God would need her to cooperate, participate, be willing, available.

 

  • Being obedient is to humbly desire to participate in God’s purposes.
  • Young Mary was humble, and willing to be a servant of/for God
  • “Word being fulfilled” (Luke 1:37-38) hints towards accepting God’s purposes over her own plans
  • The song she sings later shows a deep understanding of God’s ways (Luke 1:50-53)
  • She was willing for her faith to be strengthened – by going to Elizabeth’s home

 

  1. Recognizing the Invisible

 

  • Allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through her
  • Elizabeth recognized the Holy Spirit’s work of joy in her child
  • Allowing her home and their relationship to be a welcome “safe space” for the young Mary’s first 3 months of pregnancy

 

  • Recognizing the Spirit’s work in God’s chosen
  • It takes a very humble person to redirect the spotlight to someone else, as Elizabeth did
  • Recognizing what God was doing in Mary’s life. Elizabeth’s declaration of Jesus inside Mary’s womb is the first actual proof that she (Mary) had of the fulfilment of God’s Promise
  • Her recognition of Mary’s faith (v.45) must have been such an encouragement to Mary in a difficult time for her

 

Christmas is almost here. But for God to fulfil his Promise of Christmas he looked to 2 women – one older, the other very much younger – to participate in what he was going to do. The first had to believe and receive the unbelievable – and make it happen. The second was willing to play a supportive but important role of recognizing God’s invisible work in the younger woman’s life. No faith journey is taken alone.

 

For Christmas to happen in our lives we too need to believe the unbelievable – God actually wants to find a place in me to grow. And when that is done he wants me to recognize what he’s doing in those that he has chosen and encourage them.

 

That’s the only way God can work through us – to make a world of difference.