Luke 1: 26-38

A young boy named Jonathan wanted a bicycle very badly. All his friends had one. Finally, his mother suggested he take his concerns to the Holy Mother Mary in prayer. Johnny wrote his prayer out on a sheet of paper before he went to bed that night, and prayed, “Mary, mother of God, could you see to it that I get a bicycle? All my friends have one. Amen.” He placed the prayer next to his statue of the Virgin and went to sleep.

The next morning, when he didn’t have a bike, he wasn’t discouraged. He repeated the same activities of the previous night and he would end up repeating the ritual every night for the rest of the week. But each morning, disappointing results awaited him no sign of bike. Finally, he took his statue of Mary, wrapped it in a towel, and hid it in the back of a dresser drawer. When he went to sleep that night, he prayed: “Jesus, if You want to ever see Your mother again, I better get that bike!”

The second-most important character of Christmas, after Jesus Christ, is the Virgin Mary. We need not be concerned about the animals that were in the manger the night Christ was born. We can even ignore the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, and even Joseph. But Christmas has no meaning without Baby Jesus and the Holy Mother of God, Mary. Starting last week, we learned that we need to concentrate on decorating our inner hearts, our inner selves rather than solely concentrating on exterior decorations during this season. As the first ornament for your inner decoration, I recommended “Joseph’s righteousness.”

Over the past week, did you decorate your hearts with the same righteousness that Joseph had in his heart? Today, I would like to introduce the second ornament, called "Mary’s Faith.” I hope that all of us can decorate our hearts with the same faith that the Virgin Mary had in her heart. The scripture that we read today is called ‘Annunciation,’ or the story of Angel Gabriel notifying Mary that she had conceived the Son of God.

The two most difficult doctrines for Christians, let alone non-Christians, to accept in our religion are perhaps ‘Birth through a Virgin’ and ‘Resurrection of the Body.’ How could the late-adolescent Mary, who never knew a man, conceive Jesus and give birth to Him? How can dead people come back to life? These are two tenets of our religion that took place in history yet, in the face of modern science and technology, these two doctrines, to most people, are difficult to accept as truths. Despite the incredulity among believers and non-believers, these two doctrines are the two pillars that buttress the religion called Christianity.

 If somebody was to ask “Do you fully understand how these two things can happen?” my answer would be ‘no!’ With my limited scope of knowledge, I do not understand. Yet, if someone was to ask “Do you truly believe that these two events happened in history?” my answer would be ‘yes!’ That is because without believing in the Immaculate Conception and Resurrection, one cannot arrive at the crux of the Christian religion. Let’s focus our attention on the Virgin Mary today. Some people have confided that the passage in Acts, which states “conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary,” is the most difficult verse in the Bible to accept and believe.

But if one has problems believing that passage in the Bible, than the first passage of that verse would be even more difficult to accept. “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” If one believes in Creator God, who made the heaven and earth, and the almighty Lord, then one can easily believe in conception and birth by the Virgin. Because according to verse 37 of today’s scripture, “For nothing will be impossible with God.” If nothing is impossible with God, then an adolescent country girl from Nazareth can easily conceive a child of God through the Holy Spirit. If one cannot accept and believe the conception of the Virgin Mary and the birth of Christ, then not only do they not believe in the two most important doctrines of Christianity, they are refuting the omnipotence of God. Karl Barth (1886-1968) is probably one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century. He was steeped in theological tradition that was wrought with humanism and liberalism.

When he graduated from a theological seminary and took over a small church in the foothills of Alps, he vowed to reject those things that had to do with miracles. But during each weekly service, he had to recite the Apostle’s Creed with rest of the congregation. Barth, who considered himself a theological intellect, had particular problems with the phrase ‘Virgin Mary.’ “What do I do, I don’t believe this virgin stuff. Should I cut the creed out of the service altogether or should I remain silent during the reciting of that phrase?” Barth, who was honest in character, debated over this dilemma for awhile. One day, Barth came to a realization while sitting by himself.

“Could it be that my enlightened twentieth century grasp of reality might not weigh as much as two thousand years of the wisdom of the Christian faith?” Upon coming to this realization, Barth became humble in front of God. And he vowed to himself, ‘This is the faith of the church. I will not omit the Creed; I will continue to say it with my people.” My introduction today is perhaps a bit long and certainly detailed and grand in scope and the following is my main point. The conception of and birth by the Virgin Mary are inexplicable events through modern biology and gynecology.

These two events can only be planted in our hearts through a leap of faith and determination. The fact is that Mary herself, being a virgin, could not believe that she was pregnant and was in a state of denial. Take a look at verses 29 and 34. “But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.” “Then Mary said to the angel, ‘how can this be, since I do not know a man?’” Mary has never been with a man, and being a poor girl from the rural area, she wonders out loud, ‘how can such a thing happen to me?’ She was probably overwhelmed by the fact that among the countless number of virgins out there, she was chosen to bear this burden. Great fear and worries probably came over the young Virgin Mary, for there were great uncertainties that lay ahead of her. But there is a reason why Mary was chosen above all the other virgins. She was chosen for her faith and obedience.

Mary, upon hearing the most improbable and unbelievable message from the angels the mission impossible accepts the words of the angels and abides by them. Look at verse 38. “Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angels departed from her.” Upon hearing that God will come to this earth as a man, through the womb of her own body, Mary expressed that she will humbly and faithfully obey. A careful reading of today’s scripture, however, shows that Mary did not blindly and unconditionally believes God’s designs towards her.

To keep Mary intrepid, God, through the angel Gabriel, makes three promises with her. “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” What can be more assuring for the Virgin Mary than the fact that the Lord will be with her? Because God is with Mary, she had nothing to worry about. Jesus speaks in Matthew, chapter 28, verse 29. “And lo, I am with you always, event to the end of the age.” Christmas is ‘Immanuel,’ or the season that God is always with us. Believe in the fact that through Jesus Christ, God is with each and every one of us. Those who believe that God is with them are the favored ones, the blessed ones.

I hope that each one of us can become the favored ones. In verse 30, God makes His second promise to the Virgin Mary. “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” We are all chosen ones of God, the God who created us down to each and every follicle of our hair. We did not come into this world for nothing. Just as God chose the Virgin Mary to send Jesus Christ to us, God chose us because we all have something to do, some purpose to accomplish, in this world. St. Augustine (354-430) said the following one day. “If you were the only person that ever lived, Christ would have still come and died just for you.” It is true. Believe in the fact that the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was done for you. God makes a promise to us in Isaiah 41: 10. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Do not fear, for God is with you. In verse 37, God makes His third promise to Mary. It is a promise that through God, all is possible. “Nothing is impossible with God!” The word “impossible” does not exist in God’s dictionary. In order to fulfill His desire to save mankind, God chose a method that seems impossible in the eyes of humans.

Through a virgin’s womb, God sent His only Son to this world. Believe that everything is possible through God, even though it may be impossible with man. Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 19, verse 26: “With men this is impossible, but with God things are possible.” Mary believed that God could do anything. Therefore, the Virgin Mary gladly underwent the way of ‘Theotokas,’ or becoming the mother of God. According to Luke, the Virgin Mary became the receiver of God’s special blessings and the first recipient of God’s gospel the happy news of birth of Christ. Mary was also the first one to believe the gospel about Jesus Christ. Not only did she hear the gospel, but she also believed in it wholeheartedly. Raymond E. Brown, a modern scholar of the New Testament, went on to define the Virgin Mary as the first disciple of Jesus Christ. There is a famous painting from the Medieval Age that depicts the conception of the Virgin Mary. In the painting, the angel Gabriel, Mary, and the Holy Spirit are depicted.

The conception of Christ is delineated as the Holy Spirit entering the Virgin Mary through her ears. Yet, Mary gave birth to Christ in the same manner as any other woman. It was a natural delivery. The difficult-to-believe miracle is the fact that she was conceived through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the expression ‘birth by a virgin’ is not an accurate term. Rather, the term ‘conception of a virgin’ is a more apt term. Mary showed faith upon hearing that Jesus Christ, who is to save mankind, will be born through her. “Let it be to me according to your word.” Upon learning that the seemingly impossible thing happened to her, she chose to accept and believe through faith. The Virgin Mary serves as an example of faith to those of us who are waiting for Christmas. Through her actions, she is showing us how we should prepare ourselves to welcome and greet Jesus Christ as He comes into this world.

Mother Theresa of Calcutta had a dream. She told her supervisors, “I have three pennies and a dream from God to build an orphanage.” “Mother Theresa,” her superiors chided gently, “you cannot build an orphanage with three pennies. With three pennies, you can’t do anything.” “I know,” she said, smiling. “But with God and three pennies I can do anything!” If God is with us, nothing will be impossible. Have faith. Did you decorate your hearts with the righteousness that Joseph had? Then decorate your hearts with the great faith that the Virgin Mary had. The precious and beautiful Christmas is nearing us as we speak. Amen.