AtomLuke 1:26-38 “A Promise for the Impossible”
"'And now you will conceive in your comb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor, David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.' Mary said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I am a virgin?' The angel said to 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 holy; he will be called Son of God.'" Luke 1:31-35
It was an impossible situation. At 27 years old, Emily found herself walking the street, tears running down her cheeks as she held tightly to the little hands grasping hers. She felt like her life was over. After enduringfive years in an abusive marriage, she had finally worked up enough courage to pack up her two young children and a couple of suitcases and hop on a bus - heading to another city and a new start in life.
But starting a new life has been far more difficult than Emily had imagined. She can’t find a job. Friends she thought she could count on have turned their backs on her. Her money has run out. Her children are sick and miserable. She has no home. She has no food. She has no friends. She has no hope. On this gray, drizzly day, tears running down her cheeks, she wandered aimlessly down the sidewalk and as she passed by a church, read the sign out front that pronounced, “God is faithful and able.”
“Huh!” she sniffed, “really?” It has been years since Emily set foot inside a church, and now she remembers why. Faith is a myth. It’s all empty promises. God certainly hasn’t been faithful to her.
Perhaps you have been there. Emily’s story could be the story of many in our community. Not the same, but the same: hopeless, helpless and trapped in a seemingly impossible situation? If you have, then perhaps you know how difficult it can be in those moments to trust in God’s promises, to trust that God is faithful and able. And yet it is the witness of God’s people throughout the ages that God’s love is steadfast and his promises are sure.
David certainly found that to be true. David, before he was King David, the king in this morning’s reading, was a mere shepherd, the youngest of eight boys in the family of Jesse. In the world of the Old Testament, that means that David is at the bottom of the family pecking order. And yet God chooses David to be the king of Israel. And not only does God choose David to be king, God also makes an outrageous promise to David. God promises that David’s family will rule the kingdom forever.
“Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:16
In other words, God promises David that someone from his family line, his genetic pool, will sit on the throne of Israel forever. Amazing! Unbelievable, really!
But, what makes the promise, and God’s faithfulness to it, even more extraordinary is what happens after God makes that promise. For awhile, David does quite well as king. He leads the nation of Israel into a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. But as so often happens, his success goes to his head. He loses his moral center. Not only does he have an affair with another man’s wife and impregnate her, he tries to cover it up rather than coming clean. And when that fails, he has the husband, a leader of his army sent to the front lines where he is sure to be killed in battle. David has him murdered. Nice guy, David – the one that God has called to be king, the one to whom God promises that he will establish his rule forever. David’s gene pool has become more like a cesspool. Surely God will draw back on the promise!
But…it is the witness of God’s people throughout the ages that God’s love is steadfast and God’s promises are sure. From Psalm 89…the psalm for the day:
“I have found my servant, David...my hand shall always remain with him; my arm also shall strengthen him… Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness; His line shall continue forever, and his throne endure before me like the sun.” Psalm 89:20-21, 35-36
Psalm 89 continues to proclaim the Israelites’ belief and trust that God will deliver on God’s promise – even though humans…people we are counting on to deliver the goods…even though humans fail.
Which happens all the time. We trust someone and they let us down and faith is tested and sometimes lost. I was speaking with one of our young people from Frazee this week. They were understandably deeply saddened by the death of Myrle Schermerhorn, a classmate and friend whose body finally gave out after all the trauma he had experienced since his tragic slide into icy waters and subsequent immersion for some 20 minutes before rescuers could get to him. The Schermerhorne family and all of Frazee and we as neighbors and friends are deeply saddened by the loss of one so young and vibrant.
But as this young person told me what was happening they said, “What makes it even more difficult is that we had come to believe that Myrle was going to make it. We had been told that after being touch and go for so many days, that he had turned the corner and was making good progress and he was going to live…and then all of a sudden, his body crashed and nobody could stop it.” I saw it in their eyes. It was as if a promise made had been broken
Again, you’ve been there, many of you…seen a loved one through surgery and the surgery went well and they came out of the anesthesia and things seemed to be progressing the way that the medical staff had hoped and then all of a sudden something changed. A clot moved. Electrolytes went out of wack. An infection took over. And all the promise of the day before was left empty and wanting…
I would offer today that many, if not most, of us will in our lifetime suffer a great deal of pain over not only losses, but also broken promises – even perceived promises. You may have gone “all in” on a business deal, only to discover that you’d been swindled. You may have staked your future on a promise that someone would love you “til death do you part,” only to be left feeling abandoned. You may have been promised a promotion or a raise at work, only to find yourself unemployed. And for some of us, every time we experience the pain of a broken promise, we find it more and more difficult to trust in God’s promise of steadfast love. And yet it is the witness of God’s people throughout the ages that, as fragile as human promises may be, God’s love is steadfast and God’s promises are sure.
Mary’s story is witness to God’s abiding faithfulness. Talk about a young woman caught in an impossible situation! Consider again this most familiar story of Mary, mother of our Lord. Can you imagine being a young girl, probably no more than 14 or 15, living in a small, quiet, rural village, when suddenly an angel appears to you? The visit would be startling enough, but not nearly as startling as the promises that the angel proclaims: “God is with you. You are favored by the Lord. Even though you’re a virgin, you’re going to conceive a child, and not just any child. This child will be called the Son of God.”
What will Mary’s parents think? What will the neighbors say? How will she explain this to Joseph, her fiancé? How can any of this be possible? But then the angel Gabriel reassures her: “For you it may seem impossible, but nothing will be impossible with God.”
What would you do? How would you respond, considering all the broken promises in your life? Luke tells us that Mary responds with these words: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
And, as you know, God delivers on his promise. Mary does have a child who is called the Son of God. And not only that. By delivering on his promise to Mary, God also delivers on his promise to David so many years before. You see, Jesus does indeed come from David’s gene pool, and he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who not only rules over Israel but over all of creation. And one day he will rule over every human heart, and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and king, to the glory of God.
God is faithful and able, and it is still the witness of God’s people that God’s love is steadfast and God’s promises are sure. You may be here today, and beneath your brave smile, the truth is that you’re in a seemingly impossible situation. Perhaps you’re struggling to believe that tomorrow can be any better than today, and the more holiday cheer you see around you, the emptier and more depressed you feel.
I would proclaim to you again today what God’s people have been proclaiming for thousands of years: God’s love is steadfast and God’s promises are sure. You are not abandoned, and you are not alone. In this season we not only celebrate the birth of the Christ child, we also celebrate the One who is faithful to his promises, the One whose love is steadfast and sure, the One who is already at work in ways we cannot see, the one who comes to us even now in our need, the One who will never, ever let us go. Even as we leave this life – whether our time here is long and full or far too short as in the death of young Myrle – God keeps God’s promises: “ I have called you by name and you are mine.”
About to continue her aimless walk down that wet sidewalk, Emily felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see a woman, about her mother’s age, in an old-fashioned yellow rain slicker. “Are you okay, sweetie?” the woman asked. “It’s a terrible day to be out walking. We’ve got hot soup and fresh bread for lunch inside the church. Why don’t you and your children come in and join us?”
Normally she would have simply shaken her head and walked away, but today she did not. Maybe it was the gnawing hunger and the thought of a hot meal. Maybe it was the thought of being inside, of being anywhere, warm and dry. But, truth be told, it was something in the woman’s eyes that drew Emily in. There was a genuineness in those eyes, a depth of compassion more sincere than any Emily had seen or felt in many weeks. Before she knew it she found herself seated at a table, struggling against the urge to wolf down her soup, and failing miserably. Her children have been dried off and are being fed and loved by half a dozen grandmothers who looked like they’ve come right out of a Kodak moment.
As her belly filled, her heart began to soften, and Emily found herself pouring out her pain to sympathetic ears while her children slept in the nursery. She talked about the abuse of her past, her failure to start a new life, and how hopeless she felt about the future. And as the bitter tears trickled down her cheeks, that woman in the old-fashioned rain slicker grasped Emily’s hands in her own and said, “Honey, you’re not alone. God is faithful and able. Together, we’re going see you through.”
And while it’s not all fixed – in fact, the journey has barely begun – Emily dares to be hopeful for the first time in ages.
It’s what we’re about here at First Lutheran, friends. We’re about pointing to the God who is able to make the impossible possible. We’re about remembering the stories of God’s faithfulness to David and to Mary and to Joseph and to us. And we’re about being those warm hearts and warm arms that communicate to our community that God is indeed faithful and able. We’re about the Christmas Angel Tree (pictures of gifts). Thank you and Kids Against Hunger (picture of young and old packaging) and Christmas at our House (picture of family around table in church dining room.). We’re about telling and living the good news that Christ is coming…and that Christ has already come…and is here. God is indeed faithful and able.” Pray with me, please…
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