"Christmas Surprises"

Luke 1:26-38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Every year, somewhere during the holidays, the Publishers Clearing House van arrives at someone's home and the prize team rings the doorbell of some unsuspecting person and presents them with a huge check. It's great to see the kind of response that comes from such a great surprise. Suddenly someone is much richer than they were before. Some scream, some cry, some get downright goofy.

Chuck Swindoll writes,

Surprises come in many forms and guises. . .some good, some borderline amazing, some awful, some tragic, some hilarious. But there's one thing we can usually say -- surprises aren't boring.

Surprises are woven through the very fabric of all our lives. They await each one of us at unexpected and unpredictable junctures. (Finishing Touch p. 268)

This morning we focus on one of the greatest surprises that ever was . . . the surprise that took place when an angel by the name of Gabriel appeared to a young teenager by the name of Mary. Listen to the way the New Living Translation translates verses 26-28,

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

From this familiar and wonderfully simple passage I want to talk to you about God's surprises.

GOD SURPRISES US AT UNEXPECTED TIMES AND IN UNEXPECTED WAYS

It is obvious that Mary was surprised by the angel. Wouldn't you be? I imagine Mary's life was running along pretty much as expected. As with most women her age she was engaged to be married. Certainly it was a properly arranged marriage. Joseph would have paid some kind of dowry as a way of compensating Mary's father for his loss. And even though things were different then than they are now, I suspect maybe Mary dreamt often of her marriage and the possibilities of motherhood. This surprising visit from the Lord was not what Mary was expecting or seeking in her life.

You can imagine that when the angel appeared Mary was indeed frightened. She had been caught off guard. Her first thought was probably that she was about to die. And to be honest, you and I would probably think the same thing. But God sent Gabriel to Mary because He had a job for her to do. He wanted Mary to be the mother of the Messiah.

It's not likely that an angel is going to appear to you to announce some great thing that God wants you to do but God often surprises us in other ways.

Late one evening a professor sat at his desk working on the next day's lectures. He shuffled through the papers and mail placed there by his housekeeper. He began to throw them in the wastebasket when one magazine - not even addressed to him but delivered to his office by mistake - caught his attention. It fell open to an article titled "The Needs of the Congo Mission".

The professor began reading it idly, but then was consumed by these words: "The need is great here. We have no one to work the northern province of Gabon in the central Congo. And it is my prayer as I write this article that God will lay His hand on one - one on whom, already, the Master's eyes have been cast - that he or she shall be called to this place to help us." The professor closed the magazine and wrote in his diary: "My search is over." He gave himself to the Congo. [Leadership Vol 12 No. 3]

The professor's name was Albert Schweitzer. That little article, hidden in a periodical intended for someone else, was placed by accident in Schweitzer's mailbox. By chance he noticed the title which seemed to leap out at him. . . . Chance? Nope. It was one of God's surprises.

God's surprises come at unexpected times and in unexpected ways. And Christmas is a prime time for surprises. Some of the surprises are wonderful

Some surprises are painful,

And this leads me to the next point,

GOD'S SURPRISES ARE OFTEN DIFFICULT TO FULLY COMPREHEND

I think sometimes it is easy to glamorize what happened to Mary.

Luke 1:30-34 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God

We have a tendency to think that Mary heard these words and then said, "Cool!" But I don't think so. I don't think Mary had any real idea of what she was being asked to do. Perhaps Mary did understand was that

Was she scared? You know she was. Was she confused? You bet. Was God asking something easy from her. Not a chance.

God does not ask us easy things either. God asks us to do things that we cannot do on our own so that we will have to trust Him. He asks us for great things so that He may get the glory. A great Spanish saint prayed for his people, "May God deny you peace and give you glory." A great modern preacher said, "Jesus Christ came not to make life easy but to make men great."

William Barclay has written,

To be chosen by God so often means at one and the same time a crown of joy and cross of sorrow. The piercing truth is that God does not choose a person for ease and comfort and selfish joy but for a task that will take all that head and heart and hand can bring to it. God chooses a man in order to use him. When that is realized, the sorrows and hardships that serving God may bring are not matters for lamentation; they are our glory, for all is suffered for God.

There are lots of things God brings to our lives that we don't understand. There are lots of surprises that bring pain in addition to opportunity. Many times we have no idea what God is doing in our lives. But . . .

WHEN IN DOUBT . . . WE ARE ALWAYS WISE TO TRUST GOD

Mary's response to the Lord's

I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

What a remarkable attitude Mary had. She was willing to follow the Lord no matter how difficult the situation might be. And that is the lesson that you and I need to apply to our lives . . . . no matter what the circumstance . . .it is always wisest to trust the Lord.

Chuck Colson tells of inquiring of his Christmas "angel" as to what she wanted for Christmas. And she said, "Whatever my daddy chooses for me is fine."

That's what Mary was saying with her words . . . whatever the Lord wants and chooses for me is fine. And we could learn a lot from Mary and that Christmas "angel". There are many things that come into our lives that we don't understand and that are extremely difficult . . . but if that is the Father's plan for us we should willingly seek to honor Him in that situation.

But it's not just Mary. Consider the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The King has issued an order that at a certain time everyone in the nation was to bow down to the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar. The three Hebrews refused because they would only worship the Lord. The King had them arrested and had them sentenced to being thrown alive into a furnace of fire . . . . a furnace so hot that the men throwing the Hebrews in were themselves killed.

Before the King threw them in the furnace he gave them one last chance to change their mind. He gave them an opportunity to recant. And this is what they said.

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)

They believed God would save them from the furnace . . . but "even if he does not" they were going to trust Him.

Then there are the great words of the prophet Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations. Jeremiah is walking among the rubble of his beloved Jerusalem after it had been destroyed by the Babylonian army. Understandably he is depressed, discouraged and confused. He talks about how forsaken and alone he feels and then he utters these faithful words,

The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD. And it is good for the young to submit to the yoke of his discipline. (Lam. 3: 19-27)

Do you see how different this kind of faith is from the faith we often see around us today? Many proclaim faith when things are enjoyable and going well . . . but when things get tough they walk away and say, "it didn't work." They are not looking for a personal relationship with God . . . they are looking for a business partner!

Let me give you three suggestions on how we can move toward the faith of the three Hebrews, Jeremiah and Mary, rather than the faith of others in the world today. In all the surprises of life,

CONCLUSIONS

Dear Abby recorded a powerful story. A young man from a wealthy family was about to graduate from high school. It was a custom in their affluent community for parents to give their graduating children a new car, and the boy and his dad had spent weeks visiting one dealership after another. The week before graduation they found the perfect car. They boy was certain it would be in the driveway on graduation night.

One the eve of his graduation, however, his father handed him a small package wrapped in colorful paper. The Father said the package contained the most valuable gift the Father could think of. It was a Bible! The boy was so angry he threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house. He and his father never saw each other again.

Several year later the news of the father's death finally brought the son home again. Following the funeral, he sat alone one evening, going through his father's possessions that he was to inherit when he came across the Bible his dad had given him. Overwhelmed by grief, he brushed away the dust and cracked it open for the first time. When he did, a cashier's check dated the day of his high school graduation fell into his lap --in the exact amount of the car they had chosen together. The gift had been there all along . . . but he had turned away.

Perhaps the greatest surprise at Christmas is the declaration that God loves us. Do you remember the first words to Mary: "Greetings to you who are highly favored!" They may have been the most surprising words of all. They are certainly surprising words to many of you. God has given his gift and some of you are tempted to toss it aside and to walk away.

You've heard the phrase "Man is basically good." And you'd like to believe that optimistic sentiment but you know better. You know what you are really like. And as a result you may feel that God could never love you.

You may be one of those people who dread the holidays. Painful memories tend to work their way out at Christmas more than at any other time of the year. You may remember a father's drunken rage, a forced intimacy, a child's hurtful words, a time of disappointment while all around you were celebrating. This is the time of the year that makes the pain of grief much sharper. It is when family tensions are more pronounced. And for you, Christmas may be the time of year that you dread more than any other.

For you, the greatest surprise this Christmas may be the simple message that "You are loved by God." Yes, you. God is aware of your failures but sent Christ anyway. He knows of your rebellion but still reaches out His hand in love. He has seen you walk away from Him countless times . . . but He still pursues you in love. He knows how you have been hurt and He wants to make you whole again.

Yes, it may be mysterious that the God of Creation would notice and love you. God's love is a mystery to me too. I didn't come to Him . . . He found me. And He is reaching out to you as well. His invitation is simple, "Dare to trust me. One more time dare to believe that someone . . . no, not just someone . . . the Lord of Creation, loves you." Begin your Christmas celebration by welcoming God's forgiveness and love.

I don't know what surprises are in store for you this Christmas. Some will sting, some will make you jump for joy, some will take you down uncharted paths, others will stretch you in ways you never imagined. But each surprise comes from the hand of the Father who loves you. And I pray that you respond like the little child, "whatever my daddy chooses for me is fine." Or in the words of Mary . . . "I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said."

If you respond in that way, who knows, maybe God's surprises in your life will change the world. And if not the world . . . they will certainly change you.
Rev. Bruce Goettsche