12-24-23 Grace-Tucson 10 AM Sermon

Luke 1:26-38 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke

Sunday Morning Christmas Service Sunday, December 24, 2023 “You Have Found Favor with God”

I have come to think of it as the most controversial of the Christmas carols. I don’t just mean that some people like it and some don’t. Tastes can differ for any song. With this song, I have heard the actual debates about whether the lyrics make sense and whether the song is worth singing. My take on the song? I love it. I think the melody is beautiful and the words make good use of rhetorical questions. Most importantly, I find that the lyrics include some amazingly deep theology in a way that many other Christmas songs, including religious ones, do not. Do you know the song? The song’s title is Mary, Did You Know? And the theology—did you know that little child you’re holding is the great I Am? When you kiss your little baby, then you’ve kissed the face of God? Profound statements like those are the reason you find me firmly in the camp in favor of that Christmas carol.

But I also understand the argument against. Simply put, the argument against this song takes the account we’re looking at from Luke chapter one and says, “Of course Mary knew. The angel told her! Why would anyone ask a question that has such an obvious answer?” That argument has a good deal of truth to it. Mary had a conversation with an angel. She had an interaction that was life-changing in several ways. She learned many things from the angel. She must have remembered every detail of that encounter for the rest of her life.

Mary knew that this was a unique encounter from the very first words out of the angel’s mouth, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.”

And the angel went on with amazing news and amazing promises, all in spite of Mary’s fear and confusion.

After calming Mary’s fears, the angel Gabriel explained how Mary would become pregnant and give birth to a baby boy. She would name him Jesus, and Mary would have known that the name Jesus means “the Lord saves.” And in part in answer to Mary’s doubts and wondering, as a virgin who knew how human reproduction works, the angel explained carefully that this would happen by the power of God and the working of the Holy Spirit. This child would be the Son of God, the Son of the Most High. This child would be an eternal king ruling over God’s people, just as King David once had, but forever.

Mary did know. She may not have known every detail of Jesus’ life. She may not have known everything referenced in the Christmas carol, but she knew. She knew that the angel’s words were recalling the ancient prophecies of the Messiah. She knew that God was keeping his great promise. She knew that she was hearing good news of great joy that was for her and for the whole world. And this incredible message is summarized so clearly in the phrase the angel said to her: “you have found favor with God.” The word that is translated “favor” here is also translated “grace” in many contexts. Mary had not earned God’s favor. She wasn’t chosen for her role because she would be the most capable mother or because of her standing in the community. Sure, she had remained chaste leading up to her marriage, but she had not been sinless. She was chosen to be the very mother of God, the mother of the infant Savior, not because of who she was but because of God’s incredible and amazing grace to her. And she believed that the impossible would happen in her life because God in his love and grace and favor led her to believe the words of his angelic messenger.

Those words of the angel were full of good news of great joy not only for Mary but also for other sinners.

Prophecy after prophecy had held God’s promise in front of sinful people who needed him to keep his promise. The promise was shared with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Jacob’s sons, all playing their own unique role in God’s plan. King David was a sinful man who was used by God in extraordinary ways. He was put into a unique position where he could serve God and his people, but his greatest joy was not in being king. It was receiving the promise of the Savior—that the Messiah would rule over his throne and carry on his royal line. But the promise was not just for King David, either. It was for a whole world of sinners like him.

It was for a whole world of sinners like us. Those prophecies started at the time our ancestors Adam and Eve first fell into sin and were banished from the Garden of Eden. All of their descendants born in the natural way were born just as they had become—sinful. That means that every man and woman and child alive today is a sinner. I have no doubt that you have noticed the truth of that in others. Notice it also in yourself. You are the

reason your relationships are not everything they could be. You are the reason that distractions take you away from a focus on godly matters, even and perhaps especially in a season like this one so full of meaning. You are the reason that you lose sight of God’s promises and give up on good behaviors. You are the reason that sickness and death are a part of your life.

Do you think that you could earn favor from God? Do you think that you could deserve it or win it or attain it?

How do you imagine it going if a holy angel of God were to stand before you with a personal message? Could your response be anything but fear? Without the good news that the angel brings to Mary, here is the question you would be left to answer: what would you say when you stand before God as the perfect and holy judge?

The angel was bringing good news to Mary, but that news was not for Mary alone. The Christmas story was about to start in the womb of the virgin mother. She had to know her role. She had to be told the part that she would play in God’s grand design. And we needed to know also.

The parts we play and the vocations into which God places us are not the same as Mary’s, but God says to us, “You have found favor with me.” He shows us this angelic announcement so we can see his plan unfolding.

And he shows us the manger and the swaddling cloths. He shows us the glorious angelic announcement, the joyful shepherds’ worship, and the Magi’s gifts. And he shows us the bloody cross, and he shows us the empty tomb. God says, “Have no doubt that you have found favor with me. Here is your Savior.” And he moves our hearts to answer with Mary, “See, I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to me as you have said.”

You know, I am not the only one to consider Mary Did You Know? a controversial Christmas carol. Just a brief bit of research showed me that debates have gone on almost since the song was first sung. Some people have objected to this line of the song: “This child that you delivered would soon deliver you.” The objection stems from a long-standing Roman Catholic belief that Mary was born without sin. Those who hold this belief assume that she did not need a Savior. In fact, they even elevate her to some sort of a second savior. And they base their claim, at least in part, on what the angel said to her on the occasion we have been discussing. But if you take away the deliverance this child was bringing, you take away all of the good news of great joy. For all people of the world, his mother included, Jesus was coming to be Savior. God was keeping the promises he had made. And because of that good news of great joy comes this good news of great joy: you have found favor with God. Have a merry and blessed Christmas!

The Text: Luke 1:26–38 (EHV) 26In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee named Nazareth, 27to a

virgin pledged in marriage to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.”

29But she was greatly troubled by the statement and was wondering what kind of greeting this could be.

30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found favor with God. 31Listen, you

will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. 32He 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. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.”

34Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

35The angel answered her, “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. 36Listen, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age even though she was called barren, and this is her sixth month. 37For nothing will be impossible for God.” 38Then Mary said, “See, I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel

left her.