God With Us: An Audio Advent Devotional

Day 22: The Announcement

Episode Summary

An angel visits Mary and declares the wait is over—the Messiah is on the way!

Episode Notes

An angel visits Mary and declares the wait is over—the Messiah is on the way!

Transcript

Episode Transcription

Advent Day 22, The Announcement.

The final days of Advent, soon it will be Christmas.

Many of us feel a mix of emotions in these seasons of waiting and celebration.

Sorrow, joy, nervousness, excitement.

Mary, Jesus' mother, can relate.

An angel visits her and declares the wait is over.

The Messiah is on the way, and Mary will be his mother.

Picture Mary, a teenage girl, going about her daily routine.

Collecting water, washing feet, thinking about marrying Joseph, the carpenter.

Here, Mary laughing, talking with her family.

The next door auntie always asks about the wedding plans and gives her opinions about them too.

Going to the synagogue, absorbed and absorbing the words of the Torah.

Rolling its words around in her mouth and finding them more decadent than honey.

See her sitting, forehead creased, meal preparations forgotten, pondering the rabbis' instructions.

What kind of girl do you imagine Mary to be?

And then, an angel.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.

But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be, Luke 1, 26 and 29.

Why do you think the angel's greeting disturbs Mary?

Mary seems untroubled by an angel's appearance, but his words, those trouble her.

She considers the words and weighs them, attempting to discern what they might mean.

Even with an angel standing before her, she wrinkles her brow and thought.

The angel interrupts and addresses Mary's unease.

He tells her to not be afraid and he calls her by name.

The angel's greeting isn't a case of mistaken identity or impersonal.

It's deeply personal and it's on purpose.

Why is it important that the angel's greeting is both personal and on purpose?

In the Old Testament, God sends an angel to another person with a similar greeting.

Judges 6 verse 12 says, and the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, the Lord is with you, almighty man of valor.

This person, Gideon, is an unlikely choice.

The Lord is with him?

Gideon has his doubts.

When have you felt skeptical about something you read in the Bible or about something you heard a preacher say?

Gideon also questions the angel's designation.

A mighty man of valor?

He cowers in a wine press.

Gideon asks for a sign to confirm the angel's words and when he receives it, he trembles with a fear far greater than the one that sent him scurrying into a wine press.

He knows the stories and if he knows the story of God rescuing his people from Egypt, he certainly knows the story of Moses asking to see God.

God tells Moses, no.

Man shall not see me and live.

But God doesn't strike Gideon down.

He speaks words of comfort.

Peace be to you.

Do not fear.

You shall not die.

In response, Gideon builds an altar and names it, the Lord is peace.

How does God's peace soothe fear, either Gideons or in your own experience?

Does Gideon's story enter Mary's mind?

She knows the scriptures.

She grows up with the stories, but she doesn't respond the way Gideon does.

Mary doesn't protest or ask for a sign.

Why do you think Mary refrains from protesting or asking for a sign?

Now that as Mary points out the cost to her reputation or her way of life, Mary asks a question, the one most pressing to her.

And Mary said to the angel, how will this be since I'm a virgin?

Luke 1.34.

If you could ask God anything and you can in this Advent season, what would you ask Him?

Both Gideon and Mary receive messages from God that invite them to participate in God's purposes.

If they accept the invitation, there will be no going back.

Even if they decline, nothing will be the same.

They inhabit that small window of time before the before becomes the after.

When has a decision whether negative or positive changed the course of your life?

Both Mary and Gideon ask questions, but Gideon's questions come from a skeptical heart.

He questions just about everything the angel and God say to him.

God doesn't tell Gideon to stop asking questions.

He answers them.

What does this tell you about God and how He responds to our questions, even when they come from a place of doubt or worry or fear?

Mary's question arises from a contemplative spirit.

In Luke's Gospel, she is described as someone who treasures God's words and actions.

She ponders things in her heart.

As contemplative as Mary is, though, her question lies largely in the realm of the practical and tangible.

How will this be?

And God answers the question.

What does this tell you about God and His answers to our questions, no matter how small or large they might be?

Gideon says yes to God and becomes a mighty man of valor.

He delivers Israel from the Midianites.

But Gideon is not the Messiah.

His deliverance lasts his lifetime, maybe a little more.

Mary says yes to God and becomes Jesus' mother.

The wait is over.

The Messiah is on the way.

And this Messiah is the promised Messiah, Jesus.

God with us will soon be born.

Of His deliverance and His kingdom, there will be no end.

Mary's knowledge of God and His ways informs her response.

She trusts His plan, even when it differs from the one already in motion.

She surrenders to it, no matter the cost to herself or anyone else's expectations.

The angel says the Lord is with her and will be with her, and she believes him.

She tells the angel, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word."

Would you say, "I am a servant of the Lord," or "Let it be according to your word to God?"

What do you need to surrender and set aside so that you can say those words with a whole heart?

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, teach us to appreciate pondering, especially as we wait to celebrate the birth of Your Son Emmanuel, God with us.

Show us the beauty of surrender, like that found in Mary's response to the angel.

Help us to join her in saying, "Behold, I am the Lord's servant.

May it be to me according to His word."

Amen.