“The Twelve Blessings of Christmas: Faithfulness”
Luke 1:26-38

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Second Sunday in Advent—December 7. 2014

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

During the Advent and Christmas seasons this year we are having a sermon series on “The Twelve Blessings of Christmas.”  The first nine of these blessings are from St. Paul’s list in Galatians of the fruits of the Spirit:  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

We began last Sunday with patience, and at our first Advent service last Wednesday evening we considered love and joy.  We continue this morning with the blessing of faithfulness.

The word “professor” has a meaning which we have forgotten.  Universities were originally founded by the Christian Church, and a professor was first of all one who literally “professed” the Christian faith.  That was the most important qualification, to literally be a “professor.”

The word “faithfulness” has the same kind of double meaning, which we at first might not recognize.  “Faithfulness” literally means to be “faith-full,” full of faith, believing and trusting in God. 

There is an instructive contrast presented to us in today’s Old Testament and Gospel Readings.  King Ahaz in the Old Testament and the Virgin Mary in the New Testament are both confronted with crises in their lives calling for faith and trust in God.  In response to these crises, King Ahaz is a bad example of being faithless, but the Virgin Mary is a good example of being faithful.

As the King of Judah and heir to the great King David’s throne, Ahaz was also heir to the promise of old given to Abraham, “Through your Offspring all nations on earth shall be blessed,” and confirmed by the Lord in Jeremiah, “I will make a Righteous Branch sprout from David’s line.”  We are impressed if someone has a famous ancestor.  King Ahaz was in line for that kind of honor in reverse.  He was to have a famous descendant; one of his royal successors would be the great King of all the earth, the promised Messiah, the coming Savior of the world.

But, King Ahaz was not faithful, but faithless.  He had turned away from the true God and turned instead to false gods and idols.  He did not believe the promises of old, he did not believe in the coming Messiah. 

Now he is facing a frightening crisis.  The Hebrew nation had split into the larger Kingdom of Israel and Ahaz’s own very small Kingdom of Judah, which was not much larger than some of our counties.  Against this tiny kingdom, a powerful alliance of other nations was threatening an invasion that would destroy both Judah and King Ahaz.  But, the Lord could not let that come to pass.  For it was through the royal house of Judah that the promised Messiah was to be born: “I will make a Righteous Branch sprout from David’s line.”  So, through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord assures Ahaz that no invasion will occur. “It will not take place, it will not happen. . .  stand firm in faith.” 

Isaiah then asks Ahaz to seek a sign from the Lord to confirm this promise, but Ahaz refuses: “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.”  Ahaz would not put the Lord to the test because he didn’t believe in or trust the Lord, and he thought the Lord would fail the test.

“Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David!  Is it not enough to try the patience of men?  Will you try the patience of my God also?  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:  Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’”  This is a humiliating proclamation for Ahaz.  The Messiah will still be born of David’s line, but, because of the unfaithfulness of Ahaz, he will not be Ahaz’s heir, for he will be miraculously born of a Virgin, of female lineage only.

That brings us to today’s Gospel Reading.  In contrast to Ahaz’s lack of faith and trust in God when facing a frightening crisis in his life is the example of the Virgin Mary and her faithfulness and trust in God.  “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 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.” 

The significance of these events for you, and the real meaning of Christmas, is found in the meaning of the name “Jesus.”  It is the Greek form of the Hebrew “Ye-shua” or “Joshua,” which literally means, “The Lord Saves.”  Jesus’ name tells us who he is and what he does.  He is the Lord, God come in the flesh, as St. Paul says in 1st Timothy, “Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body.”

It was for us and our salvation that he came down to earth and was made man, to save us from our sins by living a perfect life and dying a sacrificial death in our place, as Hebrews explains, “He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.”  Because of his incarnation, because of his nativity, because of his life, death and resurrection, your sins are all forgiven.  As the angel later told Joseph in a dream, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Mary understood the significance of the angel’s words and the name of the child she would bear, “The Lord Saves.”  She believed her child would be the Lord and Savior of the world, her Lord and Savior, and your Lord and Savior too. 

Though this was Good News for the world, for Mary personally, it represented a frightening crisis in her life.  How would her fiancé Joseph react to this news that she was pregnant?  Would he believe her story of the angel’s visit and the miraculous conception?  Would she be ostracized from her family and community?  Might she even have the ancient penalty for adultery carried out against her and be stoned to death?

“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. . . For nothing is impossible with God.’”

Like King Ahaz and the Virgin Mary, there are times in our lives when we are confronted with frightening crises.  And every day of our lives we are confronted with situations which call for faithfulness.  The Book of Revelation describes all the woes and struggles of this life and then says, “This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. . . who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.”

But, all too often we are like King Ahaz.  We forget the Lord, we doubt his power, we turn away from him to our own false gods and idols, what Jesus calls, “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for things.”

An amazing thing in the Gospels is how often the 12 disciples themselves were doubting and faithless.  On one page we read how they heard firsthand Jesus’ teaching and witnessed his miraculous power. Then we turn the page and they are very bluntly and openly doubting him and his power.  This is, by the way, one of the testimonies to the truthfulness of the Gospels.  No other religion in the world reports in its own holy book its leader being doubted, denied, and disowned by his foremost followers.  If these were made up stories they would never include such embarrassing details. 

“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” he said to them before calming the storm.  “You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread?” he asked in exasperation after feeding the 5,000.  “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” he says to the head apostle Peter.  “Trust in God; trust also in me,” he tells them at the Last Supper.  “Stop doubting and believe,” he says to Thomas.  Even after his resurrection, just before he ascended into heaven, Matthew reports, “When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”

Unlike the doubting disciples, unlike King Ahaz, Mary is not of little faith, but full of faith, faithful.  “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”  She trusts in the Lord and his power and promises. 

Martin Luther comments, “To this poor maiden marvelous things were announced: that she should be the mother of the All Highest, whose name should be the Son of God.  He would be a King and of his Kingdom there would be no end.  It took a mighty reach of faith to believe that this Baby would play such a role.  Well might Mary have doubted, but she shut her eyes and trusted in God who could bring all things to pass, even though common sense were against it.

“There are here three miracles: that God and man should be joined in this Child; that a mother should remain a virgin; and that Mary should have such faith as to believe that this mystery would be accomplished in her.  This last miracle is not the least of the three.  For the virgin birth is a mere trifle for God; that God should become a man is a greater miracle; but most amazing of all is that this maid should believe the announcement that she had been chosen to be the mother of God.  She held fast to the Word, proclaimed by the angel.  Even so we must believe.”

How can you be a “professor,” “faith-full” like the Virgin Mary?  “With man this is impossible.  But not with God.  All things are possible with God.”

Just as the Lord through the angel proclaimed his Word to the Blessed Virgin, and by the power of his Holy Spirit miraculously formed Christ in her womb, by the power of his Word and Spirit he forms faith in Christ in your heart.