I. Fear not!
Put yourself into my shoes. How startled and troubled I was; my mind was in a complete whirr. I had no idea what was taking place. Why was this angel here? Have you ever thought how you'd react if an angel suddenly appeared to you. My heart was so filled with fear! But the angel softly reassured me with the words: “Fear not, Mary.”
“Fear not.” They were the same words my cousin Zechariah later told me the angel said to him, too, when he was about his priestly duties in the temple. “Fear not, Zechariah,” he said. “Your prayer has been heard.”
They say that there are 365 “fear nots” in the Bible. That's one for each day of the year. I don't know if it's true, but I understand a little more that each morning when I get out of bed and start my day, God wishes to tell me, “Don't be afraid. My grace will go with you.” Isn't that a good way to start your day? “ Fear not .” Now that's something to sing about!
II. Blessed by God's Grace.
My story begins when I was a young maiden living in the home of my parents in Nazareth of Galilee. I tended to all my daily duties as best I could – baking bread, carrying water from the town well – I tried to help my parents as best I could.
At the time they made all the arrangements for me to become a wife of a man I loved, Joseph. He was our town carpenter – a fine man, good-hearted, sincere, and most of all, God-fearing. Don't
ever let anyone tell you it doesn't matter what your spouse believers, but all that matters is love. It is so important that your spouse be God-fearing, that he humbles himself before God and trusts in Him. My story bears that out.
But, let me first return to the night the angel appeared to me. Although I was at first afraid, his wondrous greeting cast aside all my fears. Then, that which followed was so spectacular that I have never forgotten one bit of it. I regularly ponder it in my heart. The angel told me, “Fear not, Mary, you have found favor with God.”
But I am a sinner. How can a sinner find favor with God? I was confused and troubled at first. But slowly my heart began to grasp the significance of his words.
You see, dear friends, the word which you translate as “found favor” is very close to our word for “grace.” Because of my background as one of God's covenant people descended from Abraham and King David, I understood what he meant. Like all believers, I am living under God's grace – His undeserved love and favor. Undeserved because I am a sinner. Still, though I am a sinner, God's grace rests upon me in His promise of a Messiah. That's what I understood in his greeting. But what I didn't know until he explained it was the special nature of grace that God was not going to show me – just me. His next words left me breathless.
The angel said that I would conceive and give birth to a child whom we were to call Yeshua, or Jesus, as you know him. The name means “Jehovah saves.” The angel was telling me that I was to be the mother of a Savior. He continued, “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.” That's what took my breath away. This wasn't just any Savior; this was going to be the Savior, the Son of God Himself! Our Messiah! For centuries my people had awaited His coming. And now I was told that I would be His mother!
Shocked beyond all imagination! But I didn't doubt it. Sometimes people have mistaken my words, thinking that I didn't believe the angel. After all, my cousin Zechariah had doubted his words to him. I didn't doubt the angel. He was a messenger of the Most High God! How could I doubt one of God's holy messengers? I didn't doubt; I just wondered how the Lord was going to do this because I was a virgin. I had never intimately
known a man, and Joseph's and my time for this had not yet come. How would this be? It was a mystery to me!
Then angel was most patient. He explained, “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.” And that was enough explanation for me. It would be a miracle, a grand miracle of God's grace and power. Blessed by God's grace – what a thing to sing about!
III. My Soul Magnifies the Lord.
The angel was gone as quickly as he came. For several days I did nothing but sat and thought and prayed. I tried to recall all the prophecies of the Messiah that I had been told. When I came to Isaiah, I marveled for he had prophesied: “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and will call Him Immanuel.” That took my breath away. God was not fulfilling His promise – no doubt about it. Humbly I breathed, “Lord, I am your servant.”
It was difficult for Joseph at first. It was hard for him to believe that his fiancé was going to have a child already – without him involved. But again, God's grace and favor was upon us both. He sent another angel to Joseph to explain it all to him. Joseph, being the humble, God-fearing man that he was, took it all in stride. He also bowed low before God – yet, joyfully. Oh, it's so important that you find a God-fearing spouse like the Lord gave me!
Then I went to see my cousin Elizabeth. We shared one another's good news with each other. What a time that was. We were eyewitnesses of the covenant at work. Inspired by it all, I broke out in a song of Christmas that is called The Magnificat. I sang: “My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit rejoiced in God my Savior.” I wanted to magnify Him, to make Him bigger in my eyes and the sight of all others because of His grace towards us.
I understand that many people in your day do the opposite. How sad that is. Instead of magnifying God in their lives, they shrink Him. They think of Him as old and weak, out-moded, irrelevant to a modern technological age. They try to reduce Him to nothing, much less believe in Him.
Others are said to want a small God, a God of convenience, a crutch of sorts to lean on if the times should get rough. It seems to me that they almost treat Him like He's a jar of pickles that they
take from the shelf when they have a hankering for one. But that happens only now and then. Most of the time, He's left on the shelf. What a tragic way to treat a gracious God.
Learn from me. Don't lessen God's impact in your lives. Don't treat Him like a mere convenience. Magnify Him! With your entire heart and soul, make Him great in your eyes and the eyes of others. He's your Savior!
In a few months more you'll see how great He is. Then you'll stand before a cross and a tomb. You'll witness a glorious
resurrection and a victorious ascension. My son will die for sin, then rise again for life. He'll conquer all our spiritual enemies. Let your soul magnify Him . That's why this season is so special because we see how God gave Him to us. He gave us His only Son. These are great things, dear friends! Great things!
He's the Savior; and we are His servants. Celebrate that this season and you, too, will carry a song in your heart forever. God grant it to you for Jesus' sake. Amen.