Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named, Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants 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 on 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. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is now in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.’

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Let us pray,

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts, be pleasing and acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer…

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Advent. It is the last Sunday before Christmas. To help us transition to Christmas, we have the familiar story of the annunciation. Where God sends the angel Gabriel to a virgin named Mary. Gabriel tells Mary: The Lord is with you. You have found favor with God. You are to conceive a son and you will call him Jesus. He will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High. And his kingdom will have no end.

Mary is confused. How can this be? Mary asks Gabriel, for I am a virgin. Not to mention a virgin pledged to be married. Don’t worry. Says Gabriel. You will conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because no word from God will ever fail. Mary then responds in humble obedience: I am the Lord’s servant says Mary. Let God’s will be done.

In Luke’s account of the virgin conception, a word of assurance and comfort from the angel Gabriel. Invite Mary to do the unusual and the bold. Because nothing will be ‘impossible with God,’ Mary steps out in faith and allows God’s will to be done through her. In Luke’s gospel, (and also throughout Christian history) Mary is the ideal Christian. The person who all people, men and women alike should emulate. Especially if they wish to follow her son. Mary’s story moves us all to reflect upon what God is asking us to do. And to take one tiny step in the direction of our calling.

As I read through this familiar text this year, I found my attention resting on the angel Gabriel. What role does he play in preparing God’s people for Jesus’ arrival? I asked myself. I think that Gabriel comes to Mary as a holy interrupter. As someone sent from God to shift the course of Mary’s entire life. Mary thought her life was going in one direction. She was going to marry Joseph and begin a new life with him. Now all of that is up in the air as Joseph decides whether or not to go through with their betrothal now that Mary is pregnant. For Mary, as for all of us, following God comes at a cost.

But as I read through this text again, I came to realize that we need holy interruptions as we seek to live our call to follow Jesus in our daily lives. These interruptions shake us out of our complacency. They clarify who we are and what God is asking us to do at key moments in our lives. They present us with opportunities to grow in our dependance on Jesus. Without these holy interruptions we go about our days on autopilot. Unsure of who Jesus is and why Jesus matters in our lives. Or worse, we go through life with the false confidence that we, not Jesus are in control of our lives and our world.

I received one such holy interruption on the fourth Sunday in Advent two years ago. Charlie Windisch was one of those congregants who seemed to hold the saints of Mt. Nebo together with a whole lot of Jesus and even more duct tape. A retired electrician, he had personally rewired all of the electrical panels in the church at least twice. When the church installed a sound system in the sanctuary, he personally climbed through the beams in the attic to install the speakers. Whenever there was a problem with the boiler, a toilet, or the hot water tank I was to call Charlie.

Now Charlie was 85 years old when I became the pastor at Mt. Nebo. And 87 when his lung cancer returned with a vengeance. By December of 2018, he was receiving hospice care at home. Where he was given supplemental oxygen and breathing treatments. But through it all, Charlie remained in good spirits. A few weeks before Christmas, Charlie swung by my office, and sat himself down in the chair across from my desk. Pastor, I would like to ask you for a favor. My doctor said I can come to church on Sunday if I behave myself. Would it be okay with you if I shared my testimony in church?

To this day, the testimony that Charlie shared on that Sunday was more effective than any sermon I’ve ever preached. At bearing witness to the power of God to transform a person’s life. Charlie spoke about a work accident that should have killed him. Because God saved him, he dedicated his life to sharing the good news of Jesus with others. What could have left him bitter and angry with God set him on a path to loving and serving others in the name of Jesus. He ended his testimony by leading the congregation in a rousing a cappela rendition of ‘Away in a Manger.’ 

I think of Charlie every Advent, but particularly on the fourth Sunday. I think of how lucky I am to have known him. How lucky that he chose to spend the time he had left on this earth teaching me how to love God and to love God’s people. Charlie taught me how to commit myself to a church community and how to love God’s people in all of their messy imperfections. Because of the holy interruption in Charlie’s life, Charlie’s life touched mine. Which motivates me to pass on the love of Jesus to others.

Friends (if you haven’t guessed it already) the theme of this final Sunday in Advent is love. And our text encourages us to look for the holy interruptions in our lives and discern how these interruptions may be opportunities to love others better. To get you started, I want you to imagine a moment in your life where you thought your life was going in one direction? To have something happen, some holy interruption, that changed your best laid plans. A moment where you learned if you trust in the promises of God or not.

How did that holy interruption change your life? How might you use your story to draw someone you know into the story? The story we have been preparing our self for these last four Sundays. The story of God loving us so much that God sent God’s only son to become man and dwell among us. So that God could relate to God’s people in a new and intimate way. God’s love for us, that comes together in the person of Jesus, is the reason the church gathers her people for worship.

I know in my own life I’m only able to trust in the promises of God by reminding myself that God is with me always. Even when I can’t see it. Even when I’m not sure what God is up to. I have to remind myself that God is with me always. I think this is why Gabriel begins his conversation with Mary with those words of assurance. Because when we’re about to embark on the big and scary things we can only do it knowing that we don’t go alone.

We need to know that the same God who lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Who rescued Jonah from the belly of a whale. Who sent kings and judges and apostles and martyrs. This is the God who loves us so much that he sent his only son to become man and dwell among us. Because God loves us we can step out in faith and meet the holy interrupters in our midst.

Thanks be to God,

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.