Christmas Is WONDERFUL

It has been said that if the distance between the Earth and the Sun was 150 million kilometers, which it is, if it was the breadth of a sheet of paper, so to put scale on it, Earth to the Sun, 150 million kilometers is a sheet of paper, the distance between the Earth and the closest star in our galaxy would be 22 meters worth of paper.

So that's 150 million kilometers.

Put it on the ground, twice as high as the roof is the nearest star.

We could guess, but I'll tell you the answer, how far in that scale the diameter of the Milky Way is.

It would be 500 kilometers worth of paper.

500 kilometers, that's the scale of our galaxy.

And we're told that there are more galaxies in the universe than grains of sand on our seashores.

Would it be fair to say that if the God who breathed that universe into existence and sustains it by His powerful Word, if it is true that He became a human being, a tiny baby born in human history to die on a cross to save the world, if that is true, then that is truly wondrous and wonderful.

Amen.

That is what we believe as Christians.

The God who created the universe became one of us to save the world.

And it is wonderful.

This is the second last message in this Christmas is series.

And today we're going to look at Christmas is wonderful.

And we're going to look at Mary's response to what the angel said about the birth of Christ.

And as we ponder, I hope we will be drawn to wonder as she was.

The angel appeared to Mary, gave her a message from God, and no one could say that her response was simply blind faith and belief.

If you look at what she said, we're told that Mary was greatly troubled at the angel's words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be, Luke 1, 29.

The Greek word for wondered has more of a sense of an audit to it.

She really thought about it.

She added things up.

She pondered her first response is exactly what you'd expect her to say.

How can this be?

I'm a virgin.

And I think this is a really important aspect of her response for us to acknowledge.

She responds in faith, but it's gradual.

She responds gradually.

It happens in stages.

And I wonder if you would relate to that as a person of faith.

Not many of us just embrace faith all at once.

If you think of the different examples we find in history, Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Pilgrim spends about a year and a half trying to work through the angst of faith until he's finally brought to repentance and salvation.

Contrast that with the Philippian jailer of Acts 16.

Literally all at once, he accepts the gospel, is saved and baptized immediately.

Let me ask you, could you raise your hand if you know the exact moment in time that you were born again?

Praise God.

That means raise your hand if you don't.

Yeah, lots of us, it's a gradual process.

And I really want to encourage you today if you're still on that faith journey, if you're wondering about the claims of Christianity, you are on a well-throttten path.

This is what tends to happen.

Mary responds with what we might call measured incredulity.

Luke 1.34, her response, how will this be?

What she's really thinking is, this is crazy.

This is a crazy thought.

This is impossible.

How on earth could this be the case that the God that I know about, who creates the world, all that we see in creation, could come and be born in me as the saviour of the world?

I think if you've never scratched your head as a believer and thought, how is this even possible?

Maybe you need to think more about what we talked about at the start.

There is so much about Christianity that blows our mind.

And Mary shows us a great example of that from the very start.

Her second stage is simple acceptance.

She says, I am the Lord's servant.

May your word to me be fulfilled, verse 38.

She's not saying, wow, this is so clear to me, I get it.

I love this plan.

I'm so excited to be part of it.

She's saying, this doesn't seem to completely make sense to me yet, but I will pursue, I will follow.

Have you found that that's not a bad posture to adopt in your faith journey?

So often, we just don't understand what the next stage is.

We're drawn by the Lord, by the Spirit of God, to walk down a pathway that's dimly lit.

But in a following Mary's example, can I encourage you?

Simple acceptance, a posture of faith, leaning towards God, will take you towards Him.

Submit and trust despite the fears and the reservations that we have.

Measured in credulity, simple acceptance, and then that finally brings her to exercising faith from the heart.

Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist, and it all comes together for her.

Let me read from verse 39.

At that time, Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leapt in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In a loud voice, she exclaimed, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear.

But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, is the baby in my womb leaped for joy?

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promise to her.

John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb is spiritually empowered.

He is filled with the Spirit just by coming close to Jesus, who is God in Mary's womb.

This is enough for Mary.

She feels it.

She sees it.

She knows it in her spirit.

This is all happening.

God is with her.

In fact, God is in her.

Her response is gradual, measured doubt, simple acceptance.

And finally, wholehearted faith.

And she responds with her famous Magnificat.

She responds with wonder.

Mary said, verse 46, My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my saviour.

For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on, all generations will call me blessed, for the mighty one has done great things for me.

Holy is his name.

His mercy extends to those who fear him from generation to generation.

Mary is looking down the corridors of time, as it were, all the way back to Abraham, through the story of salvation history.

And she's just exclaiming, wow, how is this possible?

That God, the God of Abraham, has been mindful of me, a humble teenager, a nobody.

The mighty one has done great things for me.

Can anyone say amen to Mary's wonder?

Every Christian is like Mary.

Who am I that God would know my name, that he would send his son to die for me on a cross, to make a way for me to be forgiven of all my sin, to live forever with him, and that then he would send his spirit to prompt someone to share the gospel with me, that I might find him, that I might receive his grace?

This year, we have had a theme C23, and we've been talking about trying to see life through the eyes of faith with strong eyes, because God's work is often behind the scenes, and you've got to stop and ask for revelation, amen?

To see what he is doing, Mary's having this revelation.

She can see God is at work, and it is truly wonderful.

The band Casting Crown sang a song back in 2003.

I'm sure many of us know it well.

They wrote, Who am I?

That the Lord of all the Earth would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt.

Who am I that the bright and morning star would choose to light the way for my ever wandering heart?

Not because of who I am, but because of what you've done.

Not because of what I've done, but because of who you are.

This is a response of wonder, isn't it?

Who am I?

If you've ever thought, I'm a Christian because I am dot dot dot, smarter than the people who haven't responded in faith.

I wanna ask for a show of hands.

If you've ever thought, I am a Christian because if I'm honest, I'm better than a lot of people.

In fact, I'm more worthy.

You would be outright incorrect because none of us are worthy.

We have simply been touched by the grace and mercy of God.

Who am I that He would reach me with His unfathomable grace?

Mary responds to the wonder of Christmas gradually, and I hope we can be encouraged if we're on a gradual journey of faith and we've got challenges in understanding and accepting all the parts to the puzzle of faith.

Yeah, Mary took a while, too, but ultimately she responded in wonder wholeheartedly.

I find it fascinating that this young teenager, you know, absolute nobody in her song connects her life with the life of Abraham, as I mentioned just before.

The father of the nation of Israel, verse 55 and 54.

He has helped his servant Israel remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.

Have you ever connected the promise that Abraham and Sarah had with Mary?

God promised Abraham a miraculous son too, didn't he?

God said to Abraham basically, I want to bring salvation to the world through you, through you and your wife, and you know your wife is beyond childbearing years, but I am going to start the line of salvation through you.

Abraham responds with, what do you want me to do?

And God said, go, didn't he?

Go, leave your homeland, your family, your friends, leave everything you know, leave all your security.

Go into the wilderness.

Where do you want me to go, Abraham is wondering.

And God is basically saying to him back in Genesis 11 and 12, I'll tell you later.

And the book of Hebrews in the King James version says, and he went out not knowing whither he went.

And it's exactly the same with Mary.

God says to her, go.

Go into this life journey I have prepared for you.

And it's going to start out with a challenge.

Your community around you won't understand that you're with child, but you've done nothing wrong.

You're going to give birth to the saviour of the world.

Go.

Next year, our plan, Lord willing, is to have a theme for the year called Go 24.

That's a soft launch.

First we've talked about it.

Go 24.

And we are, again, Lord willing, hoping to work our way through 72 messages in the Book of Mark.

Not all in a row, but there will be different messages morning and night, and split up and scattered throughout the year in appropriate ways.

We plan to look at 72 messages in the Gospel of Mark.

Now, we studied revelation this year, and that's about the end.

The Gospel of Mark is about new beginnings.

So our hope is to really sit in this wonder of new beginnings available in Christ every day.

His mercy is fresh and new for us.

And so I hope we can relate to Mary and Abraham and so many characters from the Bible who stepped out of their comfort zone when they were called to simply go.

Mary says, I am your servant.

She's saying, yes, God, I will go.

And I don't understand it all, but I'm in.

All of me, wholeheartedly.

Would you agree that Christianity is not an idea that you go to a vendor of spiritual services and you pay the appropriate price and take the service?

And then when you don't need the vendor, God, anymore, you sort of push it aside and find something new.

That's not Christianity.

Christianity is an invitation to give our whole self to Christ as Lord.

Christian faith is not a negotiation but a surrender.

It's what faith was for Mary.

We take our hands off our life and we say, God, I trust you.

Let's go.

Let's go in awe and wonder.

I love the covenant prayer of John Wesley who wrote this back in the 18th century.

He prayed, I am no longer my own but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt.

Rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing.

Put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full.

Let me be empty.

Let me have all things.

Let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thou art mine and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

It's a prayer of wholehearted consecration, isn't it?

I wonder if you can pray a prayer like that at the end of 2023, as we move along into a new year, knowing that the tomorrows of our life belong to the Lord, amen.

We don't own them.

We don't control them.

He does.

But there is no better way to face tomorrow than with the wonder of faith inspired by the response of Mary.

May we respond, be it gradually, but may it be fully and completely, wholeheartedly, because Christmas is wonderful.

Lord God, we thank you so much for another day you've granted to us to live.

We don't take it for granted.

Your mercy is new for us today.

The wonder of Christmas is not lost on any of us, Lord God Almighty.

May we receive a fresh revelation for your glory today and tomorrow in the days to come, as we reflect again on the wonder of Christmas.

Amen.

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