Once again we have come to the season of Advent. I must admit, it sort of sneaked up on me. I think it has something to do with the weather. With 15 (55f) degree temperatures, who can get into the Christmas spirit, right? But here we are, and if we consider that the weather really has nothing to do with the importance of Christmas, then we can get excited about it no matter what. It is still the greatest story ever told. It is still the greatest season of the year. And we all know, it’s not the weather that makes it great. It's the reason, which of course is the birth of Jesus Christ.

So here we are, the first Sunday of Advent. Today we begin a series of sermons titled The Night of Miracles. The next four weeks we will consider the miraculous events that took place in connection with the birth of Jesus. The Bible in no way presents this as a normal, ordinary event. Now I believe that all births are special, and all are miraculous, but the birth of Jesus, according to Scripture, goes quite beyond the normal miracle of birth. There were numerous special events that surrounded this birth, events that warrant special attention, and deliberation. So we begin at the beginning, with the announcement to a young, common girl named Mary, by God’s angelic messenger Gabriel. This morning we eavesdrop on their conversation.

We notice several things in this passage from Scripture. First of all, it tells us a bit about Mary. We learn that she must have been quite young, perhaps no more than a teenager. The Greek word used here is best translated as girl, and then by implication, as virgin. So without getting into the controversy that surrounds that thought, we may safely assume that Mary was a young, unmarried woman. We also notice that she was already promised in marriage to Joseph. A promise of marriage in those days, was taken very seriously. Once such a promise was made, it could not be broken without some sort of legal intervention. Once the promise was made, there was a one year waiting period before the marriage could take place. The promise of marriage, or betrothal, as other translations have it, was as binding as the marriage itself. It was not like the marriage of the controversial basketball player from the US, Dennis Rodman, and former Baywatch actress Carmen Electra. They were married at 7 AM the morning of this past Nov 14th. Then they separate the same day, and have not seen each other since. Rodman is now seeking to have the marriage annulled. His lawyer said Rodman, "didn’t have all his faculties about him" at the time of the wedding.

We notice that this encounter between Gabriel and Mary was very personal. This is strictly between the angel, and Mary. There was no one else present. First there is a greeting. "Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!" (vs 28) But what did that greeting mean? It seems as if Mary wasn't sure. In fact, the words really disturbed her. She was "deeply troubled" it says. And why not? Imagine a heavenly messenger coming to you with similar words. What would you think? The Good News Bible doesn't capture the moment as well as some other translations. The old King James Version is much more dramatic here when it says, "And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." This sounds to me like a special choosing for something. I believe that is exactly what it was. Mary was especially chosen by God for a very special purpose. This was no ordinary greeting, with an ordinary salutation, and with ordinary words of blessing. This was something much more. This had a deeper substance about it somehow, because you see, this was a message directly from God to an ordinary human, who was just happened to be Mary. She was not perfect. She was not sinless. She had no particular special gifts. She was Just Mary, a young woman promised in marriage to a man named Joseph. That’s all.

What was the meaning then? The angel came to Mary with that greeting, and it seems as if she immediately understood that if she was "blessed among women," God must have had something special in mind for her. As soon as the angel said this to her, she was troubled. It doesn’t tell us why she was troubled, but we can imagine. The whole scene would be troubling to her, no doubt. But even more, I believe she was troubled because somehow she immediately knew that God had something very special in mind for her. Otherwise, why would he send his angel, his special messenger? I have quite often heard people use word like, "God told me to say this, or do that." Now I rather doubt that people who say this have actually heard an audible voice of God. I suspect it has more to do with decision making than anything else. And that’s OK. But there was more going on than just that in this case.

Mary had a miraculous encounter with God's own special messenger, and I am convinced that Mary immediately thought she was not worthy of such an encounter. She did not feel worthy of God highly favouring her. She might have been thinking, "Why me? I’m too insignificant to find favour with God. I am only a poor common girl. There is nothing glamourous about me. I have no social standing. There is nothing about me that would make me blessed among women. What did I ever do to deserve such a special favour?" Yet she was God’s special choice.

Then she finds out what she has been chosen for. "You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus." Using my imagination, I can see her stand dumbfounded as she hears these words. She is to become pregnant? So? Does God have to send an angel from heaven to tell her that? Of course she planned on having children once she was married. Mary was a Jewish woman raised in a culture that expected women to have children. If they did not, they were stigmatized, and looked down upon. It was their duty to have children. So what’s the big deal here. "OK, so I’ll name him Jesus. I can do that."

But then comes the real bomb-shell. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king as his ancestor David was. . .his kingdom will never end!" (Vss 32-33b) These are tremendous words, but notice something very significant here. Mary's concern was not with this announcement, but with the fact that she was a virgin. "I am a virgin, how can this be?" (Vs 34) Why would she respond with that question? Would it not be reasonable to expect a totally different response. . .something like, "O I don’t believe in that kind of thing. I don’t believe that God will send his Son anymore. Besides, I think we are all children of God. There is nothing special about this." Why did she not respond in that way? Because she knew Scripture. Yes they had the Scriptures in those days. We now call it the Old Testament, and it has become part of our Scriptures. She knew the promises that were made there, written for all to read. She knew about the prophets speaking for God as they made the promises of the coming Messiah. She had no problem with that at all. All you need to do is read her Song of Praise which is recorded for us later in this chapter. Verse 54 says "He (God) has kept the promise he made to our ancestors." She knew and understood the promises of old, and she did not question them at all. Perhaps some so called biblical scholars of today should pay attention here. Perhaps they can learn something from this common, probably uneducated young woman. She believed the promises of old. She understood that the Messiah would come.

I believe the only thing she wasn't clear on was the how. I'm sure she knew the proclamation from Isaiah where it says, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isa 7:14). There is really nothing extraordinary about that statement. It happens. Women have children. The problem for Mary was that she was a virgin. She understood the birth process, and virgins do not have children. "I am a virgin," she said. "How then can this be?"

We cannot talk about these verse of Scripture without discussing the fact of the importance of the doctrine of the Virgin Birth. It's just like the man who purchased an older home. He was particularly struck by the beauty of one of the rooms which he wished to turn into his study. The only thing wrong with it was a cupboard in the corner. He called in a renovator, and said, "I want to remove that cupboard." "Well, you can't," was the reply. "But I can do what I like. It’s my house," said the man. "You cannot do what you like with that cupboard," answered the renovator. "Why not?" asked the new owner. “Well” said the renovator, "That cupboard is part of the plan; part of the blueprint. You cannot take away the cupboard without taking down the house, it is part of the main structure."

So it is with Christianity if we take away the doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Christ. We destroy the whole structure. That doctrine is built in. It is central, for it points to his deity. And the only way Christ could be born of a virgin was through miraculous intervention by God himself. "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and God's power will rest upon you" (vs 35a). That's the how, Mary! That's how it will come about. "For this reason this holy child will be called the Son of God" (vs 35b). You are the virgin Isaiah spoke about. God's promise will be carried out through you. The miraculous birth will take place.

The angel then validates his unusual proclamation by telling Mary about Elizabeth, a relative of her's. She was pregnant against all odds. Why? Because it was God's purpose, and "there is nothing that God cannot do" (vs 37). And Mary responds with, "I am the Lord's servant, may it happen to me as you have said." This is not a statement of servitude, or resolve. I believe it is a statement of excitement, and acceptance. Mary that day chose to serve God in the most special way imaginable. A miraculous birth would take place, and did on that night of miracles when Jesus was born.

This encounter with Mary makes me think of the down to earth simplicity of the birth of the Son of God. We might have expected that, if he had to be born into this world at all, it would be in a palace or a mansion, and of some noble woman. Certainly not of a common teenager! But God never does anything without reason. Allow me to close with this illustration.

There was a European monarch who worried his court by often disappearing and walking incognito amongst his people. When he was asked not to do so for security's sake, he answered, "I cannot rule my people unless I know how they live." It is the great thought of the Christian faith that we have a God who knows the life we live because he too lived it and claimed no special advantage over common people. Thank God for the miraculous birth of his Son, for us! AMEN