Impossible
December 18, 2012

Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

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Nazareth. A small town of probably no more than a thousand people. The people who lived there farmed, raised livestock, engaged in trades. A quiet little place built mostly on a plain tucked up against nearby hills. The nearest town of any real size at all was twelve miles or so to the west, where the Romans had built a city on the coast of the Mediterranean; or, about twelve miles or so to the east, where the town of Tiberias sat on the edge of the Sea of Galilee; and often, tradespeople who lived in Nazareth had to make their living by working in one of those two places. Ever since the Assyrians overran the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, it had been populated by people looked down on by the people of Jerusalem, some 65 miles away, as country bumpkins. Rednecks. Half-breeds, people who were a mixture of Jews and non-Jews, the same people we’d call Palestinians today – in fact, today, the residents of Nazareth are primarily Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel.

And there in Nazareth was a girl named Mary. No more than fourteen or fifteen; a sophomore at Nazareth High School. A good girl, a nice girl, but not anyone who stood out in a crowd. She was likely just looking forward to getting on with her life, settling down with a decent man who could provide a stable life for her there in the town, living out her life like her parents and grandparents had before her. Mary was just an everyday person.

The scriptures don’t really say that Mary was a particularly religious young girl. Most of the time, the scriptures will make a point to mention how good or righteous someone might be who God chose to work through, but we don’t really get that in the scriptures that talk about Mary. We know that at least later on, she and her family went to Jerusalem each year to celebrate the Passover, but for all we know, maybe that was the extent of her personal religious observance. Maybe, just as we have “Christmas and Easter Christians,” Mary was a “Passover Jew.” We don’t really know. But what we do know is that the scriptures show us that God has a special place in his heart for everyday people over the mighty or powerful. And even without any claims that she was particularly religious, or holy, or had earned any favor from God, God chose her for the amazing role that she had – to be the mother of Christ, God in the flesh. To experience all the pain and all the joy that brought with it, because as Mary would come to know, being touched by God, being called by God to any task, no matter how common or how special, always brought both pain and joy, and always will.

And when the angel came to Mary and told her what God had planned for her, and what was about to happen, she was perplexed. Troubled. Afraid. She couldn’t see how what the angel told her could even be possible for her. Even beyond the fact that she was so young, and not even married, it seemed so amazing. She was going to be the mother of a great king who would restore the throne of David to the people of Israel. The one who would restore peace. The one who would bring down the rich and the mighty who oppressed the poor and the needy. The one who would bring mercy and goodness to them. It was too good to be true – it was impossible!

And it certainly did seem that way. But Gabriel told her, nothing is impossible with God. That was so true for Mary, the everyday person from Nazareth. And it’s just as true for all the everyday people of the world who God reaches out to today with a special plan, a special purpose - not to give birth to a Messiah, but to give birth to a world of love and compassion made possible by that Messiah. Women and men, young and old; poor and rich, living in little farming communities in ancient Palestine or modern Ohio - all touched by the same God, called to do great things, wonderful things, impossible things in the name of the Lord, out of gratitude for the eternal life that God has brought them into through faith in Mary’s son Jesus.

With God, nothing is impossible. Once touched by God, everyday people can make sure that poor, struggling kids in a trailer park in their own Nazareth will have a happy Christmas. Once touched by God, everyday people can make sure no one in their own Nazareth will freeze throughout the winter without warm clothing or a coat. Once touched by God, everyday people can make sure no one in the nursing homes of their Nazareth is left alone and forgotten in their room over the holidays, without receiving the warmth of human compassion. Once touched by God, the loving actions and the excitement of everyday people can transform a sleepy little church with money problems into a thriving, exciting place where people can see God at work, and they want to be part of all these same wonderful, impossible things that somehow, God will make not just possible, but real.

Right here, in our Nazareth, God is calling us into a kind of life so transformed and so full that we can’t imagine it any more than Mary could imagine what lay ahead for her. Even with her concerns and her doubts, quiet, everyday, fourteen year old Mary stepped up in faith and said, “Here I am, your servant, Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Mary’s answer changed the world forever. And so can ours.

Thanks be to God.