WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.179 Father in heaven, we thank you that we have your word, that you have revealed it to us, 00:00:08.060 --> 00:00:12.300 and that Jesus was not some plan B, but was from the very beginning. 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:18.039 We thank you that we can go through your scripture and hear the prophecies, 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:22.300 and then read that the prophecies were fulfilled. 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:28.600 Therefore, Lord, we can be confident that what is yet to come will be indeed fulfilled. 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:33.660 So, Lord, we look to you and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. 00:00:39.160 --> 00:00:42.780 We will briefly look at our seventh reading. 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:49.880 This is the reading that Jack read. It is the Annunciation, Luke chapter 1, 26 to 38. 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:58.040 This is the story where the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she will miraculously be with child, 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:01.219 and that her son will be the savior of the world. 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:07.379 This child will be unlike any child that has been born, either before or since. 00:01:08.599 --> 00:01:13.579 For this child will be fully human, but also fully God. 00:01:13.579 --> 00:01:18.079 This is a short sermon, more of like a homily. 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:21.439 There's too much to cover in this section. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:27.359 But I want to take a look at two big aspects of the incarnation, 00:01:27.659 --> 00:01:31.340 of God becoming man and dwelling amongst us. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:37.859 We'll understand in these two big points how the incarnation really is our hope. 00:01:37.859 --> 00:01:41.420 Not just a hope, but the hope that we have. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.039 And we'll look specifically at the condescension of God in the incarnation, 00:01:46.659 --> 00:01:49.680 and also the presence of God in the incarnation. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.480 So we'll begin with the condescension. 00:01:53.539 --> 00:01:54.539 Bit of a story. 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:59.640 My first week living in Ottawa, I moved here in the fall of 2006, 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:07.980 and a friend of mine who grew up here, he invited me to join him on a basketball camp to teach some kids. 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:09.479 And the camp wasn't in Ottawa. 00:02:09.699 --> 00:02:15.039 It was in Mysticini, which is a Cree community in northern Quebec, 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:17.560 kind of really close to James Bay. 00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:23.180 So we hopped on a flight from Dorval to Shibugamu, 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:30.400 and then we took a two-hour, around two-hour, like the worst dirt road trip into Mysticini. 00:02:31.099 --> 00:02:32.780 And it was a good time. 00:02:33.020 --> 00:02:34.379 I was there with one of my good friends. 00:02:34.920 --> 00:02:40.219 But also, it turned out that two players from the Toronto Raptors were going to be there as well. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:42.240 They weren't like stars. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:49.300 One guy, he would be on the Raptors for, like, I don't know, five minutes, 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:50.659 and then bounce out of the league. 00:02:50.760 --> 00:02:51.659 The other guy was a rookie. 00:02:52.100 --> 00:02:53.780 So it's not like I was starstruck. 00:02:53.860 --> 00:02:55.680 But nevertheless, here they were. 00:02:56.520 --> 00:02:58.379 But one thing we noticed about these guys, 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:00.939 and this is no judgment against them. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:04.400 I'm sure they were there because of contractual obligations. 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:07.460 But it was very clear they didn't want to be there. 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:12.000 They were condescending, in a sense, to us. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:17.159 They were fulfilling their obligations, and they left early, actually. 00:03:17.939 --> 00:03:19.099 So again, no judgment. 00:03:19.259 --> 00:03:20.300 I don't know where these guys were at. 00:03:20.360 --> 00:03:21.719 This was their off-season. 00:03:22.259 --> 00:03:23.939 Maybe they just needed extra rest. 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:28.020 But it was very clear that we were beneath them, 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:30.719 and this camp was beneath them. 00:03:31.420 --> 00:03:33.520 They were condescending to us, and we all knew it. 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:37.659 Luke chapter 1, 26 to 38, 00:03:37.659 --> 00:03:40.780 tells a story about God, the Son of God, 00:03:40.939 --> 00:03:44.199 condescending to us, 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:45.419 not just a few of us, 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:47.740 not just a community in Nazareth, 00:03:47.819 --> 00:03:48.819 a woman in Nazareth, 00:03:49.199 --> 00:03:50.500 but to the whole human race. 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:53.259 God, the Son of God, 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:55.120 who created everything, 00:03:55.599 --> 00:04:00.579 chose to descend and take up to Him human flesh, 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:02.320 remaining fully God, 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:04.060 but also becoming fully man. 00:04:05.460 --> 00:04:09.320 God did not command us to ascend to Him, 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:13.100 but decided to condescend to us, 00:04:13.220 --> 00:04:14.320 to descend to us. 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:16.540 And unlike the basketball players 00:04:16.540 --> 00:04:17.920 from the Toronto Raptors, 00:04:18.580 --> 00:04:20.639 He did it out of love, 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:22.379 not out of obligation, 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:28.379 not because we somehow twisted His cosmic arm, 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:30.019 we didn't force God, 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:32.459 we didn't put Him in a bind 00:04:32.459 --> 00:04:34.219 so that He had to, 00:04:34.300 --> 00:04:35.659 under contractual obligation, 00:04:36.300 --> 00:04:38.219 descend into humanity. 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:40.920 But because of His great love for us, 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:42.719 He condescended to us. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:46.100 He moved into our loneliness, 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:48.120 taking up residence 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:50.540 by taking up our humanity. 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:55.060 But it's not just that God, 00:04:55.140 --> 00:04:55.819 the Son of God, 00:04:55.900 --> 00:04:57.600 came down from heaven to earth, 00:04:57.819 --> 00:05:00.800 but ended up in a seat of power. 00:05:00.980 --> 00:05:02.740 It's not like He was conceived in Jerusalem, 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:04.020 or Rome, 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:05.500 or any other place 00:05:05.500 --> 00:05:08.060 that you could use as, 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:09.259 in a sense, 00:05:09.340 --> 00:05:11.640 a beachhead to launch out your ministry. 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:13.280 He went to Nazareth. 00:05:14.580 --> 00:05:15.140 Nazareth, 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:17.460 a dinky town, 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:19.300 far from bustling. 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:20.520 In fact, 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:21.439 later on, 00:05:22.020 --> 00:05:23.520 Jesus will be, 00:05:23.620 --> 00:05:24.780 He will be mocked 00:05:24.780 --> 00:05:25.740 from being from Nazareth. 00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:28.420 What good can come from Nazareth? 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:30.139 Not only that, 00:05:30.280 --> 00:05:32.920 Mary herself was not influential. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:34.259 She was a peasant woman. 00:05:35.780 --> 00:05:37.759 She didn't have much means. 00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:39.080 She came from humble means. 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:40.860 She is not royalty, 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:42.160 and she did not deal 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:44.560 in great power. 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:47.400 She did not have much agency. 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:48.099 And yet, 00:05:49.019 --> 00:05:51.199 God came down to her. 00:05:51.339 --> 00:05:53.159 It was a part of His condescension, 00:05:53.299 --> 00:05:54.439 His descent, 00:05:54.979 --> 00:05:56.939 so that we did not have to ascend. 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:00.539 You can feel the shock of Mary. 00:06:00.919 --> 00:06:03.819 We see this in verse 28 to 29 of verse 1. 00:06:04.539 --> 00:06:05.319 It says this, 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:08.680 Greetings, 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:09.659 O favored one. 00:06:09.779 --> 00:06:11.259 The Lord is with you. 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:15.159 But Mary was greatly troubled at the saying 00:06:15.159 --> 00:06:17.199 and tried to discern what sort of greeting 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:18.639 this might be. 00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:20.519 So you see, 00:06:20.579 --> 00:06:21.420 God descends 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:25.800 into the lowliest possible region, 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:29.459 into the lowest possible rung, 00:06:29.819 --> 00:06:30.860 socially speaking, 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:36.120 and He comes not as some kind of full-grown man 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:38.520 with this developed, 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:40.500 incredible intellect 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:43.900 or huge propensity for war. 00:06:44.780 --> 00:06:47.819 He comes as a child in the womb 00:06:47.819 --> 00:06:50.400 of a woman who is poor. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:55.479 In a time when archaeologists would, 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:58.319 they suppose that there was basically 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:00.899 about a 50% infant mortality rate. 00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:05.719 One in two children likely died in infancy. 00:07:06.419 --> 00:07:08.899 And this is the place where God comes. 00:07:11.799 --> 00:07:14.699 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 says this, 00:07:14.699 --> 00:07:32.819 Friends, 00:07:32.919 --> 00:07:33.719 in this manner, 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:35.180 God the Father 00:07:35.180 --> 00:07:37.259 chose to send God the Son 00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:39.000 and the Holy Spirit was at work 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:39.680 through it all 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.159 to take on flesh 00:07:42.159 --> 00:07:44.099 in the person of Jesus Christ, 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:45.520 to seek and save the lost. 00:07:47.260 --> 00:07:49.300 He comes to inaugurate His kingdom 00:07:49.300 --> 00:07:50.480 in this way. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:52.120 The kingdom of Christ 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:54.420 that begins at the Annunciation 00:07:54.420 --> 00:07:56.560 is a kingdom that we read 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:57.520 will have no end. 00:07:58.340 --> 00:07:59.120 So it seems, 00:07:59.860 --> 00:08:00.439 in a sense, 00:08:00.700 --> 00:08:02.340 the most unlikely scenario 00:08:02.340 --> 00:08:04.700 that could have possibly worked out 00:08:04.700 --> 00:08:06.540 may be impossible for it to work out. 00:08:07.260 --> 00:08:07.620 And yet, 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:08.760 this is what God chooses. 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:12.680 There's no way that Mary 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:14.480 or the chief priests 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:15.480 or the Pharisees 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:17.439 could somehow claim 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:18.939 that they had a part 00:08:18.939 --> 00:08:20.139 to play in redemption. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:22.480 It is all God 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:23.900 and all of His choosing. 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:27.280 And this is fantastic news for us. 00:08:28.280 --> 00:08:29.439 He does not, again, 00:08:29.560 --> 00:08:31.360 demand us to ascend. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.899 But He recognizes that we are poor. 00:08:35.800 --> 00:08:36.680 So in a sense, 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:39.039 the incarnation, 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:41.659 the condescension of God to us, 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:43.820 the descent from God, 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:44.560 the Son of God, 00:08:44.659 --> 00:08:45.300 to earth, 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.840 it is God's recognition 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:51.220 and His message to us 00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:53.460 that we truly are poor 00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:54.940 and broken 00:08:54.940 --> 00:08:57.860 and unable to pull ourselves up 00:08:57.860 --> 00:09:00.139 from the mess that we find ourselves in. 00:09:00.139 --> 00:09:02.379 And He knows that 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:03.679 the only way 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:05.419 that we can have redemption 00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:08.059 to mend the chasm 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:09.120 between us and Him 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:10.799 is impossible. 00:09:11.939 --> 00:09:14.220 So He does the impossible. 00:09:15.220 --> 00:09:16.340 And He gifts us 00:09:16.340 --> 00:09:17.500 with His very presence. 00:09:17.620 --> 00:09:19.299 And this leads to the second aspect 00:09:19.299 --> 00:09:20.759 of the incarnation. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:23.580 It is God's presence among us. 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:25.639 We read in verse 32, 00:09:26.319 --> 00:09:27.319 verse 33, 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:30.620 And the angel said to Mary, 00:09:30.860 --> 00:09:32.440 Do not be afraid, Mary, 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:34.440 for you have found favor with God. 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:35.060 And behold, 00:09:35.540 --> 00:09:37.020 you will conceive in your womb 00:09:37.020 --> 00:09:37.780 and bear a son, 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:39.879 and you shall call His name Jesus. 00:09:40.540 --> 00:09:41.640 He will be great 00:09:41.640 --> 00:09:42.400 and will be called 00:09:42.400 --> 00:09:43.700 the Son of the Most High. 00:09:44.700 --> 00:09:45.600 And the Lord God 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:46.760 will give to Him 00:09:46.760 --> 00:09:48.720 the throne of His father David, 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:50.379 that He will reign over 00:09:50.379 --> 00:09:51.700 the house of Jacob forever. 00:09:51.880 --> 00:09:52.920 And of His kingdom, 00:09:53.640 --> 00:09:55.140 there will be no end. 00:09:55.139 --> 00:09:56.799 In response, 00:09:58.019 --> 00:09:58.899 Mary asks 00:09:58.899 --> 00:10:02.179 the angel in verse 34, 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:03.580 How will this be 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:04.639 since I am a virgin? 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:05.720 If we had more time, 00:10:05.819 --> 00:10:07.360 we'd dig into this. 00:10:07.779 --> 00:10:08.679 But just briefly, 00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:11.899 we see that in this question, 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:14.600 God does not command 00:10:14.600 --> 00:10:16.639 some kind of stupid blind faith. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:20.039 that God delights 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:21.159 in a curiosity 00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:22.639 for the truth 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:25.199 that wants to know Him. 00:10:26.580 --> 00:10:28.659 We can dig into God's scriptures 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:30.059 and not take it necessarily 00:10:30.059 --> 00:10:31.000 at face value 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:33.139 if there is a pebble in your shoe 00:10:33.139 --> 00:10:34.019 or something that's kind of 00:10:34.019 --> 00:10:35.199 gnawing at the back of your head. 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:37.379 But He welcomes us to seek Him. 00:10:38.460 --> 00:10:39.039 And He says, 00:10:39.139 --> 00:10:39.899 If we seek Him, 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:41.580 He will be found. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:45.980 Continues on in verse 35, 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:49.100 And the angel answered her, 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:52.519 The Holy Spirit will come upon you 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:54.340 and the power of the Most High 00:10:54.340 --> 00:10:55.299 will overshadow you. 00:10:55.399 --> 00:10:57.480 Therefore, the child to be born 00:10:57.480 --> 00:10:59.039 will be called Holy, 00:10:59.779 --> 00:11:01.000 the Son of God. 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:02.860 Notice that the work 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:04.559 of the Holy Spirit here 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:06.819 is active in a similar way 00:11:06.819 --> 00:11:09.779 that we see the Holy Spirit 00:11:09.779 --> 00:11:10.799 act in creation. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:12.839 In the opening verses 00:11:12.839 --> 00:11:14.079 of Genesis 1, 00:11:14.199 --> 00:11:15.179 it says that the Spirit 00:11:15.179 --> 00:11:18.039 hovers over the formless void, 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:19.139 the formless seas, 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:20.139 the formless earth. 00:11:21.219 --> 00:11:21.959 So what we see, 00:11:22.079 --> 00:11:22.439 in a sense, 00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:23.500 what Gabriel is saying 00:11:23.500 --> 00:11:24.399 is that the conception 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:25.559 of the Virgin 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:27.000 is no less a work 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:30.019 of divine creation 00:11:30.019 --> 00:11:33.059 than creation itself. 00:11:33.059 --> 00:11:36.699 You and I create 00:11:36.699 --> 00:11:39.079 from readily available materials. 00:11:40.939 --> 00:11:42.859 But God creates from nothing. 00:11:44.239 --> 00:11:45.719 And in the womb of Mary, 00:11:46.099 --> 00:11:47.979 we are seeing God create, 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:49.279 the Spirit of God create, 00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:49.939 out of nothing. 00:11:50.459 --> 00:11:52.000 In the same way He created 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:53.359 the earth out of nothing. 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:54.979 When it was formless 00:11:54.979 --> 00:11:56.599 and void. 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:59.019 This also tells us 00:11:59.019 --> 00:11:59.700 that our redemption 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:01.779 was no small feat 00:12:01.779 --> 00:12:02.779 and required something 00:12:02.779 --> 00:12:04.620 on par with creation itself. 00:12:05.779 --> 00:12:06.279 Our redemption 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:07.019 was not a matter 00:12:07.019 --> 00:12:08.500 of a small tweak 00:12:08.500 --> 00:12:09.300 here or there. 00:12:10.180 --> 00:12:11.379 The right kind of political 00:12:11.379 --> 00:12:13.120 or financial system. 00:12:13.620 --> 00:12:14.860 It was not a matter 00:12:14.860 --> 00:12:16.320 of let's try harder. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:17.980 But required 00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:19.259 a creative miracle 00:12:19.259 --> 00:12:21.320 that was parallel 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:22.680 to creation itself. 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:25.320 God has gone 00:12:25.320 --> 00:12:26.100 to great lengths 00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:27.279 to redeem 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:28.580 and to restore 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:29.379 and to mend. 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:31.899 And this is what we see 00:12:31.899 --> 00:12:32.659 in the incarnation. 00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:35.399 Friends, make no mistake, 00:12:35.519 --> 00:12:36.659 salvation and redemption 00:12:36.659 --> 00:12:38.159 cannot be wrought 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:40.200 by your own hand. 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:42.639 It is by an act 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:43.860 of divine miracle 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:45.500 and divine miracle alone. 00:12:46.139 --> 00:12:47.399 It's a miracle of creation 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:48.800 where God's very presence 00:12:48.800 --> 00:12:50.759 comes to reside with us. 00:12:51.160 --> 00:12:52.100 Our Emmanuel, 00:12:52.560 --> 00:12:53.540 God with us. 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:55.279 So this brings us 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:56.399 to the second aspect 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:57.399 of God's presence. 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:00.539 Not just hovering over Mary 00:13:00.539 --> 00:13:01.740 in a creative sense, 00:13:02.019 --> 00:13:03.779 but also it reminds us 00:13:03.779 --> 00:13:04.720 of God's presence 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:06.699 covering or overshadowing 00:13:06.699 --> 00:13:08.299 the tabernacle 00:13:08.299 --> 00:13:09.819 in the Exodus account 00:13:09.819 --> 00:13:11.600 or on Mount Sinai 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:12.620 when God is getting 00:13:12.620 --> 00:13:14.419 the law. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:16.759 God's personal presence 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:19.319 in those two examples 00:13:19.320 --> 00:13:19.920 and elsewhere. 00:13:19.920 --> 00:13:22.500 It speaks to God 00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:24.100 giving protection 00:13:24.100 --> 00:13:25.379 and conveying 00:13:25.379 --> 00:13:27.760 a truly connected 00:13:27.760 --> 00:13:28.980 intimate relationship 00:13:28.980 --> 00:13:29.780 with his people. 00:13:30.220 --> 00:13:31.379 It is a sign 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:33.140 that God is among us 00:13:33.140 --> 00:13:34.480 and that he delights 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:35.460 to be among us. 00:13:36.820 --> 00:13:38.520 Speaks to God's faithfulness 00:13:38.520 --> 00:13:40.500 and personal relationship 00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:43.760 that he unilaterally initiates 00:13:43.760 --> 00:13:45.800 with his people. 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:47.859 So in the incarnation, 00:13:48.179 --> 00:13:49.079 God's very presence 00:13:49.079 --> 00:13:50.699 becomes so personally 00:13:50.699 --> 00:13:52.259 and deeply connected 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:53.120 to humanity 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:55.319 that he doesn't just dwell 00:13:55.319 --> 00:13:57.259 with us 00:13:57.259 --> 00:13:58.199 kind of over there, 00:13:58.359 --> 00:14:00.019 but dwells with us 00:14:00.019 --> 00:14:01.579 as one of us 00:14:01.579 --> 00:14:03.000 taking again up 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:04.339 our humanity 00:14:04.339 --> 00:14:06.579 into his divinity. 00:14:09.179 --> 00:14:10.779 Listen, going into this, 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:12.559 God has been silent 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:13.599 for some centuries. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:15.480 God has not spoken 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:16.200 to his people 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:18.420 and the angst 00:14:18.420 --> 00:14:19.560 for the Messiah 00:14:19.560 --> 00:14:20.240 to come 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.480 was up to an 11. 00:14:24.519 --> 00:14:25.800 Is God coming? 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:27.240 Will he come? 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:28.740 Maybe he's forgotten 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:29.360 about us. 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:30.519 God, come. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:32.560 Send your Messiah 00:14:32.560 --> 00:14:34.080 once again 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:35.639 as people were waiting 00:14:35.639 --> 00:14:36.519 for his salvation. 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:38.320 Just when things 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:39.240 seem bleakest, 00:14:40.019 --> 00:14:41.080 he speaks one more 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:41.620 promising 00:14:41.620 --> 00:14:43.560 everything that we need 00:14:43.560 --> 00:14:44.220 for salvation 00:14:44.220 --> 00:14:46.360 in the most impossible way, 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:47.940 an unlikely way. 00:14:49.419 --> 00:14:50.399 But we must remember, 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:52.360 as the angel tells Mary 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:53.299 in verse 37, 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:55.379 nothing is impossible 00:14:55.379 --> 00:14:56.019 with God. 00:14:58.600 --> 00:14:59.639 Even our sin 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:00.480 and brokenness, 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:02.340 even the estrangement 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:03.360 we have with God 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:03.980 and one another 00:15:03.980 --> 00:15:05.740 that is impossible 00:15:05.740 --> 00:15:06.580 for us to mend 00:15:06.580 --> 00:15:07.159 on our own 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:08.799 is not impossible 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:09.399 for God. 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:11.860 It's a wonderful reminder 00:15:11.860 --> 00:15:12.919 and it can become 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:13.620 so often 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:15.159 a cliche thing 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:16.340 to say. 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:17.279 Nothing's impossible 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:17.740 for God. 00:15:17.819 --> 00:15:18.799 But friends, 00:15:18.959 --> 00:15:19.939 nothing's impossible 00:15:19.939 --> 00:15:21.819 for our God. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:23.679 And this is the story 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:25.740 of the Annunciation, 00:15:26.579 --> 00:15:28.319 the Incarnation, 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:30.259 where God took on flesh 00:15:30.259 --> 00:15:31.579 and became 00:15:31.579 --> 00:15:32.759 one of us. 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:34.480 Friends, 00:15:34.539 --> 00:15:35.519 this beautiful truth 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:36.100 was announced 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:36.759 in Mary 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:38.500 2,000 years ago. 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:40.419 and it is announced 00:15:40.419 --> 00:15:42.200 to us afresh today. 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:42.259 Thank you. 00:15:42.259 --> 00:15:42.279 Thank you.