A midweek Lenten sermon for the Annunciation of our Lord on Luke 1:26-38. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.
“Rejoice, highly favored one… blessed are you among women!” We might be a little uncomfortable saying these things about Mary. Protestant Christianity in general seems to have this aversion to saying anything positive about Mary whatsoever because they’re so afraid of ways that’s been abused. But these are the very words of Scripture. We shouldn’t be afraid to repeat them. We need to take Scripture seriously, even when it would lead us to a potentially uncomfortable place.
But what does God praise? What does He prioritize? Why is Mary, of all people, highly favored and blessed? Well, let’s see what she brings to the table. The Bible doesn’t give us very many details. She’s probably a teenager, we see soon-to-be married. She lives in Nazareth, kind of a backwater, nothing special. Certainly not highly favored in the eyes of the world. That’s why she’s so confused and bewildered at this greeting.
What details does Scripture give us? Well, she’s a woman and she’s “of the house of David,” technically the only two criteria you need to meet to give birth to the Messiah. And it’s not like she had much say in either one of those. It’s not that she was particularly ambitious or hardworking. This is just where God has placed her.
“Rejoice, highly favored one… blessed are you among women!” I think the real reason we’re uncomfortable with these words isn’t because they apply to Mary but because we want them to apply to us. We want to hold these same titles. We want to be highly favored, more blessed than everyone else. The problem isn’t that Mary has these titles, it’s that we don’t.
But we don’t want these titles from God, we want them from men. The only qualifications she has is what God has placed her in. That’s not enough for us. We crave external validation. We want other people to think highly of us and praise us. And when we crave these things in the eyes of the world, what metrics does that lead us toward? To wealth, success, a comfortable lifestyle, our own accomplishments. We want to be the greatest, the most blessed among women, the most impressive among men. Highly favored, of high esteem. We seek validation in the things of this world in the eyes of this world. And it’s a losing game, unfulfilling, never enough. It’s impossible to feel like you’ve ever truly “made it.”
What do we truly value? Our work. What we have done. What we can make of ourselves. We despise lowliness and humility, we want something better. What does God make of that?
The Annunciation flips our whole value system. We prize ambition and success, but God highlights and praises lowliness. Mary doesn’t bring anything to the table before God. And neither do we. The qualifications she has are the things that God has placed her in, not anything that she has done. She is highly favored and blessed because of God’s grace.
Gabriel’s greeting to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one,” in the Greek, repeats the same word twice. Both words are the word for grace. “Rejoice” comes from the word for grace. “Highly favored” literally means “full of grace.” The angel’s greeting is “Grace, grace.” Mary has been filled with God’s grace, that’s why she is so blessed. Her qualifications aren’t how great she is but where God has placed her and the grace He has shown to her.
The Annunciation flips our whole value system. Man wants to make something of himself, become great, become god, but in the Annunciation, God becomes man. We want to lift ourselves up, but God, in His grace, comes down to us. And we see this starting right here.
The feast of the Annunciation, of this announcement to Mary, doesn’t really fit in Lent. It’s weird to have white on the altar and to sing the Gloria right now. But today, March 25, is nine months from December 25. We usually only think of the Incarnation, of God becoming man, then, at Christmas. But it starts right here. Before Jesus was the baby in the manger, He was the baby in Mary’s womb. God became an embryo, a tiny little baby. So easily overlooked, so easily discarded, but Jesus assumes our lowliness.
Jesus went through every stage of human development, sanctifying it all, being perfect every step of the way in your place. He assumed our lowliness, our human humility, and lived through it all. While we have been sinful from birth, even from conception, Jesus is the Holy One, the Son of God. Every situation, every circumstance across your entire life that you have failed in, He has lived in too and made up for by His sinlessness.
And His life of humility led Him to the cross. God, in His grace, valued you so highly that He would send His Son to take your place and die for all of your sins. We don’t bring anything to the table. We don’t deserve it. But that’s what makes it grace, God’s favor. That’s how we have value.
We do have those same titles as Mary. She is highly favored and blessed because she received God’s grace. Mary is the ideal believer, a picture of every Christian. She doesn’t bring anything to the table. But God fills her with His grace. By the word of a messenger, the Holy Spirit comes to her and overshadows her. God’s Word comes to you through a messenger and the Holy Spirit fills you with His grace. By faith Mary receives this word of promise, even though it is impossible. By faith, Christ is born in your heart by the power of the Spirit. She carried God in the flesh in her flesh and we, too, receive God in the flesh in the Lord’s Supper. The pattern of Mary’s life is the pattern of the Christian life: Word, Spirit, grace, faith, receiving God in the flesh. You, too, are highly favored, full of God’s grace, blessed beyond measure by faith.
This is the power of the Annunciation. Not that we have to make something of ourselves, but that God has made something of us. The parts of ourselves that we see as lowly and humble and out of our control are exactly where God has placed you. God used Mary’s lowly vocations to bless her with His grace. There’s no glory in being an unwed mother. She knows no one’s going to believe her. But she clings to God’s promise and, by faith, submits herself to His Word.
There’s not much glory in so many things we have to do. There’s no glory in taking care of a sick spouse or an aging parent. There’s no fame in being a godly parent or a faithful grandparent. But that’s where God has placed you. That’s what He wants you to do. He highly favors that which the world sees as lowly. Because God cares about the small stuff. He pours grace on the lowly. You might not understand why God has placed you where you are. I’m sure Mary had those same questions. But we trust in God, cling to the Word of His promise, and humbly submit to His will. “Let it be to me according to your word.”
“Rejoice, highly favored one.” These words can be said of Mary. These words can be said of you. There is something special in being the mother of God, this was the hope of every Jewish woman, that her son would be the Messiah. But there’s nothing special in how that happened because God extends His grace, His Spirit, and His Word to you as well. The Lord is with you. You, too, are blessed. Not by anything you have done, but by God’s grace. “Rejoice, highly favored one.” Amen.
