Luke 1:26-38 · The Birth of Jesus Foretold

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."

38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Surprise!
Luke 1:26-38
Sermon
by David E. Leininger
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Do you like surprises? Some folks do. Not me, I do not like bad surprises at all and only tolerate good surprises. In general, I prefer no surprises. I realize that life is full of surprises though, so they will come whether I want them or not.

Some surprises will be bigger than others, of course. Ask Mary. She surely got a major surprise. There she was, doing the dishes or sweeping the floor or sitting engrossed in the latest Harlequin Romance, or whatever young Israelite girls did in those days, when the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared. "Guess what's going to happen to you, Mary." Surprise!

I wonder what Mary thought when she heard the news. Her first reaction was practical — she was not naive and knew where babies came from, so she asked, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" The s…

CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit, by David E. Leininger