“He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.”
I don’t know about you, but I have never seen an angel…But… I have seen “Touched by an Angel.”
For those of you who don’t know, “Touched by an Angel” was a television show popular in the 90s. And the plot tended to follow a basic formula:
Someone came to a crossroads in his or her life – which usually involved a problem or difficult decision. And at just the right time, an angel named either Monica, Tess, or Andrew then appeared to this person with a message from God and gave them guidance to help them make the right decision.
The person who has been given this message has the option to either accept or reject it.
In one episode, a dying man tells an angel that God could never forgive him. The angel tells him, “Reach up to God as far as you can and then he will reach down and take you the rest of the way.”
Touched by an Angel perfectly explains how most people understand the Christian faith. Most people believe the essence of Christianity is that God wants us to be good, and if we do what God says we will earn God’s favor nd blessing. If we take the first step, God will take the rest. But this is not Christianity.
This is not the Gospel. The Gospel is Good News. NOT good advice. It is not about what you do for God. It is about what God has done for you. Christianity is about the God who keeps his promises.
Turning to the Gospel lesson in Luke we see the Virgin Mary responding to the Angel Gabriel with praise. The Angel Gabriel has just given Mary Good News, not good advice.
The Church has historically referred to Gabriel’s announcement as the annunciation – the announcement that the virgin Mary will bear a son named Jesus, who is the Son of God, God in the flesh.
Think about how different Gabriel’s interaction with Mary is than what we heard from “Touched by an Angel.”
In the scriptures, Angels are God’s messengers, whom he sends to reveal his will and to give assignments to people he chooses.
Angels are not described as tall people with white wings, flowing hair, and a soft heavenly glow. We don’t really know what they look like but
whatever they look like, they must be terrifying, because every time they appear they tell people: “Do not be afraid!”
Luckily for Mary, God has sent Gabriel to give her news. Gabriel is not there to offer Mary good advice, but to declare what God is going to do. Gabriel announces to Mary that she is highly favored. Like the Old Testament saints before her, Mary has been called and set apart by God for a purpose. This call is a sheer act of divine Grace – God set his love upon Mary for this purpose: to bear the God-man Jesus, the savior of the world.
Gabriel is not encouraging Mary to reach up to God, so that God can respond and reach down to her. Rather, Gabriel declares that God has already reached down to her and given her the gift of a son – Jesus.
This Jesus will sit on King David’s throne, to be the heir that God promised he would have to rule over God’s people, in God’s kingdom.
And as we say in the Creed, “His kingdom will have no end”
Understandably, Mary asks Gabriel to help her understand. Gabriel reassures Mary that it is God’s work that will bring this to pass by his Holy Spirit. God will make his promises come to pass.
Gabriel goes on to say, “for with God nothing shall be impossible.”
Mary’s response is the response of faith and trust in God:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
As Augustine said, “before she conceived Christ in her womb, Mary conceived him in her heart.”
Like Mary, who by the Spirit bore the incarnate Christ, you and I now have the glorified Jesus indwelling us by the Spirit. Jesus, whose name means God is Salvation, has united himself to you.
We do not worship a God who is a long way off, but one who has entered into our humanity. The eternal God has entered into time and space. God did not wait for us to reach out to him, but came down to rescue us, to bring us salvation. God does not help those who help themselves, but those who cannot help themselves.
The Good News is that God has come to save us, and he will come to bring that salvation to completion. Jesus will rule over his Kingdom, and it will have no end. You don’t have to save yourself. You do not have to make yourself worthy. In Jesus, God in the flesh, through his life, death, and resurrection.
Like Mary, we have found favor in the eyes of the Lord. In Christ, we have found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Let us then respond in faith, like Mary,
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
Sermon preached by the Rev. David M. Svihel
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
13th Sunday after Pentecost
August 15, 2021