“Once Troubled, Now at Peace”
Luke 1:26-38
Sunday, December 20, 2009

Introduction: I think that most people, if asked, would say that they would like to see peace in our world. However, the place to start is by finding peace in our own lives, because you can’t bring peace to the world if you are not at peace. We all struggle over how to be at peace. Yet, to be at peace, we must overcome the troubles in our lives; the troubles that challenge us, overwhelm us, and cause us anxiety.
Example- (Poem) “The Oyster”
There once was an oyster whose story I tell.
Who found that sand had got under his shell;
Just one little grain, but it gave him much pain,
for oysters have feelings although they’re so plain.
Now, did he berate the working of Fate,
which had led him to such a deplorable state?
Did he curse out the government, call for an election?
No; as he lay on the shelf, he said to himself,
“If I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it.”
So the years rolled by, as the years always do,
and he came to his ultimate destiny—stew.
And this small grain of sand, which had bothered him so,
was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow.
Now this tale has a moral—for isn’t it grand.
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand.
What couldn’t we do if we’d only begin,
with all of the things that get under our skin.
As we come to the last week of Advent, we first remember how we have talked about the hope, joy, and love of Christmas. This morning, we look at the peace that God wants to give us by the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. How we can go from people who are troubled, to people who are at peace in the midst of our troubles!

I. I Will Be With You- (Luke 1:28; Judges 6:12-16)
We’ve talked about how the story of Christ’s birth is about God’s presence;
God coming in the flesh to be with His people. Last week we talked about how God’s presence gives us joy. But God’s presence also give us peace. In Luke 1:28, the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and says: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
a. The Lord is with you- The angel’s message first and foremost wanted
Mary to know that whatever was to come about, however perplexing, or troubling, is that everything would be okay because “the Lord is with you.” Let’s pause for a moment and think about what Gabriel is saying. The angel is telling Mary that she has found favor with God. What is the reason for this? Is it because she is an influential person? NO! Is it because she stands out above everyone else? NO! Is it because she has a high position? NO! Mary has found favor with God because of her humbleness of spirit and love for the Lord. This is why God is with her; this is why God’s favor is upon her.
Mary very well could have asked: “If God is with me, then why do I have so many difficulties in my life?” And after she becomes the mother of the Savior, she will have even more troubles.
Illustration- “Where’s the paint can?” 1001 Humorous Illustrations, p. 114, #269
There is a story of a man who landed a job painting the yellow line down the center of the highway. This he had to do by hand. He was doing well, but his worked tapered off each day, so the foreman came to speak to him, saying: “Your first day out you did great. You painted that line for 3 miles. Your second day wasn’t too bad, although not as good as the first. But today you painted only one mile. Why are you struggling to keep up your work?” The man responded: “Well, the problem is that each day I get farther away from the paint can!!”
I tell this story as a reminder that our difficulties are often caused by our own choices, and because we get farther and farther from God. When we have less intimate time with God, when we seek God less and less each day, we will not have the wisdom, guidance, or power of God working in our lives, and thus our difficulties will tend to be greater. Sometimes these difficulties can make us stronger, or help something beautiful be achieved, like with the oyster and the pearl, but this really only happens when we walk closely with God.
b. The Lord is with us- This thought, that the Lord is with you, is to be a
comforting word to Mary. But what does it say to us? Most often we are not at peace in our lives because of several reasons; Maybe: 1. You are not happy in your family situation or marriage; 2. You are not happy in your work or career, or maybe you don’t have a job right now; 3. You don’t feel like you have any direction in your life; 4. You are not sure about what God wants you to do; 5. You don’t believe in yourself; 6. You are unhappy because of some medical issue or financial issue; 7. You are feeling lonely because you have lost someone close to you.
These can be just a few of the many things in life that can keep us from being at peace. And in each situation, there are reasons why we feel the way we do. But most often it is because we have not really understood what it means when God says: “I am with you.” Even though God isn’t physically present in our lives, God is still with us.
We have been talking about just this throughout this Advent season. God is with us in His presence in Jesus Christ. God is with us in the example we see lived out in Christ. God is with us in the Scriptures He gave us to read and live out. God is with us as He fills us with His Spirit.
This is the important message of Advent, that God is with us. It is in understanding this that changes our lives. It changes how we live our lives, because we know that we have God walking with us. It changes how we make decisions, because we know we have God’s wisdom guiding us. It changes how we feel about life, because we know we have a purpose, and that we are not alone. It changes how we see our circumstances, because we know that all things are possible with God!
There is great peace in knowing that God is with us always, to guide us, and comfort us and give us direction. We need to hold on to this.



II. I Will Be Over You- (Hebrews 1:4-8; 1 Corinthians 1:27; Mark 15:12-14)
God gives us peace by being with us, but there is a second way that God brings us peace, and that is by His authority over us.
a. Christ’s superiority- In the book of Hebrews, the author sets up for us
the position of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is greater than people; greater even than the angels. Hebrews 1:5-6 tells us, “To which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son…’ And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship Him.’”
Why is it so important to understand Christ’s superiority?
Because of the confusion so many have with the thinking that God the Son is on a lesser level than God the Father. It is important because if Christ is not God in the flesh, then the promises we have that give us peace, would not be fulfilled, and we would not have the assurance we do of victory in life, and in the life after.
In many ways it can be difficult to understand the place that God the Son, Jesus Christ, holds. How can Jesus be both fully God and fully human? How could Mary become pregnant by the Holy Spirit? How could God be willing to be born in such a lowly place as a stable? And the questions go on and on to the point where we begin to doubt the lordship of Christ.
There is a verse in 1 Corinthians 1:27 that helps us here; it says: “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.”
Often God does things in such a way that goes beyond our comprehension. He does it so differently than we would think it should be done. And by doing it that way, it shows how great God is. This is confirmed time and time again in Scripture:
Hebrews 1:8a- “But about the Son, He says, (read slowly) ‘Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever…’” You see how the Son is referred to here as “God,” with a capital G, and that He is seen as being upon the throne.
b. Christ’s righteousness- There is a quote which says: “The jackass brays mightily but the forest does not tremble. The tiger’s paw barely presses the fallen leaf, and all rush for shelter.”
This quote is true because the tiger wields more authority and power than the jackass. This is usually shown by intimidation and by scaring those around him. Usually, when we think of authority, it is in terms of power and intimidation. But this is not how Christ shows His authority.
Christ’s authority is shown by His righteousness and by His love. We see this very clearly by the way that He came to this earth; not as a king, born in a palace, but as a humble child, born in a manger! As a human being He allowed Himself to face temptation, yet He was perfect in every way; righteous.
That is why there is so much power in the words found in Mark 15:12-14, “ “‘What shall I do then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked them. ‘Crucify him!’ they shouted. ‘Why? What crime has he committed?’ asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’”
The religious leaders knew that Jesus hadn’t committed any crime. He was sinless, blameless, totally righteous. The religious leaders were concerned with the power, the authority that Jesus possessed because of this righteousness.
Jesus knew of the power He possessed; he calmed a storm, and raised the dead, and healed those who couldn’t be healed by others. Jesus turned water into wine, and stood up to the religious leaders and to Pilate, the judge. Jesus called people to follow Him and was bold enough to forgive people of their sins. Jesus challenged the laws of the country. Jesus did all this because He knew who He was and what He could do. Jesus knew that He was God in the flesh. Jesus knew He was perfectly righteous. Jesus knew not to condemn people with His power, but rather love people in His power. Jesus came to this earth to use His power to save His people!

III. I Will Overshadow You- (Luke 1:26-38)
But lastly, peace comes to us because we are overshadowed by God, and through
this overshadowing we can go from feeling troubled to feeling at peace. Listen again to these words in Luke from the angel Gabriel to Mary:
First, Mary is told that she will be with child, and this child will be great, and
that He will be the Son of the Most High, and that He will be given the throne of David. Mary is understandably troubled by this.
Second, she wonders how she can be pregnant when she is a virgin.
Third, she wondered how she, a lowly Jewish girl, could have a son that would be given the throne of such a great king as David.
So Mary asks the angel about all of this that is troubling her, and the angel Gabriel tells her in Luke 1:35- “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
Power of the Most High will overshadow you…”
a. Power will overshadow you- Illustration- “Working as a Team,” p. 123,
#1, Illustrations Unlimited. There is a story of some missionaries in the Philippines who had set-up a croquet game in their front yard. Several of their Agta Negrito neighbors became interested in their game and wanted to join the fun. The missionaries explained the game to them, and then started again. As the game progressed, opportunity came for one of the players to take advantage of another by knocking that person’s ball out of the court. A missionary explained the procedure, but his advice only puzzled the Negrito friend. “Why would I want to knock his ball out of the court?” he asked. “So you will be the one to win!” the missionary said. The Negrito man shook his head in bewilderment. Competition is generally ruled out in a hunting and gathering society, where people survive not by competing but by sharing equally in every activity.The game continued, but no one followed the missionaries’ advice. When a player successfully got through all the wickets, the game was not over for him. He went back and gave aid and advice to his fellow Negrito’s. As the final player moved toward the last wicket, the affair was still very much a team effort. And finally, when the last wicket was played, the “team” of Negrito’s shouted happily, “We won! We won!”
God did not come into this world to just give us an example, die, and then go on to heaven. God came in human form, in Jesus Christ, to love us, help us, strengthen us, so that we would have peace. After Christ was resurrected, God sent His Holy Spirit to fill us, and live in us so that He might give us the guidance, encouragement and power we need to know that we can be victorious in life. We work as a team with God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) as well as with each other. When we succeed, when we live with peace, God shouts: “We won! We won!” And we should shout this for each other as well.
b. Possibilities will overshadow you- As God’s Spirit overshadowed Mary,
so His Spirit overshadows us; not only to give us peace through His power, but also to give us infinite possibilities. We usually are troubled, not at peace, because we feel that we are lost in our despair; lost in our struggles with no way out.
At first Mary felt this way, overwhelmed at the predicament she felt she was in. But Gabriel goes on to explain to her how God is a God of possibilities. Not only will she, a virgin, become pregnant with a son, but her relative Elizabeth, who is old in age and barren, will also become pregnant with a son. As Gabriel says to Mary, “For nothing is impossible with God.” God is a God of unlimited possibilities.
What are the areas in your life where you feel trapped? Lost? Without peace? You feel this because you feel you have limited options in these areas. You can’t see an answer to your problems. You feel this way because you are not plugging yourself into the possibilities that are there for you through God, who overshadows you.
Some of you might say to me: “Yes, pastor, I’ve tried to believe. I’ve tried to be positive. I’ve tried to trust God. But it didn’t work out. Things still went wrong, and I still failed.” What happened though was that you were looking at God through your own expectations, and because it hasn’t panned out the way you anticipated it happening, your worry returned and your peace left you.
To be overshadowed by God’s Spirit means we always come back to what Gabriel told Mary: “Nothing is impossible with God.” This is the expectation we are to have. Never stop trusting. Never stop believing. This is the only way we can turn our troubled feelings into a life of peace!

Conclusion: Illustration: “So Do Something About It,” Illustrations Unlimited, p. 154, #2- A young boy complained to his father that most of the church hymns were boring and old-fashioned with words that didn’t mean anything to his generation. Because of this he told his father that he was bored in church. So his father challenged him, saying: “If you think you can write better hymns, why don’t you?” The boy accepted the challenge, went to his room and wrote his first hymn. The year was 1690, and the young man’s name was Isaac Watts. Isaac Watts has written some of the greatest hymn we know: Among his 330 hums are “Joy to the World,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” and “I Sing the Almighty Power of God.”
Someone once said: “There are 2 categories in life; those things you can’t do any-thing about and those things you can.” We need to give those things we can’t do anything about to god, and even those things we can do something about we need to let God be a part of it as well. It is easy to be at peace when things are going well, when things are falling into place. If this is how it is with you now, if things are all good for you and you are feeling at peace, praise God, and thank Him for the peace you have. But for those who are struggling, who are having difficulty these days, who find it hard during the holidays, let Christ’s presence give you peace. Let the authority of Christ reign in your life. Let the Holy Spirit overshadow you and give you God’s power and the possibilities that come with this power. And then take this strength, and as Isaac Watts did, so something that will not only help yourself, but will help others. There is great peace to be known through Jesus Christ. May we experience this peace this Christmas Season. Amen.