Luke 1:26-38

In our longing hearts we search for inward peace.  Our days are filled with chaos, stress, turmoil, trouble, fear and uncertainty.   The search for inward peace is true for every generation. Each generation believes it is the only one that is searching for the answers that will bring inward peace.

Think about the pioneers that came to this land and what they faced each day.  It was a struggle for this generation to have shelter, food and clothing. They had little medical help and resources; therefore, life was short.   The generation of the 1940’s faced the hardships of the World War II. Fathers, sons and daughters would go off to war never to return to their families.  Western Union delivered telegrams with the message about the family member’s being dead or missing in action. Families lived with the fear that they would receive a telegram every day.  They lived with a short supply of many things: gas for cars and trucks, limited amount of clothing and shoes. Things like sugar was rationed as to the amount you could use.

In our scripture reading we meet Mary, mother to be of God’s son.  Mary lived in the village of Nazareth and was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph.  In those days most marriages were arranged by the father of the woman. That could create a lot of stress and uncertainty for Mary.  She could have little to say about the person she would marry.

Then God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth and he appeared to Mary and said, “Greetings, favored woman!  The Lord is with you.” This caused Mary to be confused and disturbed and she tried to think what this message from an angel could mean.  The angel would say to her, “You have found favor with God.” The question that Mary had to deal with was what to do with the angel’s message.  How would you deal with an angel? Do you even believe in angels? That alone could cause turmoil and fear in a person’s life.

Then God’s angel would drop a bombshell into Mary’s life.  “You will conceive and give birth to the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David and he will reign over Israel forever.  His kingdom will never end.’ Mary asked the angel, ‘But how can this happen? I am a virgin.’” Mary knew that a pregnancy before marriage could cost her life or she could be put to shame by the person she was engaged to marry.  It could mean rejection and banning by her own family. Mary faced a real stress fear about what was going to happen in her life.

“The angel replied, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the baby to be born will be holy and he will be called the Son of God.” Mary would face this question with her faith in God.  She did get some assurance from the angel Gabriel when he told her that her relative Elizabeth had become pregnant in her old age.  “People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”  

I am reading the book “Fire in the Mountains” by J. N. Howard.  He was a pastor. He had a member of his church that was a very young mother of three children.  She got sick had x-rays and run tests. She was told that she had a malignancy and she would need to go the University of Virginia’s hospital at Charlottesville, Virginia.  Before going to the hospital, the church and the pastor had a prayer service for her. When she arrived at the hospital the doctors did more tests and x-rays and then another round of tests.  They told her that the x-rays and tests were clear and that she did not have cancer. What had been there had disappeared and the doctors could not account for the disappearance. The power of prayer is powerful.    

When we are facing a life filled with chaos, stress, turmoil, trouble, fear and uncertainty we can find inward peace in our faith.  Nothing is impossible with God. Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.”

Living in today’s world filled with the stress of doom and gloom of the news can make it hard to find inward peace.  Living in a world where the phony news media is telling us our planet will be destroyed by us if we don’t do what they tell us is stressful.  Living in a world filled with phony religious leaders that tell us the Biblical word is outdated and we no longer need to be guided by its message is stressful.  This is tearing the church family apart. In today’s world our country has elected some very greedy political leaders that desire to take over our freedoms. This bunch of crooks are making themselves rich as they rob us with their laws and regulations.  It is time for us to live by faith in God that makes all things possible. This faith in the God we meet in Jesus will give us inward peace even in this world of chaos.

Mary A Baker and H. R. Palmer gave us the words and music of an old hymn.  The hymn, ‘Peace be Still’ gives us the source for inward peace. “Master the tempest is raging!  The billows are tossing high! The sky is o’er shadowed with blackness, no shelter or help is nigh.  Carest thou not that we perish!! How canst Thou be asleep, when each moment so madly is threatening a grave in the angry deep?  The winds and the waves shall obey my will. Peace be still! Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea, or demons or men or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and sky.  They all shall obey my will. Peace, be still! Peace, be still! They shall sweetly obey my will, peace, peace, be still!” This is what Mary did she did. She obeyed God’s will for her life and she gained peace.

If you want your life to have inward peace in this Advent season, meet Mary’s and God’s Son.  Meet him in his cradle. Meet him in his life on earth. Meet him on his cross. Meet him in his resurrection and life that will never end.  The life of Jesus in the only source that will give your life a way for you to have inward peace. Faith in him will give you the life of hope that brings an inward peace.  Looking for peace? Kneel at the cradle and ask, in faith, and you will know the joy of peace.

The shepherds were the first that came to worship God’s Son in his manger. They went away from the cradle with peace and joy.