Sermons
With God, Nothing Shall Be Impossible
Luke 1:37
“With God, Nothing Shall Be Impossible”
December 18, 2011
Mark Young
God makes a lot of promises. Sometimes, to be honest, they seem far from believable: “peace on earth”, for example. This past week the war in Iraq was declared officially over, and for that we can be thankful, but do we really believe that there will never be another, even if the war in Afghanistan were to end tomorrow? The Korean War, you know, has never officially ended, but Korea lives under an uneasy truce held steady by thousands of American soldiers still stationed there.
When will there be peace?
As for “goodwill”, there may be goodwill from God, but it can be notably short among people. All you have to do is drive into a parking lot this time of year. You may be singing, “Fa-la-la-la-la,” on the way in, but it can turn to “Bah! Humbug!” very shortly.
Angels show up at many points in the gospels. Gabriel is there at the start, promising an amazing birth to Mary. Others show up to sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill to people.” Most importantly, though, there is the angel at the end, when those promises have come to seem most hollow, who announces to three grieving women that Jesus, who was dead, is now once more alive. That moment is what spreads joy through the whole story, and confirms what Gabriel had told Mary, that “with God all things shall be possible.”
“From the cave of darkness
a baby comes to light.
In the nick of time,
eternity tonight.
In a world of error
a perfect child is birthed.
In the midst of terror,
peace arrives on earth.
In the chill of winter
dawns this blazing son.
To a world of sinners
comes this sinless one.
In a land of chaos
speaks this single Word
whose voice can raise the dead,
whose promise can be heard.
Even as he cries
sleepers stir beneath the sod
for nothing is impossible
with God.” [1]
So we can and do wait with patience for all of God’s promises to be fulfilled. We’ve seen the process begin, and faith knows, deep down, that it is a process and that God is moving forward step-by-step.
“It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
‘Peace on the earth, goodwill to men
From heaven’s all-gracious king.’
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
…
And ye, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!”
Bless God for Christmas carols. Bless God for all that keeps those promises before us. Bless God for the steady way that the kingdom of God unrolls in human lives, in human history, and the way that one day he will bring it to completion,
“For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.”