Believe in the impossible

 

Reflection Sunday 20^th December 2020 4^th Sunday of Advent

The Gospel reading I’ve chosen to reflect on today (Luke 1: 26 – 38) played a significant part in my life. It was the Sunday before Christmas 2002. I was a local preacher leading a service at Cirencester Methodist church. And I remember distinctly preaching on the words “For nothing will be impossible with God”. I don’t recall more than that. But all I know is that after the service a man called Derek spoke to me and said he felt I should offer for ministry. This had been suggested in the past, but I’d shied away from it. But on this occasion, I found myself saying yes to God and the rest is history.

“For nothing will be impossible with God” Luke 1:37 NRSV

In an age where we can turn on our computers and find out all manner of things – or even use a library! – we like to know the background to people. For example when I see an actor on TV I vaguely recognise, I find myself looking them up there and then to see what they’ve been in.

But we can’t find out much about the for characters in the Bible. What little we know about Mary can be easily told. She lives in Nazareth, she’s “a virgin”, in other words a young woman who in fact maybe even a teenager; she’s engaged to be married to Joseph and she has a cousin called Elizabeth.

Why did God choose her to be the mother of Jesus Christ, God’s own son, the saviour of the world? We don’t know. Why, then? Why, there? Why, her? We don’t know. It makes no sense and yet

“nothing will be impossible with God”

In Alice in Wonderland there is a wonderful dialogue between the Queen of Hearts and Alice

"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

That’s exactly where we are with this story. It makes no sense by our terms at all. But we are asked to believe an impossible thing because nothing will be impossible with God.

This is a story of impossibilities. Consider the impossibilities Mary faced in this story: She is a virgin and pregnant—she is having a child while she is a virgin. Impossible! No way! Won't happen! Joseph has to follow through on the marriage after he discovers Mary is pregnant. Impossible! Mary must avoid being stoned to death when the neighbours hear the news. Impossible!

Consider the impossibility Elizabeth faced. She was well past childbearing age, and yet God says she is going to conceive and bear a child. This impossible news left old Zechariah speechless. Impossible! No way! Won't happen!

“nothing will be impossible with God”

This is a story of biblical impossibilities. But what are the impossibilities in our world? What would you label "impossible" in your life? Peace in our world. Impossible! No way! Won't happen! True Christ like values coming to our nation? Impossible! Our church reaching our surrounding community and making our world different? Impossible! Restoring relationships, healing past hurts in our lives? A relative or friend entering a relationship with Christ? Breaking an addiction and overcoming past hurts and disappointments? Impossible!

We find ourselves with the same troubled mind as Mary, wondering over the impossible (v. 29). We even ask the same question Mary asked, "How will this be?" (v. 34). To us it seems impossible! No way! Won't happen! The real question for people today is "How can the impossible become possible?"

The impossible can be possible through faith. Through putting aside our scepticism, our doubt, our uncertainty and giving in to God the impossible can be made possible. By allowing God to act through us the impossible will be possible. Just going back to the example of my calling for a moment. I realised once I’d accepted God’s call that he had been calling me for several years. I found excuses and kept the barriers down. But once I’d allowed God to act within me the impossibility was overcome, in all manner of ways.

The contemporary hymn writer Graham Kendrick puts it this way in one of his hymns:

God is at work in us
His purpose to perform
Building a kingdom
Of power not of words
Where things impossible
By faith shall be made possible
Let's give the glory
To Him now.

(Rejoice! Reproduced under CCLI number 150863)

British missionary William Carey once said "Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God" I’ve no idea whether Mary expected great things of God. But once she realised what God was asking her to do, she accepted her calling

³⁸ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. Luke 1:38 NRSV

How often do we say, “let it be with me according to your word.”? Do we expect great things from God? Do we believe that in God the impossible will be made possible? Imagine what will be possible if we do!

Credit: The picture used at the start of this blog is "The Annunciation" by Afro American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner(1859 - 1937) The pictures is housed in the Philadelphia Museum. 

https://philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/104384.html