"What Sort of Greeting Might This Be?" (Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Advent)

Every year on the Fourth Sunday in Advent, the Holy Gospel is a reading about Mary. Last year it was the message to Joseph that Mary would bear a son. Next year it will be Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth. This year it is the Annunciation to Mary herself that she will conceive in her womb and bear a son. So each year on this Sunday we hear something about Mary becoming the mother of our Lord, which is most fitting on the Sunday closest to Christmas.

As I say, our text today is the Annunciation, the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary. Gabriel comes to Mary and says to her, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But then Mary’s reaction is bit puzzling. It says that “she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.” Well, that’s our question, too: “What Sort of Greeting Might This Be?” And what sort of meaning might this have for us?

As we too try to “discern what sort of greeting this might be,” let’s begin by considering the words that Gabriel speaks, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” This greeting comes in three parts. The first part is the first word, “Greetings.” Now this could be heard as just as ordinary greeting, much like we would say, “Hello.” But when we look at the Greek text, we see that the term is actually a little deeper than that. It comes from the word for “rejoice.” It’s the same word, “Rejoice,” that’s used in the Gradual for Advent: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.” You see, it’s as though Mary is the embodiment of that “daughter of Zion.” For in her will be fulfilled the promise that prompts the rejoicing: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation.” Greetings, Mary! Rejoice! Israel’s king is coming, and you will be the one to have the privilege of bearing him.

That leads to the second part of the greeting. Gabriel addresses Mary as “O favored one.” The term “favored” means favored by God, graced by him, shown his unmerited grace and favor. Now that was true for every Israelite maiden, just as it’s for every one of us. But for Mary it was a special grace and favor shown to her, only to her--again, to have the unique privilege and highest honor of bearing Israel’s Messiah. Mary was, as we sang in the hymn, the “most highly favored lady.”

Now the third part of Gabriel’s greeting, “The Lord is with you!” The angel tells Mary that the Lord’s presence is with her, and will be with her, in a special way. Gabriel will explain that in a moment, when he says, “You will conceive in your womb,” and proceeds to tell her just who this son is she will be bearing. “The Lord is with you!” Just as the Lord was present in the tabernacle and temple, now Mary’s womb will be the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant where the Lord’s presence will be located. She will be the vessel bearing the holy Son of God! Gabriel will tell Mary about this child in a moment, but for now, in the initial greeting, he simply says, “The Lord is with you.”

“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” We’re beginning to see what sort of greeting this might be. But at this point Mary doesn’t know even that much. All she knows is that this angel has shown up and is speaking to her! No wonder it says, “But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.” She was “greatly troubled.” Mary may have been highly favored, but she was also highly perplexed!

The angel recognizes this, and so he reassures her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” “Do not be afraid.” “Fear not.” How often do we see this in the Bible: when a human being encounters an angel of God, the common reaction is almost always one of fear. And often the first words out of the angel’s mouth are, “Fear not,” “Do not be afraid.” When mere mortals encounter angelic beings, the natural reaction is to be overwhelmed by the power and majesty of these heavenly beings. Same here with Mary. The appearance of the angel and his singling her out for a special announcement caused her to be greatly troubled, and the angel has to tell her, “Do not be afraid.”

“Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” What sort of greeting might this be? We should mention at this point one sort of greeting some people think this is. Our Roman Catholic friends think this tells us something about Mary, beyond what we would say. The Latin translation, if you insert the name Maria, begins with the words, “Ave, Maria, gratia plena.” The Latin, in turn, is traditionally translated as, “Hail, Mary, full of grace.” You may recognize those words as part of the Roman Catholic Rosary.

The problem here is that Rome makes too much of this greeting to Mary. For one thing, the word, “Hail,” is taken as some sort of veneration or worship that we render to Mary, instead of being understood as simply the angel’s greeting to her, encouraging her to rejoice. For another thing, the Rosary is used an invocation of Mary, asking her to “pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” That goes beyond what Scripture tells us to do. The invocation of the saints and of Mary in particular--as though Mary has any special merit to add to our prayers--this is nowhere taught in Scripture. Christ is our mediator with the Father, through whom our prayers gain access. It is the merits of Christ alone, interceding for us in heaven--that is all we need to gain God’s favor.

But then that leads to the worst problem with this wrong understanding of “Hail, Mary, full of grace.” It is how the phrase, “full of grace,” is perceived. How was Mary “full of grace”? Was she, is she, full of grace to bestow, as a source of grace? No! By no means, no! Mary, in herself, is no source of grace. Rather, she was the recipient of grace--God’s grace, bestowed upon her as a free gift. As one theologian puts it, “Mary is a vessel to receive, not a fountain to dispense.” Mary was a poor sinful being, just like you and me in that respect, wholly dependent upon God’s free grace and favor. To be sure, she is the most blessed of women, and all generations shall call her blessed, but that blessedness is pure grace and gift on God’s part, nothing in Mary.

Well, actually, there is something in Mary--it’s that child she is conceiving and will bear. So you could say Mary is “full of grace,” if you understand that as being because she is full of Jesus! She is carrying God’s grace in her womb, in the person of that little baby! So let’s talk about that child a little bit. That’s who Gabriel wants to talk about. Listen to all the wonderful things he says about the baby she will bear, a son named Jesus: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

This is the fulfillment of the promise to King David, made centuries earlier, that through one of David’s descendants his throne would be established forever. The child to be born will be the great Davidic Messiah, who will usher in the kingdom of heaven, an eternal kingdom of blessing and peace. That’s who Jesus is. That’s who Jesus is for you! He is your king, your Savior, who blesses you with God’s gift of eternal life. Mary’s child has done that for you, on the cross and at the empty tomb. He is doing that for you now, through his blessed gospel, the Word and Sacrament by which you come to believe in him and have your sins forgiven. And Mary’s son, the Messiah, will do that for you at the Last Day, when he returns and welcomes you into his eternal kingdom.

“Behold, Mary, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.” Well, one little problem, Mary thinks: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Gabriel answers: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God.”

Here we approach the mystery of the Incarnation, and here we must bow in reverence. “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man.” Only this God-man Savior could deliver us from our sins and win salvation for us. To be our substitute, to suffer death as the punishment for our sins, Jesus Christ had to be true man. For his death to be of such value and worth as to cover the sins of the whole world, and thus to conquer death and the devil, this same Jesus Christ had to be true God. True God and true man in one Christ--this is Jesus, your Lord and Savior.

Jesus, the Son of God born of Mary, Jesus the crucified and risen and one day returning King of kings and Lord of lords--he is the only Savior there is, or ever has been, or ever will be. No one else, and nothing else can save you--not the merits of Mary or the saints. No merit or worthiness in you. No softness or slackness in God’s justice, either. No, God’s judgment on sinners was poured out on Christ on the cross, and those were your sins he died for. No, you have no other hope than in Jesus Christ alone.

But the good news is, you do have that hope! You do have that Savior! Yes, Mary--and Megan and Mertsch, McBride, and Merz! The child announced by the angel, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary--this Jesus Christ is your Lord, who has redeemed you, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. Now you belong to him, and by God’s grace you will live under him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

And when Christ returns, dear Christian, he will welcome you into his eternal kingdom. What sort of greeting might that be? Fantastic! In fact, it might even be the same greeting that Gabriel used, for there could be nothing better: “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”

Luke 1:26-38 (ESV)

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

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