Henderson Hills Baptist Church

When the Ordinary becomes Extraordinary

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.  Lk 1:26-32 (ESV)

Who? What? When? Where? How? Every journalism student is taught the importance of answering these questions when writing articles on the important events of the day. Luke was not a journalist, as least in the common sense of the word that we might use. He was a physician, historian, and the author of two books, the Gospel of Luke and Acts. Even though he was not a journalist, he certainly acted like one when he laid out verses 26, 27; it happened in the sixth month. So, six months after Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth learned of her pregnancy with John (the Baptizer) one of the most important events of human history occurred.

The next question deals with the individuals who were involved in this story. First, there was an angel named Gabriel. This is somewhat significant in that we are told the angels name. What do we know about angels, in general? The Bible reveals a good deal about these heavenly beings. God created them (Ne 9:6; Col 1:16) and theie work to accomplish the will of God (Nu 22:22; Ps 103:21; Mt 13:39-42; 28:2; John 5:4; Re 5:2). That is what Gabriel was doing; he came to announce the unique pregnancy of human history. The second character mentioned was “a virgin betrothed to a man.” This young woman’s name was Mary. We actually know very little about her with the exception of her genealogy (Luke 3:23–38), that she was closely related to the mother of John the Baptist, where she lived, and that she was a woman of extraordinary faith and character. She is the most important character in this short narrative. While we should not venerate or pray to Mary, we should greatly respect her faith and willingness to obey God even though the cost may be great. The passage itself will offer us a good deal more insight into this unique young woman. We also find a brief mention of Joseph, whom we will discuss later in another study. Finally, Jesus, we are given a brief introduction to Jesus Himself.

Where was the location of this event? It happened in “a city of Galilee named Nazareth.” I find this interesting. The most important event in history did not occur where we would expect. In the first century, we would expect that if God sent His Son into the world, His parents would be royals from Rome. However, that is not at all, what happened. The conception of the child took place in Nazareth, a backwater town in an insignificant part of a third world country. Of all the places in the world, Nazareth was at the bottom of the least of likely locations for such an experience to occur.

What happened? Because of the significance of this event, it is best to save our investigation until tomorrow. For today, please focus on a review of who, where, and what. The information that we gather from this passage all sums up to one conclusion; this was an ordinary day, in an ordinary place, with ordinary people. God interrupted the course of history and the individual lives of a few to bring about the greatest birth of all time. Consider the ordinariness of it all. Nothing was noteworthy or significant about the situation except the sovereign work of God sending an angel with a message that touches us still today. God works that way. God is glorified as the ordinary becomes extraordinary through submission to Him. You may consider yourself ordinary. If so, understand that does not mean that your life is not noteworthy. Our great God will use people like us to do things that we thought we could not do.

In closing, let me give you a brief personal testimony. When I was 17 year old, God interrupted my life with an undeniable calling to preach the gospel and pastor God’s people. That was the last thing in the world that I wanted to do. I hated to study because of dyslexia. Furthermore, my introversion recoiled at the idea of living a public life and speaking to a congregation of people. I did the only thing that seemed reasonable to me. I doubted the call and rejected the idea. Years passed. I accepted a job in the insurance business and rose from agent, to agency manager, to assistant regional manager, and finally to a state manager. At the very time that I was being asked to move to the headquarters and be in charge of agent training company wide, God overwhelmed me with the reminder of my calling. Finally, I could run no more even though I knew that I was not qualified by any standards to do what is required of a pastor. The Lord had chosen a less than ordinary person to do His work. That was 34 years ago; however, I have never gotten past the fact that God uses ordinary people to serve Him. Every time I preach a sermon, I think about how I cannot do what is required; the only hope is that God will do it though me. I wonder how this all applies to you today? Spend some time in quiet reflection and ask God to show you. 


2 Peter 3:18

Dennis

To read more from Dennis Newkirk click here.