12/12/2022 – The Challenge of Christmas
Luke 1: 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” 46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
The birth of our Lord Jesus is, without a doubt, the most celebrated birth in the history of humanity. 160 out of the 195 countries in the world celebrate Christmas. It must be the most celebrated birthday in the world. But above every earthly celebration, it is celebrated in the heavens.
But Christmas is more than an annual celebration. It is the challenge of a lifetime. Everyone who participated in the first Christmas faced enormous challenges.
First, they were challenged to believe the impossible. This is our challenge as well. God demands that we trust Him for the impossible. It is one thing to believe God for something difficult or unlikely. But faith means that you do not stop there… You must believe God for what is impossible for you. The birth of Christ requires things that are impossible for humankind. No person, no system or ideology, no power in this world can accomplish any of the glorious deeds that God performed to make possible the birth of Christ. An old couple, far past their age of childbirth conceive a child. Zachariah did not even have the faith to make it happen. He was still praying but had long stopped expecting an answer. If you have come to a place where you are praying like that, God says to you today: I am still the God of the impossible. I specialize in the impossible. It is not enough to be a woman of prayer- you must be a woman of faith.
Christ was born to accomplish that which was impossible for humans: to triumph over sin and death. He was born to be holy. This is impossible for everyone else. Our faith in Christ must rise to that level. We must trust Christ to accomplish what is impossible for humankind. To believe any less would be to miss out on the victory of Christ.
Mary was challenged to believe that a virgin could conceive. She passed the challenge with flying colors. She just needed to know how this would be possible. The answer is applicable to us today: the Spirit of God. Those things that makes say: there is no way…must yield to this answer. The Spirit of God begins to work where the flesh of man, the soul and spirit of man find their limitation.