“His Promise Fulfilled”

Wednesday after the Fourth Sunday of Advent: December 21, 2011

2 Samuel 7: 4; 8 – 16/Psalm 132: 8 – 14/Romans 16: 25 – 27/Luke 1: 26 – 38

Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines, D. D.

Scriptures are awesome to unfold and to see the consistency between prophetic utterances and the fullness shown to us in the New Testament.  It confronts us today of the value of the life we live, speaking forth that which is of the righteousness before God.  It is understanding His ways, His promises, and understanding that He does not change His direction, nor does He violate the promises that He has given us.

We twist things one way or another to fit our thinking rather than listening to God and following Him.  Psalm 132 says something that really changes our understanding.  It is more of a prophecy than actuality because much of this has not yet taken place.  Much of the Old Testament is foretelling, showing us the very character and the ability of God, and seeing it fulfilled in the New Testament. “God says, “For the Lord had chosen Zion. He has desired it for His habitation.” Where do we get this thought and idea that we are going somewhere else?  God wants to be with us.  He has chosen Zion and He has desired it for His habitation and He says, “This is my resting place forever. Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.”

Scriptures give us an insight into who God is, into His principles and His ways.  He shows how He fulfills it.  He chose David; He chose his lineage through which He was going to build His kingdom.  We were told of the lineage of David, and how that it was less than perfect, but God shows it through which to build His kingdom.  The failures and the weaknesses of man do not affect the choices of God because He takes our weakness and our failures and turns it to good; so good that He can build His kingdom upon that weakness and upon that character.

We look at each other and judge one another and say, “You can never be of any good because you can’t do this and that. Look at this mistake.  Look at what you did. This is wrong.”   Look at what David did – adultery, murder and many things he violated as far as principle is concerned. Yet God chose him to be the witness or the example of how He will build His kingdom.  God told David, the teen-ager, that He chose him to be the ruler of Israel, “On your throne I will build your kingdom.”

Where does this kingdom start?  It is from the Old Testament.  The foundations were laid so that the plan of God would be fulfilled. God plans from the very beginning and He sets His plan in order for us.  We see in the New Testament the story of Mary in Luke.  It speaks to us of God’s choice.  He sees through the façade of the flesh.  He sees to the heart of man.  He sees to the character of a person, one which may not be seen by many.  God sees it and He uses it.

In our society today, we do not have much faith in teenagers.  When God created man, He set a course and a direction that we violate many times today.  We do things our way rather than God’s way.  When God created man, He created man to come into His “bullness” at an early age. According to God, you have now matured and ready to take responsibility and fulfill it. Man decided it was not good enough so they came up with “adolescence” so that we could push that time of maturity further down the road that it would give a little time for a person to grow up according to man.  But according to God, the potential, the ability comes much earlier in our lives.  We have chosen to ignore what God has done.  God chose David, a teenager at the time he was chosen; Mary, a teenager, at the time she was chosen – to build His kingdom in this realm.  He was establishing this as His dwelling place forever.

It is an awesome thing to consider and to look at it this Christmas time, when Jesus is going to be brought to us.  How is it going to be?  Scriptures says Gabriel came to Mary, this young girl. History tells us that she was probably 16 years old.  She was already betrothed to Joseph for marriage, to be a wife; she was entering into the fullness of her ability.  Gabriel speaks to her.  If an angel would come and speak to us, we would be nervous because of the confrontation and the evaluation of the circumstance.

The angel speaks to Mary and says, “Hail Mary, hail favored one.  The Lord is with you.”  What a statement God had that the angel spoke to Mary.  The Church speaks to the people every time they gather to remind and to make the declaration like Gabriel, “The Lord is with you.”  Is He not saying to us through such that all things are possible when the Lord is with you?  When He is with us, does it not say to us that we should not be fearful?  This is what Gabriel told Mary, “Don’t be afraid. The Lord is with you.”

In her situation, as a teen-ager, perhaps she was a little bit more advanced in preparation than our teen-agers today; but yet, she was able to grasp the fullness of this meaning and its value.  She quieted herself to hear what the angel had to say to her.  The message toward Mary is not only the Lord speaking to Mary but also to the Church today.  Mary was the forerunner, the symbolism of the Church today.  She was the one chosen to bring Christ into this realm.  Likewise, the Church is also commissioned to introduce to the whole world Christ.  We are to give birth to Him on behalf of society.

In the beginning of the Mass, in our gathering together, the proclamation is spoken to us to quicken us and cause us to listen to what God has to say to us because He is preparing us, like Mary, to fulfill His will, His commission.  He said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”  Psalm 132 says that God has chosen Zion.  We have His favor.  He desires to dwell in her midst.

As a people today, we have fear, anxiety; we think that God has deserted us; we are all alone that we have to do things on our own. But God tells us over and over again of His favor, His provision, and His blessings in our behalf.  We choose to listen to some other voices.  We have fear, “What is going to happen if the financial system of the US will collapses? What if its economy falls? What about the Euro?  What about Europe?  What happens if this falls? What is going to take place?” This is the fear of the whole world today – not certain of what is going to take place.  Can you hear God speak to us and say, “Do not be afraid, the Lord favors you?” He desires to be with you.  He is planting faith, security, and help.

God says, “Do not be afraid Mary, you have found favor with God.”  Do we have this deeply entrenched within us that we have favor with God?  Why do we have this sense of being cast out, being alone or that nobody cares for us or nobody is there to help us when we are in need?  God favors us.  His favor is with you!

To Mary, this was an awesome thing that was to speak to her.  In a moment, the angel was going to share the plan of God.  He was going to say to her, “Mary you are going to conceive in your womb and you are going to bring forth a son, and you shall name Him Jesus and He will be great.”   At sixteen years old, here comes this heavenly being to speak to her and yet, she shows the calmness of her being able to grasp the meaning of his message.

Today, when you talk to some teenagers, they seem not to understand and grasp the direction or your message. It is like that their minds are not put all together. Here was Mary, a teenager.  I bring this out because it is very important – this is symbolic of the Church, of Zion! This is us that He is talking to. It is not just Mary of old.  It is her that brought Christ, but it was the example, the pattern which is set for us.

This is not just my idea.  If you read the history of the Church, even the theologians for today, they believe that Mary is the witness and the example for the Church today. We are to be aware of our place in this world and our commissioning. We are to be the witness to the world of God’s favor.  God favors us and we should be out in front – not necessarily the riches; the most wise – but the people that others envy, that people look for advice, for guidance because we have the favor of God!  Do we know this?  Are we aware of this? We have His favor! Why would we be anxious and be fearful? God is with us!

Advent is so important to us because we begin with this understanding that God has chosen Zion. You have His favor and He wants to dwell with you forever.  The stability in our heart wipes away fear, anxiety.  So the economy is going to collapse. Big deal! Why are we going to be nervous about that?  If the economy collapses, it collapses across the line.  Why are people out in the streets screaming and hollering and wanting increase in their wages?  The prices went up so they have to get the income to meet these prices.  If the prices go down, you don’t need a high income.  If there is no commercialism, would we not go back to providing for ourselves the way God created it in the beginning?   We don’t need to fear.    Scriptures say that if we would work our land with our own hand, we will never be hungry? We have to get out of the city which means no pollution.  God’s plans are better than what we give Him credit for.

Mary responds, “How can this be, since I am a virgin.” God chose Mary because she was a virgin; pure; not one who was disrespectful of her physical being.  She understood what she was created for. She was preserving herself for the fulfillment of the mission God had given her.   She did not use her body for pleasure; not seeking for attention.  She understood her purpose and her mission in life.  She was committed to fulfilling this.  She was devoted to this.    How many of us have a devotion of purity in our trust and faith in God? A confidence in Him, not failing us? Not forsaking us; providing for us; a devotion that does not waver even in the midst of a conflict and a storm?  We know that God will provide and not fail us.

This is what Mary represented for us, as the Church.  Do not be anxious; do not be fearful.  As a nation, we are going through major struggles.  The world is trying to push us to be like them.  They want us to control life. They want us to put everything into a situation wherein one direction from one person can control everything.

If the United States failed, it wouldn’t affect us at all.  If Euro failed, it won’t affect us at all. Because we have tied up with this globalization, it will be like a domino effect.  The whole world is going to go down, when one goes down.  We have to have commitment to God; be faithful to Him. Be aware that these things don’t have a place in our lives where that they are controlling us. We may have to use them, to receive what God wants us to have, but God will bring that, through them, and He was not be of them. We are in the world, but not of it.

Mary was in a world wherein if it was true that she was betrothed to Joseph and becomes impregnated by a situation other than Joseph, his obligation, according to culture and the more of that time was he was to destroy her publicly because she has disgraced his honor. She had disgraced the honor of his family, the lineage of David. She knew what this meant to her; she understood this; but her devotion to God was greater than the system around her.  She knew the consequences of saying, “Thy will be done.” She also had an awareness of the greatness of God because she was willing and devoted to her covenant with him.

Joseph, when he heard that she was pregnant, was upset.  He obviously loved her so much that he was willing to put her away privately rather than making a public example of her.  Can you imagine what would happen today if we made public examples of people who violated their virginity before marriage?  We wouldn’t have many people left.  Our devotion is not committed to the things of God.  I don’t say this with judgment, but to see that we don’t have devotion in our lives anymore.  Our only devotion is pleasure and what we want.  Mary understood where she was, the commitment that she was making. The world was going to condemn her, to come against her and judge her.  Perhaps this is why she went away.  Joseph told her to get out of the city so that they don’t know what is going on.

Mary was devoted; pure; and her commitment was to God alone. She was fulfilling the will of God.  She was bringing Christ into the lineage of David so that He could sit on the throne of David and establish the kingdom which would be forever.  Fulfilling Old Testament prophecy – this was Mary’s privilege.  She was the one that God was going to fulfill His plan through as far as our lives were concerned.

In the same manner, the Church today is commissioned and empowered to be like Mary and take that message of Christ and bring Christ to the whole world.  This is our task.  This same witness is ours today – to be like her; to set her up as a witness of a model for us in our relationship with God. Our purity toward Him – instead of violating our faith and trusting the ways of man and the system of the world to be our answer.  We are to bring people to Christ.

The prophecy of Isaiah says that when all of these things fail, where would the world go?  They are going to Zion, the Church.  What is the Church going to do?  They are going to say to the Church, “Our system has failed.  It has fallen.”  It pictures in Revelation, in Babylon, burning in one day, destroying the economy, the culture of the world, restoring the commercialism of the world and it would be gone.  Where are they going to go because they have lost everything?  They obviously see the peace, and the security of the Church.  They run to the Church and they say to her, “Teach us your ways. Show us why things are working for you when our system has failed. ”

The Church cannot adapt to the world. We must be the witness to them to show that their system is not right.  It should not be that which controls us.  It should be that which we stand as witness to.  The whole world is pushing the RH bill.  They want to control birth, the gift that God has given to mankind, the blessing that God gives to us in bearing children.   This is how God brings His provision to mankind – through birth.  We have a Congress and Senate, being pressured by the whole world, being bribed by the whole world to bring us under that same thing that they pushed around the whole world.  We are one of the countries that have opposed it.

What do we do as a Church?   We bring forth birth in the Church. When the birth comes, we bring the child to the altar and we offer that child to the God of the universe and the God of life.   It is as though we are standing in the power of the Almighty.  This act is far more powerful than Congress, that United Nations, and those who are trying to destroy the very image of God in the world.   This act alone bears the fullness of the kingdom of God and the power against such a thing.

Our President told Congress that he wanted this law approved before they went on Christmas vacation.  Senate had two votes short of the ability to deny this bill.  We were praying that somehow God will change the situation.  Thanks to the current situation to the Supreme Court, now the Senate has another job which will occupy them for at least six moths. What can happen in six months?  We offer life back to God.   We may be only a few, but it doesn’t take an army to do the work of God.  Who save the world? One Man.  Who led Israel out of Egypt? One man. It doesn’t take a lot. When you walk in the promises of God, we will have His.  All things are possible.  This is what we have to know. Hold on to your faith. God will not fail us.

This is what Mary speaks to us and challenges us.  It is not we do; what is God doing through you?  It is not what you are doing for Him, but what He is doing through you.  We are weak. We don’t have all the understanding, He does.  Mary said to the angel, “Let it by done unto me, according to your Word.”  She submitted herself that He could use her.  She wasn’t going to do this. She didn’t call Joseph and said, “Come here Joseph. The angel said that I am going to be pregnant so come let us go to bed.”  She just simply submitted herself to God to use her. It was God, through her. It wasn’t her bringing Christ to the world.  It was God, through her, doing this.

Sometimes we think it is us and we say, “We can’t do it.”    It doesn’t make a difference.  If we are willing, He will empower us.   He will cause the things to happen.  With God, all things are possible.  With man, it is not true, but our hope is in God.

See Mary as our witness, our model to challenge us how to change the world. How can we change the world and bring life to the world?  Offer ourselves that God can work through us.  He is the One who does the work.  We have to get beyond our natural understanding and reasoning and coming in judgment and say, “It cannot be.”  It is Him who is causing it to be.   This is our hope – Mary.  She sets the example for us.  She was one who was willing to yield herself for God to work through her.  As the Church today, may we have the same attitude. The Lord is with you.  If He is, all things are possible.