Video of the Divine Service is here. The sermon begins around the 24:00 mark.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When we hear the angel’s word to Mary that “nothing will be impossible with God,” it might raise questions for us. Such as, “If nothing is impossible for God, is it possible for God to make a rock so big that He cannot move it?” Or, “If nothing is impossible for God, is it possible for God to make a prison so secure that He could not escape it?” Or, “Is it possible for God to make a triangle whose angles do not make 180 degrees?”

But those sorts of questions arise perhaps because we have been misled by the English, “nothing will be impossible with God.” Because it doesn’t say “nothing.” It doesn’t even say “no thing.” It says, literally, “It will not be impossible with God every word.” Every word will not be impossible with God. It is related very closely to Mary’s response: “Look, the slave of the Lord; let it me to me according to your word.” The angel says “Every word will not be impossible with God” and Mary says “Let it be to me according to your word.” It can mean “thing,” but even then, it is a thing that is spoken about. It is the word that matters; everything depends on the word. So, as with most things of God, it is not about abstractions, or generalizations, or theoretical speculation about what may or may not be possible for an all-powerful deity. It is about what God has said. What God says, He does.

And God does what He says even when it seems impossible to us, outside the realm of human comprehension. Certainly Mary knows how things work, how children are conceived and born. She says, “How will this be, since I have never known a man (in the marital way)?” We might think it is impossible for Mary to conceive, since she’s never had a marital relationship. But God speaks, and so it is. God has favored you, Mary. He has graced you. And the word of the angel is the word of God: you will conceive and give birth to a son, who will be called holy, the Son of God. He will take the throne of His ancestor, David, and His Kingdom will never come to an end. It will happen by the power of God, as He reveals Himself in His Son made flesh, your Child. This is not the work of people, but the work of the Holy Spirit. And she says, let it be to me according to your word. (This is when people thought of children not as a curse or a burden, but as a gift.)

It might seem impossible that Elizabeth, in her old age and barrenness, could conceive. But God sent His angel to speak the word to Zechariah in the temple: your wife will conceive and give birth and you will call his name John. And what God says happens.

It might seem impossible, outside the realm of human possibility or comprehension, that God would take on flesh at all. Lots of people have thought that such a thing was, literally and figuratively, “below” Him. The divine and spiritual would never get mixed up in the physical and the material. But God says so, and He does it. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

It might seem impossible and outside the realm of human comprehension that this Man, crucified and dead and buried, should rise from the dead on the third day. But Jesus said it at least three times, that He would suffer, die, and rise. God speaks, and it happens.

God says, “Let there be light” and there is light. God says, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation,” and it does. He says, “Let there be living creatures on the earth and in the sea and in the air” and there are. He says, “Let Us make man in Our own image,” and He does.

Everything depends on the Word. If you lose the Word, you lose God. If you lose the Word, you lose faith. Because faith needs a word to believe. Faith only has ears, and if there is no word, there is no faith. And if there is no faith that believes that word, there is no certainty at all. And our believing goes around searching, grasping, flailing for something to believe. We believe one thing after another after another after another, anything that we might be able to hold onto. But when all of those idols fail us, we then turn against the true God: why won’t God change this, or fix this, or heal this? Maybe there is no God at all. But that’s because we lost the Word or ignored it or forgot it. Faith can’t live on what we can imagine, or what we think should happen, or what we see or feel. Faith can only live on the Word.

And so God has spoken. So God speaks. So His Word becomes flesh in the womb of Mary. And human beings are favored, graced. Mary was favored with the presence of God in her womb. In a very specific and particular way, Mary had Immanuel, “God with us,” with her. But because she was favored in that way, God has favored us in Christ. Because He was conceived in her and born of her, He lived, died, rose from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God’s power. And now, and because of that, God favors and graces you. The only other place where this verb is used in the New Testament is in Ephesians 1, where Paul says, “In love God predestined us for sonship through [His Son] Jesus Christ, in Him, according to the good pleasure of His will, unto the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He favored/graced us in the Beloved One” (1:4-6).

By His grace in Jesus, He has graced us with His presence, as He graced Mary. You have found favor with God. And you can know this because He speaks to you. God is with you; He sent His Spirit by His Word to give you faith. And here are impossible things as well, according to human reason and understanding. How is it that a person who is hostile and opposed to God could become someone who fears, loves, and trusts God? But every word will not be impossible with God. How is it that you could be baptized into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection, not as a symbol, but in very reality, so that you live with His life because you have died with His death? Every word will not be impossible with God. How is it that God can put words of pure forgiveness into the mouths of sinners and they remain His word? Every word will not be impossible with God: whatever sins you forgive, they are forgiven, Jesus says. How is it that the living body and blood of Jesus could be eaten with bread and wine? Every word will not be impossible with God: this is My body and blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. This eating and drinking is the remembrance of My death.

How can any of this be? Because every word will not be impossible for the God whose Word is made flesh. Yes, Lord. Amen. Let it be to me according to Your Word.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7, ESV). Amen.

– Pr. Timothy Winterstein, 12/22/23