Pastor Paul Waldschmidt delivers a sermon entitled “God is My Hero” based on Luke 1:26-38 at Peace Lutheran Church in Hartford, Wisconsin.

Delivered: Sunday,  December 3, 2017

Advent is the time of year when we talk a lot about name meanings. Because knowing that, for example, the name Jesus, literally means “Savior” or Immanuel means “God with us”, knowing that adds supplemental wonder to the already wonderful Christmas story, God becoming man to save man. You probably knew the meaning of those names already. But you might not know the meaning of the name Gabriel, the angel who plays a prominent role in our text for this morning on the First Sunday of the Advent season. Gabriel is the combination of two Hebrew words–gibor which means mighty warrior or hero and el which means God.  So Gabriel’s name literally means “God is my hero.”

The Biblical moniker doesn’t always fit the Biblical personality, of course. King Zedekiah, for example, whose name means “The Lord is my righteousness” was one of the smarmiest fellas to ever sit on the throne as king of Israel, and that’s saying a lot.  But in the case of Gabriel, the name fits. God is my hero. Today we’ll say the same.

Even though Gabriel is technically the focus of our Sunday service, we should be clear right off the bat. He’s not the hero. God is the hero. God is my hero.  How Gabriel fits in becomes evident right off the bat in our text. “ In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth.”  He’s the messenger. Just like the angels in the sky outside of Bethlehem that first Christmas, just like the angels at the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, Gabriel was the messenger, not the hero. He came to tell someone what the hero was doing.

The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Think about that for a second. The one who stands in the presence of God comes and tells Mary that she’s the one who is highly favored! Isn’t that what God’s messengers say to us every Sunday? They’re like Gabriel in this regard—they’re messengers, sent to us to point us to what the hero is doing now. So they stand before God’s people and they say, “Greetings, you who are highly favored, the Lord is with you.”

Only problem is, we might come here wondering if either one of those statements is actually true. We might come here wondering if we are truly highly favored and if the Lord truly is with us. Because honestly, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Why should he favor me, we might ask? Why should he favor us when he sees all that goes on in our homes, in our minds and in our lives? Why should he favor us when he knows the cringeworthy words that have come from our mouth, the stomach turning sights our eyes have seen, the unseemly places our feet have stood?  We might well ask, “Why would he favor me when he should be repulsed by me? Why would the Lord be with me….shouldn’t he be running to get as far away from me as possible?”

But that’s the thing about heroes. Being a hero isn’t about doing an extensive evaluation and then saving people who are most likable, deserving or somehow worthy of saving. Being a hero is about saving people who need you, people who would be lost with you, people who absolutely cannot save themselves.

Just like Gabriel did long ago, just like Pastor Steinbrenner did last week and Pastor Husby will do next week, today I have the privilege to stand up here and say to you, though world weary and weighed down by sin, Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Not because of something you have done, but because of something God has done. Remember, God’s the star of this show. A hero comes not to the people who deserve it, but to the people who need saving. People like you and me. That’s why God is my hero.

Showing up is half the battle. But it is only half the battle. But a hero doesn’t just show up on the scene. A hero also does the things necessary to save people. That was part of Gabriel’s message, too. ³¹ You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

You might think, “That all sounds very royal, and impressive, but it ain’t particularly heroic, per se.” Fair enough, but think about what Jesus did so that we call him great. Think about how he ascended to the throne of his father David, to his kingdom that will never end. How did he become king? Remember what the apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians?

He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This king became king by wearing robes most unroyal, the filthy rags of our wickedness. This king became king by wearing a crown not of gold, but of our shame. Our hero shed his blood and gave up his life, so that our sins would be erased and our eternities spared. A hero sacrifices his own well being to save people. That’s what Jesus did for us. That’s why God is my hero.

Mary didn’t totally understand how it could be that she would become a mother at all, much less the mother of God’s Son. Gabriel’s message continued. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing is impossible with God.”

Nothing is impossible with God. Now don’t take the wrong way. It doesn’t mean that we should expect to do the impossible. It means that God can do anything he sets his mind to. You might look at your life and see impossibility. It’s impossible for God to love me and save me after I’ve done so much wrong and done it so long. Nothing is impossible with God. It might seem an impossibility that faith can come through water and the word or the forgiveness can come through eating and drinking. It might seem impossible that he will raise the dead, impossible that he will come back to judge, impossible that there is indeed waiting for God’s faithful children a much better life than this one in a much better place than this one. Nothing is impossible with God. This hero can actually do the impossible. That’s why God is my hero.

The hero who came once to save us, will come again to take his people home. So here is a serious question that demands a serious answer. When our hero returns, on the blessed day of his second advent, what will he find in our hearts and in our lives?  May he find hearts that shun sin in humble contrition. Hearts that cling to him in humble faith. Hearts that serve our neighbor in humble love. People that know their name is Christian and are personify what it means. That will be the reception Jesus deserves. That will truly be a hero’s welcome. Amen.