“JOY: Too Good to Be True”

Text: Luke 1:5-25

Grace, mercy, peace, and JOY be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          Too good to be true. There are multiple ways to interpret this phrase. As we explore it in relation to our Gospel reading for tonight, we focus first on Zechariah and Elizabeth. On the face of it, that phrase would indicate something that is just so good, that it can’t possibly be true. Something, that even though wished for, just seems out of reach, or beyond reality. Zechariah and Elizabeth are described by Luke as both being “righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commands and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.” Despite being righteous and blameless, these two followers of God, Zechariah even being a priest before God, had been denied what would have at those times been seen as the ultimate blessing from the Lord. They were childless.

Our text gives us no indication that they were still seeking a child, just a statement of the fact that they didn’t have one. They’d likely long before this given up any hope that the blessing of a child would be theirs. Yet they had prayed for it, at least at some point. We know this because when the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah out of the blue, while doing his priestly duty and serving in the temple, Gabriel tells him that “your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” This is news that is just Too Good to Be True. He can’t possibly have heard the angel correctly. And yet Gabriel goes on to explain that “you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.”

The joy and gladness this barren couple are to experience is certainly a result of the son they’re going to have, but it’s also because of who that son is going to be. Gabriel tell him that “he will be great before the Lord…and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” What a great pronouncement from God’s messenger, and yet, for Zechariah, it’s just Too Good to Be True. And who could blame him for only being able to utter the valid question “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.”

What Good News, and all he can do is doubt that it could possibly be true. I think it’s the reaction of our sinful nature as well. The Good New of Jesus Christ is clearly proclaimed. God has sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might be saved through Him and His sacrificial work. But for the heart mired in sin, the message is simply Too Good to Be True.

Yet disbelief at the promises of God isn’t the only way to react to things that seem Too Good to Be True. Another way to look at that phrase would be to say it about something that’s being offered to you. That thing must not be as good as it seems to be. There’s no way it could be. It’s just Too Good to Be True. We know all about these sorts of things. The Nigerian prince whose emails arrive in our inbox promising to give us a share of the millions he has. For just a little help getting the money into the country, you too can be the recipient of a great fortune. Too Good to Be True. Or maybe it’s the commercial for the $99 a month lease on that car you’ve had your eye on. Until you read the fine print and see that you need to have $10,000 down to get that great deal. Too Good to Be True. These are earthly offers and promises which are meant to draw us in, and which, in fact, are Too Good To Be True.

And as long as we recognize them as such, we’ll generally have one of two reactions to them. We either laugh in the face of them or disbelieve them. Zechariah disbelieved because it was just too much to comprehend that God would bless him in this way. And yet God’s promise to him and his wife was, in fact, NOT Too Good to Be True. It was real, and solid, and sure, as all God’s promises are.

There is one more way to react when something seems Too Good to Be True. Especially when it comes as a fulfilment of promise from God. And we have a couple of great examples of this in Scripture. You’ll likely recall the account of Abraham and Sarah. Two people with whom God had forged a covenant and made a promise. God says to Abraham regarding his wide Sarah, “I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” And what was Abraham’s reaction? “He fell on his face and laughed.” We could think of this laughter as a sign that Abraham thought this promise was Too Good to Be True and didn’t believe it. That’s often how the passage is interpreted. Or we might see it as a mocking laughter. “Theres no way this could be possible. Look at us.” But Luther sees it a different way. He sees Abraham’s reaction as one of great emotion and joy. A laughter that’s filled with faith. Joy exuding from him in a laughter so great it sends him to the ground. ROFL. Rolling on the Floor Laughing with such great rejoicing that the heart exults and overflows with joy. This is the proper reaction when something that God promises seems Too Good to Be True.

And then we have Mary, the mother of our Lord. She receives the greatest news of all. News that can only be described as unbelievable. But again, this news is being delivered by the messenger of the Lord.

“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, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary does have a brief moment of questioning about the physical impossibility of what Gabriel conveys to her. But her momentary hesitancy quickly turns to acknowledgement of the enormity of the task and blessing she’s been given. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” She’s going to carry her own Lord and Savior and with God’s help she’s up to the task. This is the model of how to respond when God tells you something that’s Too Good to Be True.

Back to Zechariah for just a moment, because I don’t want to just leave him out there as the example of how not to respond when God tells you something that’s Too Good to Be True. He received his punishment for his disbelief. He spent 9 months unable to speak. But at the birth of his child, his faith and belief in the message God had sent Gabriel to proclaim became evident. He did as the Lord had commanded. We too will find ourselves doubting, unable to believe the beautiful message of salvation. Too stubborn to go when called. Too tired to do what we’ve been asked. Too busy to focus on the important things. Yet, when we, like Zechariah, return and believe in the great and glorious message of salvation first proclaimed through the mouth of John the Baptist, and then achieved by Christ, we too will be restored into a right relationship with God, who desires to lavish His promises and blessings throughout our lives.

When the world tells us that something is Too Good to Be True, we should be skeptical. We should be hesitant. We should respond with mocking laughter and disbelief. But when God tells us something that seems Too Good to Be True, our laughter should be as that of Abraham. Mixed with such great joy and faith that our rejoicing becomes music to the ears of God and blessing to the world around us. And our whole-hearted trust and faith in the goodness of our God should be evident in the joy we share with the world. The joy that only comes from the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. A joy that sustains us in our faith, and that seeks to spread the Good News to everyone we know. May that joy be yours today and throughout this season of waiting. For we know that when God promises it, it is NOT Too Good to be True. It is sure and certain. And He will keep His promises. Which is why we wait with eager anticipation because we know that our promised Savior has come, and he will come again. Just as He promised. It sounds Too Good to Be True. But it’s not. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.