The Quadruple Annunciation and Three Responses

Pastor Jim Laird had a very good message this morning. He shared with us the four annunciations. There is only one annunciation in the Bible, you say. Well, while technically that may be so, there are actually four. These are the annunciation to Zechariah, when an angel from the Lord told him of the birth of John the Baptist, who would herald the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. The message was that Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were 'way too old to have children, would have a child. Zechariah's response brought him a reproof from God in the form of a nine month case of extreme laryngitis. Why, because his response was one of "disbelief". After all, did he not know of the precedent God had set with Abraham and Sarah? God has very little tolerance for our disbelief.
The second annunciation was the one which we always call by that name. The archangel Gabriel told Mary that she would have a child, and that the child would have no physical father (though he did have an adoptive father in Joseph). Mary understood the words she was hearing, but was not able to understand how this could possibly happen--after all, it had never happened before, and never will again!! So her question was born of lack of belief, not disbelief. Our lack of belief can come about due to lack of information. God is okay with that, so long as it does not mean we choose not to believe because we cannot see how it could happen. God blessed Mary by giving her an answer--With God nothing is impossible. He also gave her the joy of being His vehicle for bringing Jesus into this world. WOW! The Word tells us that she treasured these things in her heart. Of course, she did. If we were to ask her about it, her response would have to be "if I told you, you'd never believe it." But at the wedding in Cana, her belief had matured, and she said "do whatever He tells you to do." Oh that my trust in Him would be so deep that my response would be "Aye, Aye, Sir", not "Why, Why, Sir".
The third annunciation came to Joseph when he had found out that Mary was expecting her first child. Since he had nothing to do with it, he naturally assumed that she had been unfaithful to her betrothal vows. But he loved Mary so much that he did not want to humiliate her, so he was planning to divorce her quietly. Enter an angel from the Lord, who told him not to be afraid to take Mary into his home and give her his family name, for God was in this thing. His response, though he did not understand all the details, was to consider the source of the message, and to follow through with taking her as his wife, without consummating the marriage until after Jesus was born. His action was proof of his belief, and if he had been mentioned in Hebrews, he would have been in the list of the Heroes of the Faith. God's direction is not always the "logical" thing. Many times it requires a decision to obey in spite of consequence. That is what Joseph did.
The fourth and final annunciation was given by a multitude of angels to the shepherds who camped out in the fields taking care of their sheep. The message was that a Savior was born, and their response was a joyful belief accompanied by immediate action. They did not even go and get a "sheepsitter", but went immediately to see this one who was born the Messiah of Israel. God rewarded them with a place of honor in the Scriptures. They did not question the message or the messengers. They only responded with immediate joy and extreme curiosity. I had to think: What would be my response in such a situation? Would I believe readily, and act upon that belief, or would I want proof?
God wants us to trust Him enough to obey without doubting. He does not always tell us why, but when he tells us what he wants from us, our response should be to obey joyfully and immediately.