One of the hardest lessons learned, especially for preachers, is that the simple answer is often the best.

It makes me think of a little boy who asks his father the simple question, "How did I get here; how was I born?"  As we all know, there is a long answer.  There is an answer for which some mothers and fathers are not prepared because they think they must go the long route.  They shy away from the topic, fidget and dodge.  They may beat around the bush or give veiled answers.

But one father gave a simple answer to his son, "Your mother and I love each other; we got married, and then you were born."

His trusting little boy smiled and said, "O.K," and went on his way happy. 

There might be a deeper, more complicated answer, but what mattered was that dad knew.  He didn't put down the question, but respected it by telling what needed to be told.  Daddy didn't lie or make up a fairy tale about storks carrying baskets or tell a joke about something under a rock.  He told the truth sufficient to the needs of his little boy, and it was believed.  Simple as that.

Mary asked a simple question too.  She was old enough, however, to know natural science.  She knew where little boys come from.  And they don't come from virgins.  She asked because that's what a Father's children do.  She had no concealed motives in her asking and was reassured by the answer because of the One from whom it came.

Clear and straightforward, the simple answer was the best.  The angel Gabriel didn't follow a convoluted route around or over Mary's question as if the issue was precarious.  A virgin birth is no obstacle for God.  "For nothing will be impossible with God."

The answer Mary received was not symbolic or a fairy tale.  She was told the simple truth, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."

O.K. 

"The child to be born will be called holy -- the Son of God."

O.K.

Plus, your cousin Elizabeth, who some called impossibly barren, is six months pregnant. 

All right.

That's Mary's answer. 

If there is a deeper explanation, it isn't needed.  God knows what He's doing, and it is wonderful we are in his hands.  That too is Mary's answer.

In effect she said, I'm in God's hands.  She was content the way the little boy was happy.  She relied on the best and simple answer of her Father.

She didn't squeeze God's Word through a process of deduction or subject it to philosophy, ideology, or rationalization.  She didn't weigh it against science or try to improve it.  She didn't wait for a counsel or bishop to sanction it.  She believed it.

And don't you love this comment from Mary.  It is the amen.  Best of all she said was, "Let it be to me according to your Word."

Let me tell you; I like this girl!

Mary trusted God's Word the way a little child trusts a loving Father.  Mary held to the Word of God alone.  We Lutherans call this sola Scriptura.  If our Lord says it, it is true.  Mary was content with that.

We Lutherans are not among those who say, "God said it; I believe it; that settles it."  God's Word doesn't need our faith to validate it.  Creation, Christ's incarnation, the virgin birth, God's universal atonement through His Son, the resurrection, the real presence of Christ in the sacrament for the forgiveness of our sins -- indeed, all the chief doctrines of the Christian faith are clear-cut in God's Word.  They work faith by simply being proclaimed.

As I said, the best answers (and I'll add, the best confessions) are the simple ones straight from God's Word.

Follow the example of Mary.  God said it.  That settles it. 

The best lesson to learn is that God's answers are best.  He alone is the source of His children's contentment.

O.K.