[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the fourth Sunday in Advent, the 21st of December, 2014.]
After the angel Gabriel broke the news to Mary that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear the Son of God, she traveled to Judah to spend time with her relative Elizabeth, who was also pregnant, with the child who would grow to be known as John the Baptist. When Mary first greeted Elizabeth, her unborn baby leaped for joy in her womb!
Elizabeth was then filled with the Holy Spirit and praised Mary in a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ... Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Mary responded with what is often considered the most beautiful song in the Bible – the Magnificat. Listen to this song, from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, verses 46 through 55…
46 And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
--Luke 1:46-55 (NKJV)
Let us pray... Father God, we come before You this morning to worship You and to prepare ourselves to receive our King. Touch us Lord with Your Holy Spirit that we might hear and heed what You would say to us this day. In the most wonderful and blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
In the rush of last minute Christmas shopping, a woman bought a box of fifty identical greeting cards. Without bothering to read the verse, she hastily signed and addressed all but one of them.
Several days after they had been mailed, she came across the one card that hadn’t been used, and she looked at the message she had sent. She was horrified to read: “This card is just to say… a little gift is on the way.”
[From 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking, page 63, #132, “Christmas Caution”.]
Sometimes we can be a little hasty in our actions. That lady got all caught up in the hustle and bustle of our culture’s commercial Christmas when she mailed out cards without even glancing at the “greeting” they conveyed, only to learn once it was too late that each of those 49 cards carried the promise of a “little gift” on the way – sounds kind of like a birth announcement, maybe. When we get a little too hasty, sometimes we end up paying a price.
Was Elizabeth too hasty in her judgment of Mary’s condition or in her praise? Nope, time reveals that she was exactly correct. Did Mary act hastily in visiting Elizabeth? No again, for in a little while we’ll see that she did so in fulfillment of God’s promise through Isaiah.
The Song of Mary – such a beautiful, heartfelt song of praise and obedience to the Lord. The King James Version translates the opening line as “My soul doth magnify the Lord”. And then Mary adds, “my spirit has rejoiced in God”. Why did she feel so exultant?
Let’s go back just a bit in Luke’s narrative, to when Gabriel first approached Mary. Listen to how our Gospel writer records that meeting, in Luke chapter 1, verses 26 through 30…
In the rush of last minute Christmas shopping, a woman bought a box of fifty identical greeting cards. Without bothering to read the verse, she hastily signed and addressed all but one of them.
Several days after they had been mailed, she came across the one card that hadn’t been used, and she looked at the message she had sent. She was horrified to read: “This card is just to say… a little gift is on the way.”
[From 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking, page 63, #132, “Christmas Caution”.]
Sometimes we can be a little hasty in our actions. That lady got all caught up in the hustle and bustle of our culture’s commercial Christmas when she mailed out cards without even glancing at the “greeting” they conveyed, only to learn once it was too late that each of those 49 cards carried the promise of a “little gift” on the way – sounds kind of like a birth announcement, maybe. When we get a little too hasty, sometimes we end up paying a price.
Was Elizabeth too hasty in her judgment of Mary’s condition or in her praise? Nope, time reveals that she was exactly correct. Did Mary act hastily in visiting Elizabeth? No again, for in a little while we’ll see that she did so in fulfillment of God’s promise through Isaiah.
The Song of Mary – such a beautiful, heartfelt song of praise and obedience to the Lord. The King James Version translates the opening line as “My soul doth magnify the Lord”. And then Mary adds, “my spirit has rejoiced in God”. Why did she feel so exultant?
Let’s go back just a bit in Luke’s narrative, to when Gabriel first approached Mary. Listen to how our Gospel writer records that meeting, in Luke chapter 1, verses 26 through 30…
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.”--Luke 1:26-30 (NKJV)
“You have found favor with God”. Wow! Wouldn’t it be great to hear those words from God’s own personal messenger? And highly favored indeed, to be chosen to bear God’s only Son!
Mary wasn’t the only one that Gabriel enjoyed a little chat with – he also visited her fiancé, Joseph, in a dream. Hear how Matthew describes this event in chapter 1 of his Gospel, verses 18 through 23…
Mary wasn’t the only one that Gabriel enjoyed a little chat with – he also visited her fiancé, Joseph, in a dream. Hear how Matthew describes this event in chapter 1 of his Gospel, verses 18 through 23…
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
--Matthew 1:18-23 (NKJV)
I love verse 21: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Think about that – First, Gabriel says that we are Jesus’ people, we are His! Then he exclaims that Jesus came to save us from our sins. Our sins separate us from God - Jesus fixes that.
And then verse 22, where Matthew explains that all this was done just to fulfill what God had spoken through His prophet, Isaiah - like I mentioned earlier. All this was done just to assure us that anything and everything God promises will come to pass.
So OK, being the mother of God would be a pretty good start at explaining Mary’s exuberance in praising the Lord. But there’s more to it than that. Mary says that God has looked down upon her lowly state and blessed her, and people will call her blessed. God is mighty and has done great things for her. Notice she said “great things” – plural, more than just giving her His Son to carry and to care for.
She approaches God as a humble servant, His maidservant. She sings of the great works He has done for her people and for us all. He has shaken the mighty from their thrones. And lifted the lowly up on high. He has filled the hungry with good things… and here Mary doesn’t just mean physical food. All those who hunger for truth, who hunger to come closer to God, who hunger for salvation – these will be filled.
So her words not only bring to mind events of the past, but also promises for the future. The psalmist echoes this thought and carries it a step further, in Psalm 9 verse 18…
Family, we have been blessed just like Mary. We may not have been chosen to give birth to God’s Son - only one person in all of history could receive that great favor. But we have indeed been truly blessed. Each day carries a new series of blessing, mostly small ones that are so easily overlooked. But even the large ones we sometimes take for granted.
Did you wake up this morning with a roof over your head, shelter from the cold? Then you have been blessed. Were you able to break your night’s fast with a nourishing bite to eat? Then you have been blessed. Were you able to go to the church of your choice, to worship God without fear of arrest or persecution? Did you have adequate transportation to get here? Do you feel the love of all those around you this morning? Then you have been blessed.
So how do we glorify God? How do we, from our souls, magnify the Lord? What does that even mean, to magnify the Lord? Isn’t He big enough?
Well, sure, but Jesus commissioned us to expand and extend the kingdom of God. To make sure that everyone has a chance to see Him, even those who are blind and cannot see.
Mary magnified the Lord not only with her words but with her life. While we don’t have a lot of information about her after the early years, we do know that she saw to it that Jesus was well educated, that He learned a trade, that He had opportunities to spend time with religious authorities, that she stayed with Him to the bitter end. She glorified God as a witness to her relative Elizabeth. She lived her life in a way that is pleasing to God.
How do we magnify our Lord? By living as Jesus would have us live. By witnessing to others of just how much the Lord has blessed us. By being champions of truth, and justice, and peace. By helping to spread the Gospel of Jesus throughout the world, starting from our own little corner. By rejoicing from our spirits in God our Savior.
Let’s sing our song. My soul doth magnify the Lord!
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, we sing Your praises! You have been so good to us. You bless us every day in so many ways. Your goodness and mercy are known to all generations. You lift up even the most lowly. You feed the hungry, in body and spirit. You do such great things for us. You showed the greatest act of love by giving us Your Son, that we might be saved and reunited with You.
Father, forgive us when we simply don’t realize Your blessings in our lives, when we don’t notice Your hand at work. Forgive us when we take for granted all the goodness and mercy you extend to us, or worse, when we think it is of our own doing and not from You. Without Your grace, we would be eternally lost and without hope.
Lord God, listen to the stirrings of our hearts as we pause for just a moment to express what we simply can’t put into words…
Christ Jesus, You came to us to save us. You came into this world as a tiny baby, innocent and without sin. And You gave everything just for us, because You love us. We await Your birth, Lord Jesus. May all the earth keep silence on that holy day. In Your glorious name, O Jesus we pray. Amen.
And then verse 22, where Matthew explains that all this was done just to fulfill what God had spoken through His prophet, Isaiah - like I mentioned earlier. All this was done just to assure us that anything and everything God promises will come to pass.
So OK, being the mother of God would be a pretty good start at explaining Mary’s exuberance in praising the Lord. But there’s more to it than that. Mary says that God has looked down upon her lowly state and blessed her, and people will call her blessed. God is mighty and has done great things for her. Notice she said “great things” – plural, more than just giving her His Son to carry and to care for.
She approaches God as a humble servant, His maidservant. She sings of the great works He has done for her people and for us all. He has shaken the mighty from their thrones. And lifted the lowly up on high. He has filled the hungry with good things… and here Mary doesn’t just mean physical food. All those who hunger for truth, who hunger to come closer to God, who hunger for salvation – these will be filled.
So her words not only bring to mind events of the past, but also promises for the future. The psalmist echoes this thought and carries it a step further, in Psalm 9 verse 18…
Isn’t that the role Jesus came to fill? That the needy not be forgotten, that the hope and expectation of the poor not perish forever. What is our hope but to be reunited with God, to live for eternity with Him and not perish.18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten;
The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.--Psalm 9:18 (NKJV)
Family, we have been blessed just like Mary. We may not have been chosen to give birth to God’s Son - only one person in all of history could receive that great favor. But we have indeed been truly blessed. Each day carries a new series of blessing, mostly small ones that are so easily overlooked. But even the large ones we sometimes take for granted.
Did you wake up this morning with a roof over your head, shelter from the cold? Then you have been blessed. Were you able to break your night’s fast with a nourishing bite to eat? Then you have been blessed. Were you able to go to the church of your choice, to worship God without fear of arrest or persecution? Did you have adequate transportation to get here? Do you feel the love of all those around you this morning? Then you have been blessed.
So how do we glorify God? How do we, from our souls, magnify the Lord? What does that even mean, to magnify the Lord? Isn’t He big enough?
Well, sure, but Jesus commissioned us to expand and extend the kingdom of God. To make sure that everyone has a chance to see Him, even those who are blind and cannot see.
Mary magnified the Lord not only with her words but with her life. While we don’t have a lot of information about her after the early years, we do know that she saw to it that Jesus was well educated, that He learned a trade, that He had opportunities to spend time with religious authorities, that she stayed with Him to the bitter end. She glorified God as a witness to her relative Elizabeth. She lived her life in a way that is pleasing to God.
How do we magnify our Lord? By living as Jesus would have us live. By witnessing to others of just how much the Lord has blessed us. By being champions of truth, and justice, and peace. By helping to spread the Gospel of Jesus throughout the world, starting from our own little corner. By rejoicing from our spirits in God our Savior.
Let’s sing our song. My soul doth magnify the Lord!
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, we sing Your praises! You have been so good to us. You bless us every day in so many ways. Your goodness and mercy are known to all generations. You lift up even the most lowly. You feed the hungry, in body and spirit. You do such great things for us. You showed the greatest act of love by giving us Your Son, that we might be saved and reunited with You.
Father, forgive us when we simply don’t realize Your blessings in our lives, when we don’t notice Your hand at work. Forgive us when we take for granted all the goodness and mercy you extend to us, or worse, when we think it is of our own doing and not from You. Without Your grace, we would be eternally lost and without hope.
Lord God, listen to the stirrings of our hearts as we pause for just a moment to express what we simply can’t put into words…
Christ Jesus, You came to us to save us. You came into this world as a tiny baby, innocent and without sin. And You gave everything just for us, because You love us. We await Your birth, Lord Jesus. May all the earth keep silence on that holy day. In Your glorious name, O Jesus we pray. Amen.
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