Mary’s Song

What songs do you think of when it comes to Christmastime? Do you have any

favorites? I love O Holy Night, and Carol of the Bells. Those songs just scream

Christmas. One of my other favorites is O Come All Ye Faithful. I remember being

taught O Come All Ye Faithful in the second grade. For those of you who don’t

know, my second grade teacher, Miss Ramsier had a tremendous impact on my

life. She was a strong Christian woman, and although we were in a public school

setting, she didn’t shy away from sharing her faith. I remember, we would pray

before lunch every single day. We would all stand around in a circle and hold

hands and say a prayer. She would always decorate the classroom with Christmas

decorations around Christmastime and had a tree all adorned with lights and

tinsel and I just remember it was warm environment. We would go and visit with

the elderly in nursing homes and sing Christmas carols. I think I attribute a lot of

my love for the Christmas season to these experiences I had as a young child.

I learned at a young age, not only intellectually but experientially, that Christmas is

so much more than what the world will tell you it is. Christmas points to

something much bigger than ourselves. It’s not about taking and consuming. It’s

about giving and being selfless. It’s not about what we can get, but what God has

already given. Christmas is about Jesus’ birth. God incarnate, in the flesh.

John 1:14

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory,

glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And we see the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy when Matthew quotes him in

Matthew 1:23.Matthew 1:23

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

We who live in the 21st century often don’t think about what the world was like

prior to Jesus’ birth. Or at least not in light of how significant his birth was. You

see, we may be able to understand this intellectually, what this might look like and

feel like, but we could never really understand experientially what it must have

looked like and felt like, especially from a Jewish standpoint.

It's much more difficult to appreciate technological advances if you were born

after a certain advancement had been made. Modes of transportation has

changed significantly in the last couple centuries. It’s the same idea with advances

in the medical world. We take water sanitation for granted. We take antibiotics

and vaccines for granted because most, if not all of us, were not around prior to

these developments. But what a change these things have made in our world.

Let’s take a moment and see the world through Mary’s eyes prior to Jesus’ birth.

A lot of Jewish history was passed down generation to generation through oral

tradition. So, she would have heard the prophecy about a coming Messiah that

would come and rescue them. Many Jews had various ideas of how that would

actually come about and what it would look like. Mary was probably unsure

herself how it was going to look.

When Isaiah gave the prophecy about the virgin birth of Immanuel, I wonder how

many women wondered if they were going to be the one to carry and give birth to

their Savior. Since the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, hundreds of years had gone by.

Generation after generation of hoping, waiting, anticipating the arrival of this

Messiah may have seemed like a distant dream for Mary. If it happens in her

lifetime, great, but, in her mind, it might not have seemed very likely. Maybe her

lot in life was to live and die hoping and waiting just as previous generations had.

Afterall, there had been about 400 years since the last time a prophet spoke.

Where was God? What was He up to during all this time? She probably never

would have thought in a million years that she would’ve been the one chosen by

God to carry and give birth to Jesus, the hope of the world. The one would save

his people from their sins.Then one day, the angel, Gabriel appeared to Mary.

Luke 1:26-33

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from 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. And the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and

said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29 But she was greatly

troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 30

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with

God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall

call his name Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he

will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no

end.”

Imagine you’re Mary in this moment. I’m she sure she felt a wide range of

emotions; fear, excitement, bewilderment, confusion, apprehension. Maybe she

pinched herself a couple times to make sure that what she was seeing and hearing

was real. And it was. I’m sure one of the myriad of thoughts swirling about in her

head was this…”Did God really choose me? A young Jewish girl who possessed no

station in life, didn’t have any connections to royalty or authority. Why would God

choose someone like me?”

You see, God likes to choose people that would be the unlikely choice, from the

standpoint of others, to accomplish His purposes. God chose Abram, a pagan to

become the one through whom the whole earth would be blessed. And Abraham

was the father of Isaac who then was the father of Jacob. And you can trace the

genealogy all the way to Jesus. And you will find in that genealogy, an adulterer, a

murderer, a prostitute, a womanizer, and others that the world would point

fingers at and say, there’s no way God would use them, especially in the way He

did. There is a consistent message in all of this, and that is, God uses imperfect

people to accomplish His perfect will. And when we understand this, we

understand that today’s focus isn’t primarily about Mary, but about our great God.Now, regarding Mary…There is no biblical condemnation of her. But what we can

say of her, is that she was human, just like any one of us. Ordinary, and perhaps

overlooked. Unassuming. And it is a wonder that God would choose her. I’m sure

she felt unqualified. We know ourselves and our sinfulness and our shortcomings

better than most people around us. She may have thought, “I am not worthy to

carry the Messiah.” But ultimately, Mary arrived at this response. She told the

angel, Gabriel…

Luke 1:38

38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according

to your word.”

Imagine that kind of humility and courage. The kind that one possesses that says

to God, no matter what it is, “whatever you say, I will do.” Easier said than done.

Many of us in here would take a moment to think if we would ever have the

courage to say such words. And not to just say them, but to actually follow

through with them.

Why would God choose someone like Abraham, or David, or Solomon, or Rahab,

or Ahaz or Mary to accomplish His will? He chooses people such as these so that

He would get the most glory. A few of the consistent themes throughout the Bible

is that of hope, and redemption, and compassion and the sovereignty of God.

And what a glorious purpose that befell Mary as she is now aware of the one who

is to be conceived in her womb. What a blessing it was, but also, what a burden it

must have been. I remember when JJ was pregnant (we have four kids) and

especially when she was pregnant with our first child, Josiah, she would be very

cautious and careful, making sure she wouldn’t do anything to harm the baby. No

falling, no taking hot showers, no eating lunch meat…etc. We were taking every

precaution we could to make sure our precious little baby would go unharmed.

Now, just imagine Mary. She’s got the Christ in her womb. A king, but not a mere

earthly king, but one conceived by the Holy Spirit, the Son of God who is going to

save people from their sins. She probably didn’t want to go anywhere unless she

was wrapped in several layers of bubble wrap. Yes, surely this was a blessing and a

burden like no other.This is why, when Mary visits Elizabeth, Elizabeth says, this in verse 42.

Luke 1:42

42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and

blessed is the fruit of your womb!

In the verse prior, Luke tells us that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the

baby inside her womb leaped in her womb. We know this baby to be John, who

later became known as John the Baptizer or John the Baptist. In verse 44 we get

the reason for why baby John leaped. He leaped for joy. A baby not even out of his

mother’s womb, recognized the gravity of the moment. And some could say, that

John was just excited to hear Mary’s voice. Afterall, it was at her greeting that he

leapt. But why should he? He’s never heard her voice before. No, it was something

much greater here that was not missed by John. Let’s not miss it as well.

I’ve observed this is my children. Although they are very young, there is no

resistance or hindrance from their acknowledgement of God. As natural as their

awareness of when they are hungry or thirsty or frustrated or tired, is their

awareness of God. Now they may not be able to articulate exactly what that

means or what it’s all about, but that comes later in life for them as they learn and

continue to grow. I firmly believe that children, if they end up moving away from a

belief in God, it is because of a worldly indoctrination that says to them, “God isn’t

real.”

Here's one of my favorite pictures of Josiah. He’s probably about two years old at

the time this was taken. (Show picture) Now, yes, it’s true that a child can be

taught how to pray. But you can’t really teach how they pray. And yes, you can

teach a child to grow in their understanding about God as they grow, but their

acknowledgement of God, I’m convinced, has always been there from before they

were born. And it is our responsibility as Christians to help nurture that and

protect that in our young children as they grow into a world that is trying to strip

that away from them.

Yes, it was reason for great joy upon the arrival of Jesus into our world. Elizabeth

understood that. Baby John understood that. And Mary understands this. And asour worship to God is a response to God’s goodness in our lives, Mary sings this

song.

I will read it in its entirety so that we get the full context.

Luke 1:46-55

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on 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 for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

51 He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

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 offspring forever.”

One of the things that I believe has hindered rather than helped Christians in

recent years is our approach to Bible studies. And I’m not saying all, but I am

saying a lot of people’s approach to Bible study goes like this. A passage of

Scripture is read and then the question is asked. “What does this passage mean to

me?” Instead, the correct way we ought to approach our task of understanding

Scripture is by asking this question in contrast to the previous one. “What does

this passage mean?” And you may ask, “Well what’s the difference?” And I’ll

answer that for you. One is subjective, and the other is objective. One leaves roomfor uncertainty. The other provides clarity. And God is a God of clarity and not one

of confusion.

Some Church traditions look at Mary’s song and elevate Mary to a status she

never claimed nor asked for. Other Church traditions completely avoid talking

about Mary and her blessed status in order that they do not get mixed in with or

affiliated with the previous Church traditions. My approach to this passage is not

going to be one that says things that are not there. Neither will I omit anything

from what’s written.

In verse 48 we see that Mary says, “from now on, all generations will call me

blessed.” To understand what is meant by this, we must read the context in which

this was written. Content plus context equals meaning. Now it’s not a question of

whether or not she will be called blessed. The Scripture tells us clearly that she is.

Why will she be called blessed? And what does it mean for her to be blessed? Well

let’s take a look at our context sandwich and read the verses before and after our

text in question.

Luke 1:46-49

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

It’s quite obvious. My soul magnifies who? Mary? My spirit rejoices in who?

Mary? For He has looked on the “proud’ estate of his servant? For who is mighty

and done great things? You see, Mary’s blessedness has nothing to do with who

Mary is or anything that she has done. It has everything to do with who God is,

and what He has done.

In our sermon series through the book of Psalms, we took a look at what it means

to be blessed. It is not a claim to favor, but it is an acknowledgement of thegoodness of God made manifest in one’s life. Blessedness is not the elevation of

one’s status. It is magnifying and glorifying God who is our reason for rejoicing.

Instead of pointing to ourselves or others, our attention should always be directed

upward toward God.

And so, perhaps, before coming to hear this sermon one may have thought well

this is all going to be about Mary. No, although Mary is included in the message,

it’s really not about her at all. It’s about God. It’s about His goodness, His

greatness, His mercy, His faithfulness, His might and His strength. And the same

goes for all the stories we learned about as children. David and Goliath, Noah’s

Ark, Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho, the story of Joseph, the story of Gideon.

They all point to God. I know there are those of us who do not like the “me” and

“my” language in different worship songs we sing because then we think the song

is all about us. And I appreciate that sentiment. However, I think Mary’s song is

the perfect example of how we can use “me” and “my” language in worship to

magnify God and who He is rather than having the center of attention be on

ourselves.

Lastly, I want to speak on God as one who fulfills His promises. In Genesis 12, God

makes a promise to Abram. He tells Him, “and all peoples on earth will be blessed

through you.”

And if you are seeing what I am seeing through what Mary is seeing as she finishes

out her song with,

Luke 1:55

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

She recognizes that there is continuity and coherence in God’s story and says, I see

it now. This is your fulfilment of the promise made to Abraham all those years ago.

For hundreds of years, the question would have been on the minds of the Jews.

How exactly would all peoples be blessed through Abraham? And of course, wecan answer this by giving a single name. He is the reason we celebrate Christmas

because of his birth. His name is Jesus.