Mary's Song

Well, good morning, everyone. It's wonderful to see you. If you have your Bibles in, please grab them and turn back to Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

And this is where we're going to be this morning, looking at Mary's song. So as you turn there, let's pray.

I'll stay very still.

So, Father, we ask that you would help us by your Spirit this morning, as we turn to your Word.

And as we take in these quite familiar words that we think about this time of year, about what you've done in our lives,

and we pray, Father, that your Spirit would take those familiar words and that he would bring them to our hearts with a real freshness this morning.

Father, thank you that you hear us because we pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

Well, as we build up to Christmas as a church over the next few weeks,

we're going to be thinking about some songs that we find in the Bible from the very first Christmas.

Because, and let's be honest, we're all friends here, okay?

Everybody loves a Christmas song, don't we?

We love a Christmas song.

So, to kick us off this morning to get us thinking,

I want you to turn to your neighbour for 30 seconds,

and I want you to ask them what is their favourite Christmas song, okay?

What is their favourite Christmas song?

And you've got the time, you can ask them why as well.

Go for it.

Okay, let's bring it to a close there.

Oh, you're good fun with that.

I wonder if anybody said the following.

Who said Bing Crosby?

Anybody?

Classic.

We love Bing, do we not?

Dreaming of a white Christmas, somebody?

There we go.

How about, and maybe this is a bit more modern,

what about Michael Bublé?

Let's not act like we've not had that album on on Spotify,

his Christmas album.

There's Michael Bublé.

What about the Jackson 5?

Yeah, Santa Claus is coming to town.

Classic there.

Well, I'm getting lots of shakes.

Nobody actually listened to these things, no?

You can go home and check them out.

Here is my favourite,

and I'll admit to having a blast of it in the office this week

when no one was around.

My favourite is Last Christmas by Wham.

Anyone else say that one?

Yeah?

A few of us said Last Christmas by Wham.

Last Christmas, here's the lyrics.

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.

But the very next day, you gave it away.

This year, to save me from tears,

I'll give it to somebody special.

Now, it's very funny when you think about it,

because apart from that one line in the song,

that one word,

that song has got nothing to do with Christmas.

If you think about it,

because, and it's consistently voted

in the top ten Christmas songs of all time,

but if you think about it,

nothing to do with Christmas.

And the reason George Michael wrote the song

was nothing to do with Christmas.

It was to do with the fact that somebody came into his life

who broke their promises to him.

That's why he wrote the song.

Somebody came into his life who broke their promises to him.

And to some extent,

we can identify, can't we,

with George Michael at that point,

because we hate it in life

when people break their promises to us.

Think about it.

The politician who promised you the world,

who got your vote,

and didn't deliver on what he or she said.

The car mechanic who promised you a price,

only for it to rise, and to rise, and to rise.

The friend who you arranged to meet at that time on that day,

who pulled out with one minute to go.

We hate it, don't we, in life,

when people break their promises to us.

It's the little promises of life,

but it's also true, isn't it,

of the big promises of life.

And I think that's why this message this morning

from Mary's song is such good news

for all of us this morning.

For let me take you from a man singing a Christmas song

about a person who broke their promises

to a young woman singing a Christmas song

about the God who's kept his promises.

Here is Mary in chapter one of Luke's gospel

singing about and celebrating the God

who keeps his promises.

If you get one thing from this morning,

and encourage me by taking more than one thing

from this morning, but take that from this morning.

This God keeps his promises.

If you've got your Bibles there,

look at verse 55 of chapter one.

Mary declares, the end of her song,

He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering to be merciful to Abraham

and his descendants forever,

just as he promised our ancestors.

You see, right at the heart of Mary's song,

right at the heart of what Luke wants us to know,

is that this God keeps his promises.

Now, with any good song,

before we go inside the song,

let's go outside the song.

Let's get under the skin of what's going on here

behind Mary's song.

So we pick up the story at verse 26 of chapter one,

with the angel Gabriel sent by God

to go and deliver a message to Mary.

Now, notice where she is.

Where is she?

She's in this little backwater town of Nazareth.

Nazareth.

Now, what do you need to know about Nazareth?

What you need to know about Nazareth

is not a lot goes on in Nazareth.

Okay?

Nobody's booking their summer holiday to Nazareth.

Hashtag Nazareth is not trending on Twitter.

In fact, the opposite is true.

Sometimes as you read people in the Gospels,

they're making jokes about Nazareth.

Who would come from Nazareth?

What good could come out of that place?

This is Nazareth.

But it's to this place that God sends Gabriel

to announce the dawning of the greatest promise

that the world will ever know.

Not to a palace and a princess,

but to a young teenage girl

who's living in a backwater town.

That's where she is.

And notice who she is.

Mary's a young woman.

Do you see it in the text?

She's pledged to be married.

Not to the village celebrity,

but to the village carpenter.

To Nazareth, to Mary, and to Joseph.

Now let's be honest.

If we were God,

and we had a message as big as this to deliver to the world,

we would have aimed a little bit higher

than Nazareth and Mary, would we not?

I mean, no PR expert is signing off on this plan.

This is not how you deliver a message of cosmic proportions to the world.

Surely, you can see that God.

But, God chose Nazareth,

and God chose Mary.

And friends, even with that,

I hope you're seeing today,

whoever you are here this morning,

what kind of God that we're dealing with here.

This is the God of the Bible.

The God not of pomp and pride,

but the God who looks upon and remembers the unimportant

and the seemingly insignificant.

Do you not praise him this morning,

that he does not operate on our wavelength?

He does not think like we think.

This is our God this morning,

as we meet him in Luke 1.

That's the kind of God that we're dealing with here,

the God of the Bible.

And so, verse 28,

Gabriel delivers God's message to Mary,

to see it, that she is greatly favoured.

And notice how she is.

How is she?

She's greatly troubled.

Interesting, isn't it,

that our society thinks of angels as being all cute and cuddly?

Personally, I blame Casper the ghost for that.

But that is never the reaction of people in the Bible

when they encounter angels.

Mary's petrified.

But, interestingly,

if you look closely at the text,

not so much at the messenger,

she's petrified at the message.

And so Gabriel says to her,

to quote Band-Aid,

it's Christmas time and there's no need to be afraid.

Why?

Because God has looked upon Mary in his grace.

In his grace,

which means it's not because of who she is

or what she's done that God is being kind to her.

She's not come top in the Galilean X factor here.

This is not what we're dealing with.

God has looked on her,

the text suggests,

for no other reason than he is gracious

and he is kind.

This is the God of the Bible.

Right off the bat,

you see it,

Luke wants us to know this,

this doctor turned historian,

research this carefully.

He wants us to know straight off the bat

that this is the kind of God

that we're dealing with here.

Looking on the lowly,

the God who reaches down to the humble.

Mary is favoured.

And Gabriel says,

Mary, you will be with child.

And she's not going to have to wait

for the 20 week scan to learn the gender.

Do you see?

It's a boy.

And she's not going to have to go through

that painstaking process

of trying to pick a name

and hedge your bets.

He will be called,

verse 31,

Jesus.

And instantly do you see

that there's a purpose

and there's a plan for this boy

and the clues in his name,

Jesus.

Meaning the Lord is salvation.

That's what his name means.

God saves.

Named not in hopeful expectation

about what he might become.

Named precisely in keeping

in all,

after all that he has come to do

and accomplish.

This is Jesus.

And Gabriel declares,

he will be great.

Do you see it there?

He will be the son of the Most High

who will have the throne

of his father,

David.

In other words,

God is saying,

this is my king,

my king who I promised

that I would send,

my king who you've been waiting for

and the king who you desperately,

desperately need.

And look at the length

of his tenure,

verse 33.

It will have no end.

No end.

Get your head around that.

No end.

Remember I used to love playing

when I was young.

I still do.

I don't really play it that often.

The board game Risk.

One of you have ever played Risk before?

That the,

it's a game that's great for your ego,

okay,

because the strapline of that game

is all about

build your empire,

conquer the world.

The strapline is

world domination.

That's what Risk is all about.

Played with my friends

when I was young.

I even managed to win

on a few occasions,

conquer the world.

And every time I conquered the world,

I had about one minute

to look at the boards

and to bask

in the fact that my pieces

were all over that board.

And this was before camera phones,

so I had to mentally store it.

Couldn't store it anywhere else.

Mentally store it.

And I had one minute

to bask in that victory

until somebody flipped the pieces over

and they went back in the box.

And it's time for bed

because it's five in the morning.

Friends,

down the ages,

many people have had their goal

at building their own little empires,

haven't they?

Think about it.

The Babylonians had theirs

and it ended.

The Persians had theirs

and it ended.

The Egyptians had theirs

and it ended.

And as someone pointed out

to me recently,

who would have thought

in Mary's day

that 2,000 years later

we would be sitting here today

and the first thing

that you and I would think of

when we hear the name Caesar

is dog food.

And who would have thought

that 2,000 years later

after this event

that literally billions of people

around this planet

today and down the ages

have had their lives transformed

by the baby boy

who was born to this girl

in this backwater town.

See, the proof's in the pudding,

isn't it?

His kingdom will have no end.

The event

which the whole

of redemption history

has been moving forward to

is about to kick off

and it's about to kick off

in this teenager's womb.

The virgin

will give birth

to a son.

Do you see,

it's not man's doing

this birth,

it's going to be God's doing.

Something spoken about

long before this moment

by the prophet Isaiah.

Speaking about

a future time

to his generation

when God would come

to deliver his people.

And what will be

the sign of that happening?

Therefore,

the Lord himself

will give you a sign.

The virgin will conceive

and give birth

to a son

and will call him

Emmanuel.

But maybe you hear

this morning,

you're thinking,

virgin birth,

seriously?

Sounds a bit like

Loch Ness Monster

and the Leprechauns

if you ask me.

I mean,

is this Christianity's

fairy tale feature?

Does it matter?

Does it matter?

Well,

let me just say to you

today

that the virgin birth

really matters.

It really matters.

For the saviour

that you and I need

needs to be

one of us

so that he can stand

as our representative.

And the saviour

that we need

needs to be

above us

so that

he is unstained

by the sin

that plagues

each one of us,

meaning that he can live

the perfect

and sinless life

before God,

the one that he gives

to his people

and makes them

right with God.

Friends,

the virgin birth

really matters.

And if it really matters,

let me tell you

what it means.

Firstly,

it means that you

and I are lost.

We are lost.

This is one almighty

custard pie in the face

to mankind's thinking

that you and I

can save ourselves.

the human gene pool

is no place

to go fishing

for a saviour.

And the answer

to the problem

of the brokenness

and rebellion

needs to come from

outside of us,

not inside of us.

It means that we are

lost

without

God's intervention

in our lives.

It means we are lost

outside of Jesus Christ.

And secondly,

it means that we are

loved.

Because God could

quite justifiably

have passed over us

and left us

to our own devices.

Passed over us

and had nothing

to do with us.

But he acted.

This is what we celebrate,

isn't it,

at Christmas time,

that love came down.

I remember

growing up at school

and there was a song

that was popular

written by,

I think it was

Joan Osborne,

I googled it this morning

that we used to sing

in the playground.

And the chorus went,

what if God was one of us?

Do you remember that song?

What if God was one of us?

Just a slob

like one of us?

Just a stranger

on the bus

trying to make

his way home?

Now whatever Joan Osborne

was trying to say

in that song,

let me tell you

that what we celebrate

at Christmas

is God

coming down.

The truth of Christmas

is that God

in the person

of his son

came down

into humanity's

broken,

complicated

and messy

equation.

that God

in the form

of Jesus Christ

took on flesh.

He came to live

where we live

and the words

of John chapter 1

John 1 · chapter mention

and if you want

your minds blown

hang out in John

John 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1 this week,

he tabernacled,

he came to be

with us

in order

that reconciliation

to the God

who made us

would become

a distinct possibility.

Do you see

how the virgin birth

tells his friends

that when we weren't

looking for God,

God came

looking for us.

He came looking

for us.

He came down

to find us,

to lead us

out of death.

This is the extent

that God went to

to rescue us.

And maybe you're

here today

and you're asking

yourself,

does God really

care about my life?

If that's you,

then I would

invite you to see

the baby in the manger

that's promised

about here,

Emmanuel,

God with us,

as a resounding

yes.

Does God care?

Yes,

he does.

He cares enough

that he sent

his son

to come and seek

and to save

the lost.

He cares,

friends,

he cares.

Christ by

highest heaven

adored,

Christ the

everlasting Lord,

late in time

behold him come,

offspring

of a virgin's womb,

veiled in flesh,

the Godhead sea,

hail the incarnate

deity,

pleased as man

with man to dwell,

Jesus our

Emmanuel.

I'd encourage you

to stop and to think

about the lyrics

of some of the

Christmas songs

that we sing

because they are

packed full

of tremendous

theology,

friends.

And if that's

hard for you

and I to get

our heads around,

and it is at times,

isn't it?

Just think how

Mary's feeling

at this point

in the story.

Gabriel's just

dropped that one

on her.

How is she

feeling?

Well lastly,

notice what she

is.

What does she

say?

I'm sorry

Gabriel,

you've got the

wrong girl.

If you head

on down the

road,

I'm sure

you'll find

somebody else

who's better

equipped from

the job.

She doesn't

say that.

Do you see

how what began

with fear in

her mind

ends in

faith?

Mary responds

by declaring

and let's have

another song

cue the Beatles,

let it be,

may it be,

is this what

she says?

And so

having visited

and being

affirmed by

Elizabeth,

who the boy

in her womb

jumps for joy

at the very

presence of

his Lord,

do you see

how Mary

can't contain

her praise

about the

truth of

everything that

the Lord

is doing?

Verse 46,

and here we

hit the song,

Mary exclaims,

God,

my soul,

what glorifies

you?

God,

my heart,

what does it

do?

It magnifies

you.

Notice all

the personal

pronouns in

this section.

Do you see

it?

My spirit,

the mighty

one has done

great things

for me.

She is no

passive actor

in this drama.

She is in

this heart

and soul

and her

whole being

rejoices

at this

news.

Fascinating

again that

this song

says nothing

about a

baby.

This song

says everything

about the

significance

of the baby

boy who's

in her womb

because she

knows what

it means.

And so having

seen what's

going on

outside the

song,

let's quickly

have a look

at what's

going on

inside the

song because

as we think

about what

Mary's singing

here,

declaring,

it tells us

two great

things about

the things

that Mary

knows in

her life.

And it

encourages us

this morning

to think

about these

things in

our own

lives as

well.

They reveal

to us two

great things.

Firstly,

who she knows

her God

to be.

He is the

promise-keeping

God.

This is who

he is.

Mary looks

down the

corridors of

time and

she recalls

the promises

that God

made to

Abraham,

the promises

that she's

grown up

on,

the promises

that she's

heard,

no doubt

from her

family.

And she

recalls God's

promise to

rescue and

to bless.

And all the

times that God

delivered his

people in the

past with his

mighty arm.

And Mary's

declaring,

world,

my God's at

it again.

My God is

at it again

and this

time he's

at it again

in the

greatest way

possible.

And so she

says,

doesn't she,

my God is

what?

Mighty?

She's

reveling in

the truth

that her

God,

do you see,

doesn't work

on the

basis of

human

limitations.

Her God

is the

one who

defines the

realm of

possibility.

He is the

God who

formed the

world out of

nothing.

He is the

God who

parted the

Red Sea.

He is the

God of

angel armies

and for

him,

nothing is

impossible.

And maybe

some of us

here today,

we need to

recapture the

wonderful truth

about this

God,

that nothing

is too

great for

him.

He doesn't

work according

to our

agenda.

He doesn't

work according

to our

plans.

He isn't

limited to

working within

our contours

or being able

to fathom

things.

Our God

makes the

impossible

possible.

He is the

mighty one

and He is

the merciful

one.

Verse 50,

His mercy

extends to

those who

fear Him.

Feel the

invitation in

those words.

Verse 54,

He is

remembered to

be merciful

to Israel.

Our God

doesn't treat

us as we

deserve.

That's what

she's saying.

He doesn't

treat us as

we deserve.

He treats

us so much

better than

we deserve.

And our

God, He's

got a track

record of

overthrowing the

proud and

lifting up the

humble.

That's the

shape of

His

kingdom.

Overthrown

the proud,

lifting up

this humble.

Said in the

present tense

as if to

say this is

already a

done deal.

This is

what He's

done.

She knows

who her

God is and

secondly she

knows who

herself is.

She knows

herself to

be rather.

Do you see

how she's not

simply a

conduit of

God's blessing

and favour?

She's a

recipient of

it.

For this

great news of

rescue for

the world

is great news

of rescue for

the world,

but it's great

use of rescue

for her.

She knows she

needs a

saviour,

one that she's

not worthy

of, and she

knows she's

part of a

people who

need a

saviour that

they're not

worthy of.

It's the only

requirement,

isn't it, of

grace, that we

realise we are

unworthy of it.

You see how

Mary uses two

words to describe

herself at

verse 48, which

gives us just a

little window into

her heart here.

Do you see her

talking about

firstly her

humble estate?

In other words,

she's bowed the

knee to this

God, that's the

stance of her

heart, her

humble estate,

and as well

secondly the

humble estate

of his

servant.

God, I'm

yours, says

Mary, I am

yours.

And so she

joins in the

line of

Christian men

and women

down the

ages who

would offer

their lives

in service

of this

God.

The words

of Jim

Elliot, the

American

missionary who

took the

gospel to

an unreached

tribe in

Ecuador before

being tragically

martyred.

He is no

fool who

gives what

he cannot

keep to

gain that

which he

cannot lose.

I'm yours,

says Mary,

I'm yours.

And you've

got to admire

Mary for her

bravery here,

don't you?

For her to

walk by

faith here

is a very

costly thing

in her

life.

Think about

it.

Put it

yourself in

her shoes.

She, at

this point,

has got to

go and tell

Joseph that

she's pregnant

and he's

not the

father.

May well

cost her

her marriage,

all of those

dreams of

children and

of a family

home and

of grandchildren

may well

disappear in

an instant.

And not

just with

Joseph, is

Mary going

to take a

massive risk

here?

She's

jeopardizing

her standing

in society,

Nazareth,

as we said

at the

beginning,

not a

big place,

not an

awful lot

going on,

desperate, I'm

sure, for

some gossip.

And people

being people

being people,

as soon as

one person

finds out

that Mary's

pregnant, it

won't be long

before the

whole time

finds out,

and Mary's

reputation

would be in

tatters,

probably along

with her

parents.

Mary's got a

lot to lose

here in

trusting God,

but she

declares,

let it be.

despite it

all, she's

willing to

surrender her

life to

God's will.

What an

example that

is of

faith, of

fearless

faith.

You know,

as soon as

we enter the

season of

work Christmas

parties, of

school nativity

plays, of

time with

friends and

family, let

me challenge

us at the

outset of

Advent.

Are we

willing to

be brave for

our association

with this

child?

Are we

willing to

lay our

reputations on

the line for

the sake of

being obedient

to God?

And are we

willing to

make Mary's

declaration, the

one from her

heart, our

declaration, and

say today that

God, I am your

humble servant.

Let it be.

Let it be.

Interesting, if

you've got a

KJV there, some

of the older

translations of

the Bible,

Mary's words are

recorded as, be

it unto me

according to

thy words.

That's what it

says.

And those

words are

extremely close,

if you think

about it, to

the words that

her boy in

her womb would

utter years

later as he

found himself

on the eve of

his death in

the garden of

Gethsemane.

For Jesus, with

the fear of

the cross pressing

in on his

soul, would

say, not as

I will,

Father, not

as I will, but

as your will

be done.

You see, Mary

made great

sacrifices for

the baby in

her womb, but

he would make

an infinitely

greater one

for her.

Mary willingly

accepted the

shame that would

come on her for

bearing this

child, but

Jesus would

bear the shame

for the sin of

the world on

himself as he

made the

greatest ever

sacrifice,

surrendering his

life on the

cross for the

sin of his

people.

The sacrifice

we'll be

remembering in

just a few

moments' time

when we take

communion together.

And the

words of that

old hymn,

bearing shame

and scoffing

rude, in my

place condemned

he stood, sealed

my pardon with

his blood.

Hallelujah, what

a savior.

here.

Friends, just as

we close, I

wonder if you've

had fun maybe

yesterday opening

the first day of

your advent

calendar.

Did we have

fun with that

yesterday?

Yeah?

Love a bit of

chocolate, any

excuse will do.

I find it

fascinating that

everyone in our

society does

advent.

Do you know

what I find

that fascinating?

Find that really

interesting.

Do you know

what advent means?

It just means

coming.

It just means

coming.

We're counting

down the days

to Jesus'

first coming

into the world.

That's what we're

doing as we're

opening those

little windows,

isn't it?

We're counting

down the days

to his first

coming into the

world.

Friends, if you're

looking for a

wonderful way

into an evangelistic

conversation this

week, go with

advent.

Do you know

what advent

really means?

Do you know

what advent

really means?

But as we

celebrate his

first coming,

let's remember,

like Mary here,

that we are

waiting on a

coming.

Now, we're not

waiting on his

first coming.

We, on the

other side,

awaiting on his

second coming.

When he won't

come as meek and

mild Jesus, he

will come as

judging and

victorious Jesus,

and he will make

right all that is

wrong with the

world.

Now, as we think

about the promise,

not of his first

coming, we think

about the

fulfillment of the

promise of his

first coming, we

think about the

promise of his

second coming.

What have we got

to go on?

What have we got

to go on?

What we've got to

go on is exactly

what Mary had

to go on

here.

She's staking

it all on the

promise of

God.

She's staking

it all on the

truth that she

knows in her

life, that this

God keeps his

promises.

She's staking it

all on the

word of the

Lord.

And that's

where we find

ourselves in the

story.

So as we open

our Advent

calendars,

friends, let's

remember we are

celebrating the

first coming, but

we are awaiting the

second coming.

George Michael

wrote a song

about the

person in his

life who broke

their promises.

Mary says, come

and have a

listen to my

song.

I think that's

why Luke wrote

it, wasn't

it?

Come and have

a listen to

her song.

And let her

tell you just

how good her

God is.

And let her

tell you about

the God who

keeps his

promises.

And don't

just admire the

song.

Don't just

admire the

song.

Come and be

part of the

song.

And make

this song your

song.

For this God,

he has done

great things

for me, says

Mary.

And his

mercy, and

here's the

invitation to

come to know

this God this

morning, his

mercy extends to

those who fear

him from

generation to

generation.

This is the

God who keeps

his promises.

Let's pray.

And so

Father, in the

silence now we

would just offer

to you our own

prayers.

As we begin to

think about

Christmas, as we

begin to think

about Advent and

everything that

comes with that.

And Lord, in the

silence now we

would want to

make Mary's

prayer our

prayer and say

let it be.

Let it be.

And so

thank you for

the wonderful

truth that you

are the God

who makes all

things possible.

That you are

the God who

loves us so

much that you

would send

your Son to

find us and

to seek us and

to save us.

And Lord, I

pray that as we

journey through

Advent, as we

journey through

this little series

as a church, that

you would help

us to savor your

greatness more.

And so it's in

Jesus' precious

and worthy name

that we pray.

Amen.