Luke 1:46-55

Well, good morning.

Welcome to the second Sunday in Advent.

We're Baptists.

We don't tend to pay attention to that very much.

But hey, it's a great thing to celebrate.

The remembrance of how God worked to send his son.

In fact, that's what Advent is, right?

Advent is meant to be an anticipatory celebration.

For those who walked through it the first time, they didn't always know what was going to come.

But for we who are able to look back on it, we are able to look at it and know that this anticipation has a fulfillment.

That what we're looking forward to on Christmas Day has already happened.

And what a good thing it is that we come together to celebrate Advent this morning.

What I want to ask you as we begin is, what stirs your heart to joyful praise this morning?

Some of you love the Christmas season.

And when the garlands come out and the lights go on and you've already been baking and you've already been decorating.

And there's just a joy to this season in the cultural expressions of how we celebrate it that just warms your heart.

Some of you have found great refuge in the Hallmark Channel's 25 movies leading up to Christmas.

And found great joy in that.

Some of you are looking forward to snow.

Maybe some of you for the first time if you're from another country or another part of the U.S.

where snow doesn't happen.

Even as we've sung this morning some of the great classic Christmas carols.

Maybe that brings back memories of Christmas's past with family and celebration.

There are lots of things in this season that can easily spark our hearts to joy and to praise.

It's also true that it may be that this season is hard for you.

It may be hard for you to have a joyful heart of praise.

Some of you students may be thinking,

I can't even think about that until I get over my exam period and get through my work.

Some of you, this season is a memory of a lost one more than a joyful celebration.

Maybe the Hallmark movies aren't very helpful for you because they picture happy endings.

And you are struggling with broken relationships, strains, and family.

Maybe some of you are facing great trials this year.

Financially, health-wise.

Or maybe it's that you're struggling with a sense of superficiality in the Christmas celebration that goes on around you.

You look at it and you think,

Really?

Is this what it looks like?

Frosty the Snowman?

Really?

Can't it get better than this?

And so you struggle with the superficiality and the sentimentality of our cultural expression.

And so it's hard.

Maybe it's hard for you this morning to have a joyful heart in this Advent season.

Well, my friends, whether you are loving this time of year and it's easy,

or whether this is a hard time of year for you and you are struggling,

this morning I want to point us to the fact that our hearts were made for joyful praise.

This is actually what we were created for.

We don't always know how to get there and we struggle to keep it up.

But this is what we were made for is joyful praise.

And that's why this season we are actually doing an Advent series on songs.

Songs from the Gospel of Luke, songs of praise in response to what people have seen God done.

We'll do Mary's song and Zechariah's song.

We'll do the angel's song.

We'll do the song of Simeon in the temple.

And we're going to look at these over the next four Sundays

to spark our hearts, we hope,

to a deep and abiding reason for us to have joy this season.

That our hearts might be turned to praise,

regardless of our circumstances.

We're going to look this morning at the first song,

the song of Mary in Luke chapter 1, verse 45 is where it begins.

Luke 1:45

It is somewhere in your pew Bible.

The bulletin gives you a number,

because I never forget to remember to write it down.

Anyone?

8.56.

8.56.

There we go.

8.56 in your pew Bibles, if you want to look there.

We're going to look at that together,

and then we will consider how this song points us

to the things that may produce in us abiding joy and praise.

So let's look together at Luke.

I'm actually going to begin, I want to give it some context.

So we're going to go all the way back to verse 26,

because I want to get the run-up of the whole thing.

So verse 26 of chapter 1 is where we're going to start.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee named Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David,

and the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came to her and said,

Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you.

But she was greatly troubled at this saying,

and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.

And the angel said to her,

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb,

and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

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.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever,

and of his kingdom there will be no end.

And Mary said to the angel,

How will this be, since I am a virgin?

And the angel answered her,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy,

the Son of God.

And behold, your relative Elizabeth,

in her old age,

has also conceived a son,

and this is the sixth month with her,

who was called barren.

For nothing will be impossible with God.

And Mary said,

Behold, I am the servant of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

And the angel departed from her.

In those days,

Mary arose and went with haste

into the hill country to a town in Judah.

And she greeted the house of Zechariah,

and greeted,

entered the house of Zechariah,

and greeted Elizabeth.

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary,

the baby leaped in her womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

And she exclaimed with a loud cry,

Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And why is this granted to me,

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For behold,

when the sound of your greeting came to my ears,

the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

And blessed is she who believes

that there would be a fulfillment

of what was spoken to her from the Lord.

And Mary said,

My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked upon the humble,

a state of his servant.

For behold,

from now on all generations will call me blessed.

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

and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm.

He has scattered the proud

in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel

in remembrance of his mercy,

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham,

and to his offspring forever.

And Mary remained with her about three months

and returned to her home.

Friends, will you pray with me?

Lord, we thank you this morning for this text.

We thank you for your word that reveals to us

the kind of God that you are.

Lord, in your character and in your nature,

and also in your work in this world.

Lord, thank you for this song of praise.

Lord, we pray that as we look at it together this morning,

Lord, that you will help us,

help us to be those

who are filled with joyful praise

because of you.

Lord, I ask for your help this morning.

Lord, that as I proclaim your word,

Lord, that you would fill me with your spirit

and enable me.

Lord, I pray for all of us

that we would receive from you your word.

Lord, that you would use it this morning

to encourage our hearts.

And we pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Friends, Mary's song of praise

points us to a great truth,

a great truth about who God is

and what he has done.

And as we consider it,

I pray that it will move us,

give us a deeper and an abiding grounds

for joyful praise in our lives.

We see in this passage

that God has come

in fulfillment of his promises

in unexpected ways

to save his people.

And that's what we're gonna do.

We're gonna walk through those three things.

God has come to fulfill his promises.

God has done it in unexpected ways.

And he has done it

so that he might save his people.

So that's what we're gonna do this morning.

So let's look at the first one.

God has come in fulfillment of his promises.

Now when we stop and we think about

the context in which Mary was,

she lived in Israel in the first century

or maybe a few years before.

Let's not get all hung up on that.

And she lived in a time

when Israel was under Roman rule.

Oh, there was a king, Herod,

who ruled over the nation of Israel,

but he was appointed by the Romans

and answerable to them.

And he was not the anointed king

from God Most High

to rule over his people.

And so the people of God,

the descendants of Abraham,

living as a nation,

were longing and crying out.

They were crying out for a savior.

They were crying out to be delivered

from this political and social oppression.

They were looking for freedom

from the Roman rule.

They were looking for a restoration

of the glory of God's kingdom

as they remembered back

to King David

and to Solomon

and the glory of the palace

and the temple

and the kingdom that extended

far further than it did

at the time of Mary's song.

People were longing

for that kind of deliverance,

that kind of ruler.

For those of you who know

the words of the hymn we sung earlier,

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,

it's a beautiful expression

of the kinds of longings.

Come and free captive Israel.

And it's what they wanted.

It's what they longed for.

And when the angel comes to Mary

and announces,

you're going to have a child,

he then goes on

and he describes this child

in terms that for any Jew

of that time would have had

a resonance and a meaning

and an incredible thing.

First of all,

his name will be Jesus,

which means he saves.

And he will be a great man.

He will be called

the Son of the Most High.

And here's where the resonances

start to pick up

into these hopes.

He will sit on the throne

of his father David

and his kingdom

will last forever.

That's basically

what we see in verses 31

and following

as the angel comes

and announces

what God wants to do

and is planning to do

through Mary.

That this child

who will come

will be the fulfillment

of all of those hopes.

He's going to come

to be a deliverer.

He's going to restore

the kingdom.

He's going to restore

God's rule

over God's people.

And you see it

even in Mary's song.

Turn with me.

Turn with me.

Look at verses 40

or where is it?

So verses 51 and 52.

Right?

As Mary's looking forward,

she says,

he has shown strength

with his arm.

This is an Old Testament image

that God has given them

over and over again.

The strength of God's arm

is the strength

of a deliverer

and specifically

the strength of a deliverer

to deliver his people

in military battle,

in military conquest,

to overthrow the enemies

who would come

and try to attack

God's people.

And he has brought down

the mighty from,

not just the mighty

in society

or the mighty

in their own minds,

but he has brought them

down from their thrones.

There is a very clear

sociopolitical understanding

and Mary,

having grown-ups

from all accounts

as a fairly devout Jew,

knew these words

and these phrases

from the Psalms

and from the prophets.

And her song recognizes

all of those things.

And so Mary believed

that the baby,

she was starting

to make these connections.

What the angel told me

is that this baby

is going to be

this deliverer,

the hope that we've been

longing for for so long.

You look at the end

of Mary's song.

He has helped

his servant Israel

in remembrance

of his mercy

as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham,

and to his offspring forever.

Do you remember

the promise to Abraham?

Out of you,

I will make you

a great nation

and I will bless you

and I will make

your nation great

among all the nations

of the world

and I will make you

a blessing to the world

through it.

And if you were

a first century Jew,

you would think,

this isn't that.

Whatever we are,

we are not

that great nation

being a blessing

to the nations around us.

And so,

with this announcement

of this baby,

with this announcement

of this child

who would come

to do all of these things,

Mary sees it and says,

God is finally

fulfilling his promises.

God is finally doing

what we have longed

for him to do

and what he said

he would do.

And I'm not even sure

if Mary understood

the fullness of it

in this moment.

I think it's striking

when she says,

how can this be?

She's not thinking,

how could this be

that he will be

the son of the most high

and sit on the throne

of David forever?

She's thinking,

how can this be

because I've never been

with a man

and you're telling me

I'm going to have a baby.

I think that's what

Mary's surprised about.

And so,

I think it takes her

a while to get there.

But by the time

she sings this song,

I think she's recognized

a little bit more fully.

God is faithful

to his promises

and he will do

the thing that he said

he will do.

Friends,

I wonder if that

brings joy

to your heart

this morning.

Have you ever considered

how much you are

a part of

the same strain

and the same promises

and the same history

of redemption

that the Bible

talks about

from beginning to end?

That God has been

faithful to his promises

to provide

a deliverer

and a savior

for his people

and recognize

that we have

the privilege

of looking back

on the central event,

the central work,

the pinnacle

of what God

has done

to accomplish

that work

of redemption

to save a people

for himself

and for his glory.

We don't have to wonder

like the Old Testament saints

and to peer

into the future

and to hope

that we might understand

as Peter says

what these things

are about.

We can look back

and we can know them

and we can know them

with confidence.

friends,

I also hope

that you see

that

this is a

recognition

that the God

of the Bible

is a God

who sees you.

He sees you

in your circumstances

just as he saw

Israel,

just as he saw

Mary,

he sees you

in your circumstances

and his plan

is one of salvation.

I wonder

if

you've given up

hope of that.

I wonder

if you've given up

hope that God

can actually fulfill

his promises

to you.

I wonder

if you've settled

for

a kind

of Christianity

that

is going

through the motions

but has no hope

and no joy.

maybe your hearts

have been battered

through trials

and suffering.

Maybe your life

is so full

of good things

that it's been easy

to take him

for granted.

But friends,

remember,

God sees you

and he knows you

and he will be faithful

to all the promises.

Think of these promises.

I will never leave you

nor forsake you.

I will give them

eternal life

and they will never perish

and no one

will snatch them

out of my hand.

As the Father

has loved me,

so also I

have loved you.

Whoever believes

in me

shall not live

in darkness

nor die

but he shall live

and he shall live

forever.

Friends,

these are some

of just a few

of the precious promises

that God has given us.

In the words

of Jesus

to us,

these are the things

that God has done

for us.

And so,

like Mary,

I pray that you will not

lose hope

that God

can be faithful

to you

but I pray

that you will,

like Mary,

have joyful praise

in the thought

of a God

who is faithful.

And in his keeping

of his promises,

he produces for us

and gives us a ground

for joyful praise.

So that's the first thing

is that God

has done this

in keeping

with his promises.

The second thing

is that this God

has done it

in unexpected ways.

Think for a minute

about the narrative

that comes right

before this song.

Think of the absurdity

of it.

The fruit

of a barren womb

leaps with joy

for the fruit

of a virgin womb

to confirm

that God

is bringing

salvation to the world.

That's how we're

supposed to read that.

That's what we're

supposed to see

in the connection

between Mary

and Elizabeth

in those verses

39 to 45.

What is this

all about?

A God

who is doing

the impossible

is confirming

that by doing

another impossible

thing in order

to give us

confirmation

that what he

is actually

doing

is possible.

He made

a barren woman

Elizabeth

able to have

a child

so that that

child might

bear witness

to another

child who's

going to come

from a virgin

womb

one who had

never known

one who was

conceived

miraculously

by the work

of God

and the Holy

Spirit.

And the fruit

of this

is a Savior

who will

come and

save the

world.

And it's

helpful to

stop and

think because

Mary is

aware of

this that

God isn't

doing this

great work

in any

expected way.

It's not

through the

rich and

powerful.

It's not

through the

who's who

of first

century

Jerusalem.

It's not

even within

the proper

religious

structures

powers or

authorities.

Mary is

from an

obscure

town.

What good

can ever

come from

Nazareth?

And we

see this

beginning of

as we

continue to

see in

Luke and

one of the

great themes

of Luke is

this theme

of the

great reversal

that God

brings down

the high

and exalted

and raises

up the lowly

and the

neglected and

the overlooked.

This is a

pattern of

God's

kingdom.

This is a

way in

which God

is in

his character

and in

his works

that he

has special

care for

those that

we don't

have care

for in

our normal

humanness.

God does

this great

reversal in

the way that

he does it.

Look with me

for a few

minutes at

Mary's

language in

this song.

Look at

verse 48

with me for

a minute.

He has

looked on

the humble

estate of

his servant.

She

recognizes

who am

I?

Who am

I that

God would

choose me

to do

this?

I have

nothing to

commend

myself.

Verse 50

and 51

we see that

his mercy

is for

those who

fear him.

That is

for those

who recognize

how great

God is

and how

little we

are and

who submit

to him

as opposed

to the

proud

whom

he

scatters.

Verse 52

he's brought

down the

mighty from

their thrones

but he

has exalted

those

of humble

estate.

Those who

are nobodies

become

somebodies

because of

God.

Verse 53

he has

filled the

hungry with

good things

but the

rich he

has sent

away

empty.

In a

common

first century

understanding

being rich

and having

plenty

was a sign

of God's

blessing

and being

hungry

and being

needy

was a sign

of God's

cursing.

It was a

misunderstanding

of who God

really is

and when God

comes to do

this work

of salvation

when God

comes to do

this most

central work

in all of

history

he does it

in this

unexpected

way

to confound

all of

our

expectations

to confound

all of

our

the ways

that we

would have

thought

that he

would have

done it.

Sometimes

I'm afraid

to quote

this

because I'm

afraid

you're

going to

think

this is

a good

the musical

Jesus Christ

superstar

which is

beautiful

in its

music

blasphemous

in its

portrayal

of Jesus

but

absolutely

fascinating

in its

portrayal

of the

disciples

and their

confusion

so did I

qualify that

well enough

okay here

we go

so Judas

has this

great song

Jesus

why did

you come

at this

time

to this

plan

every time

I look

at you

I don't

understand

why you

chose

such a

backward

time

and such

a great

land

if you'd

come

today

in the

1970s

when it

was written

you would

have swept

the whole

nation

Israel

in 4 BC

had no

mass

communication

don't you

get me

wrong

anyway I

can sing

it to you

I grew

up on it

it's

part of

my

childhood

but it's

fascinating

to think

about

this is

a modern

person

thinking

about the

birth of

Jesus

and looking

at it

and saying

why in

the world

would God

ever do

it this

way

why would

he ever

pick

a backward

place

a small

town

in the

middle

of the

big

Roman

empire

why would

he ever

pick

someone like

Mary

why would

he ever

do any

of these

things

one part

of it is

because that's

the kind

of God

that he

is

when we

read from

Micah

earlier

O Beth

you who

are

lowly

you who

are

a nothing

town

out of

you will

come

a great

thing

God

doesn't

come

with

pomp

and

circumstance

in the

ways that

we expect

but he

comes in

quietly

he

comes in

humbly

the

God

of the

universe

takes on

human

flesh

and

almost

inconceivably

if you'll

excuse the

pun

he becomes

an embryo

within

a woman's

body

and this

is how

God is

going to

save the

world

he does

this of

course

because

he knows

our frame

and he

knows

that we

need a

God

we need

a salvation

that will

come

to us

and identify

with us

there are

some of us

who might

in our

arrogance

and pride

think

well yeah

I'm good

enough

God

should

save me

because

I'm

really

great

but most

of us

know

that we're

not

most of

us

when we

really

honestly

think

about it

we know

at the

core

of our

being

that we

are not

that

and we

need a

savior

who will

come

and identify

with us

not in

our

greatness

but in

our

weakness

this is

the good

news of

the gospel

that God

has come

for the

humble

for the

downtrodden

for the

forgotten

for the

outsiders

for the

ragamuffins

who say

who cry

out who

me

not in

despair

but in

grateful

joy

you would

actually

care about

me

you

would

come

to

save

me

you

would

come

and

allow

me

to

be

a

part

of

your

kingdom

you've

come

to make

me

a part

of

your

family

this is

what

Mary

is

overwhelmed

with

joy

about

that

God

would

choose

someone

like

her

she

knows

she's

not

special

she

knows

she's

not

unique

she

knows

that

she

doesn't

have

any

claim

to

God

or

any

particular

moral

standing

before

God

that

God

would

choose

her

rather

than

someone

else

but

God

has

come

for her

and God

has

come

for us

to

deliver

us

from

our

wretchedness

there

is

a

sting

in

the

tail

for

those

of

us

who

do

trust

in

ourselves

for

those

of

us

who

are

uncomfortable

when

we

have

to

depend

on

others

for

those

of

us

when

it

is

scary

to

admit

our

weakness

our

inability

or

our

failure

for

those

who

expect

to

have

a

good

life

because

we

have

worked

hard

and

done

right

for

those

who

have

become

too

accustomed

to

this

Christmas

story

and

have

forgotten

the

wonder

of

grace

Jesus

has

come

for

you

too

but

he

will

come

in

a

way

that

will

humble

you

will

call

you

to

forsake

those

places

those

positions

for

Jesus

came

not

for

the

healthy

but

for

the

sick

not

for

the

self

righteous

but

for

sinners

and

this

is

this

is

what

Mary

sees

even

in

even

in

a

kernel

of

it

and

so

Jesus

has

come

in

fulfillment

of

God's

promises

in

this

unexpected

way

which

leads

us

of

course

to

the

third

part

he

has

come

to

save

us

this

is

what

Mary

knew

from

the

very

beginning

when

she

knew

that

her

son

was

to

be

called

Jesus

which

means

he

saves

and

it

is

at

the

very

title

it

is

the

header

to

her

song

look

with

me

again

verse

47

my

soul

magnifies

the

Lord

and

my

spirit

rejoices

in

God

my

savior

she

knew

somehow

Mary

knew

that

this

baby

would

be

the

means

by

which

she

would

be

delivered

he

would

not

come

in

privilege

or

power

but

he

would

come

in

humble

estate

and

out

of

obscurity

he

would

not

come

riding

on a

white

horse

with

an

army

in

his

back

to

free

his

people

from

oppression

but

he

would

surround

himself

with

12

smelly

fishermen

he

would

not

be

a

mover

or

shaker

in

the

corridors

of

power

he

would

never

hold

an

office

either

political

or

religious

but

by

the

power

of

an

indestructible

by

love

and

obedience

to

his

father

he

would

wield

an

influence

beyond

all

other

his

salvation

did

not

come

in

freedom

from

Roman

oppression

but

he

knew

and

looked

at

the

depth

of

the

human

soul

and

saw

that

the

greatest

oppression

and

the

greatest

captivity

of

the

human

heart

is

that

of

sin

and

of

death

Jesus

came

and

he

saw

that

that

was

actually

the

great

enemy

that

needed

to

be

overthrown

and

so

he

did

he

defeated

the

power

of

sin

and

death

not

by

combat

but

by

sacrifice

rather

than

overcoming

he

offered

himself

up

he

offered

himself

up

on

the

cross

to

die

in

our

place

to

take

the

penalty

for

our

sins

to

bear

the

wrath

of

God

against

our

unrighteousness

he

was hung

between

two

thieves

scorned

by the

crowds

and as

he

went

to

the

very

place

of

his

glory

was

the

greatest

place

of

his

humiliation

salvation

and this

is the

kind of

God

that we

serve

a

God

who

comes

to

save

us

in

this

way

he

humbled

himself

unto

death

even

death

on a

cross

for

us

so that

having

raised

from

the

dead

having

been

raised

from

the

dead

and

having

defeated

the

power

of sin

and

death

and

having

been

raised

to

eternal

life

he

is

now

able

to

give

to

all

who

call

on

him

forgiveness

of sin

a new

birth

a new

life

freedom

from the

power

of sin

in our

lives

freedom

from

despair

freedom

from

wondering

whether

there's

a God

who will

help

us

for

because

he

has

come

and

saved

us

in

the

way

that

he

has

we

know

the

answer

to

all

these

things

and

friends

when we

know

this

it's

joy

it's

joy

to

know

these

things

all

the

glitter

and

all

the

tinsel

and

all

the

hallmark

movies

can't

begin

to

plumb

the

depths

of

the

joy

that

is

possible

from

knowing

that

God

has

done

this

for

us

in

Christ

and

that

as

we

trust

and

believe

in

him

as

we

receive

him

as

our

savior

as

our

lord

as

our

deliverer

this

is

the

great

joy

that

is

unshakable

this

is

the

great

promise

that

leads

us

to

praise

even

in

the

darkest

moments

this

is

the

joy

that

cannot

be

snuffed

out

by

superficiality

and

sentimentality

my

soul

magnifies

the

lord

and

my

spirit

rejoices

in

god

my

savior

let's

pray

together

lord

we

thank you

for

this

song

and

for

how

it

reminds

us

of

your

faithfulness

to

your

promise

of

your

upside

down

nature

of

the

way

that

you

save

us

that

you

would