Advent: The Thrones in Our Heart

So this is the third week of Advent, which are the four Sundays leading up to Christmas.

It's the third one, so we're getting closer.

And this week, this Sunday, we're gonna talk about Mary.

We're gonna talk about the mother of Jesus.

And so she was a Jewish girl, and if you've forgotten, she was probably pretty young.

She's probably 13 or 14 years old.

Because this is when girls got engaged.

This is an ancient 2,000 years ago society we have to remember.

An angel comes to her and says, Hey, don't be afraid.

You're favored by God.

You're gonna have a baby.

By the way, your baby's gonna be the Messiah.

And she was Jewish, and she knew what that meant.

This Messiah, this baby was coming to save her people.

And so she says, Oh, okay, okay.

I mean, think of the situation here.

She's a virgin, she's engaged to Joseph.

I mean, this is gonna mess her life up in some regard.

This wasn't her plan.

Not only that, it's gonna ruin her reputation.

I mean, this is unto the point, remember the context she lives in, a very patriarchal, hierarchical society.

Men made all the rules, and there was quite discrimination against women.

To the point that if a single, you know, pregnant woman got pregnant, sometimes they would stone her to death.

This is Mary's situation.

And in this historical context, Mary receives this word, certainly divine, certainly mystery, and she says, I'm a servant of the Lord.

Let it be to me according to your word.

And later on, she's visiting her cousin Elizabeth, and she breaks out in song.

And maybe it's a poem.

I don't know, we just read it.

It could be a poem, it could be a song.

It's called the Magnificant, is what it's called, because that word in there, my soul magnifies the Lord.

I'm not gonna sing it as we go through it, I'll just read it.

I think we're all thankful for that.

I'll reread some that I already read.

Luke 1, 46 through 49.

And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit, my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate 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.

Now, point number one this morning is something I've I've I've almost overlooked, and ran into it this week as I was studying this passage is this God is consistently elevating the worth of women and a culture of bias, prejudice, and even abuse of women.

Now, maybe you grew up in a place that affirmed women's worth and value.

Maybe that's your background.

But maybe you didn't.

Maybe you grew up in a place or church or family, I don't know, where virtue, humility and virtue, the godly woman, and boldness and intellect were a binary choice.

Couldn't be both.

Right?

You could be smart and bold and courageous, or you can be humble and godly and virtuous.

You know, don't be too loud with that smart brain of yours.

Maybe you even read, you ran into 1 Timothy chapter 2.

1 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

Didn't know how to place it?

1 Timothy 2, verse 11, let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

1 Timothy 2:11

Now, when we dig into this passage as a whole, and certainly this just one sentence, it actually starts to open up greater and greater freedom for women.

And here's why is because, first off, this word learn would have been groundbreaking for women.

Because women at the time didn't, they didn't go far into their education, they were thought to be second class.

And so even for the Christian faith to begin to esteem, no, no, no, you should learn.

Even that, I know this is a long time ago.

I have to remember how ancient this was.

This would have been radical.

This was an opening up.

And this is what we see in general.

We don't see the New Testament having perfect women's equality and value and worth esteem, but certainly what we see is we see a progression forward for the worth and value of women.

And then we have this word quiet.

It doesn't mean silence.

It doesn't mean a woman has to walk, walk around quiet everywhere they go, you know, you've got to be silent everywhere he goes.

That's not what it means.

The context here seems to me, that seems to be that there was a a group of women, some women coming into the freedom of Christ and being so free in the freedom of Christ that there's no Jew, no Gentile, no male, no female, and they're coming into that freedom, and in that freedom, you know, they're hey, they're letting loose.

And they're actually starting to cause some disturbance.

I don't know if you can imagine a group of women causing a disturbance or a group of men causing a disturbance, a group of humanity causing a disturbance.

And and the writing is Paul's just saying, hey, like, exist in a quiet spirit.

And what that means is this is about learning in a gentle and receiving spirit.

And then lastly, we get this idea of submission, which is valid and good.

The idea of a woman living in submission, it still comes in the idea of the New Testament idea of mutual submission.

I mean, even the call of women or a wife to submit to their husband in the book of Ephesians is within the context of a mutual submission of each submitting to the other.

And I've yet to find, I really have, I've yet to find an ongoing problem in any relationship or community where people are relating to each other in mutual submission.

Now, there's still structure, there's still order, there can still be roles.

I mean, these things are amongst us.

But the gospel calls us all into a mutual submission of caring for the other person.

That you exist in a gentle spirit with each other.

That you don't want to use any power that you might have over somebody else to subjugate them or discriminate against them or oppress them.

A couple of months ago, probably just a month ago actually, I came into the house after work and I was kind of in, you know, I was in work mode.

Any of you come home, you're in work mode.

I was in work mode.

Christy was already at home.

She worked some days and she's at home some days.

This was one of the days she was at home, and I come home, I'm in work mode, and I walk in and I didn't transition.

The transition's important.

And so I get in the house and I'm trying to like convert into family mode, out of work mode, and she's showing me some grace in that.

And apparently I had crossed the threshold of how gracious that was gonna be or how long that timeline was.

Uh wasn't aware how long it was, and she just says, uh, hey, let's talk outside, and we get outside, and she lets me have it.

The virtuous, quiet, godly Proverbs, whatever, 32, woman, what I forget the chapter, woman.

Let me have it.

And here's what I can honestly say.

I can honestly say, and she's gonna get embarrassed and I've talked about her several times this morning.

Here's what I can honestly say is I don't know if she would have had that conversation with me 15 years ago when I got married to her.

And I think that has something to say with growing in the grace of God.

That she's grown both in her belovedness and humility, but also in her forthrightness.

She doesn't have to get ran over, be subjugated.

It doesn't have anything to do with her not living in submission to me.

I mean, I should also be we should be in mutual submission.

I mean, it doesn't even have to do with that.

But when you're giving a binary option as you grow up, well, you can either be humble and quiet and just keep your mind to yourself, or you you have to reject Christian womanhood and then you can be intellectual and bold and forthright.

And what we see in this passage, and it Mary is both.

I mean, she starts to speak against the systematic oppression of the Roman Empire.

This is what we see here.

So Mary starts out this passage, she refers back, I mean, incredibly smart.

She refers back to a to a prayer prayed by a lady named Hannah in 1 Samuel.

She patches it together.

So she's not just freely praying here, she's doing something incredibly smart.

She gets this prayer from Hannah, she weaves in some songs, and she actually begins to speak against those in power who operate abusively.

That's what we pick up when we get into verses 52, 51, 52, 53.

Here we go, starting in verse 50.

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 state.

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.

Point number two is this is God consistently favors the poor, the weak, and the needy.

So Mary probably got to get the context here.

Mary exists in oppression.

Not only as a woman in a society that's not valuing women, existing under the Roman Empire, the entire Israel people of Israel, under the Roman, the boot of the power of the Roman Empire.

Economically, politically, societally, they exist under this oppression.

This is her world, and so many Jewish people, and we can't put too much on Mary here, but a lot of her people definitely believe the Messiah was coming, not only to free their hearts and souls, but to free them politically.

Now that's not what Jesus came to do.

They had some correction to do later on.

But when she comes to speak here, she certainly could be referring some to this Roman Empire and this oppression she felt.

And what is clear is God stands against oppressive systems and people who position, use their positions of power to take rather than to serve and to give.

Now the gospel story goes even further.

The story of the gospel goes even further, saying God even overthrows the thrones in our own hearts.

So this isn't just a social sermon on the social structure or social justice.

This also comes into our own hearts.

Because we build thrones.

And we easily oppress people in big ways and little ways as to feel more justified or more loved or more valuable.

A month ago I went on a mission trip to Costa Rica.

At the end of the mission trip, we were all that our team, there's nine of us, we were in the uh airport there in uh San Jose coming home, and we had all eight lunch, and we came back, we're all sitting together, and we're waiting for them to start to call to board the plane.

You know, the beginning of the boarding process, they start to call all the special people who get to go on first, right?

You might have a special person.

Go ahead.

You say I'm special, and we might want to say I'm special.

And then a few of you, you're gonna say, Well, I'm special.

I would like to say that.

I want you to know that I am a silver medallion, which is the lowest of the special people.

But when you're a silver medallion, you're so happy to be included in the special people.

I mean, you're just so happy about it that when they called for me to come up before main one and main two and main three, main four, you know, right?

And so they called me and and and I walked up and I'm like, see ya to the team, you know, like see you later.

I'm out of here.

And I weave my way through the people, just cruising through, and I go to show my boarding pass to the to the ticketing agent, and it says main two on it.

You imagine how embarrassed I was.

It's humiliating.

I have to explain to him, no, I'm silver.

Don't you know, don't you know who I am?

I'm I'm not main two, right?

I mean, oh my gosh.

And he sees silvers, oh, I'm sorry, and so finally I get to walk on.

It was such an easy, I just walk down the ramp.

There's no line.

I walk on the plane, I put my bag up, I get comfortable, and by the time main one, especially, by the time main two comes on, I'm watching a movie, I'm chill, I'm relaxed.

Right?

And I love it.

Can I just be honest about that?

I mean, who doesn't?

I love how easy that I also love how special I feel.

I have a throne.

Right?

And I can look down on every the little silver medallion throne.

What a silly little throne, right?

We'll take we will take anything.

We'll take anything and make it a throne, much less the bigger ways that we build a throne to actually oppress people.

I mean we can we can do it by you build a you can build thrones by living in comparison to other people.

Well, I don't do that, and I don't do that, and I don't live like that, and I'm like them, and I don't, you know, that first point arrests this morning.

I don't know about that one.

I'm gonna have to work through that.

I certainly don't think that about, you know.

It's so easy to build thrones in comparison to other people just to build up your own value.

And what God is saying is how come to overthrow the thrones of your heart.

It's not a great way to live.

Now that's humbling, but it becomes freeing when we receive the rescue of the gospel.

That our story doesn't have to be that we live in such a self-justifying manner.

I mean, imagine if you have to keep up your silver medallion status for your actual self-worth for your entire life.

Now, I love to read Martin Luther's, he's a theologian in the 1500s.

I love to leave what he what he says about this passage.

A couple years ago, we read this uh this quote.

I'll read it again.

The stress, and this passage, this is Martin Luther, that the stress should not be on the lowest state, but on the word regarded.

So he's talking about verse 52 there.

We have a little bit different language in our verse there.

The stress should not be on the lowest state, but on the word regarded.

Mary's low estate is not to be praised, but God's regard.

As when a prince gives his hand to a beggar.

The meanness of the beggar is not to be praised, but the graciousness and the goodness of the prince.

Luther goes on.

You must not only think and speak of lowliness, but come into it, sink into it, utterly helpless, that God alone may save you.

Or at any rate, should it not happen, you should at least desire it and not shrink.

For this reason, we are Christians and have the gospel, that we may fall into distress and lowliness, and that God thereby may have his work in us.

And what this means is it means we don't have to build thrones to self-justify or build our self-righteousness and our righteousness to report or report back to God.

It actually means that we get to live in ongoing repentance and falling back into Jesus because Jesus' work is enough for us.

Not our work for him, it's his work for us.

Our sin is put upon the cross, his righteousness is given to us.

What good news! You see how layered what Mary's doing here.

She speaks against an oppressive system, she speaks against the people who abuse power, and at the same time, there starts to be even this deeper level of the gospel story unfolding for us about the thrones of our own hearts.

That we can be delivered, the Messiah, the deliverer.

It's ultimately not a political deliverance, it's a deliverance from our own sin, our own selfishness and self-justification.

Point number three, we welcome our lowliness because we are always welcomed in God's unending love and redemption of our imperfect selves.

That's a long sentence without it on the screens.

Let me say it again.

We welcome our lowliness because we are always welcome in God's unending love and redemption of our imperfect selves.

Last week, Christy was gone on a cheerleading competition with our oldest, and she did survive a cheerleading competition with our oldest in Daytona with a group of five other girls in a room.

And so Saturday I had two other girls at home, and there's other girls from the neighborhood playing in the backyard and all around, and I have my chore list, and so unfortunately, our girls are old enough that they can kind of play and coexist, and then just when somebody's hurt, they come back in that kind of situation with that age.

And so I'm going through my chores and I'm out in the garage and fixing the garage door opener, and I'm I'm redoing the setting, one door keeps bouncing up and down, I'm redoing the settings, and you know, pray for me on that, it's still not fixed.

But unfortunately, I kind of make it through that, I think I got it fixed, and so I finish that, I get back in the house, and I get back in the house, I discover other things have been going on while I've been out, you know, in the garage, and so I discover that, that's interesting, and then I discover that uh the girls had taken some of Christy's purses from her closet, like nice purses, and and they're playing with them in the muddy backyard.

And I don't know a lot, but I was pretty sure that this wasn't okay.

And so I pull aside one particular child, I was pretty sure it had something to do with it, and daughter, and you know, we have our chat, and I love you, that was wrong, and I love you, and you're gonna have time out, and I love you, and you know, and and you know, and hey, that purse was blah blah blah, and that's worth so much, and you know, you know, that kind of kicks in at some point with me, and and how much do you value that, and you don't value, you know, and to get into that, and that's all real helpful, you know, very helpful.

But part of it was you need to call to apologize to mom, and I I watched her you know face get very sad, and she's a human being like me, and so she can she can do that pretty well.

Uh but it seemed pretty sincere, and she calls, and and Christy, uh incredible, she says over the phone, I can I can't believe you did that.

You know, that purse costs, blah blah blah, and you don't value anything.

No, of course she didn't say that, right?

Like, no, she didn't she didn't say that.

That's sort of what I said.

What she said was that she said, Oh, she said, thank you for telling me.

It means so much that you would you would call and you would you would tell me that.

That you would call and apologize.

Wow.

And I'm sitting there just kind of listening to that interchange and watching kind of relief and relationship being built up here and grace within the offense.

That's what the gospel is.

Grace within the offense.

And yes, also the second time I've complimented my wife in one sermon, I'd also like to just note that.

And that was just that was just a picture of imperfect parental love.

Right?

And it's not perfect.

She's not perfect at that, I'm not perfect at that.

None of us are, we don't get that completely perfect, but what God is opening up for us in the Messiah is a deliverance from all the ways we self-justify and even all the ways that we view Him and calling us into to view Him, definitely the way the New Testament portrays is a Father, as an Abba Father.

And that is not a reflection, it's not a reflection of the parental love you experience, it's the perfection of the parental love you ever experienced.

When we glance back through this passage, what I did at the end of the week, I just sort of read back through it because I was like, oh, there's a lot going on here.

I mean, there's sort of like this like savvy, intellectual, smart, bold, but virtuous, humble, you know, woman here speaking, and that's that's so that's so fantastic for us to get.

And then there's this kind of like connotation against the Roman Empire and oppressive uh you know power being used, and that's incredible.

And then there's this part about the thrones of our arts, and that's incredible.

And I just kind of read back through it.

So if I just kind of let go of that, just kind of read back through this again, and here's what jumped out is when we glance back through it, Mary over and over and over, she's describing how good God is.

Verse 47, God my Savior, 48, he has looked on me, verse 49, for he is mighty, holy is his name.

Verse 50, his mercy, verse 51, he has shown strength, 52, he humbled the proud, verse 53, he filled the hungry, 54, he helped his people, and verse 55, he spoke to us.

And that's what he's doing in Jesus.

He's speaking a word of grace into a world of demand.

And what he speaks to you this morning is the same thing he speaks to spoke to the shepherds.

You remember it?

If you're not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.

Let's pray together.

God, thank you for this good word, your word of grace.

That you both stand for justice in this world against systems of power and abuse, oppression, bias, prejudice, and you also come to speak against all of that that's in our hearts that we build up in ways of thrones.

May we move greater and greater to way to see that you are not an oppressive God trying to dictate our behavior or control us, but to call us into greater freedom because of your grace and mercy.

To call us out of our self-justification and self-righteousness and into a righteousness by Christ alone.

God, we thank you for the goodness of your word that has so many truths in it, that keeps opening up in greater and greater and greater ways, and would our hearts open up in greater and greater ways, and would we be open to the move of your spirit?

Would we be able to say this morning, have your way in me?

I am your servant, have your way in me.

Whatever throne, whatever throne, God.

You can overthrow it.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.