Enjoy Christmas

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

In a loud voice she exclaimed, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear.

But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.

And Mary said, My soul glories the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

For now all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me.

Holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered those who are proud in their innermost thoughts.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abram and his descendants forever,

even as he said to our fathers.

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months, and then returned home.

Thanks very much, Ross.

Thanks.

I haven't any sheets with notes, but there is a new sheet,

which has got a great Christmas theme on the inside.

I wasn't very observant.

I even looked at it and read it and didn't realise that it was actually in the shape of a Christmas tree.

So, sorry about that.

But it's very nice.

Yeah, but there are new sheets, and on the back there's a place where you can take notes.

So let's look at this familiar song of Mary, often called the Magnificat.

And we're going to look at that specifically this morning.

But before we do, we're going to pray and ask for God's help.

So let's pray right now.

Our Father God, we thank you so much that we have a record of the story,

the true story of the coming of Christ.

And we pray that these words that we look at, that may be familiar,

maybe we've heard them sung already this Christmas,

that they would penetrate deep into our lives,

bringing a fresh understanding,

but by the power of your Holy Spirit,

that they would transform us and change us,

so that we become the people that you intend us to be.

So we ask for your help in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Enjoy your Christmas.

Those were some of the words that I was writing in my Christmas cards to some relatives this week.

It's the sort of thing that we say to our friends as we've been leaving work

or we bump into somebody while we've been out shopping.

Enjoy your Christmas.

Well, how are we meant to enjoy Christmas?

Because for many people, Christmas is anything but joyful.

Like how is the community of Newtown in the US

who endured those terrible school shootings meant to enjoy Christmas?

Or the families that we've heard about in recent days

who are coping with the suicide of a father or a couple of daughters.

How are they meant to enjoy Christmas?

You see, for many people, Christmas is anything but joyful.

Perhaps you know somebody who's lost a job

and it's, you know, it's financially tight and it's been a struggle.

Maybe somebody's been diagnosed with a serious illness.

Where are we to find joy when life is turned upside down?

Well, Luke's account of the Christmas story is one that is filled with joy.

Luke opens his gospel in chapter 1 with the announcement of two births.

The first birth concerns Elizabeth and Zachariah.

We read about them in chapter 1, verse 7.

They had no children because Elizabeth was barren

and they were both well on in years.

They were past the age of having children.

But God had different ideas.

Verse 13.

But the angel said to him,

Do not be afraid, Zachariah.

Your prayer has been heard.

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son

and you are to give him the name John.

This would be John the Baptist.

Verse 14.

He will be a joy and a delight to you

and many will rejoice because of his birth.

Now we can understand parents who get excited

and who are joyful because they're going to have a child

and their close friends would be joyful.

But Luke tells us here in verse 14

that many will rejoice because of his birth.

Well, why would people who don't even know this family

be filled with joy?

Well, the answer comes in verse 16 of chapter 1.

This is telling us what John will do when he grows up.

Verse 16.

Many of the people of Israel will John,

that's he, will bring back to the Lord their God

and he will go on before the Lord.

What will we do?

Look at the end of verse 17.

To make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

John was to be an announcer.

He was to stand before the people

and announce good news to tell people

that God's Messiah, Jesus Christ, was coming.

The long-awaited King,

who has come to renew broken lives

and restore this disordered world,

was about to come and enter into this world.

That's why many people would rejoice.

But then there was the announcement of another birth.

We read of that in verse 31 of chapter 1.

Mary is told she's going to have a baby.

And the angel said to her, verse 31,

you will be with child and give birth to a son

and you are to give him the name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called

Son of the Most High.

The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David

and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever.

His kingdom will never end.

Here's the announcement that an eternal king

with absolute power and supreme authority

was going to bring justice and peace.

And on hearing this news,

Mary, who's going to have this child,

goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth,

who's also pregnant with John.

And we read of this meeting in verse 41.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting,

the baby leaped in her womb

and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Now we're told what the significance

of this leap in the womb is.

Look at verse 44.

As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears,

the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Even the unborn John, it's interpreted,

was filled with joy.

The kicking in his mother's womb

was a kick of delight

because God's eternal king,

the rescuing Messiah,

was about to be born into this world.

And all of this leads up to Mary's song,

the Magnificat.

It's a song that is bursting with joy.

Let's look at verse 46.

So Mary said,

My soul glorifies,

or my soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices

in God my Saviour.

So Luke introduces us

to this great theme of joy,

and in particular,

this joy with the coming of Christ.

Now I think if we can get to the heart

of this joy,

we can,

whatever we experience in life,

not only enjoy Christmas,

but enjoy every day of the year.

And that doesn't mean to say

we'll all be jumping up and down

and waving banners

and all happy, happy,

but a deep inner joy,

even in times of hurt and struggle,

that sustains us and keeps us.

That is the joy that is on offer.

So we're going to look at this song together,

Mary's song,

and three things we're going to take from it.

The first is this,

the reason for joy.

The reason for joy.

Mary's joy is found,

look at verse 47,

my spirit rejoices

in God my Saviour.

So joy is not found in things,

it's not found in the amount of presents we get,

it's not found in people,

our spouse or our relationships,

it's not found in good fortune or success

or how healthy I feel,

no.

It's all found,

look at those words,

in God my Saviour.

And Mary's song is telling us

that this Saviour,

the salvation that God has to bring to us,

is not something that we have to achieve.

It's not something we have to do

to be able to get.

It's all something that has been done for you.

Look at verse 49.

She says,

for the Mighty One,

this is the Saviour,

the Mighty One has done great things for me.

Look how the rest of the song goes.

Verse 51.

He,

this is the Mighty One,

He has performed mighty deeds with His arm.

Verse 52,

He has brought down rulers.

Verse 53,

He has filled the hungry.

54,

He has helped.

It's all about what God has done for you.

He has achieved something for us.

And that's why Mary is filled with joy,

because it's not up to her,

it's all what God has done for her.

And we can have this same joy.

And if we can grasp the joy that's on offer,

it will change our lives forever.

Look at verse 48.

He has been mindful of the humble state of His servants.

From now on,

here's the change,

from now on,

all generations will call me blessed.

Mary will be considered blessed by people,

not because she's special,

not because she's given birth to God's Son,

but because she has received God's salvation.

The focus of her joy,

verse 47,

is in God my Saviour.

And because of that,

from now on,

her life is never going to be the same again.

Not because she has to get up and feed the child at night,

but because God has intervened into her life with salvation.

From now on,

all generations will call me blessed,

because I've received salvation.

her life has been changed and transformed.

It's nothing less than a new beginning.

And what happened to Mary

can also happen to us.

We too can have this,

from now on,

joy in our lives.

Let me give you an example of this

that comes a little bit later in Luke.

Luke chapter 5,

Luke 5:8

verse 8.

As we think about how we can have this

from now on experience.

Luke chapter 5 and verse 8.

Luke 5 · chapter mention

This is about 30 years later.

Jesus, as an older man,

has just begun his ministry.

The men who would become his disciples

are out fishing on the boat.

They haven't caught anything.

And he says to them,

you know,

put your nets over

and they catch a whole load of fish.

And then there's this encounter

with Simon Peter

and Jesus,

verse 8.

When Simon Peter saw this,

he fell at Jesus' knees

and said,

go away from me, Lord.

I am a sinful man.

He observes there's this kind of distance.

How can I relate to this person?

Verse 9.

For he and all his companions

were astonished at the catch of fish

they had taken.

And so were James and John

and the sons of Zebedee,

Simon's partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon,

don't be afraid.

From now on,

you will catch men.

You see,

this encounter

with God's Saviour,

Jesus Christ,

has changed their life

at a juncture,

at a point in time

where he will say,

from now on,

your life is going to be different.

You're going to catch men.

You're going to bring people

to God.

And this is the same thing

that is happening

in Mary's life.

If God intervenes

and brings salvation,

from now on,

everything will be different

because of the salvation,

the joy

that God has brought

into your life.

So the reason for joy,

first of all,

is found

in God,

my Saviour,

who changes

our life.

the joy

is the joy

that Mary has.

The experience

of joy.

Because the joy

that Mary has

is something

for us to experience

every single day.

It's not just

a kind of once off

and that's it.

This is to be

experienced

every day.

Look at verse 50.

His mercy

extends to those

who fear Him

from generation

to generation.

The word mercy

means this.

God's unconditional

grace

and compassion.

That's what mercy

here means.

God's unconditional

grace and compassion.

We see it again

in verse 54.

He has helped

His servant Israel

remembering

to be merciful.

This is the character

of God.

That He continues

to pour out

His grace.

He continues

to remember

to pour out

His grace

and His compassion

upon His people.

It overflows

to His people.

That's why Mary

is filled with joy

because she's come

to experience

God's grace

and compassion

in her life.

But what does

this grace,

this mercy

look like

in our life?

Well, there's two things.

First, the humble

are lifted.

In verse 52,

the humble

are lifted.

He has brought

down rulers

from their thrones

but has lifted

up the humble.

Now, generally

speaking,

we think of those

who are in

positions of

power and influence.

They get what

they want

when they want

because they know

the right people

and they have

the right resources.

They just need

to click their fingers

or say this

and they get

what they want

because of their

position.

Whereas those

who fail

and fall,

they always

lose out

and they get

overlooked.

They're disregarded

and they're

rejected.

But God

completely

reverses

this way

of thinking.

God has

a different

way of

working

in our lives.

Look what it

says in verse 52.

He brings

down the rulers

from their

thrones

but he

lifts up

the humble.

God

takes people

of a low

position,

meaning those

who are

spiritually weak

and vulnerable

and he lifts

them up.

He forgives

them.

He welcomes

them.

And through

his salvation

we become

children of

the true

king and

become part

of his

eternal

kingdom.

The low

are the

ones who

are raised

to become

great in

the eyes

of God.

And they

are the

ones as we

read through

the Bible

story are

given thrones

on which to

rule from

in the new

heavens and

the new

earth.

So God

pours his

grace and

his mercy

into people's

lives to

bring them

up, to

elevate them

to becoming

children of

the true

king.

But not

only are the

humble lifted,

second, the

hungry are

filled.

Verse 53.

He has

filled the

hungry with

good things

but has

sent the

rich away

empty.

Again, we

think of those

who are rich

that they

have

everything

that they

want.

Money isn't

an object.

They can

go and

buy their

Apple iPod

and Apple

this and

everything else.

They can

get everything

they want.

But those

who are

poor, well

they stay

poor, they

get nothing.

They're

ignored, they're

isolated.

But God

again, he

reverses this

way of thinking.

God turns it

all on its

head.

Verse 53,

he fills the

hungry, he

fills them with

good things but

the rich are

sent away

empty.

What does

all that

mean?

Well, it

means those

who are

hungry in

the sense

that not

so much the

material wealth

we're thinking

here, but

those who see

their spiritual

emptiness.

And he

fills them.

He satisfies

them with

good things.

He brings

forgiveness into

their lives.

He fills

their life with

peace.

He pours

into their

life his

grace and

his compassion.

He fills

their lives

with joy.

Because in

God our

Saviour, we

have everything

that we need.

The perfect

gift.

It's never

going to

disappoint.

We're never

going to

lack anything.

Everything

that we need

is found

in God our

Saviour.

God's

God's

God's

God's

very own

child.

He fills

the hungry

with good

things.

And this

is a

picture of

the God

who extends

his mercy

to us on

a day-to-day

basis.

He pours in

his grace and

compassion.

He reverses

our status and

our position

in life.

He fills

us and

he satisfies

us.

But before

we move

on, we

also need

to see that

this salvation

is what I

call holistic.

And by

that I mean

God is

concerned for

the whole

person.

Not just

the spiritual.

He's

concerned for

the whole

person and

the whole

world.

So God

is concerned

yes to

reconcile

broken

spiritual

lives.

But he's

come to

reconcile a

disordered

physical world.

This is

part of

Mary's

celebration

in her

song.

Yes, God

has come to

deal with

sins.

He's also

come to

establish

justice.

This is

Mary's

joy and

this can

be our

joy because

the salvation

of God

is so

extensive.

It's about

the restoration

of all

things.

It's about

the ruthless

rulers who

care little

for the

justice and

the peace of

other people

being pulled

down.

It's about

the wealthy

rich who

care little

for the

poor and

the hungry

being sent

away empty.

Because God

in his

salvation

reverses all

of that

disorder and

he renews

what is

broken.

He fixes

it all so

the world

is put right

again.

And one

day we

are going

to see

that in

all its

fullness.

And this

is what

Mary is

celebrating

that one

day God

is going

to put

everything

right.

And there

will not

be a

hungry

belly

left.

And there

will not

be a

rich

person

who

discounts

the

poor

or acts

with

injustice.

God

will do

it.

verse 54

he has

helped

his

servant

Israel

remembering

to be

merciful

to

Abraham

and

his

descendants

forever.

Even as

he said

to our

forefathers

he's done

this before

and he

will continue

to do

it.

So the

experience

of joy

comes as

we know

God's grace

and compassion

being poured

into our

lives.

and the

realisation

that he

is going

to change

this world

into something

glorious

and beautiful.

So we've

got the

reason for

joy,

the

experience

of joy

and then

the third

one is

simply this,

the path

to joy.

And it's

great talking

about Mary's

experience

and the

joy that

she has

joy.

But let's

just focus

this a

minute more

personally to

ourselves.

How do

we get

this same

joy into

our own

lives?

How do

we make

it part of

my day-to-day

experience?

Because

sometimes Mary

is portrayed

as somebody

who is above

human,

almost

God-like

status.

Well,

Mary was

special.

She was

chosen by

God to

bring her

son,

bring God's

son into

the world,

but Mary

was just

like you

and me.

And what

Mary

experienced

can also

be our

experience.

Let me

show us

how we

can get

this joy

into our

lives on

a day-to-day

basis.

Look at

verse 48.

It's

saying,

God has

been mindful

of the

humble

state

of his

servant.

Or look

at verse

52.

He has

brought

down

rulers

from their

thrones,

but has

lifted up

the

humble.

You see,

the path

to joy

is humility.

It's

only those

who recognize

their low

position.

It's

only those

who can

see within

themselves

that they

are empty,

that they

can be

filled

with joy.

And Mary

was that

kind of

person.

And so

in this

sense,

she's a

model

example

of how

we

receive

joy.

Now,

let's face

it,

humility

is not

something

any of

us are

very good

at.

We want

to be

seen as

self-sufficient,

self-dependent.

the world

teaches us

to manage

all by

ourselves.

We don't

need anyone

and we

don't need

anything.

In fact,

if anything's

broken,

I can

fix it.

And if

we are to

admit that

we need

help or

support,

well,

that's just

a sign of

weakness

and frailty.

But that's

not how we

come to

God.

That's not

how we

find joy.

In fact,

pride has

the opposite

effect.

Look at

verse 51.

He has

performed

mighty deeds

with his

arm,

but he

has scattered

those who

are proud

in their

inmost

thoughts.

Rather than

being welcomed

in and

filled and

satisfied,

the proud

instead are

scattered.

They are

brought down

low and

they are

left empty.

The true

sign of

humility

is to

say that

we have

nothing to

bring to

God.

We have

nothing to

offer to

God.

In fact,

all we can

bring to

God is

our

emptiness

and our

weakness.

That's the

only way we

can come to

God.

And when we

come in

humility,

God will

fill us

with his

joy.

God will

be

to

God will

be.

When we were

little,

we had a

very simple

television.

It was

black and

white,

RTE1 and

RTE2.

That was it.

And every

Christmas we

would watch the

same things.

It was

Willy Wonka's

Chocolate Factory

and maybe in the

afternoon,

Oliver Twist.

Twist.

And we

would watch

Oliver Twist

all the time.

And we

come to that

point, you

know the

story, little

Oliver, the

homeless orphan

in that

boarding school.

And there he

comes where

they get their

slop of porridge

or whatever it

is into the

bowl and they

all have their

fill.

Well, not

really because

they're still

hungry.

And Oliver

goes forward,

doesn't he, with

his empty bowl

and everybody

stops their

silence as he

makes his way

up to the

front to the

boarding master

and he holds

out his bowl

before him and

he goes,

please sir,

can I have

some more?

And then the

great big bellow,

more!

And then the

riot takes place

as they go

chasing after

Oliver, running

through the

legs of all the

kids and under

the tables.

But I want you

to take that

image and that

picture of

Oliver.

That's how

we're to

come before

God.

To come with

empty hands,

to come before

him,

please sir,

fill my

life,

fill my

life.

And the

difference here

though is not

that we get a

bellowing roar

more and being

chased out and

kicked out, but

we come before

a gracious,

compassionate,

merciful and

loving father

who will fill

our lives with

joy.

Fill our lives

with joy because

in God we find

our saviour.

We come with

our emptiness,

we come with

our poverty,

and he fills

us like

nothing before

till our lives

are overflowing

with joy.

A joy that we

can bring to

the world in

which we live.

So as we

think about

Christmas,

think about

the joy

that is found

only in

God our

saviour.

How we can

experience it

and how we

receive it

every day.

Come in

humility

with your

open hands

asking God

to fill

your life.

Let's pray.

Our

Father God,

we thank you

so much.

that in

you there

is everything

that we

need.

That you

fill us

and you

satisfy us

like none

other.

And without

Christ in

our lives

day to

day,

we will

always be

in want.

But we

thank you

that when we

humbly come

before you,

you fill us

with your

joy.

You give

us the joy

of salvation,

the joy

of your

grace and

compassion

every day,

the blessing

of a future,

of a world

that will be

put right.

Help us

as we come

before you

right now.

We hold

out our

hands,

our lives

before you,

humbly admit

our emptiness

and our

weakness

and pray

that you

would fill

us like

only you

can.

We ask

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Well,

we're going

to sing

angels from

the realms

of glory.

Come and

worship,

worship

Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.