Advent 4 – December 22nd, 2013 – Luke
1:39-56
In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Advent King +
Sometimes I feel sorry for Mary. I mean, here you have a young girl, maybe 13,
14. She’s engaged, she’s looking forward
to her marriage to Joseph, and then she gets a visit from the Angel Gabriel,
and suddenly, everything in her life is different. Complete and total upheaval. Oh yes, you are going to bear a child, Mary,
and this child will be God. How do you
respond to that? How do you get ready
for that? And oh, yes, your fiancée is
thinking about calling off the wedding, we hear that from Matthew. You’re an unwed teenager in a day and age
when people didn’t simply shrug off things like this, you live in a day when
prostitutes are dragged out and stoned, and if you aren’t married and are
pregnant, guess what conclusion people are going to draw about you.
And so, as our text begins, we hear: “In those days Mary
arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.” Not a bad idea. Get away from home a bit, visit some
relatives. Old Elizabeth, who is
suddenly pregnant under strange circumstances herself, she’ll understand. And what does Elizabeth say to Mary? “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?” Nothing
is ever the same again for Mary, her life is so radically changed. Even old Elizabeth, calm and solid, is treating her
differently. So how does Mary
respond? What does she do? How does a little 13 year old girl react to
this? She speaks the words we next hear
in our text. These words are known as
the Magnificat, words the Church has set to song since its earliest days, one
of the oldest hymns of the New Testament.
They are amazing words, and they are most appropriate for us to ponder
this last Sunday in Advent – as Mary marvels at what God becoming Man means, it
is good for us to marvel along with her.
So let’s spend some time looking at Mary’s words, at Mary’s reaction,
and see what we can learn.
And
Mary starts her song off with a bang. “My
soul magnifies the LORD, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has
looked on the humble estate of His servant.
He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. Think of how that is profound. In the midst of massive upheaval, what is
Mary’s reaction? “Wow, God is really
looking out for me.” It’s amazing. What does Mary do? She simply trusts in God. This is what you see from Mary in the first
chapter of Luke. When Gabriel announces
that she is pregnant, she says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it
be unto me according to your Word.” Complete and utter trust in God. And I don’t know, maybe the fact that she is
a pregnant virgin, pregnant when she hasn’t done anything to get herself
pregnant, gives her perspective on things.
She sees clearly that God is in charge of her life, and she trusts God.
This should be an example for us. I don’t have to tell you all that there are
things in our lives that cause us great fear.
Things happen, and we are afraid, we panic. What ought we do in these moments of
terror? We ought to look to God. Let me ask you a question. Is God any less God when we are scared, when
we have fear, when we have doubts? Of
course not. In Psalm 55 David says, “Fear and trembling come upon me, and
horror overwhelms me.” David’s
not pulling any punches there with that description. But he ends the Psalm saying But I will trust in You. The proper and Christian reaction to fear is
precisely to trust in God. This is one
of the reasons why we come here week in and week out. Church is sort of like a practice fire
drill. We come here, we learn about God,
we receive His blessings, so that when things do go bad, we remember where to
turn. Don’t be afraid to trust in the
Lord, because you know He loves, you are His Baptized child, and will see you
through whatever struggle presents itself to you.
So Mary responds trusting in God,
that’s good. How else does Mary
respond? Does she become prideful? Does Mary say, “Yeah Elizabeth, you oughtta
be happy that I show up here, cause I’m Mary, I’m the mother of God.” I mean, that is a reaction she could have. I don’t know, I start getting Angels visiting
me and telling me that I’m most favored of God, I don’t know, that’s something
that could put a bit of a spring in your step, keep your back a bit straighter,
puff out your chest. Does Mary react
like that in the least? Does she get a
case of star-craze, celebrity-itis, whatever you want to call it? Not in the slightest. “For
behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty
has done great things for me.” It’s
not that Mary doesn’t realize that some amazing things are happening to her,
it’s not that she’s clueless. She knows
what is going on. But she doesn’t take
any credit for it. She doesn’t say, “I’m
so wonderful God couldn’t help but pick me.”
No, look at what God has done for me.
Mary doesn’t react with pride. She reacts with great humility.
Again, let this be an example for
us. So often we can get caught up in
ourselves, our accomplishments, our talents, that we can forget where all of
these come from. The explanation to the
creed in the catechism hits the nail on the head. I believe that God has made me and all
creatures, that he has given me my body and soul, eyes, ear, and all my
members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. Our own sinful flesh likes to forget this –
and isn’t this true especially at Christmas time? Are the gifts there under the tree waiting
for us because of God’s great generosity to us, or are they there because Santa
checked his list twice and saw that I was on the nice list – what a good boy am
I? We are so used to talking about
reward, and what I’ve earned, and what I deserved that we can overlook the
wonders of what God gives us, completely undeservedly, without any merit or
worth in us.
So how can Mary take such a trusting
and humble course, such a wonderful approach to her life? What is the key? She lives her life looking towards the
promises of God. The whole Magnificat is
chalk full of her recalling the promises God has made to her. Hear her words again. “And
His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has show 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 empty away. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His
mercy, as He spoke to our fathers , to Abraham and to his offspring
forever.” Over and over Mary
recounts what God has already done, that He has been faithful and true in the
past. Over and over and over, God has
delivered His people in mercy – that is what God does. God keeps His word. I can be confident and trust in Him.
And what is the chief promise God made
to Abraham? Genesis 12. In
you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. How are all the families of the earth blessed
through Abraham? Because he is the
great-great-great-many greats grandfather of a young girl named Mary, and more
importantly, her Son Jesus. Christ
Jesus is the Offspring that the world has been waiting for, ever since Abraham,
ever since Adam and Eve fell in the garden. Think of the wonders of this, the
event which the whole world had been waiting for, that which God’s faithful had
been seeking ever since the fall, is about to happen. The Messiah is to be born. Mary’s eyes are focused on the promise of
Salvation, focused on the Tiny Child in her womb. The promises of God are made real to her,
shown to her to be true in that Child.
Just as they are for us. No, we aren’t walking around pregnant with
Jesus, but we too see that the promise God made even back to Adam in the Garden
right after the fall, the promise of a Savior who would crush Satan under His
feet, has come true in Jesus of Nazareth.
This is what we are looking towards this day, this is why we celebrate
the birth of Christ, for in His life and death, Christ Jesus fulfilled all the
promises of the Old Testament. What does
Christ say in the last chapter of Luke after the resurrection? These
are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything
written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be
fulfilled. God’s promised
Salvation has been won already for us.
Christ has been raised triumphantly, the tomb is empty, death cannot
contain Him! His Victory over Satan has
become our Victory, because He gives Himself completely to us. He has joined Himself to us in the waters of
Holy Baptism, taken us and made us to be His own, to participate in His own
death and resurrection already, so that all things He does are indeed for us
[for Hudson]. This is the truth that
shapes our lives as God’s own baptized people.
We live our lives as people who constantly receive
gifts from God, as people whom God constantly forgives, and people who are
drawn to remember the promises which God has fulfilled in our lives. This is nothing new, this is what all the
Saints have always had happen in their lives.
So too, just like Mary we live our lives looking towards Christ Jesus
and His Salvation, and seeing Him, we are filled with forgiveness and trust and
humility and love. This is why we look
forward to His coming, this is why we are right to pray come quickly, Lord
Jesus. In the Name of Christ Jesus, our
Advent King + Amen
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