Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.” Luke 1:46-55
It occurred to me that the theme of most Advent sermons I’ve heard (and
preached) tend toward the trouble Mary faced as an unwed teen in her culture,
and how she could’ve been put to death for adultery or blasphemy (claiming to be
pregnant by God). Today’s text is the
other side of that weighty coin, Mary’s song of praise.
When the visiting angel makes a bewildering prediction to Mary of God’s
plan, and how she would be delivering the Messiah, Mary utters the one-liner
that is the centerpiece for Advent, how can this be? But, beyond that, you find in her a fount of praise,
her soul leaping for joy, over-washed with humility and thanksgiving.
This passage is called The Magnificat, Mary’s song of
praise. The mother of our Lord rehearses
so much of what God had done for Israel (and all humanity) in just 11 sentences. The words are so packed with power and
pathos, it would be a task to preach the Magnificat in a year. Consider the words,
Praises, rejoices, took notice, blessed, Mighty One, holy, great, mercy, fear, mighty arm, tremendous, scattered, brought down princes from their thrones, exalted the humble, filled the hungry, empty hands, helped, remembered, merciful, forever.
Those powerful words are the replacements for how can this be? This is the turn of heart that causes Mary to humble herself with the other words we hear often:
“I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” Luke 1:38
Herein is the Advent of God’s Spirit in one who is willing to embrace the
will of God. When we embrace God’s will His
presence changes our view of everything.
·
Serving self gives way to loving our neighbor
·
Fearfulness gives way to graciousness
·
Hopelessness gives way to expectation
of greatness
·
Boredom gives way to wonder
·
Dread gives way to anticipation of all
things life-giving.
In the Book of Revelation God reminds the church at Sardis to return to their first love, to go
back to the beginning when they first sang Mary’s song. He was pointing them back to this gushing of
praise when it first dawned on them that Messiah had shed his blood for them, and
generations of waiting for the promises to be fulfilled had given way to an
eternity of life with a Savior.
For many of us who have hung around with church folks for a lot of years
and tend to get a little lost in the doing of church,
instead of living Mary’s song, this is a stark reminder of
what we have allowed to corrode the luster of God’s great gift.
It’s time to put everything aside and remember the angel’s announcement,
and the Magnificat that followed.
For You Today
Need some change
in your days and eternity? Let Mary’s
song become your song.
Title image, by Leonardo DaVinci via Wikimedia Commons and W Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
For other posts on The Magnificat in Luke 1 see: Highly Favored - Part 1 and
Highly Favored - Part 2
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