Mary's Song and God's Glory

Friday, December 23, 2022

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

There is something of an idyllic impression which persists about Mary, the teen virgin;  she is untouched, and therefore “perfect”.  That is not supported in Scripture.  In fact, Scripture goes to great lengths to debunk that notion.  Old Testament prophet, Isaiah pointed to the universality of human sin:

We are all infected and impure with sin.  When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.  Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.  Isaiah 64:6

New Testament apostle Paul reaffirmed total human depravity:

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:10, 23

If all that falls short of convincing, even Jesus said it plainly:

“Only God is truly good.  Mark 10:18

What is untainted in Mary’s case is not sinlessness of the vessel, but the immaculateness of conception…the fact that Jesus had no earthly father.  Mary was simply the host chosen by God to participate in God’s plan.  It was a miracle that she became pregnant, sidestepping the order of things in the natural, or biological sense.  But there was no circumventing the spiritual order of things; Mary was a human, born of a lengthy line of sinners, stretching back to Adam.  It’s often made note of Mary’s (and therefore Jesus’) family heritage, which included harlots (Rahab), and conspirators in murder (King David).  For God to choose Mary, it was the love of God for all humanity, laying aside the prerogatives of deity, choosing mercy and forgiveness to offer holiness to undeserving humankind.  It was nothing less, or more, than grace

It is no wonder Mary sang a song of blessing; even as a human, especially another sinful human like you or me, she could see she wasn’t worthy, except for the gracious love of God wrapping holy arms around her life.  She was overwhelmed by kindness and joy.

For You Today  

We have an immediate identity with Mary.  She wasn’t naïve enough to imagine she was beginning a road-trip paved with rose petals and sunshine; her position was dangerous and swimming upstream all the way.  Her “blessedness” (which we only see from this side of the story) is that she would be overshadowed by the glory it would bring to God. 

Mary’s story, God’s glory, our choice to follow.  True disciples of Jesus Christ can never be bored with hum-drum lives; it’s a path like no other.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

   Highly Favored   and   Mary's Song; Our Song

Images:  Title Annunciazione by DaVinci via Wikimedia Commons   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Looking Back to Go Forward

 

Wednesday, December 23, 2020

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

There are constants in life which, if honestly viewed, can guide us into truth.  Calling on my somewhat limited grasp of mathematics, I recall a principle of equations that remains stable.  If A = 1, then A is always 1. 

Mary understood that. 

Mary looked back over the history of generation to generation and her soul leaped within her at the mercy, miracles and justice with which God has ruled this universe.  And Mary connected the dots.  If, in mercy, might, and justice, God saw fit to lead her into the world’s brightest spotlight from an obscure little village, she was going to count on the principle of looking back to go forward.  She would trust the Lord.

And here’s how she connected that set of dots:

For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.”  Luke 1:55

The key word is “forever”.  Mary understood that circumstances, and the way humans evaluate circumstances, are as changeable as the wind.  God, on the other hand, is as constant as the A = 1 principle; He changes not!^{(Malachi 3:6)}

In the connecting the dots ambit, looking at signposts in your history gives you a sense of the course you’ve charted.  If you chart a course to, say, Omaha, Nebraska, and it was not done with a faulty compass and map, and, if you’ve faithfully followed  that course, today you’re closer than you were yesterday.  It’s the same in charting your course to follow God’s way.  To Israel in captivity, after they’d messed-up supremely, God said through the prophet:

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.  I will be found by you,” says the Lord.  Jeremiah 29:13-14a

For us, this means the “A” of our equation is always trust the Lord, and the “1” of the result is you will find Him. 

The picture on your screen has a little white dot, which are actually two large planets (Saturn and Jupiter) in conjunction.  I looked up in the dark sky at 6:27pm Monday night to see this phenomenon.  It was predicted based on science, mathematics, and because, history has proved it over and again.  And it was there.  And I snapped the picture with my little Android phone’s camera.  I did that, not because it IS the so-called Christmas Star of Bethlehem…it’s two planets, in real time, reflecting the light God created so long ago.  And, like the cross I wear when I preach God’s Word each Sunday, although it isn’t the blood-stained cross of Golgotha, it is a picture of remembering the course God charted for restoring relationship between Himself and myself.

In just that way, God says, look back at what I’ve done, and know I will be the same tomorrow as I was yesterday and today.^{(Hebrews 13:8)}

Mary knew that, and she sang from the depths of her being the song of praise for the deep trials she knew was ahead.  And she charted her course to walk right into it!

For You Today

Been through a tough one this year?  As tough as Mary’s year?  The whole of her world changed when the angel talked about God’s plan for her life.  Adulteress and Blasphemer, the neighbors would say.  Leaving home to run for Egyptian refuge to escape Jesus being slaughtered was in the near future.  Still, Mary pondered all these wonders, and bowed the knee in grateful remembrance of the God who taught her to look back so she could go forward.  Sound like a plan?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title image:  Russell Brownworth (own work) 12/21/2020 conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter   

W  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

 

Mary's Song; Our Song

 

Monday, December 21, 2020

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.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

GO TO VIDEO

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  

 

 

Highly Favored

[i]

Thursday, December 22, 2016

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^(NLT)

This story has Hallmark made-for-TV-movie written all over it!  An angel suddenly appears to a young teen and tells her “you’re pregnant, and, by the way, God did it”.  The teen is so frightened she runs off to seek comfort from her favorite aunt, and the meeting turns into a crescendo of praise for God that’s like a choreographed flash mob.  Mary’s song would make the Sound of Music’s Maria and the Von Trapp family singers proud!  Let’s unpack the story:

An Unexpected Visit

The angel’s greeting gets this story off to a strange start.  He calls  her favored.  My friend Julie always answers this way.  I ask, “How are you doing today?”  She says, “Blessed and highly favored”!  Well, it sure didn’t seem so to Mary; she reacted in two very conflicting ways – fear and faith. 

Mary’s Fear

Mary’s fear was understandable; she was only twelve or thirteen, and this was very confusing news.  Her future was planned by her parents to be married to Joseph; she’s told she’s pregnant.  What in the world will she tell Joseph?  Joseph won’t understand this.  And what about her Dad?  Oh man, my dad’s gonna kill me!

She has questions for Mr. Angel…hey, this isn’t fair!  Life is tough enough when you’re a kid – why me, God?

Mary’s Faith

But then Mary’s faith surfaced and she resolutely accepted what the angel told her.  She states the obvious, that she is the servant of God.  The KJV has the word handmaid; actually the word is doulē (δούλη), and is better translated “female slave”.  Mary committed herself to serve God without regard to her own will; she would be a slave, surrendered in faith!

What do we learn from Mary’s fear and faith?  Fear means you’re looking at the short term difficulties of circumstances.  Mary knew it  could be a hard road ahead with this unexplained pregnancy on her resume’.  But faith drives you to make the first step of obedience to honor God, in spite of the circumstances.

You’ve done that.  When your parents helped you learn to walk  you had to trust them enough take a first step.  It was a small step, and you were probably scared, hesitant; this was new.  You may have fallen – but you learned, and it became natural for you!

Abraham did that.  When God called him to leave his home place to take his little family on a journey where God would lead, he took the hardest step of obedience – the first one. 

For You Today

When God chooses you it’s liable to mean small, fearful beginnings and a blind step of faith, but if it leads to the land of God’s blessing, be the slave of the Lord!  He “highly favors” you!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

[i] Title image: Andrea del Sarto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons