The God Who Rights Wrongs

Introduction

Uncanny valley picture

Transition: Our world is in this uncanny valley, where we can recognize the outlines of how God intended for things to be without them being as they should be.

Look up Luke 1:46, give context: Mary’s prayer heavily echoes the prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2 (good to look up at home). Hannah prayed for a child - John the Baptist - but her prayer of gratitude didn’t include her situation. Instead of saying: look at my baby! Hannah prayed, “Isn’t this the way that God always acts? Stripping power from the mighty and bringing joy to the humble.”

Mary’s prayer breaks into three pieces: her situation, humanity in general, and Israel in particular. See if you can see those divisions in the text as we read together.

Praise God for His power in our weakness.

Luke 1:46–49 KJV

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; And holy is his name.

Explain (make it clear)

She begins by making it an expression of praise: my soul makes much of God - lifts Him up, and rejoices in Him. Worship is intellectual (my soul magnifies the Lord) and emotional (my spirit rejoices in God).

For = because. This whole passage is a hymn of praise, she praises God: why?

Illustrate (make it vivid)

Gideon

Paul’s thorn in the flesh

Moses’ speech impediment

Bars of gold joke

Argue

Why are there Christians who don’t seem weak?

Apply

I - God gives the opportunity to find Him totally and perfectly sufficient b/c of the depths of her loss, and God’s faithfulness because He is never lost. He comforts, cares, and provides.

S - Your sins may bring consequences but they do not bring rejection. Every Christian is equally condemned apart from God’s grace, but who can appreciate the Light more than the one who has been in the deepest Darkness? Who can relish a walk with God more than the one who has laid beside the Devil? Who can serve God with passion more than the one who has sinned with abandon? God turns our weakness and our failures into tools for His glory.

Praise God for turning our weakness into power and the world’s power into weakness.

Luke 1:50–53 (KJV)

And his mercy is on them that fear him From generation to generation.

He hath shewed strength with his arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seats, And exalted them of low degree.

He hath filled the hungry with good things; And the rich he hath sent empty away.

Explain

Mary moved from her own narrow situation the the status of all believers (those who fear = stand in awe of, can be positive or negative, like “Terrible” which we mean to use “really bad” but can really be anything that strikes terror in the heart)

Like Hannah in 1 Samuel 2, Mary doesn’t fixate on the details of her own situation, but seems instead to think: “Isn’t this just like God? Isn’t this the way He always works? He takes the weak and confounds the strong, takes the poor and gives them wealth, and rips away the idols of the arrogant.”

He shows his strength - the real thing - and lets us see that our arrogance is a delusion. The imagination/thoughts of their hearts are their only strength.

Our current position is not our final position. Today’s king, perched up on a throne, could be down at someone’s feet tomorrow

Illustrate

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Spiritual song: I can’t even walk without you holding my hand

Argue

A major motif of the OT is the element of the “righteous poor”: those who suffer in this life, but walk with God. This was a big challenge to the worldview of the time: the Greeks saw the weak as weak for a reason, survival of the fittest, and some among Israel were like modern prosperity gospel preachers: if you had more faith and were more righteous, God would bless you materially. Our modern western tendency to root for the underdog did not exist before the rise of Christianity. On the other hand

Apply

LB/RK - Some of you are sitting there waiting for this to come. You try and do everything you are supposed to, but it seems like your boss notices the suck-up instead. You have paid premiums for year, but now that you need what you have paid for, the only way the insurance company will pay out is if you hire a lawyer - and if you had that kind of money you wouldn’t need the insurance. But God assures us that our current condition is a temporary condition. Others of you are on the opposite side! You have been blessed and the voice of the Devil whispers in your ear, “Look at all you have accomplished.” Paul said “When I am weak, then I am strong,” but we might need to remind ourselves, “When I think I am strong, that is when I am weak.” Remind yourself that everything God has given you can be pulled away, Blessed be the name of the Lord (Job).

AMBC as a whole - We may look at our numbers, our budget, or our location and wonder how we can stand up against the political establishment, the entertainment complex, and all of the other ways that trillions of dollars are spent annually tempting people to fix their minds on anything except God. But God delights in using the weak to confound the strong.

Transition

God’s work in the world is just the way that He works with Mary, written in large letters across the pages of history. Time and time again, we falter, but He remains faithful to His people. In Mary’s day, Israel had suffered for centuries over their sin, and yet God still kept His promises. This brings us to our third point:

Praise God for His eternal faithfulness.

Luke 1:54–56 KJV

He hath holpen his servant Israel, In remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, To Abraham, and to his seed for ever. And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

Explain

He has helped His servant Israel, remembering His mercy. Not remembering their righteousness, not remembering some obligation they had placed Him under. The word mercy can mean something like “covenant faithfulness” and is often translated “lovingkindness.” Our hope is not that God will bring to mind who we are, but who He is.

He keeps the promises that He made to the children of Abraham, despite the many failures in between. Like Abraham didn’t see the promises fulfulled in his lifetime (the only property he owned in the promised land was a grave), we often have to wait through a period of darkness before God’s great reversal, but He is faithful.

Illustrate

Exodus 2:24–25 KJV

And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

Israel spent 400 years in Egypt, but when God heard their cry, He remembered His promises, and He paid attention to them. Of course, we cannot take “God remembered” to mean that God ever forgets. He remembers our sin in His omniscience, but does not call it to mind. He not only remembers His promises in His mind, but with His will.

Argue:

(doesn’t seem good here)

Apply:

M: God will keep his promises to His people. There is no need to fear. We can see the way He was faithful to Israel despite its failures, but He remains faithful.

ZB: God promises to you that if you call on His name, you will be saved. He keeps His promises, rights the wrongs in your hearts, not because of us, but because of the promises He gave in Jesus.

Conclusion

Don’t lose sight of the reason behind all of these: Mary says this is why my soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. God wants us to think correctly and to feel correctly. How do we respond to this one who loved us enough to give His life for us?

JB Phillips wrote a book: Your God is too Small. Is your God big enough to handle your problems - magnified in your mind and a source of joy in your heart? He rights the uncanny wrongs in your life, in the world, and you will find Him eternally faithful.