Magnify the LORD with HOPE
Advent 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 3 viewsThe Spirit of Christmas has everything to do with making much of Jesus!
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
It’s the Season of Advent.
Advent takes us up to Christmas Morning.
Advent was NOT a part of my childhood or even MOST of my Christian life.
ABOUT ADVENT
Theologically and pastorally, Advent has its foundation in Christian hope.
The basis of our hope is God’s coming among us!
He came to us in Jesus Christ.
One writer wrote, “We are saved and redeemed not because we have successfully made the effort to come to him, but because he has made the surprising effort to come to us.” -Hoefler
Advent is a kind of intentional spiritual journey for the church.
It calls for expectant waiting and helps us prepare to be “ready” for the coming of Christ.
When the church travels this journey together and treats it as a discipline of life and prayer and worship, it intensifies the joy of Christmas!
ADVENT WEEKS
There are weeks of focus that help our hearts prepare Him room (like the song says).
This week, because of the way the calendar works out…the final “week of love” looks shortened.
In the traditional calendar, today, the first Sunday is centered around HOPE.
December 10 = PREPARATION (PEACE)
December 17 = JOY
December 24 = LOVE…then one day later you transition to Christmas!
A couple of my pastor friends decided to start advent early (I guess you can do that)…so that Love didn’t get shortchanged.
What a great thought…(side note) let’s celebrate this season so that love doesn’t get shortchanged!
We’ll have a few elements that touch on Advent - Scriptures & Testimonies…but our focus in God’s Word this season will be on a passage from Luke’s Gospel - a song of praise for the coming of Christ!
TRANSITION
TRANSITION
I want us to slow down a bit this December…while everything is ramping us around us outside - workloads, cramming in school, trying to get everything done so you can take that time off…many people wonder how they’ll get to all the things.
Now a couple of you in here aren’t in this mode - you set your own restful pace - I’m trying to learn from you.
But with slowing down and savoring in mind…I want us to look at this passage in Luke 1 and take our time with it this month.
TAKE YOUR BIBLES AND TURN TO LUKE 1.
Let’s read the first Christmas Carol ever written:
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
As far as Christmas carols go - this one is quite distinct.
Not high on the sentimental scale
But this is an incredibly LIFE CHANGING kind of Christmas carol found in God’s Word
It’s about being blessed by God
It’s about being favored by God
(Piper writes) Some of us NEVER think about that…Some of us THINK ABOUT IT WRONGLY
I’ll unpack some of this in a moment, but could we say a bit of it out loud together?
Let’s just look at these first 2 verses this morning and say them out loud together:
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
PRAYER
BACKGROUND
Let’s recount getting here.
OT Prophecies
There are so many…but in some of our Advent reading this week as a family, we were reminded of a glimpese in Jeremiah 33.
14 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.
His birth
His life
His circumstances
His ministry
His mission
His death
all were foretold. all were fulfilled in Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection…some will be fulfilled at the end of all things
The Angel visits Mary & Joseph
When the angel Gabriel (1:26) told the young girl named Mary that she was going to have a child who would be the Son of God and reign over the house of Jacob forever (1:32f.), she said, “How can this be?” She was a young girl who wasn’t married, she had not know a man in a way that she could become pregnant.
The angel answered her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her so that the child’s conception would be divine.
Then he gave her the added confirmation that nothing is impossible with God by telling her that her relative Elizabeth who was quite old and had not been able to conceive a child…this Elizabeth was ALSO pregnant!
As Mary processes all this, she says,
38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
So Mary goes to see Elizabeth.
Elizabeth sings a song (before Christmas)
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
(BTW, Later on, we have Zechariah’s song well after Christmas! vv 67-79)
NOW WE COME TO THIS MAGNIFICENT SONG
NOW WE COME TO THIS MAGNIFICENT SONG
MAGNIFY - (megaluno) make great, declare great, increase, enlarge, show great, extol
I asked my children the other night, what does a magnifying glass do?
Makes things look bigger
Brings things closer
Intensify light…you know, you can start fires with a magnifying glass.
There is a quip, Make much of Jesus and He will make much of you. Mary here is showing us that she is making much of God, because HE HAS MADE MUCH OF HER.
Why would she magnify the LORD?
How could she magnify the LORD in the face of such overwhelming odds stacked against her?
What about you, dear brother or sister, friend this morning…why in the world would we magnify the Lord?
1. BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS
1. BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS
He is the LORD!
the word here is Kyrios
Supreme in authority
He is in control
This is a title of respect and honor for the one who has supernatural authority over humanity
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!
8 Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! 9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. 10 For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
This is the transcendent, uncreated God of the Universe who has chosen to reveal Himself to us through the revelation of His WORD and HE IS WORTHY!
Mary knows this.
She has been taught from her early childhood as was the custom
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
She knew that the God of the Old Testament
the God of Abraham
the God of Isaac
the God of Jacob
the God who made the Heavens and the Earth
the God who breathed upon the waters and life sprang forth
the God who breathed life into the soulless lump of clay that then became the pinnacle of God’s creative order…the first Adam
this God is THE GOD!
this God says to all the other false Gods and would be self-made men and women of the world
(like he said to Job in Job 38)
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
Mary sings MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD!
HE IS LORD!
Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD!
Let’s look on:
not only do we magnify Him…make much of Him…make Him BIG in our lives because He is LORD...
but we can MAGNIFY HIM...
2. BECAUSE OF WHAT HE’S DONE
2. BECAUSE OF WHAT HE’S DONE
Mary says,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Not only is He God, but He is Mary’s Savior!
There are some professing Christians who think that Mary was perfect and had no sin - that’s why she was chosen for this incredible task and role.
No. No. No. Friend!
From her own lips she says she needs a Savior! Not OUR…she uses the very personal possessive MY
But before WE Evangelical…Non-Catholic Protestants reject such thinking…
we need to be careful of thinking too highly of our own selves.
Sometimes we think God chose us because we were something special.
…like we weren’t really in all THAT BAD a SHAPE
…like, “remember when I added Jesus to my life.”
NO! NO! NO!
We were absolutely UNDONE whether we realized it or not!
We needed a Savior!
We were the unrighteous - He was the righteous one!
We needed a Savior!
We were the sick…sin sick who needed a Healer! He was the great Physician!
We needed a Savior!
We were wretched, hell-bound, enemies of God engaged in hostile acts of rebellion against the King of Glory...
We needed a Savior!
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
And this God that we had offended with our sinful nature and acts.
this God that we rejected in favor of ourselves...
that we rejected in favor of religion...
that we rejected in favor of good works...
that we rejected in favor of our own self-justifying but ultimately destructive ways...
THIS GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD!
THAT HE GAVE
HIS ONLY SON - the Precious Lord Jesus Christ
THAT WHOEVER WOULD BELIEVE ON HIM
WOULD NOT PERISH - which is what we deserve
BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE
My Spirit rejoices in God my Savior this Advent season…because is a Saving GOD!
Humanity was enslaved to sin with no lasting hope of redemption or reconciliation...
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
Humanity had tried its best. We had been weighed in the balances and found wanting!
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Here’s what I’ve found
Once I realized I needed forgiveness
once I saw my self as a sinner who was in desperate need of a Savior
When I discovered from His Word that His grace was freely offered to sinners like me,
I cried out to Jesus to save me, to wash me, to cleanse me...
I NEEDED A SAVIOR
AND JESUS SAVED ME
AND IF THAT WAS ALL GOD EVER DID FOR ME, IT WOULD BE INFINITELY MORE THAN I DESERVE
To save me from my own sinful self-destructive ways
To pick me up out of the miry clay,
set my feet on the rock solid foundation of Christ and His Word
establish my direction, set me on the path of life, give me a new heart BY HIS SPIRIT
That’s more than I could have ever imagined.
All I knew was that I needed forgiveness...
BUT HE’S TOO GOOD TO JUST BE GOOD!
THE HALF HASN’T BEEN TOLD!
I’d heard about PEACE...
I’d heard about LOVE...
I’d heard about JOY...
I’d heard about HOPE...
(But as one precious songwriter put it)
All that I'd heard, All that I know
Doesn't compare or even come close; The half hasn't been told.
He's more than I ever imagined
More precious than silver or gold
Jesus is everything to me
He satisfies my longing soul.
Time won’t permit us to tell of all He’s done…but if we JUST FOCUSED ON THE FACT THAT HE SAVED US.
IN HIS MERCY HE SAVED US
IN HIS KINDNESS HE SAVED US
IN HIS LOVE HE SAVED US
Nothing in our hands we bring
Simply to the cross we cling!
GOD GETS BIGGER AND EVERYTHING ELSE GETS SMALLER WHEN WE THINK ABOUT WHAT HE’S ALREADY DONE FOR US…IN US…THROUGH US…!
TRANSITION
not only do we magnify Him…make much of Him…make Him BIG in our lives because He is LORD…(He’s Worthy because of who He is)
not only do we see Mary MAGNIFY HIM because she recognizes WHAT HE’S DONE FOR HER
take note of the fact that she is magnifying Him, when her world is being turned upside down
3. REGARDLESS OF MY CIRCUMSTANCE!
3. REGARDLESS OF MY CIRCUMSTANCE!
It’s not uncommon for someone on the inner circles of Christianity to use CHRISTIANESE!
It’s not uncommon to hear something like this,
“How are you today?”
“Oh I’m blessed and highly favored.”
Now for those of us in Christ, that’s true! We’ve just covered a little of that.
But have you ever taken a moment to reflect on who is saying that and the circumstances in the life of the one being described that way.
The angel says that of Mary.
Here is Mary’s reality (as one brother writes):
Her reputation is ruined!
A teenage girl pregnant and out of wedlock
That didn’t get you a reality show or blow you up on tiktock the way it does today - it brought a potential death sentence
Pregnant and engaged to someone else
Completely alone (remember, Joseph wasn’t told by the angel until months later)
This would stain her reputation in her community for the rest of her life.
Now take a deep breath…GOD DID THIS TO HER. He could have accomplished it another way, but He chose this way.
>>>>BUT STILL, SHE SINGS!
Blessed & Highly favored?
She was poor - probably the poorest of the poor
She was alone
She was ruined in the eyes of many
She was misunderstood
>>>>BUT STILL, SHE SINGS!
I’m confident that the point has been made:
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
God loves doing things that defy explanation.
Jesus (God in the flesh) came to seek and to save the lost…those who needed saiving.
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Mary said...
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
What will you say this first week of December?
What will we say as we slow down and let the HOPE of this Advent season wash over us?
LET’S MAGNIFY JESUS
HE IS LORD!
HE IS SAVIOR!
REGARDLESS OF WHAT’S GOING ON IN OUR LIVES (…MAYBE EVEN BECAUSE OF IT.)
CALL TO RESPONSE:
CALL TO RESPONSE:
Right now, how do you finish this sentence...
“I want to do that, but you just don’t understand _____”
There are things I have in the way of magnifying Jesus, like ______
Some of you will stand, sit, kneel, or come to to the front and pray. Where you respond isn’t nearly as important as
THAT YOU RESPOND!
Oh friend, if you are missing the HOPE that only Christ can bring - that’s a symptom of a far greater problem in your life today:
You may very well know about Jesus
BUT FAMILIAR DOESN’T EQUAL FAITHFUL!
Wouldn’t it be great if you realized you needed a Savior TODAY!
and you trusted Christ as Savior?
talk to God, then come talk to me after the service...
or come pray now - I’ll get someone to pray with you to help.
(PLAY - BAND)
(CLOSE IN PRAYER)