The Lordship of Jesus is recognized.

Introduction

Scripture

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

39 In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah 40 where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! 43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”

46 And Mary said:

My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 because he has looked with favor

on the humble condition of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations

will call me blessed,

49 because the Mighty One

has done great things for me,

and his name is holy.

50 His mercy is from generation to generation

on those who fear him.

51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm;

he has scattered the proud

because of the thoughts of their hearts;

52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones

and exalted the lowly.

53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things

and sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering his mercy

55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he spoke to our ancestors.

56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.

Context

This week we are continuing our advent series, picking up where we left off of last week. Last week, we looked at the angel Gabrial visiting Mary. He visited Mary to give her a message, a message that God was about to the world and she would be one of His chosen instruments to do so, by mothering the child, the savior, the Lord Jesus. As I mentioned last week, keep in mind as we go along that this true story may be familiar and comfortable for us today; but it was not for them. It was not for the people it was happening to, it was new, it was exciting, it was terrifying, and it was really happening; just like you are really sitting here right now.

This meant, and just like for us, that responding in faith, just as Mary did to the angel in our text last week, meant that she was also saying she was also ok with whatever the consequences were for her, which for her own self could have easily have been living a destitute life and labeled as an outcast in society or even executed by rule of law. Either way, Mary made this decision and replied to that message given to her by saying: See, I am the Lord’s servant,”….. “May it happen to me as you have said.”.

In today’s text, we see Mary after this going and seeing the sign she was given, that her cousin Elizabeth would be with child. This was a seemingly impossible feat, because Elizabeth had been barren her whole life and at this point was well past the age of having a child. None-the-less as the angel told Mary regarding this child and the child she was bearing, that nothing is impossible for God.

As we are diving in today. I want you to notice something. I want you notice all through the text we see themes of Jesus (the child inside of Mary) was being recognized, recognized as The Lord that He is, was, and forever will be. He was being recognized by these women (and even the child in Elizabeth) just as we are all to recognize The Lordship of Jesus. Doing so means a change in your life, both in your ability to stand before God and actions that manifest themselves in your life, both on the day to day and the whole of it. So,From the text today, I want you to see these action that follow when The Lordship of Jesus is recognized.

Message

The first action to see is that we: Bless the Lord (39-45)

39 In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah 40 where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! 43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!”

After learning about the events to come, Mary went to her cousin Elizabeth’s and Zechariah’s home. This meeting and greeting was clearly a very happy one! Look what happens when Elizabeth hears Mary, the baby inside of her (John the Baptist) leapt with joy! In turn Elizabeth who was filled with the Holy Spirit (something that as we have seen through the bible up to this point in history was very rare and unusual, God’s presence in a personal and intimate way in that person. Elizabeth with the Holy Spirit inside of her was filled with great Joy! Listen to what she says, “Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! 43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill what he has spoken to her!” She recognizes that Mary is blessed among women, and that the child in her is to be blessed as well.

Something to know about the use of the word “blessed” or “bless-ed” in these few verses, is that in our language these are the same word, but in actuality, we see two different words with different meanings here. Look in verse 42, the words blessed here means to be given praise or thanks, to be spoken well of. In verse 45, the word is a different one entirely than the one used in 42, and means along the lines of happy or fortunate. Keep that in mind as you read this but also notice this really important thing that Elizabeth points out. She points out that Mary is “the mother of my Lord” which means what? That she recognizes that the baby Mary carries (Jesus) is her Lord, Her God, Her savior; and she blesses Him, she praises Him and speaks well of Him.

Just a little bit ago, we sang that song, 10000 reasons. What was that song about? Blessing God. Blessing God with everything we got. We praise God, we thank God, we speak well of Him. So yes, just as Elizabeth has done here, we are to bless God. We are to praise Him, thank Him, speak well of Him.

That is what I mean by our point, that you bless the Lord. That when you follow Him, when you recognize Jesus for who He really is, this means something about your words and thoughts about Him after that. It means that you bless Him. It means that you praise Him, recognizing Him for the great things in Has in our life in offering salvation, you praise Him for who is to everyone, the all-powerful God of all. You Praise Him with all your heart mind, deeds, action, yes all of yourself. Believer, we need to do this as a regular every day exercise. Bless God, attune your heart so that blessing God is always in the forefront of your mind and deeper in your inner heart, your inner soul so that it spills out in rich abundance in your actions and deeds every day. So, I hope you see here in the text, that action that Elizabeth did when she recognized her Lord and the same action that we are to do as well, to Bless the Lord.

The next action that we are to do when we Recognize the Lordship of Jesus that we will see in the text is to: Magnify the Lord (46-49)

46 And Mary said: [1]

My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 because he has looked with favor

on the humble condition of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations

will call me blessed,

49 because the Mighty One

has done great things for me,

and his name is holy.

You may remember that we looked at this poem of praise back on Mother’s day this year. What a great words of praise they are to her Lord, who now is inside of her as a baby. Now, it’s not unusual for mothers to sing wonderful and joyful little love songs to their babies. But, it is unusual (has never been done correctly ever before or ever again) that a mother would sing this song about the child (God) inside of her. A song that magnified God and rejoices in the savior. A song that praises God for looking a relative nobody and considers them important and special. A praise to the might one who does great things and is Holy.

Towards the end of our last sermon series, we spoke at length about magnifying God. What is magnifying,? It is making something seen for what it really is. To explain that, we used one of the favorite examples of John Piper. He talks about microscope (something that makes little things look bigger) magnification vs telescope (something that makes big things like planets appear more on the scale of what they really are) magnification. Remember how we said that for believers, “the calling of those who love God is to make his greatness begin to look as great as it really is. The whole duty of the Christian can be summed up in this: feel, think, and act in a way that will make God look as great as he really is.”

Magnifying God is perhaps the most important pursuit in any believers life. I want to be clear, this pursuit is a one time thing or even a “while I’m here at church” or “while I’m actively doing ministry or missionary or benevolence work. It’s an all day, every day, motivates all my actions sort of pursuit. When you go somewhere like to the store or to the doctor, do you do it live or meet a need or do you do it so that God can be and would be magnified? When you do a good dead, do you do so that you can “do a good thing” or do you do it so that can be and would be magnified. In reverse, we have to consider the bad things, the selfish things, the sinful things we do; and recognize what we are doing their. What are we doing, well tell you this for free, you are NOT magnifying God; you are magnifying yourself or someone or something else. What then should we do brothers and sisters? Here are Jesus word’s spoken as He was beginning His earthly ministry, as His cousin John the Baptist (the babe in Elizabeth) arrest, what did Jesus say? He said repent and believe in the Gospel. Repent of any sin you may have, and instead of that sin ruling that part of you, that part of your life; let The Gospel of Jesus Christ rule it instead. When you do this, then you will truly magnify The Lord.

Another action that we are to do when we Recognize the Lordship of Jesus that we will see in the text is to: Remember the Lord (50-56)

50 His mercy is from generation to generation

on those who fear him.

51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm;

he has scattered the proud

because of the thoughts of their hearts;

52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones

and exalted the lowly.

53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things

and sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

remembering his mercy

55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,

just as he spoke to our ancestors.

56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.

Mary’s song continues, recalling some of the great things God has done. Recalling the great works that God has done upon the nation of Israel through the ages. She remembers His great acts of Mercy, just like when God had freed them from slavery in Egypt. She remembered His might when scattered the proud, just like He did with the tower of Babel. She remembered how He feeds the hungry but sends the wicked away, like when He feed the nation with Manna but the selfish wicked had their food ruined. She remembered how time and time again God has helped them remember these mercies and the many more has done through the words of the prophets, most of all He has helped them remember the promise of salvation that was given thousands of years before. Now, now Mary remembers God and what He has done throughout all of the history of mankind and now she sees that it is coming into fruition through the child that she is carrying, Jesus Christ the Lord.

So often, we forget the things that are most important. We also forget things that are less important too. I read a study from a years ago that pointed out just that; that we forget things a lot. This study of 3000 American adults found that on average we lose 9 things a day, that 3,300 items a year. Of these items, we spend about 10 minutes each day looking for those lost items, which totals up to 3,680 hours or 153 days in a person’s lifetime. Now these items are common and small items like: cell phones, keys, papers, glasses or sunglasses, a per or wallet, you know every day small things just like that. I wonder, if were able to track how much or how often we forget the big and most important things in life (Like Jesus is Lord) in life.

Whether we like it or not, we probably forget this most important thing a whole lot more then we would like to admit. Just a few every day examples, that we might forget this are: When we drive even 1 mile an hour over the posted speed limit, when we think unkind thoughts of others, when we assume we know better than others, when we forget to do our daily devotional, when we choose not to speak the name of Jesus to someone (most likely out of fear), when we turn to action instead of prayer first. I could go on and on forever. So believer, I challenger and charge you, just like Mary did here; remember God. Remember God in everything you do, in every decision you make, in every thought you have, and put aside anything that that wants to remembered more than Him in that. God is the most important thing. This is true, has been true, and will always be true; to you, to me, to us, to this entire church, to the whole world, to all of creation. God is the first and foremost thing to be remembered.

Conclusion

Beloved brothers and sisters. Our very being here today, your very being here today is testimony that Jesus is Lord. It is The Lordship of Jesus is recognized, even two thousand years after the events that we are going through. It’s important though, in each believers life to not just let the recognition of Jesus’ Lordship begin and end each week at the doors of this church. You take it with you, and hold it close, hold it dear throughout the week. If you are having trouble doing that, I invite you to read this scripture passage gain, and notice these things that believers who recognize their lord do. They bless the Lord, this speak well of Him often, they praise Him and honestly they look for every exceuse every reason to bring Him up in every conversation that they have. They magnify the Lord, they make Him look Good, because He is Good God needs to be Remembered in every thought, deed, action, word, EVERYTHING that you do.

With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. Holman Bible Publishers, 2020, p. Lk 1:39–46.