The Effects of the Presence of Jesus

Presence is a powerful thing! I’m not talking about the presents under the tree but the act of someone or something being present. How much more powerful is the presence of Jesus, God in the form of man!

One big thing that I would like for us to take away from this morning’s message is that the Christmas story and the many aspects of it are for the entire year. Sure, we take time out of the normalcy of life to celebrate the coming of Jesus to earth but all of the different aspects of Christmas are a part of everyday life.

In this morning’s message Jesus has not yet been born, and yet He is already having an effect on the lives of those He is around. There are some instances where His effects are very subtle where there are other moments where the effects are significant.

First, we see the effects of the presence of Jesus on

Community

Inevitably, when we talk about community, you better believe that I am going to talk about church and the unique local bodies of believers that make up individual churches.

Let’s consider again what is going on in Mary’s life leading up to verse 39. She has just learned, from an angel, that she has conceived a child. Not just any child but the son of God, the promised Messiah. She’s also learned that this miracle, this thing that once seemed impossible, was made possible because of God and was not just unique to her because her relative, Elizabeth, was also with child though she was well along in years.

There is only one person who might be able to feel for Mary in this moment. There are just two people who could understand the situation that she finds herself in. So, Mary goes to them and goes to them in a hurry. We are told that she goes in haste! This doesn’t just mean that She went to the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth with great speed but there was also a great deal of excitement within her. Sure, the news that she had just learned of was frightening, but she has already submitted herself to the will of the Lord.

Who do you rush to when you receive both frightening or even

When community is concerned, I hope that it is clear that Jesus is the perfect common ground for the church to be built on. No matter a person’s background, the saving work that was accomplished on the cross is something that we are all drawn to. This was the effect of the presence of the Lord on Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah and continues to be the effect on Christ’s church today. We gather under one roof, sharing one faith, believing one bible, and celebrating one resurrection. There is great unity in the presence of Jesus in community but here we can see next the effect of Jesus on

People

Just upon the greeting, we are able to see just how greatly others are affected by the presence of Jesus. First, they are filled with excitement. The baby leaps and Elizabeth exclaims! For so many, the arrival of this Messiah was much anticipated.

But do we have the same sort of excitement when it comes to the presence of Jesus. Do we “leap” when merely thinking about corporate worship. Is the excitement almost too much to bear as we tell others what has happened in our lives because the Lord lives? This sort of excitement is something we are able to observe in the lives of others.

But we can also see that there are emotions involved in this. She does not just greet Mary, but Elizabether actually exclaims and cries out. As others realize just what Jesus presence means for their own souls, surely they will be filled with emotion. Even as other people think about what Jesus has done for them in the past, their eye well up with tears considering where they might be if it were not for the mercy of the Lord.

The presence of Jesus brings about excitement and emotion to other people but it also brings about humility. We can see quite clearly, after addressing just how favored Mary is because of the child that she carries, that Elizabeth feels unworthy of the presence of her Lord. You see, if Mary had entered by herself without the Lord in her womb, there wouldn’t have been any sort of question as to why. Only because of the baby boy that she was carrying was Elizabeth so honored.

One fourth point I want to make regarding the effect of Jesus on others is their view of the word of God, found in verse 45. Elizabeth makes quite clear that Mary has been blessed because she believed that God’s word would be fulfilled. But what does this do to power of God’s word over Elizabeth? Well, while it does not technically gain any more or less power, it does gain more of a foothold in her life. It is as if there is some grip where Elizabeth, though she has already seen the power of God in her own life with God giving her a son, might have been in need of additional belief.

SALVATION

The third effect that the presence of Jesus has is on

Worship

Simply put, our worship means so much more when the object of our worship is placed on display before us. I’ll never forget the service we had on Easter Sunday this year that followed the birth of Matthew Kole Mouser. We sang, “How sweet to hold a new born baby” and I couldn’t help but be filled with joy as I remember that all of these blessings that I’m surrounded by can be traced back to God. The words we sang together that morning sounded so much better. The fellowship we had was sweet. I don’t know if it sounded any better to you, but I had more joy in preaching!

Mary is carrying a baby who would some day die for the sins of the world and her relative, Elizabeth, surely reminds her of what a privilege that must have been. And now we turn to the effect of her worship. It is focused on God. The worship from her lips magnify the Lord. They attempt to make Him greater to those who are looking on. There is rejoicing as Mary considers that God is her Savior. And the rejoicing is from the soul rather than just Mary’s lips or lungs. She means what she says about God!

This worship is humble in nature because she understands that she is not worthy of even God to look upon her. Yet, He did much more than that and the generations that were to come would see her as blessed because of who her son was!

Mary’s song here covers multiple attributes of God, from His might to the holiness of His name.

Any time we worship, we will inevitably consider our own interaction with God. Verse 50 highlights the mercy of God for those who fear Him. It is significant that we look at God’s existence from the beginning of time up to this point and on into eternity. He is unchanging.

Mary focuses on the strength of the Lord in verse 51 and 52, putting on display that His power is greater than all peoples of all time. Because of His strength, God feeds the hungry and in His justice has taken from those who were once rich in verse 53. And finally, Mary points out that His people have been blessed because God has remained faithful to His people just as He promised Abraham!

Just an interaction with Jesus propels Mary to worship Him. Such an interaction should change the way that we worship as well. We will go from normally living life to attempting to glorify God in everything we do. We will go from standing by idly as the rest of the church sings hymns to engaging with the worship and preparing our hearts for what is to come. Our worship becomes a response to God’s word and what He has promised rather than just singing some old hymns.

To point out that these effects reach far and wide, consider Acts 2. The community changes. Individuals hear the preaching of God’s word and are radically altered, and they worship together!

Read Acts 2:41-47

Have you seen the effects of the presence of God in your life? Have you accepted salvation and witnessed the work of the Holy Spirit just as Elizabeth did?