Luke 1:46-56 - God gives mercy to those in need

Okay. Thanksgiving is officially over.

It’s finally safe to put up your Christmas decorations without ridicule.

You can finally play Christmas music and not look like a jerk.

We have some interesting traditions around Christmastime.

People take a tree from outside and put it inside.

Instead of shining a light on the tree, we put lights in the tree.

We buy paper for the sole purpose of throwing it away.

“We want it to be a surprise”—It’s in an Amazon box. We usually don’t know what’s in it anyway.

One thing we do more than any other time of the year is sing.

Christmastime has its own genre of music.

We gather together and we sing.

Some people make special trips to nursing homes

There is something about singing that illuminates our hearts and brings us joy.

Explain sermon series context

We are in an Advent series called God Gives.

Advent means “arrival” or “coming.”

This is the time where we reflect on the first coming of Christ, when the Son of God took on human flesh and live like a man.

Mary is a young girl who had never married, and an angel came to her and told her that she would be pregnant with the Son of God.

Now she’s gone to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who was an elderly woman who had become pregnant with who would become John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus.

Elizabeth tells her that the baby in her womb leaped for joy at her greeting because the mother of the Lord had visited them!

The Holy Spirit revealed to Elizabeth that the baby Mary was carrying was the Savior of the world.

Elizabeth is the first person to proclaim that Jesus is Lord, even before He is born.

These women knew that God’s plan was about to be fulfilled.

They had a desperate need of a Savior, and God was sending Him into the world.

Big Idea: God gives mercy to those in need

After Elizabeth proclaims that Jesus is Lord and celebrates, Mary begins to sing a song filled with hope and rich truth about God.

Stand to read

Luke 1:46–56 ESV

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.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Leader: This is God’s Word.

Everyone: Thanks be to God.

Mary begins by expressing that her soul makes great the Lord (vv. 46-47)

God cannot be made bigger, but He can be seen as bigger in our eyes.

His greatness can be seen in a different way and this leads us to understand Him just a little bit more.

So many people get deterred because they don’t know everything there is to know about the Bible.

If we consider the Bible a meal, we are not able to eat it in one sitting.

You’ll get a bellyache.

The Lord has called us to taste and see that He is good.

Every taste we get of God’s glory should stir our souls toward the Lord.

This is why we seek to know Him

Every new thing we learn from the Word is one more thing we can delight in!

The fuller our knowledge of His greatness, the greater our ability to enlarge Him (Kent Hughes)

Mary is exploding in worship because of the Lord.

This is a major expression of thankfulness to God.

We don’t celebrate things nearly hard enough.

When you hear a good song or take a bite of an amazing juicy steak—then you get a little bop going.

When my son was born, we were first-time parents and the only thing I knew about the birth-giving process outside of the awful “miracle of life” video from the 80’s the show in middle school was horrific war-stories of screaming and dad’s passing out.

Not this guy. I’m going to be the coolest dad ever.

I didn’t pass out—During Silas’s entrance, I turned into a highly-caffeinated cheerleader.

I was jumping and cheering, all-the-while thinking, “Way to be cool. You look ridiculous Why are you doing this? Chill out please!”

I could not contain or control my excitement.

This is almost impulsive. Her intense joy in the Lord has led her to sing.

This is a powerful and emotive way of saying “My whole self—all that I am—magnifies and praises the Lord”

Why does she sing this way?

Luke 1:48–50 ESV

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.

Mary emphasizes God’s power, holiness, and mercy.

Power

The Lord does the impossible!

Virgin wombs conceive, hearts of stone are turned to hearts of flesh, and He raises dead men!

Holy (is His name)

God’s holiness more than any other attribute describes who He is.

When we experience the presence of God, it is overwhelming because we are unholy creatures who experience the pure holiness of God.

This is why our hearts are of humble estate before Him.

Mercy

God deals with imperfect people through His mercy.

Mary mentions that God’s mercy goes from generation to generation.

When the Lord sets His affections on you, He loves you to your end—to you death—and beyond!

God’s mercy extends to His end!

Luke, Vol. 1—That You May Know the Truth Mary’s Divine Celebration (vv. 49–50)

Whom God loves He loves to the end; and not only to their end, to their death, but to His end; and His end is, that He might love them still

Kent Hughes

Mary is overflowing in joy and delight in God.

She sings about His character because that tells us what we can expect from Him!

When we understand who God is, we can trust what He will do.

Church,

We trust God for what He will do

Mary praises God as if He has already done it (vv. 48-49)

This is an intense trust in what God said He was going to do.

Gospel presentation

We have all sinned against God

In our sin, we deserved judgement/wrath/condemnation.

You deserved for God to hate you.

We deserved an eternity in hell separated from the love of God.

But notice, that He approached those who are in need!

Those of humble estate!

Those who fear Him!

Not those who are righteous and have their act together!

Not those who clean themselves up!

The Lord is merciful toward people who have sinned against Him!

His mercy is for those who need mercy!

What did He do?

He was sending His Son into the world to save us from our sins.

This reality brings Mary’s heart to life.

God was going to provide the perfect Savior at the perfect time to give eternal life to all who would trust in Him!

What can we trust the Lord to do?

Save those who fear Him from their sins and give them eternal life.

You can trust that God will save you and give you mercy when you trust in His Son Jesus Christ.

Will you trust in Christ for salvation?

When we actually trust the Lord to save us, we will erupt in worship, just like Mary did.

Transition

Mary calls us to remember what the Lord has done.

His character and nature informs us what He will do.

It also confirms what He has done.

Her confidence in God’s mercy comes from a history/record of faithfulness

Luke 1:51–53 ESV

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.

A result of God’s character is that He humbles to proud and lifts up the humble.

Prayer is where we learn who we truly think the master is.

I come to the Lord demanding, and sometimes he tells me no.

- have two responses possible

—— will I pout and say, “how could you?”

—— Will I trust and receive his plan that he who is mighty will continue to do great things, restore justice, and bring his promised kingdom?

Because of who he is God satisfies the hungry and the poor and frustrates the rich and lofty.

God scatters the proud

God topples the mighty

God empties the rich

The Lord exalts the lowly, fills the hungry, and pours out His mercies on His people.

His mercy is for those who don’t deserve it and can’t earn it!

Mary emphasizes the Lord’s covenant promises to Israel.

Luke 1:54–55 ESV

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.”

Trusting in a covenant and promise can be hard.

Especially if you have experienced abuse or betrayal before.

Unfaithfulness in marriage

Unforgiveness and bitterness has creeped into a relationship

Mary is singing about God’s faithfulness because we know He will not break His promise.

The Lord has worked all throughout the Scriptures on Israel’s behalf and now she is seeing all of God’s promises in the Old Testament be fulfilled in Christ!

He had promised His people Israel for salvation and a Savior, now He’s bringing Him into the world!

Mary looks at God’s covenant with His people Israel and says, “This is a done deal.”

God is committed to His love and affections to His people!

His mercy is an accomplished fact (vv. 54-55)

For those in Christ, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ.

Church,

We praise God for what He has done

The basis of our worship often come when we realize what God has done in our lives.

Consider what He has redeemed you from.

You were not worthy of Jesus to come to you.

You and I were enemies of God.

We needed a Savior but had no hope in the world.

Gospel presentation

He has provided a perfect Savior in Christ.

The Son of God came to take our sins away through His death on the cross.

Jesus took our punishment to give us forgiveness and and acceptance.

Then Jesus rose again from the dead to guarantee our eternal life with Him forever.

The Lord has provided everything we need in Christ for salvation.

God has given His mercy to sinners in need.

He meets all our needs in Christ.

If you’re not a Christian, God can meet every need you have in Christ.

You can be forgiven of all your sin and brought into God’s family today.

You can have the mercies of God.

Take the next step toward Jesus

Repent of your sins and trust in Jesus to change you.

Every single person has a next step to take.

Take the Next Step

Recognize God’s faithfulness in your life.

What can you celebrate?

What do you trust Him to do?

Share this mercy with someone in need.

Spiritual need.

We need to be set free from our sins.

Every person you know is a sinner in need of God’s mercy.

This is the very reason that God sent His Son to die for our sins.

Transition to Communion

We’re coming into communion, to remember the sacrifice of the Son of God who brought mercy for sinners in need of a Savior.