Mary's Song
Notes
Transcript
Waiting
Waiting
Do any of you ever remember as a kid, or even as an adult waiting for something great to happen? Perhaps going to grandmas, or a vacation or that raise that your bosses promised you. It is almost better waiting. The anticipation building. The excitement growing. All the potential of whatever that wonderful event is is that is coming.
We as Christians have entered into a season of waiting.
We are currently in the season of Advent, per the church calendar. It actually started last week. Advent is a wonderful season. The word Advent means coming and for christians for hundreds of years this has been a season of preparation for the incarnation of Christ. The wonderfulness that God is with us, that peace has come to earth, that the king of kings and lord of lords has taken on human flesh. Now though we await the second advent of the Lord. We are anxiously anticipating the second arrival of our Jesus.
This means that as we enter into this advent season, preparing ourselves for the birth of Jesus, we simultaneously will be preparing our hearts with eager anticipation for Jesus’ second return. Who is waiting for that second return? I know I am.
We will be looking for the next four weeks at various hymns, or songs, that are contained in the opening chapters of the gospel of Luke.
The gospel of Luke is the most detailed of the gospels and it contains elements of the Christmas story, as we call it, that no other gospel contains.
The first hymn that we are going to explore is Mary’s. It is her song of praise immediately after finding out about her pregnancy and the birth of a savior.
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
As we wait for Jesus during this lead up to his coming Mary’s hymn of praise shows us some vital truths to hold onto in our personal life.
The Praise Starts with God
The Praise Starts with God
First, she says, “My soul magnifies.” She is saying I am going to stand here and tell you how great God is. How might he is?
Then she says, “My spirit rejoices.” Her she is saying that I am so happy that I want to jump around. Have you ever been so happy? I have been that happy. I am sure you have too.
But I want you to noticed that her proclamation of greatness and her bouncy joy is rooted in God. Her soul magnifies the Lord, her spirit rejoices in God her savior.
Our praise starts with a high view of God. A realization of who God is and what he has done.
Listen to what Hannah says as she praises God,
And Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in the Lord;
my horn is exalted in the Lord.
My mouth derides my enemies,
because I rejoice in your salvation.
It sounds really familiar. The idea is exactly the same. The praise is in God. It would have been so easy for Hannah here, or Mary in her praise to say something that included thanks but missed the greatness of God.
During this time of Advent let us make sure our praise is directed at God. Let us speak of our great our God is, let us rejoice with a childlike enthusiasm that proclaims that God is your savior. It is so easy during this time of the year, not only to miss out on the opportunity to praise God but it can easily become a season of discontentment. We look around at all that we do not have, all that we cannot do, all the things that we have lost and will never have again.
But we are in a season where we get to consider what God has done for us. We can echo the words of Mary, because the child that she will deliver, not only benefits her but benefits us and the entire world.
The reality is that we can praise God because there are some fundamental truth that Mary shows us that makes our praise and worship all the more fitting, and I believe that if we think on these things they will benefit us as we walk through this Christmas season.
Praise Him for He Has...
Praise Him for He Has...
Multiple times through this hymn Mary tells us what God has done. She tells us why it is so easy to praise him, why it is so easy to magnify him. These truths are universal.
He has looked upon our humble estate.
He has done great things for me.
He has shown mercy from generation to generation.
He has shown strength from his arm.
He has scattered the proud.
He has brought down the mighty.
He filled the hungry with good things.
He has helped Israel.
That is an all time list of things to praise God for. The first two are awesome because they bring it home personally. They show both our vulnerability and how God steps into that to help us.
It reminds me of of,
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
How can we not praise God for this awesomeness? A God that looks at us, sees us for who we are, knows us for who we are, knows that we have nothing to offer him because he is in need of nothing and then still does great things for us.
The rest of the he has statements that I mentioned take a different tone because Mary mentions them to point people to a god that takes care of us.
God is a god of mercy, and a god that shows mercy from generation to generation. I think this goes along with the idea that God has not forsaken us. Let’s think about from Mary’s position.
She knew OT prophecy. She knew the promises of God and up until this point it seemed as if God was not working, that God was not going to keep his promises. This is here way of saying that God is keeping his promises. That his mercy is for all times and all people and that it moves from generation to generation, and just when it seems that we have lost heart he lifts us up to remind us that he is going to keep his promise.
We must remind ourselves that God’s mercy is from generation to generation. That even now as we wait in the balance for the second advent of Jesus God’s mercy is reigning from generation to generation.
The beauty of this is that we see God’s mercy working in each and every generation, which takes us the rest of the ways through the He has statements of Mary.
We see his mercy shown as he shows his strength, as he scatters the proud, as he brings the mighty down from their thrones, as he exalts the estates of the humble, as he fills the hungry with good things, as he puts the rich in their place, as he helps his servant Israel. All of these are reminders, visible reminders of God’s mercy. This mercy that has been shown to us through Jesus.
I think this is the best time to bring this up, that this hymn of Mary is because of Jesus. When we read this list it is made possible because of Jesus. Jesus solves the problem of the world. He fixes everything that is wrong with it.
This hymn of Mary is the answer to the now popular song, “Mary Did You Know?” Mary would give a resounding yes. She may not have known the specifics but it is clear she knew that her son was going to save the world, that he has made salvation possible for all who would believe on his name.
Praise Him!
Praise Him!
Mary is truly blessed. Could you imagine what it would be like to be the mother of Jesus? To have the angels show up and tell you that you are going to have a child that will save the world. That he is the promised one of Judah that will deliver the peoples of this world from their sin.
I would appeal to you that you too are blessed. Why? Because you can be the recipient of all that God has given us through Jesus. That this son of Mary is the answer to unlocking what is the most joyous time of the year.
Read this hymn of Mary and put yourself in Mary’s place, because you too can say the same things, because God has given you all that he has given Mary.
What then will you allow this great time of anticipation be about? Are you waiting for that great present? Are you looking for people or events to fill a place in your life that only God can fill? To begin to rearrange your priorities you must take a position of praise.
Will you choose Jesus this Christmas season? Will you praise God for his goodness, his mighty strength, for his mercy that is from generation to generation.
Christian don’t let the distractions of this world steal your praise. Marvel in what God has done through Jesus and eagerly wait for Jesus.