Holy Is His Name
Holy Is His Name
St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord
August 15, 1999
Luke 1:46-55
When Mary says, “the Mighty One has done great things for me-- holy is his name,” she glorifies God. She praises neither herself, nor the great things done to her. Only the Giver of great things is worthy of such honor, “holy is His name.” Mary offers no interpretation of God. That God’s name is Holy, is fact. He is Holy whether Mary thinks so, or not. Of course, her words reveal her thoughts. They reveal her holiness. They reflect God’s truth and activity in her life. Because of this, her song helps us rejoice that God’s name is holy also among us.
1. Our God is holy.
Holy means without sin and supreme. There are no others like Him. God commands Moses to, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.’” Lev. 19:2. “Be holy!” How many of you are holy? What a frightening thought, is it not?
The angelic Seraphs behold and announce God’s holiness before a frightened Isaiah who stands in the presence of God. “They were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’” Is. 6:3.
Holy means hating sin. Listen to the words of the Psalmist. “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with You the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all who do wrong.” Ps 5:4-5. No wonder Isaiah cries out “Woe to me…I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah confesses his sinfulness in these words. Unholy people cannot stand before the Holy God and live.
God displays this most clearly for all to see at the cross of Jesus. There, “Jesus cries out in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’-- which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” Isaiah knows why. “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment … was upon Him.” Is. 53:5. Why did God do that? “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.”
2. We are not holy.
Even Mary acknowledged her need of a Savior. She, too, was born in the likeness of sinful man, as are all people since Adam and Eve. Yet, by God’s own choosing and work, she conceives that blessed child and Savior of all, Jesus.
We all need a Savior. Scripture bears witness this way: In Rom. 3:19, Paul says, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.”
In Eccl. 7:20, the Teacher proclaims, “there is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”
Therefore, apostle John says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 Jn 1:8.
We all need a Savior. Not even the blessed Virgin Mother, Mary, escapes the result of original sin. How, then, can she be considered Holy? Is it even possible for us to become what God demands, “Holy as the Lord … God is Holy?” Thank God, the answer is yes.
3. God’s holiness is active in grace and mercy.
Isaiah was a sinful, unholy, man who deserved less than a second glance from God. Yet, God’s grace shows love to the least deserving. God sends the Seraphs to the unlikely prophet with this message, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” In other words, God makes Isaiah Holy by a demonstrable act of grace and mercy.
God’s mercy withholds punishment from those who deserve it because of Him who did not deserve it. Isaiah says the punishment “that brought us peace was upon him, and by His wounds we are healed.” The apostle of God also says, “When you were dead in your sins …God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations … he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” Holy Is His Name.
In holiness, God acts to bring His own Son into the world by the womb of a simple servant girl.
In holiness, God acts to punish sin once for all, for all, in His own Son.
In holiness, God acts to raise a multitude to glory, in His own Son.
In holiness, God acts in baptism to give us new birth into His heavenly realm and connect us to the death and resurrection of His own Son (Rom 6:3, 5).
In holiness, God acts to empower our daily living with the life of His own Son.
In holiness, God acts to touch us with His Word and make us His Holy People, in His own Son. This is just what Jesus prays will happen when He asks the Father to “Sanctify, (make them holy), by the truth; Your Word is truth.”
In holiness, God now acts through us to bear His Holy name to others.
Now, in Christ, we live with the righteousness of faith as God’s holy people (Eph 1:1).
Now, in Christ, we are, “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, [to] declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Now, in Christ, we join Mary in a song of praise. Amen.
LW 436 vv. 1, 5 – 7.