Advent Week 1: The Magnificat

Sermon Rough Draft

Introduction: Welcome to Advent

It is Advent 201. This is a season that Christians mark in their calendar as a season of preparation and intentional worship. It’s nearly a month where we set aside intentional space to reflect on the incarnation of Christ, and the reality of Emmanuel - God With Us. For the Christian this ought to be a season of slowing down, of extra time in prayer, in reflection and meditation on God’s Word, of intentionality with others and pursuing reconciliation in light of the incarnation. Advent if practiced well, ought to be one of those seasons of reorientation, back to center.

Personal

Why then does Advent often feel more like a Hallmark holiday than a powerful season of spiritual revival? Why, often despite our best intentions, are our Christmas’s remembered mostly for something or someone other than Jesus, and His birth? I want this Advent to be marked by deep and abiding joy in us as followers of Christ. I want something new in us. Something other worldly. I want a mark on this Church that is undeniable and distinguished from every other Spirit out there. I want God’s people shaken by the reality of the goodness of the gospel and stirred by the reality of the incarnation.

Context: An Advent Reorientation

The theme of our sermon series this Advent is joy. And if there is one quality that marks Christians unique in this hyper divided, hyper politicized, hyper anxiety-ridden, world we are living in, it is the mark of Joy in the Spirit. Today we’re going to kick this sermon series off by looking at an astounding prayer, that was prayed by an astounding woman. This prayer throughout Church history has been called The Magnificat. As I read and studied this text this week, I was regularly brought to a place of worship. Where I no longer wanted to write a sermon, but just be with the Lord. I pray it accomplishes the same for you this morning. Three insights from Mary’s Prayer that might lead us towards an Advent Reorientation this Year.

Reading

This prayer has been called the Magnificat. It goes like this:

“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.” And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.” (Luke 1:46–56, ESV)

Move 1: Mary Had a High Vision of God

The first need is that we need a Greater Vision of God. When you think of god or when you pray to god, what words come to mind. The reality is that one of the reasons we don’t worship with this kind of enthusiasm and hunger, is because our thoughts of God are far too small. But to listen Mary prays. Listen to what comes out of her mouth when she reflects on God.

Verse 48: “He has looked upon the humble estate of his servant.” She’s recalling 1 Samuel 1:11 the promises of Scripture that God looks down on our lives. He is a watching God, engaged meaningfully, not distant and removed.

Verse 49: “He who is mighty.” Taken from Psalm 89:8. His might signifies His great strength and power. The original manuscripts reads “the mighty one.” When she considers God she goes to His sheer strength and power and might.

Verse 49: “Holy is His name.” Taken from Isaiah 57:15. We could preach a whole sermon on this description of God. The word Holy has two connotations. First it means “Set Apart.” God is set apart. He is too wonderful to describe. His works are too marvelous to comprehend. He is utterly other. But the word Holy also describes Personal Righteousness. God is perfect in His glory. His being is of perfect moral beauty because quite literally what we call morality in this realm is an expression of His very being.

Verse 50: “His mercy is for those who fear Him.” From Deuteronomy 5:10. God is merciful. Mercy is when you don’t get the wickedness you deserve. We are told in scripture that God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. God is not quick to give His anger, rather He extends mercy to those who don’t deserve it. But He is also to be feared. He is not to spoken of flippantly, for He alone holds the keys to life and death, eternity is in His hand.

Verse 51: “He has shown strength.” Again Mary quoting from Psalm 89:10. This strength is describing God’s sovereignty. He works in and behind the affairs of mankind. There is not one stray molecule in all of God’s perfect creation. Each molecule flows in the path to which has been assigned and to which it is sustained by God. He is strong and sovereign.

Verse 52: “He brings down the mighty.” Quoted from Job 5:11. Mary is recalling in her worship that no authority or power rules, reigns, or has dominion on this Earth but that which God permits. The mighty fall at God’s command. And others rise at His command as well.

Verse 53: “He fills the hungry with good things.” Quoted from Psalm 34:10. God cares deeply for those in brokenness. Your plight is not evidence that God has abandoned you. Rather in your plight, in your poverty, in your hunger, in your need turn to God, for He gives good things to those who seek Him. The promise here is not one of prosperity, but one of having the deepest needs of your soul satisfied.

Verse 54: “He remembers his promises to Abraham.” From Psalm 132:11. God’s Word is true. His promises are true. Not one letter of God’s Word will fail or has ever failed. Which means the promises of God to you, through the Scriptures, stand. You can rest on them, you can build a life on them.

Here is a young teenage girl who’s soul magnifies the Lord. She has a vision of God that is ten times bigger than most in this room. Her knowledge of God has created a vision in her mind that is captivating of her God and savior. He has become her all. He is greater than the most beautiful poetry. He is more beautiful than the most soul-stirring artwork. He is Holy and Sovereign and to be feared. We wonder why we have a hard time worshipping, and making the main thing the main thing at Advent. Perhaps it is because we spend so much time absorbed in the greatness of everything besides God.

I want to lift up your mind and your eyes to have a greater vision of God. Let Him consume your intellect and your imagination. He is bigger than you would ever dream. He is not categorized into man made boxes, He is who He is, period. He is to be feared for with him are the keys to your salvation and the only entrance to eternal life. Psalm 19:1 reminds us that, “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” From the greatest and and most eccentric awe inspiring photographs of the known and unknown universe, there is one God who created it all, and it all proclaims the glory of God. Every star, and cluster of galaxies, proclaims the name of the Trinitarian God. He sustains it all.

Not Sentimentalism

Ahhh, but in the incarnation, that mighty God becomes imminent in the person of Jesus Christ, the child born in a manger. Oh… We need to allow our souls to be stirred again. Not by Christmas Sentimentalism but by the sheer reality of God made flesh. That’s Christmas - He who sustains the universe the Word of His power, growing in the womb of young Mary. Let that sink in. You’ve heard this story too many times, and you’ve lost the awe of it all. God, took on flesh.

We All Magnify Something

The question is not - does your soul magnify or does your spirit rejoice? Each and every person in this room has a soul that is magnifying something, has a Spirit that is rejoicing in something. The question is what or to whom is your Spirit rejoicing? Do you love Christmas more than Christ, I pray not! I pray that the incarnation would consume your heart this Christmas.

Move 2: Mary Had a Very Humble Vision of Herself

The first need we have if we are to reorient ourselves is to give ourselves a Greater Vision of God. The second need we have is that we need a Smaller Vision of Ourselves. Throughout Mary’s prayer, one of the things that bleeds through her words is her humility. She takes a low posture of herself.

Verse 47:“My spirit rejoices in God my savior.” That’s from Psalm 35:9. In this statement she first and foremost recognizes that she is a person in need of salvation. She is not self-sufficient, she is dependent. She is not a strong overcomer. She is in need of someone to rescue her from her sin.

Verse 48: “He has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” Verse 52: “He has exalted those of humble estate.” Again that’s from 1 Samuel 1:11. She describes the humble estate that she lives in. That word translated “humble estate” means: lowliness, an unpretentious state or condition. When she considers God’s relationship to her, she stands in awe that God would consider her, that such a mighty God would even concern Himself with her story.

Verse 48: “His servant.” Verse 54 “He has helped his servant Israel.” Then in that same verse she gives herself the title of His servant. The word doulos and a literal translation might be, “your slave.” This is a woman who identifies herself as meek, mild, and unworthy of any other title.

Verse 51: “He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.” Verse 52: He has brought down the mighty from their thrones.” Taken from another perspective she considers those who might exalt themselves, who might think highly of themselves, their skills, and their accomplishments and she rebukes such a self-admonishing thought. There is no room for self-pride and ego in God’s Kingdom. He gets all the glory!

Do you want to have actual joy despite your circumstances this Christmas, one have a bigger view of God and two have a much smaller view of yourself. See his greatness, see your lowliness. See his Aseity, See your dependence. See his strength, and see your weakness. See His Wisdom, and see your folly. See his grace and see your pride.

Curved In On Oneself: Augustine

We get this so backwards. There is a man in Church History named Augustine. Augustine coined a phrase that so well describes our current cultural climate and why we have a hard time making less of ourselves. In latin the phrase is “incurvatus in se.” Literally, in English it means “Curved in oneself. The idea is quite simple, our lives as humans were meant to be like arrows pointing to our Father in heaven. We as humans are made in the image of God, and inherent in our wiring and in our fabric of our composition is the natural response of the human heart to point upwards towards God and His glory. But what sin has done is curved that arrow in on ourselves. It happens increasingly over time, decision by decision, moment by moment, we curl up and curl in on ourselves.

Disordered Loves

What this reveals is that we have an extremely disordered set of loves in our life. We have allowed the love of ourselves to overtake our souls. Our affections are consumed with OUR concerns. We think so highly of ourselves. We love our own beauty, our own status, our own virtues, our own knowledge, our own networks, our own greatness. And when you make much of yourself you rob God of the glory He is due, and you’re curving in on yourself.

The greatest need in your life is the need of your soul to find its worth and value wrapped up in the majesty of the King of Kings. The greatest need in your life is to be transformed by the power of the living God, to be straightened out, transformed from a person who is bent inwards concerned only with their own small world, to a person who straightened up, concerned with the things of God. Church - do you want to develop a true heart like Mary that is in awe of God, you must pursue the humble path, the lowly path. Jesus spoke so much about this. Consider his words in Matthew 20:25-28

“But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” (Matthew 20:25–28, ESV)

Church - Servants serve. And they do so joyfully. We spend so much time looking in the mirror, considering our own greatness, our own worth. When all the while any worth we have is only borrowed from Christ.

Move 3: Mary Saw Beyond Her Circumstances

Lastly, Mary saw beyond her circumstances. Consider Mary for a moment. Mary has every reason to focus in on herself and her challenges in life. She’s about to be a young teenage unwed mother in Israel. You want to talk about challenges? She has every reason to magnify the challenges in her life. She has every reason to allow her emotions and affections to be dominated by what she can see in front of her eyes, hurdles and challenges and trials and tribulations. But she cries out, “My soul rejoices in God my savior.” This type of rejoicing in the midst of life’s challenges is not the natural way of things. You must train yourself to do this. We naturally curved in ourselves and we allow misery of circumstance to smother the reality of the joy of our salvation. What’s that?!

Verse 47: “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” To rejoice is to leap with joy. To have emotional response well up from within you that God is good.

Verse 48: “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.” Mary is considering what God has done for her and in her life, and she recognizes that despite the hardship she will go through, others will look in on her life and say, “Surely her God has blessed her.”

Verse 49: “He who is mighty has done great things for me.” God has lavished undeserved love and merit on Mary. Notice here, Mary has just got done praying how humble her estate is, how low her position is, and yet she goes on to praise God for not only taking notice of her, but lavishing “great things” upon her.

Verse 52: “He has exalted those of humble estate.” When she considers the impact of God’s work in her life, she considers that she has been exalted. God has lifted her up, seated her in a position of receiving much. She hadn’t earned it or deserved it. It was simply unmerited favor from God.

Verse 54: “He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” Very important verse. She sees her own story as part of a much larger story that God has been writing throughout history.

How Could Mary Pray Such Prayers

How could Mary pray such prayers under such circumstances? It is because she understood by faith that not only was there a God that was bigger than her circumstances, but that that very God was for her. Mary’s circumstances were unique. She alone was chosen of all the history of humanity to carry the child Jesus in her womb. What a profound blessing. And yet this prayer can be said by any Christian no matter their circumstance.

Illustration: GRIP

Some time ago I was serving every week through a Ministry called GRIP the School, in a High School on the near west side of the city. And in early December things started getting rough. Fights were breaking out more than usual. Kids were getting suspended and expelled. At one point we only had three of the kids in our class that were normally there. And the teacher, this wonderful man, pulled me aside after the students had been been dismissed and he said, “You don’t know what’s going on, do you?” He said Christmas is a very hard time for these kids. Because every billboard and every commercial shows a happy family with presents loaded to the ceiling. And every time they see that image, it’s a reminder that that is not what they have.

Our Circumstances

In some people, like those kids I was trying to serve, it can be quite easy to see how we allow our circumstances to rob us of joy in Christ. But those kids are just human, and they’re doing what humans do. All of us have a unique set of circumstances in our life that are well beyond our control. From poverty, to worry about our children, stress about our job, need of a job, unsaved loved ones, guilt over personal sin, divorce, sickness, fear about the next chapter in your life. If we as Christians are not careful we will allow our circumstances to define our reality, our circumstances will we can see, all we can reflect upon. Let it not be so for the Christian! Your God is bigger than your circumstances! And your personal story is part of a much bigger story that God is writing.

The Gospel: He Has Done Great Things For Me

You might say, “What great things has God done for me?” as verse 49 says, or “How has God exalted someone like me of humble estate?” I tell you the Gospel has more than fulfilled those verses in your own life. He is who is mighty has done great things for you. The Scriptures say that you were an enemy of God, a rebel to His Kingdom, a servant of darkness. The story of Scripture is that you had utterly turned your back on the God who created you in order to know you. You were without hope, estranged from God. But God in sheer mercy looked down on us in our rebellion and extended grace upon grace for sinners like us. And in Luke chapter 1 we are introduced to the reality that God who created you, entered into your experience through the womb of Mary. He experienced it all, from womb to tomb. There is no experience you will ever go through that in some form He did not experience himself. Hebrews 4:15 says this about Christ:

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15, ESV)

And on the cross, Jesus Christ took the penalty for your sin upon His shoulder. He bore wrath and despised the shame. He went to the grave for you, in your place. He conquered the grave for you. See, praying Mary’s prayer ought to be said like this, for he who is mighty has done great things for me!

Closing

Let the truth of the Gospel, and the hope of resurrection truly satisfy you this Advent, in a way that perhaps you never have opened up yourself to experiencing before. May you be overwhelmed at God’s love for you, in Christ. May your circumstances seem bearable as you place them on His mighty shoulders.