MARY: A SONG OF TRUST

Introduction

-Luke Chapter 1

-Without a doubt one of my favorite things about the Christmas season is the music and songs that fill the air with joy and celebration—I have to admit I created a Christmas playlist on my phone and downloaded several Christmas songs about a week and a half before Thanksgiving which I know to some is a major social faux pas. But Thanksgiving was so late this year I think we can overlook it.

-I love the Christmas hymns; some of my favorites are Oh Holy Night, What Child Is This, Joy to the World and others—of course secular songs get you into the mood for Christmas too: Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells, White Christmas, Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer…

-but did you know that there are Christmas songs in the Bible—I guess you could say that these are the originals, and they came from hearts touched by God, and they are recorded for us by the Holy Spirit to speak messages of the season for us

-This week I want to look at Mary’s song—Mary had a huge part in God’s plan of redemption for mankind, but that plan also meant her life would be completely turned upside down

-Here she is your average Jewish teenager, living with her family, engaged to a local carpenter, she had plans of getting married, raising a family and living a normal Jewish life----but God had other plans

-Mary is visited by an angel of God telling her she is the chosen vessel to bring the Redeemer of mankind into the world. Mary was going to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, bear the Messiah and have responsibility of raising Him

-Now what the Gospel of Matthew touches upon is the personal problems and anxieties that this pregnancy would cause

~an unwed Jewish teen pregnant—she would have to try to explain to her parents…to Joseph that this is of God, which doesn’t seem to go over well since it says that he planned to divorce her (albeit to do it quietly because if he would have raised a stink about it she would have been stoned to death)

-But Mary had to deal with the stares and comments and harassment from the rest of the community in Nazareth (anybody who has ever lived in small town knows that everybody gets in everybody else’s business)----needless to say, God’s plan for Mary probably created a lot of anxiety because it would create a lot of difficulty and inconvenience for her

-but even knowing the cost of what would happen, Mary accepts God’s plans for her life

~Mary leaves Nazareth for a time to visit her relative Elizabeth who is also pregnant with John the Baptist and the baby leaps in the womb in response to Jesus’ preborn presence, and Elizabeth (in the Holy Spirit) blesses Mary for believing that God would fulfill in Mary what He promised. This then leads Mary to give (what I call) her song

-God’s plan meant radical changes for Mary’s life—and we have to wonder how she went from anxiety over what would happen to her, to then acceptance of the plan, even ending up adoring and worshipping God for it.

-Then, for us, it makes us wonder what do we do when God reveals to us His plan for us in the grand scheme of things, but it means radical changes (maybe new career/ministry, location, circumstances) but also may mean some uncomfortable situations? How can we go from anxiety to acceptance to adoration like Mary? ONE WORD: TRUST; not trust in self, but trust in God; and this trust is explained in her song

Luke 1:46–55 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.”

-When we are faced with the awesome realities and changes and consequences of what God’s plan for us means, we can trust God for everything, just like Mary—her song reveals what it was about God that allowed her to completely trust Him with her life in this plan

I) We trust God’s grace

-Mary is completely amazed God has anything to do with her—unlike what some might teach, Mary was not sinless (nor was she a perpetual virgin)—she is normal Jewish teenager, albeit probably a very pious Jew who loved God—but she comes from poor family, marrying a poor carpenter, she has no status—frankly in eyes of world she is a nobody

-she recognizes that she doesn’t deserve a 2nd glance from God…she isn’t the richest…most talented {and she like us had nothing to offer God}, yet God looked upon her and in His eternal wisdom called and chose her for this amazing task by grace= chose her just because He wanted to {unmerited favor}----so she gives praise about that:

~v. 48: for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant

~v. 52: [He] exalted those of humble estate

-When God calls someone to a specific purpose in the plans that He has, He does so based on His own wisdom and knowledge, not because of anything inherent within the person themselves

-so, if being chosen for God’s plan is not based on anything within us, that means fulfilling the plan isn’t based on anything within us either

~God didn’t choose you for your part of His plan because of you, but because of Him—and if He chose you only by grace, then it will only be by His grace that He will fulfill it through you; so the pressure is off of you trying to get it done on your own; God will get it done through you

-God by grace doesn’t pick people like kids picking a baseball team where you just kinda use whoever you happen to get stuck with----God isn’t playing captain of a team where He begins picking the most talented, then gets to the mediocre people, finally there’s the guy who nobody wanted on their team but there’s nobody else to pick so God’s gotta pick ‘em and do something with them

-That is not the way God works----God designed us and formed us with plan in mind, He calls us with the plan in mind, He places us with the plan in mind, and He provides us with everything we need with the plan in mind----it doesn’t matter what the world thinks of us----we can trust that by grace He chose us for the plan, by grace it will be fulfilled

II) We trust God’s power

-when God reveals His plans for you, often times it seems like an impossible task, that it is a mountain that you will never be able to climb over and you begin to wonder how it will be accomplished

-We don’t ever like to admit that we doubt God, but when we see the direction God is leading us, our little finite hearts cannot fathom how in the world we can do what He has called us to do

-Of course, that might be the problem: our focus is on ourselves instead of God=we can’t see God clearly when our eyes fixed on selves

-So God lays this big plan in front of us, we think it’s an impossible task, and we begin to question—now Mary questioned the angel (maybe not in doubting way like Zechariah), but it still represents the questions that will creep into our hearts: HOW IN THE WORLD IS THAT GOING TO GET DONE—IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE----there seems to be these insurmountable obstacles in the way, how is the plan going to get done

-Now the angel pointed Mary to other great acts of God to give her a lesson—look at Elizabeth, way past child-bearing age, about to have boy—then tops it with:

v. 37: For nothing will be impossible with God

-why is nothing impossible with God? Because He has all power and can do anything according to His will and character and nature----Mary understands this and praises God for it in vv. 51-52:

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;

(Lk. 1:51-52 ESV)

-Mary says God has all power and strength and might and He is able to do anything----God created an entire universe by His Word, a virgin birth is well within His capabilities

-God’s plan that is going to change your life might seem crazy to you and might seem crazy to some other people who you share the plan with who then join you in on your party of doubt and join you in casting uncertainties in your minds “THAT LOOKS LIKE AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK”—“DO YOU THINK IT WISE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE IN SUCH A RADICAL WAY WHEN THERE SEEMS TO BE SO LITTLE CHANCE OF SUCCESS?”

-You have to ask yourself some questions: if God can create an entire universe by His Word…if God can destroy an entire world by a flood…if God can lead an entire nation out of Egypt with numerous wonders and signs…if God can cause a virgin to give birth, is He powerful enough to fulfill this plan He has laid before me? Is God able to see this thing through?—if it is clearly a plan of God, the answer is yes, because we can trust that nothing is impossible with God—He has all power, He can make it happen

III) We trust God’s love

-Mary recounts and recognizes God’s loving compassion toward her

~vv. 49-50: 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. (Lk. 1:49-50 ESV)

~v. 53a: 53 he has filled the hungry with good things (Lk. 1:53 ESV)

-The mercy that Mary talks about is the faithful love God has toward those with whom He has a relationship (that is, with whom He has made a covenant)

-When life is easy and set on cruise control it is easy to be somewhat comfortable in the thought of God’s love—although we may take it for granted because there is nothing challenging us to really dwell upon it

-but what happens when God shows us that the next step in His plan is for us to go through some mountainous terrain (metaphorically speaking), to go through curves and hills and valleys and such

-when God’s plan means we just can’t cruise through life and the terrain is a little bumpy, then all of a sudden, we begin to doubt His love don’t we?

-Think about Mary, knowing the rough road that lay ahead (ruined reputation, possibly ruined relationships with the people on earth she loved most, the possibility of having to go it alone in a human sense), it would have been easy for the thought to cross her mind, how can God love me when He is laying all this in front of me?

-Do we do the same? Yet, do we think that somehow God’s plan is meant to make us unduly suffer for no good reason? Do we think that the plan God lays before us is just God being mean because He is a vindictive God? Do we doubt Him when He tells us He has faithful love toward us?

-Think of this, how would you feel if your child really thought that anything you did for them was meant to harm them? There was a lady who was asked by a friend to watch her two girls for the afternoon. After the friend dropped off the girls, one girl just ran right in and started playing with all the games and toys there were in the house. But the other girl went and sat in a corner of the house alone with sheer fright in her eyes. Come to find out this girl thought that her mother had dropped her off permanently. The girl actually thought that the mom was glad to have a chance to get rid of her and that she maybe never loved her in the first place. Later that day when the mom returned to pick up the children she was sick and grief-stricken to think that her child could ever have such doubts about her love. Any parent would be heart-broken to think their child would doubt their love so much.

-yet, when God’s plan means some bumps in the road, how often are we like that 2nd child, in the corner, filled with distrust toward God, thinking He doesn’t love us anymore

-is the road ahead going to be easy? Not necessarily—but you have to ask yourself, does my God love me? Yes—then trust His love—you may not understand nor like where His hand is leading you, but you can trust His heart of love for you

IV) We trust God’s faithfulness

-vv. 54-55: 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."

(Lk. 1:54-55 ESV)

-Mary looks at her circumstances through the lense of God’s faithfulness toward promises He had previously made to Israel; and if God is faithful to keep the promises to the people, He will show that same faithfulness toward her

-If you read the Bible from cover to cover, you are looking at God’s faithfulness in literally moving heaven and earth to redeem you—God promised in Gen. 3:15 that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent, that the power of sin and death would no longer be in control—the entire rest of the Bible is God faithfully fulfilling that promise, culminating in Jesus Christ

-If He is that faithful in going through all of this {LIFT BIBLE} for you, will He not be faithful to you as you fulfill His purposes and plans? Will God somehow leave you now?—trust His faithfulness as He fulfills His plans for your life through you

Conclusion

-When Mary was faced with God’s awesome plan for her life and all it entailed, she trusted Him—she allowed her trust to move her from any anxiety she may have had about following the plan, she accepted what God had for her and gave Him all adoration—all because she could trust God

-Will you trust Him as well? Years ago, there was a construction worker welding on top of a nearly completed water tower outside of Chicago. He unhooked his safety gear to reach for some pipes when a metal cage slipped and bumped the scaffolding where he stood. The scaffolding tipped, and the worker lost his balance falling 110 feet, landing facedown on a pile of dirt, barely missing rocks and construction debris. They called 911 and when paramedics arrived they found him conscious, moving, and complaining of a sore back. As paramedics carried him on a backboard toward the ambulance, he looked at them and jokingly said, “Don’t drop me!”

-Even though he jokingly said that, how often do we reflect that sentiment where we trust God from harm in the 110 foot fall (the big things which would represent trusting Him to save us from hell) yet we don’t trust Him in the 3-foot fall (the smaller things; the plans He has before us)

-If Christ’s birth shows us anything, it shows that we can trust Him

-Christian, trust His grace and power and love and faithfulness in whatever plan He has laid before you as Mary did—maybe you need to come to the altar to cry to Him: Lord, I trust you in general, but help me to trust you in the specifics…

-maybe some here never trusted Him for the fall to hell {GOSPEL}