The 1^st Sunday in Advent

SERMON

INI

Text: Luke 1:46-48

And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.”

In Christ Jesus, our blessed Savior whose return we anticipate and for which we want to prepare our hearts, dear fellow redeemed:

There are announcements that come to us at times, which we do not expect and for which we are unprepared. Such announcements may be either good or bad, or at times a combination of both good and bad, yet by reason of the fact that they are unexpected, it takes time for us to adjust our thoughts and emotions. Yes, we hear the news, but it may be hard to believe and it certainly takes us by surprise. We need time to adjust our thinking and prepare for whatever the announcement may inform us is coming.

The announcement of the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would bear the Christ-Child was just such an announcement. Mary was surprised and perplexed, willing yet no doubt anxious, for what she was being told was totally unexpected. She was engaged to be married, but soon would be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. How would she explain this situation to her parents and to her fiancé Joseph? It would take time to adjust her thinking, much less help those close to her to understand and accept the situation. It would appear that Gabriel understood that fact when he informed her that her cousin, Elizabeth, was also about to have a child—a very special child in her old age. In view of that information, which almost served as a suggestion, Mary traveled south from Nazareth to the hill country of Judea to visit her cousin. Elizabeth had somehow been informed of Mary’s news and greeted her as “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:43). It was in response to Elizabeth’s greeting, that the words of our text, which has every since been known as the Magnificat, were uttered by Mary. These words reveal the thoughts of the young Virgin Mary, as she prepared her heart for the coming of her Child—the Christ promised by God. Let us review those words this Advent Season. Yes, LET US PREPARE OUR HEARTS AS MARY DID WITH JOY…

I.

…so that we too might magnify the LORD our Savior! Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” The expressions of joy that Mary uses are reflections of the words used centuries before by Hannah, who rejoiced upon the birth of her son Samuel. Both women rejoiced in the “LORD”—that intimate and personal God who takes such an interest in each of us personally—who loves us and is determined to help us. Mary’s soul “magnified,” that is glorified, praised, uplifted, extolled the name of her God. She was so overcome by His grace and mercy, that she was spiritually overwhelmed, and that rightly so, for what was happening to her was certainly without precedence and truly a miracle of God’s grace.

Notice that Mary centers her attention and joy on the fact that God was her “Savior!” Mary was not sinless as some suggest, nor is she a co-redemtrix with her son, Jesus. Mary is not to be worship as a god, nor to be considered equal to God. No, while Mary was the object of God’s grace and certainly a young woman to be honored as God’s chosen vessel to bear His Son, she was still a sinner as we are. She confessed herself to be the same. She knew that she was unworthy of God’s grace and blessing. She knew without the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior, she would be without hope. Yes, she knew that she needed God’s forgiveness, and she rejoiced that He would so graciously provide that forgiveness through the work that her son would perform on behalf of us all. So it was that Mary prepared her heart—a heart filled with joy—by humbly recognizing her need of salvation and placing her trust in her Child who was soon to be born.

My dear friends, LET US PREPARE OUR HEARTS AS MARY DID WITH JOY by bearing in mind that we too are sinful and need a Savior and by placing our trust in that Savior. Let us not take on the self-reliant attitude of so many in our world, thinking that we need no Savior and that we are doing fine all by ourselves, thank-you very much! Rather, let us humble ourselves before our God and acknowledge our dependence upon Him. He is good and gracious and will in no way cast us away. Rather as we join Mary in magnifying our Lord, we may rest assured that He will receive us as His dear children!

II.

Yes, LET US PREPARE OUR HEARTS AS MARY DID WITH JOY, secondly, because we too are the objects of God’s love—being called to faith and fulfilling our roles in Christ’s kingdom! Mary went on to praise her Savior God by saying, “For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant.” It must have taken a while for Mary totally to have grasped what was happening to her. She was, after all, perhaps only fourteen or fifteen at the time. While initially she did not understand how it could be that she would conceive a child, for she had not been with Joseph, she was willing to accept God’s choice and decision. How she must have pondered why God had chosen her? The answer to that question lies not in Mary herself, but in the love and grace of God Himself. Grace is undeserved love, and so Mary acknowledged that she was very “lowly”—nothing special in the eyes of the world—a simply peasant girl from a small town in Galilee. She seemed like such an unlikely choice, yet God chose her above all other to become the mother of the Savior.

In a very real sense we are all the objects of God’s love. Think of those very familiar words of Jesus, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It was God’s grace, which moved Him to determine to rescue us from the lowly estate in which sin places us all. He sent Jesus to take our place, to remove our sins, to provide us both with forgiveness and righteousness. Then He calls us to faith, changing the Bible tells us our hearts of stone into soft and pliable hearts of flesh, which love Him and desire to serve Him. To each of us He gives our calling—not as the mother of Jesus, as was Mary; nor even as the earthly father of Jesus, as was Joseph. But He calls us to preach and to teach, to serve as fathers and mothers of other dear children, who need to hear and learn of their Savior, to use our respective gifts and talents within His kingdom. The purpose of our calling is defined in Scripture. We are to build each other up—to grow together in grace and knowledge—to glorify our Savior and to bring blessing to one another. Yes, LET US PREPARE OUR HEARTS AS MARY DID WITH JOY, because we too are the objects of God’s love—being called to faith and fulfilling our roles in Christ’s kingdom!

III.

Let us do so, finally, in view of the fact that we too will inherit a future filled with blessing! Mary stated, “Henceforth all generations will call me blessed!” We seldom think of the trials and troubles that Mary faced during those early months of her pregnancy. She no doubt spent a few sleepless nights wondering how to inform Joseph. It would appear that it did not go well, for Matthew reveals to us in his Gospel account that Joseph planned to divorce Mary after hearing about her pregnancy, thinking her to have been unfaithful. Yet, by faith Mary persevered in her calling, and she recognized that truth which has been such a comfort to Christians down through the years, that “all things work together for good to those who love God and who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). These matters, Mary recognized, would be resolved and future generations would recognize that she had been blessed by God and would rejoice with her in that blessing!

We share that blessing do we not! Not that our names are recorded in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth, as is Mary’s. But our names are written in the Book of Life because of the precious work of Mary’s Son, Jesus. Ours is a grand future filled with blessing. Our paths with diverge here in this world as the Lord leads us on our individual journeys and callings, but those paths will all one day converge in the presence of our Savior on that final day of judgment. It is then that we will hear the words of our Savior, “Come, you blessed on My Father, inherit the kingdom I have prepared for you from the foundation of the world!” My dear friends, LET US PREPARE OUR HEARTS AS MARY DID WITH JOY looking to and rejoicing in our blessed Savior, for we too will inherit a future filled with God’s blessing, even as He has promised. Amen.

Soli Dei Gloria!

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting