SCRIPTURE: Luke 1:46-55 (ESV)
DATE: 12-24-17
Merry “snowy” Christmas! It’s good to be with all of you at Gateway Church this Christmas weekend. And one thing I want you to know — and it doesn’t matter if it’s your first time with us or if you’re worshiping at our North Main campus — one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and I love you too.
SERIES INTRODUCTION
Today we finish our Christmas series which we’ve titled “Christmas Party.” As we’ve been journeying together towards Christmas — here at Gateway — we’ve been doing so through the lens of a party.
Three weeks ago we began by looking at the signs that tell us when the party is about to begin. If you go to a birthday party there are signs that tell you when the party is about to begin. Balloons, a cake, maybe a banner that says “Happy Birthday” on it — clues telling you that a party is about to begin. And in the Bible, there are clues that indicate when God’s eternal party — the party of all parties — is about to begin. That’s what we looked at three weeks ago.
Two weeks ago, we looked at the directions to the party. A party isn’t any fun if you can’t find your way there. And through Scripture we discovered the directions to the party of all parties.
Last week, we discovered who’s the life of God’s eternal party. Every party has one person who the crowd notices — they’re the center of attention — everyone gravitates towards them. And in our Christmas Party there’s a Person who’s the center of attention. He’s the life of the party.
And today, we’re finishing this series by looking at what every good party needs…a party song. There’s nothing like great music to amp up the energy level of a party. And our Christmas Party has got a great party song.
Now to set up our party song, I need to give you a little background on the young woman who’s singing our song. Her name is Mary and she’s a young virgin who will give birth to Jesus. You probably know her story.
She was engaged to a man named Joseph and through a miracle, Mary became pregnant. And just before she became pregnant, Mary was visited by an angel. And this angel — named Gabriel — told her that she was favored by the Lord and that she would give birth to a son who was to be named Jesus.
And — obviously — this is quite the perplexing news for Mary because she’s a virgin — and they usually don’t have children — so she asks the angel, “How could this happen?” She doesn’t doubt the angel’s message, she just wants some clarification — some details, so to speak — of how her pregnancy would take place.
And the angel told her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and she would become pregnant with the Son of God. And Mary’s response — to this crazy sounding news — were these words: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38b ESV)
And then the angel left.
Some time later Mary goes to visit her relative — Elizabeth — who’s also pregnant with a son — you probably know him as well — John the Baptist. And after Elizabeth catches Mary up with what’s been going on with her, Mary bursts forth into a song. And it’s a song of joy — a song of hope — a song of great confidence in what the future holds. It’s a great song — and it’s our Party Song.
ANNOUNCE THE TEXT
If you have your Bible please turn with me to Luke chapter one. Our Party Song is found in verses forty-six through fifty-five.
And — if you’re a guest with us — something we like to do at Gateway is let you ask questions. So if you have a question during the sermon, you can text your question to the number printed on the handout or you can submit it on the Gateway app.
So let’s turn to Luke chapter one and instead of reading the verses out loud — because this is our Party Song — I’m going to sing the words to you — sound good? The worship team is going to back me up — well they were supposed to back me up. Guess I forgot to tell them. Oh well…guess I’ll just have to read the words instead.
RE-ANNOUNCE AND READ TEXT:
Mary’s song is found in Luke chapter one. Beginning in verse forty-six.
“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.” (Luke 1:46-55 ESV)
SERMON INTRODUCTION
What makes your soul sing? What’s something that — if it happened — your life would sing about it?
- A good grade on your finals?
- Finally landing that dream job?
- Her saying yes to your proposal?
- The new Star Wars movie hitting theaters?
- What causes your soul to get so excited that your life begins to sing?
When my kids were younger, I had this thing I liked to do — especially in the car — I’d sing silly songs about any and everything. If you’ve ever watched a Veggie Tales show you know about the “Silly Songs with Larry” skits that are pretty creative. Well I like to think that my silly songs in the car are pretty creative too. And two out of three of my kids might agree!
Now I’d sing the songs because it’s something fun to do with my kids. It doesn’t matter what the song is about — the moment is what makes it special — their reactions are what make it special. And — my hope — is that someday they’ll be making up silly songs with their kids because that’ll be evidence that I passed on to them my awesome parenting skills.
But anyway — in our story we see Mary burst forth into song. Something happens that gives her reason to rejoice. Reason to celebrate. A reason to sing.
And — you may not know this — but her song is one of the most famous songs in all of Christianity. I love what one author said about Mary’s song. He said, “It’s been whispered in monasteries, chanted in cathedrals, recited in small remote churches by evening candlelight, and set to music with trumpets and kettledrums by Johann Sebastian Bach.”
That’s how far — the song we’re looking at — has traveled. And this song of Mary’s is our Party Song.
So what causes Mary’s heart to be so overjoyed that she sings?
PROPOSITION
Mary rejoices because of who God is. Mary sings this song because she’s caught up in her thoughts about God. And what we learn from Mary’s song is this: “Our lives sing about what we value most.” Our lives sing — meaning our lives revolve around, we worship, we focus on, you and I — we cherish — our lives sing about what we value most. Because what we value most is what gives us the greatest sense of joy. And what gives us the greatest sense of joy is what we value most.
And what Mary sings about — as we’ll see — is God. Who He is. What He’s done. And what He’s going to do. God is the reason why Mary sings our Party Song. In fact, Mary refers to God twenty times in these few verses. Her song is all about God because He’s the reason for her joy — He is what she values most.
Let’s begin in verse forty-six and look at how she describes her joy.
MAIN POINT 1
“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.” (Luke 1:46-48 ESV)
Look at the state of Mary’s heart towards God. She begins by saying that her soul magnifies the Lord. To magnify means to “enlarge or amplify” something. That’s what we use a magnifying glass for, right? To make something small appear big as we look at it through the magnifying glass.
And Mary says that’s the state of her soul. Her desire is to magnify who God is — not because He’s small — but because many times her life makes it seem as if God is small — so she wants to magnify who He is so others will join her in worshipping God.
So her life is one joyous song as she dwells on who God is, what He’s done, and what He’s promised to do. Her desire is to proclaim the greatness of the God who lovingly saves people — rescuing them from their sin and foolishness. You see, when a person encounters the joy that’s found in Jesus — something changes in their outlook on life — they start to sing a new song.
- Yes, things won’t always go your way.
- Yes, hardships will occur.
- Yes, loved ones may experience pain.
- Yes, suffering is a very real experience that none of us are immune to.
But for those who’ve encountered the joy found only in Jesus — well — you can’t help but sing a different tune than those who’ve not found joy in Him. Like Mary — an unexpected turn in your life can be an opportunity to magnify who God is and stir in your spirit a joy that’s found only in Him.
The first thing we learn from Mary is this. “When God is your most valued treasure, your joy never ceases.” When God is your most valued treasure — like He was for Mary — your joy never ceases.
It doesn’t matter what the doctor report says, or if you’re let go because the company’s downsizing, or when your professor tells you you’re failing his class, or when an angel tells you you’re gonna have a baby — whatever life may bring your way — when God is your most valued treasure, your joy never ceases.
Now there’s a big difference between claiming God as your most valued treasure — when life is going your way— and claiming God as your most valued treasure while going through one of life’s unexpected twists or turns that put your beliefs to the test. And as we look at Mary’s song my goal is simply this: My hope is that as we look at Mary’s song — our Party Song — that your soul will be stirred to worship God. My goal is to increase your joy in Jesus as we look at these words of Mary. That your life would desire to sing to God in a new way as you encounter just who this God is who’s worthy of being your greatest treasure and reason for your soul to rejoice.
Let’s begin again in verse forty-six and we’ll read her entire song together. In verse forty-six we read…
MAIN POINT 2
“And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
(Now I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this — but it’s worth mentioning — Mary calls God her Savior — her deliverer — which tells us that Mary knows she needs a Savior. I know that some of you may have been taught some things about Mary — like, she was sinless — but look at Mary’s own words. She says, “I need a Savior,” which only makes sense if she was a sinner.
Mary recognized her need of a Savior. Do you? Like Mary, have you recognized your need of a Savior? Does your spirit have reason to rejoice because God is your Savior? Not a “Yes He can save me,” but “Yes God has saved me and it makes my heart want to sing!” Mary rejoices in God her Savior and in verse forty-eight she tells us why…),
for he (God) has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
(Mary describes herself as having a humble position in society. Some of you may be aware that when Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple — they couldn’t afford the expensive sacrifice — they offer a sacrifice reserved for the poor. But notice that God is aware of her situation regardless of her social status.
Someone here might think that God doesn’t have time for you because you’re not of a high social class, or didn’t go to college, or maybe you think God has better or more important people to concern Himself with than you — but know this — God looks upon those who come from humble situations. God shows no favoritism. He’s not prejudice. He loves the poor and rich alike. The educated and uneducated. People with high IQs and people with low IQs. Men and women. Young and old. Ohio State and even Michigan fans. God looks upon all people with a deep love — a longing for them to receive His forgiveness — and a desire to adopt them as His child.
Mary continues with…)
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty (He who is powerful. He who is able. He who has authority. He who created everything simply by speaking it into existence. He who flooded the whole earth, and parted the Red Sea, and caused the walls of Jericho to come tumbling down. He who is mighty…) has done great things for me.
(Mary’s aware of the great things God has done for her. Are you aware of the great things God has done for you? Have you ever tried to list all of the things God has done for you?
Now we’re all finite — we have a start date — so it shouldn’t be hard to keep track of all God has done for us, right? I mean — think about it — we’ve found a way to track every stat imaginable in the sports world, so surely we can track every great thing God has done for us, right? Wrong! Because even in our finiteness — the great things God has done for us are infinite.
Some of the great things God has done for me are big huge things like insulin and pumps so my boys stay healthy even though they have type-1 diabetes. And some of the great things God has done for me are seemingly small things like this breath. And this one. And this one. But our hearts can’t help but rejoice when we stop to dwell on the great things God has done for us.
Mary continues describing this saving, looking on us, mighty, and doing great things for us God when she says…), and holy is his name.
(Holy. Pure. Righteous. Completely separated from sin. Whiter than snow. Brighter than the sun. More pure than the most beautiful diamond. God. Is. Holy. And in verse fifty Mary says…)
And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
(Is your soul ready to sing yet? God is merciful — merciful to who? To all who fear Him. We’ll see this again in verse fifty-four — but know that God is merciful towards us. He has pity on us. He’s compassionate. He’s kind.
The Bible tells us that God isn’t unaware of our rebellion and sin — there will be a day when His patience will come to an end — but until that day — God’s mercy is new every morning for each and every one of us. And His compassion should draw you to Him. His kindness should give your life a reason to sing.
Mary continues in verse fifty-one by saying…)
He has shown strength with his arm (This God — Mary is singing about — is strong. He’s powerful. He’s not to be reckoned with. She goes on to say…); he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts
(God scatters the proud — the people who are assuming — who are arrogant — who have a haughty attitude. He scatters the thoughts of their hearts. They don’t have peace in their spirit because they haven’t humbled themselves before their Creator. Continuing Mary says…);
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
(God has removed kings from their thrones. People in authority have lost their positions because of God’s mighty hand. No one — no matter their earthly position — is outside of the power and authority of God.) and (Continuing in verse fifty-two, Mary says that not only has God brought down the mighty from their thrones but He has also…) exalted those of humble estate.
(God exalts the humble. He lifts them up. Those who are proud are humbled and those who are humble are exalted. Those who think highly of themselves are brought down low and those who think lowly of themselves will be lifted up by God.
Continuing in verse fifty-three Mary says…); 53 he has filled the hungry with good things (He has satisfied those who are famished.), and the rich he has sent away empty.
The rich — those living independently from God — are sent away empty-handed. Their lives are now fruitless. There’s no purpose for them any longer. God provides for those who are without and He sends away empty-handed those who have so much they have no need for His provision. And…
He has (Look at what God has done in verse fifty-four. Mary says God has…) helped his servant Israel
(God helps His people — He aids them — He assists them. Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to be our Helper. And Mary sings about how God helps His people.
And continuing in verse fifty-four…), in remembrance of his mercy (Mary mentions God’s mercy for the second time in her song — she remembers God’s mercy…), 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Luke 1:46-55 ESV)
Mary ends her song by recognizing that God speaks to His people. Throughout history God has communicated to His people in a way we can understand. At one time He spoke through prophets and apostles. And now He most clearly speaks to us through His Word — the Bible.
So this is Mary’s song — our Christmas Party Song. A song focused on, all about, sung while dwelling on — God. Who He is. What He’s done. And what He’s promised to do for His people.
And God’s the Savior of His people — that’s what we celebrate at Christmas — a Savior is born. And for those who’ve experienced the power of the cross of Jesus Christ, we realize what it means for God to be our Savior. It cost Him His life. Christ died willingly — the Bible says — because there was a joy set before Him. A joy of rescuing people from their sin and rebellion while pleasing His Father by perfectly obeying Him.
And Christ saw that all of us are weak, and poor, and in great need. None of us could do for ourselves what we desperately needed to have done most — we could not save ourselves. We couldn’t rescue ourselves. We were as low as you could get. Hopeless. Joyless. Having no reason to sing because of the darkness all around us. Yet Christ humbled Himself so the lowly might be exalted — so we might be lifted up high as we experience eternity in Heaven with our Savior.
And Mary recognized that God is mighty. And that He’s done great things. That He’s holy. And merciful. And strong. And with His mighty outstretched arm God did the greatest thing in all of history. He satisfied His wrath — His intense hatred of our sin — while displaying His mercy toward us hopeless sinners.
Being holy, God could not welcome us sinners into eternity. But having received Christ’s payment on the cross for our sin, God has given us the holiness of Christ so we can approach Him without fear. This is God’s mercy towards us. He has accepted Christ’s holiness as ours — His sacrifice as ours — His perfection as ours — what a mercy we’ve been given.
And yet God scatters the proud. He brings down the mighty. He sends the rich away empty-handed. And we must not forget that God does — in this life, but more importantly — has promised to do for all eternity — we must not forget that God will scatter and bring down those who are too proud to receive His gift of grace. People who think so highly of themselves — that they reject the free gift offered in the sacrifice of His Son — will experience the never-ending, eternal consequence for their foolish rebellion. They will be brought down to the lowest place for all eternity — left empty-handed of everything they’ve worked for. But the far greater consequence is that for all eternity they will be left empty-handed of God’s presence.
And this God fills the hungry. He’s a Helper to His people. Jesus said that those who are hungry should feast on Him — the Bread of Life. And those who thirst can find their satisfaction in the Living Water — the satisfying drink — He offers.
And Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our Helper, Teacher, and Guide so we can live with great confidence — knowing that God is with us now — just as He will be — for all eternity.
And God has spoken to us. We have His Word — the Bible — which is a gift like none other. God’s words to His people bring life, hope, joy, peace, correction, understanding, and countless more things. A book we often neglect as we wander aimlessly in this life — singing a song that isn’t inspiring to others. But when we get in this book — when we open it and read it and study it and listen to it — when we get in this book — this book gets into us — and our life begins to sing the words of Scripture. And these words — the words of this book — when sung by our lives — will never return empty-handed.
Mary sang about God because God is what she treasured most.
And “when God is your most valued treasure, your life will be a God glorifying song for all to hear.” When God is your most valued treasure — again — it’s so easy to say you value God — that you believe in Him — that you’re a Christian — but when you really value God above everything else, your life will be a God glorifying song for all to hear.
And people who meet you will hear a different melody than what they hear from other people’s lives. They’ll hear a refrain in your life that’s unusual to their ears. They may wonder — or be amazed — or even be confused because of the song your life sings — because it will have a uniqueness to it that stirs questions in their heart.
Questions like, “What does this person have that I don’t have? Why does their life sing while my life is silent? Where does this wonderful melody come from and how can I learn to sing it?”
SERMON CONCLUSION
And when Mary thought about these things — who God is, what He has done, and what He had promised to do — her heart began to sing. Her mouth began to sing the words of our Party Song. Her spirit began to rejoice and her soul greatly desired to magnify the Lord.
And what caused her soul to sing — what caused her life to be a song — was the glory and magnificence of her God.
And when you see God for who He is — when you recognize what He’s done throughout history — when you begin to grasp how He has used His strength, power, compassion, and mercy to lift you up — it will stir in your soul a desire to sing to Him — and about Him — with your life.
And a good grade on a final will be nice. And a new job may be exciting. And her saying yes to your proposal will be thrilling. And the new Star Wars movie might still be worth watching three or four times in the theater. But God — Who He is, what He’s done, and what He’s doing in your life — well — He will be what your life sings about.
What song do people hear from your life? Is your life an inspiring song or is it a song that gets lost in the uninspiring melodies of so many people’s lives? And this Christmas — may you come to know — that you can join Mary in her song. Because a song like hers is really the only song worth singing with our lives.
Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I ask You to remind us often that what we value most is what our life sings about. And I pray that we would sing about You — so all people know that You’re our greatest treasure.
Spirit I ask You to open the minds and hearts of everyone listening. If there’s anyone who desires to join in singing Your Party Song — I ask You to help them to believe. Jesus be their Savior. Father show them Your strength. May they experience Your mercy as you fill them with Your words of grace and truth.
Most gracious God, we thank you for rescuing us so we can sing a new song with our lives. A song about You, what You have done, and what You have promised to do for Your people. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.