Sermon manuscript:
Let’s begin by setting the scene for our Gospel reading this
morning.
Earlier in this first chapter of Luke he speaks of the way
that two baby boys were miraculously conceived. One of them was John the
Baptist. The other was Jesus. John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was a
priest. One day he had the honor of doing the priestly duties in the Temple when
an angel of the Lord appeared to him. Zechariah was frightened, but the angel
said to him, “Do not be afraid. Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son. You are
to name him John.”
This was astounding to Zechariah because he and his wife had
been unable to have children. Now this angel was telling him that he would have
a son when he and Elizabeth were old. Because he did not believe the angel, God
made him mute. From that time until his son was born, and Zechariah wrote on a
tablet that his name was to be John, he was not able to speak. When his ability
to speak returned to him, he sang the song that we call the Benedictus. This is
the song that we sometimes sing during the Matins service instead of the Te
Deum.
This baby, born to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age,
was John the Baptist. His conception was miraculous because his parents were old
and otherwise unable to have children. The other miraculous conception is what
happened with Mary.
Mary lived in Nazareth of Galilee. She was engaged to be
married to Joseph. One day God sent the angel Gabriel to her. He said, “Hello,
you who are highly favored by the Lord. The Lord is with you.” Mary was
perplexed at his words, and tried to figure out what sort of greeting this was.
The angel responded, “Do not be afraid. God is well pleased with you. You
will conceive and bear a Son. The name you should give him is Jesus. He will be
the Son of the Most High. God will give him the throne of his father David. He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end to his
kingdom.”
As you can imagine, Mary had a hard time understanding this.
She asked how this would be, since she was a virgin. Gabriel answered that the Holy Spirit will
come upon her, the power of the Most High will overshadow her. That is why the
child who is born of her will be holy. He will be the Son of God.
Mary responded in a wonderful way. There has never been a
higher Word that has been spoken to a human being. There is nothing in the Old
Testament that even holds a candle to what the angel just said to Mary. She
doesn’t ask for any signs or wonders to confirm the word. She simply responded,
“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to
your Word.”
The Gospel reading that you heard this morning is what
immediately follows after this. The angel had told Mary that her relative, Elizabeth,
was also pregnant, sixth months along. Mary went to visit her. She went from
Galilee in the north down to the south, south of Jerusalem, into the hill
country. Zechariah and Elizabeth were living in a town somewhere in this
region.
You heard how several unusual things happened and were said
when Mary arrived at their house. When Mary said hello, John the Baptist leaped
and stirred about in the womb of his mother. Elizabeth then is filled with the
Holy Spirit and confesses her faith. She believes in the baby whom Mary is
carrying in her womb. That baby would only be called an embryo in our medical
terms. Jesus was only weeks old at that point, a tiny human being. Elizabeth,
like Mary, believes in the Word of the Lord. This child is God’s Son, miraculously
conceived by the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth is wonderfully comforting and encouraging to Mary.
If people at that time were anything like they are at our time, then Mary would
not have been treated very respectfully by everyone she came across. The way Elizabeth
treated Mary must have been a nice reprieve for her. You can perhaps picture an
older woman comforting a younger woman who otherwise might be treated quite
roughly and rudely by others. In her comforting, Elizabeth especially points to
Mary’s faith. She tells Mary that it was very good that she had believed. The
promises that God spoke to her are going to be fulfilled.
Then Mary sings a song. You might also be familiar with this
song. We call it the Magnificat. It is sung during Evening Prayer or Vespers.
It is a great psalm, as great as any that you might find in the Bible.
The opening theme pervades everything that Mary has to say:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,” or “My soul proclaims the greatness of
the Lord.” Her thoughts are taken up with the promises and power of God.
This is remarkable when you consider what else is going on
with her. She had left Nazareth and gone way down to the south. Luke doesn’t
say why she did that, but it might be because she all of a sudden became
pregnant. Not everybody is going to believe that that child was conceived by
the Holy Spirit. She is very pious, but in the eyes of others, it appears that
she is a sinner.
She also must have been concerned about what her fiancé,
Joseph, might think of her. The first thought that would come to anyone’s mind
would be that she had been unfaithful. He knew it wasn’t his child, so whose
was it? Joseph, for his part, also had a great faith. When he was told in a
dream that the child the virgin Mary was carrying was conceived by the Holy
Spirit he believed it. This was another miracle, a gift from God.
Regardless, however, this must have weighed upon Mary’s
mind. In general, Mary was not in a powerful and proud state as far as her
circumstances were concerned. There would have been plenty for her to complain
about and to feel sorry for herself about. There is not the slightest hint,
however, of self-pity in her song.
In fact, the song is a song of victory, like the great
psalms in the Old Testament. Mary is joyously defiant of anyone who would be
her enemy. This is not because she found some self-worth inside of herself or
embraced her feminine power. It was because she believed in the Lord her God.
Specifically she believed that God had not despised her for her humility (like
human beings tend to do), but instead had chosen her. Since God had chosen her
there was nothing that should hamper her joy even though there was plenty of
fodder available for feeling blue if she had wanted to pursue such thoughts.
Here we have a good lesson concerning faith. We should learn
it well, so that our souls may magnify the Lord along with her. It is not
enough to believe that God or Jesus exists. It is not enough to believe that
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, died on Good Friday, and was
resurrected on Easter. These are all facts that the demons are surer of than we
ever will be. Faith is when you believe that the Lord your God is for you. He’s
on your side. He has chosen you. He’s begun a good work in you. Having begun a
good work in you, he will bring it to completion on the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
It can be hard to believe that the Lord God has chosen you.
Just consider your humble estate. I see no royalty before me to day. Consider,
more dreadfully, the bad things that you have done. You’ve broken all of God’s commandments.
You haven’t been loveable. And yet you’ve been loved. God’s love for you has
prompted him to see to all your needs of body and soul. There is no element of
your life that has not been seen to by God.
Redemption has been worked by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
on the cross. He did this sacrifice one time and it was for all people. It is the
great sacrifice that makes all things clean. He has brought the word of his
favor to you, just like he brought it to Zechariah or to Mary. One way or
another God has said to you, “You are my highly favored one.” It
probably wasn’t by an angel. It might have been when you were baptized. It
might have been when you heard some preaching. It might have been when you were
talking with a friend. Barring all those other ways, it is being spoken to you
now. Whatever way that word has come to you, you should believe that God is for
you. That he has chosen you for salvation. Your sins cannot stop God. He is
more powerful than your sins.
He is more powerful than anything. He is more powerful than
death. He is more powerful than the United States of America. He brings down
rulers from their thrones and lifts up the lowly. You can be joyous no matter
what your circumstances might be when you realize that God is for you. He has
chosen you. There is nothing that can stop your happiness because there is
nothing that can stop God who is for you.
“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.” We
talked about that last week. You can rejoice in the Lord in any and every
circumstance. There is no exception whatsoever because God is more powerful
than everything and anything. But remember what I said about that rejoicing. It
doesn’t mean that you have to have a smile on your face or that you have to
jump and skip around. Inwardly the Christian may be rejoicing while outwardly
there are all kinds of bad things going on. But we have been set free from
being slaves to our circumstances. We are not dependent upon good circumstances
in order to have our joy in God.
Mary had joy despite many things that would have been very
discouraging. She rejoiced in God her Savior. She would continue to have joy in
her Savior. When Jesus was just born, and when Mary and Joseph brought him to
the Temple, old Simeon made a prophesy concerning Jesus and concerning Mary. He
told Mary that Jesus would cause the rise and fall of many in Israel. He would
be a sign that was spoken against. And as for Mary, a sword would pass through
her soul, he said.
A sword would pierce Mary’s soul. Like any mother she loved
her child. Furthermore, she believed the Word that was spoken to her about him.
She believed that he was the Holy One of God. And yet Jesus was denounced as a
heretic. He was said to be possessed. He was said to be an agent of Satan. He
was mocked and crucified. Mary was at the cross with only a tiny handful of
others who were courageous enough to show their love for him at his darkest
hour.
Don’t think that Mary had to have taken back her Magnificat
when that sword was passing through her soul. Don’t think that Christian joy is
dependent upon the circumstances that we are in. Those whom God loves he also
chastises. The path by which we are led into eternal life is one that is
specifically tailored for us. It has highs and lows. It is filled with
unexpected twists and turns. It teaches us not to rely upon ourselves or upon
the strength of our faith or upon any good works that we might do. God teaches
us to rely upon him. Though the earth be moved, and the hills be carried into
the midst of the seas, we will not fear. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God
of Jacob is our refuge.
So you may sing the Magnificat, not just as Mary’s song, but
as your song, regardless of your outward circumstances. Your outward
circumstances, to be sure, are different than the outward circumstances that
Mary found herself in when she sang this song. But what matters is that your
inward circumstances are the very same as her inward circumstances. Why is Mary
singing? It is because the Lord has done great things for her. He has chosen
her. He is her Savior. Those very same things are also true for you. It does
not matter who you are or what you have done in the past. Jesus died for you.
You are highly favored by God. Believe this and it is yours.
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