Sermon  Dec. 21, 1997  A Humble State based on Luke 1:39-55

The theme of our text this morning is humility.  Mary was humbly obedient
and trusting in God's word, given to her by the angel.  She was told, just
prior to our text, that her cousin Elizabeth would have a child, even in
her old age.  Mary humbly accepts the Word of God presented to her by the
angel.  For this, Mary was blessed by God.  While she did accept what was
told her, Mary also wanted to see it with her eyes as well as hear with her
ears.

Mary travels to see her cousin and after greeting her, the unborn baby John
in Elizabeth's womb leaps for joy.  We don't know exactly what the greeting
was which Mary spoke to Elizabeth.  It may have been the content of what
Mary spoke that was what John responded to, or it may have merely been the
presence of the Christ child.

There are theories today of how unborn children can hear and respond to
sounds on the outside.  I can't say that that was the way John heard Mary's
greeting.  In fact, I grow tired of the attempts by scientists and doctors
to explain events of the bible in terms of ordinary physical mechanisms.
It seems to me to be an attempt to remove all opportunity for the
supernatural.  When God is at work, we do not need to explain what He does
in terms of natural processes, for God is not limited to the natural, but
can just as easily act through supernatural means.  Let us not limit God's
power by trying to explain everything naturally.  What we do know is John
responded at time of the greeting of Mary.

 Elizabeth, then filled with the Holy Spirit, shouts that Mary is very
blessed.  She was passively filled with the Holy Spirit, she didn't bring
it on herself.  She goes on to say that one who believes is a blessed
person, because what is promised will be fulfilled.

Wouldn't it be nice if all promises were kept?  We can especially think of
products we might buy.  Product A will do this for you.  Detergent X will
get your clothes the whitest.  Battery B lasts twice as long.  If these
promises are kept, then you are rewarded for believing in the products.
However, if these products don't hold up to the promises that were made,
then you were just another victim, who believed a false promise.  The one
who believes the promises which turn out to be fulfilled is the one who is
blessed.  They believed the right promises.  They didn't fall for the
fakes.  This is what Elizabeth states to Mary, telling her she picked the
right promises to trust.  The promises of God are going to be fulfilled,
and so those are the right promises to trust.  In fact, we can always trust
the promises of God, because our God is trustworthy.  He keeps His promises
and by believing in them, we will be blessed.

And, next in our text, Mary sings a song, which we call the Magnificat.  It
is so named because of the first word, "magnify."  Mary is speaking to her
soul or self, telling it to magnify the Lord, that is, to praise Him and
elevate Him.  This magnificat is put to music in two services in our
hymnals, Vespers and Evening Prayer.

Mary continues to describe her current state, "My spirit rejoices in God my
Savior."  The phrase "God my Savior" is a short witness to the Gospel.


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Mary identifies who is her Savior, and that is God.  This is the good news,
that despite our failures, God is the one who saves us.  Not our efforts,
but His mercy alone.  In this phrase we also see that God is a personal
savior, as Mary sang, "God my Savior."  He is not just a generic, blanket
type savior, but He also individually saves us.



















































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"God has been mindful of her humble state," sings Mary.  He saw her faith
and trust in Him.  This is our attitude as believers and trusters in
Christ.  We are humble.  Not proud over our sins, nor over our works.
Rather, we humbly know our fallen state which is in need of being saved and
we turn to no one else besides our Lord.

All generations will consider Mary fortunate, for she is the woman chosen
to bear God coming to take on human nature.  She is also fortunate to be
blessed by that same Lord with His various gifts.  How fortunate we are to
receive the blessings of God through His mercy.

These are the same blessings which Mary sings of when she says, "the Mighty
One has done great things for me."  The great things God has done for us is
to save us.  The mightiest one that exists, the one above all others, has
stepped in for us.  He has come to our rescue, though we did not deserve
it.  And this Mighty One didn't just do something trivial for us, He gave
us the ultimate gift.  He gave us life everlasting, which is of greater
value than anything else we could have.  The forgiveness and salvation we
have are truly great things.

When Mary sings: "Holy is His name," she is really making an important
statement.  See, God's name carries much more meaning that just what we
might use to call on Him.  It is not only the way we can distinguish Him
from various other named people and things.  No, God's name is also His
reputation and character.  We might say that someone has ruined or brought
honor to the family name, and by that we mean more that just the word used
to identify the family.  In the ancient Jewish culture, a name was even
more descriptive, saying something about who a person was or what he had
done.  Likewise, God's name identifies His reputation, characteristics and
qualities.  It identifies who He is.  When Mary proclaims that the Lord's
name is holy, she is saying He is special and set apart.  He is not
ordinary, but He is exceptional.  Really, Mary is confirming that God is
like He said He is.  He did what He said He would do.  God keeps His
promises.

"His mercy extends to those who fear Him," sings Mary.  Fear must be
understood as something other than what you experience with a horror movie.
Fear has more to do with worship, reverence and respect.  It means treating
God appropriately and understanding Him as being in the role in which He
is.  It involves knowing Him, who He is and what He does for us.  In this,
we will know and understand God as our Savior.  We will know Him as
merciful.

Some will choose to know God as punisher.  Others will refuse to know God
at all.  They will attempt to deny Him.  To we who know God as merciful
Savior, we will experience His mercy.  The others have condemned themselves
to know God's punishment and destruction.

The quantity of this mercy is extended from generation to generation.  That
is, for all people.  We are reminded of Exodus 20, in the Ten Commandments,
where God says He will be, "showing love to a thousand generations of those
who love me and keep my commandments."




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Those who are not humble, but are instead proud, will be scattered and put
to waste.  God will do this with His mighty arm, that is, with the focus of
His power and strength.  With His power, God will punish those who proudly
fail to submit to Him and fail to acknowledge their sins.  Specifically,
the proud in their inmost thoughts, that is, the intentions and
understanding of their hearts will be punished.


















































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The proud will be brought low.  Those who have elevated themselves, in
their minds and hearts are going to be brought low.  But the ones who have
lowered themselves, admitted their guilt, and come before the Lord humble,
will be lifted up.  Again, those who hunger for the righteousness of the
Lord, for His mercy will be fed with what they desire.  Those who think of
themselves as rich, feeling like they have all that they need by their own
hands are going to be sent away empty and into the emptiness of eternal
damnation.

I would rephrase verse 54 to say "He has helped His servant Israel to
remember mercy."  He has helped His people to remember His mercy.  They had
forgot that God is merciful.  They had forgot that that was what He had
promised.  Many continue today to forget mercy.  They don't think about God
as merciful and forgiving.  This, however, is how God has been all along.
His promises of mercy are throughout the Old Testament.  Mary sings of one
of these specific promises of mercy, that made to Abraham and his
descendants.  He promised that they would be blessed.  All those who
believe in Christ, and know God as Savior are the descendants of Abraham,
whom God credited with righteousness because of his faith.

In our text, we see that Mary trusted the angel who spoke to her.  She
believed the promises and was humble before the word of God.  Do you
remember Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband and the father of John the Baptist?
He, on the other hand, did not trust the angel when he told him of the
coming birth of John.  Therefore, Zechariah was struck speechless for the
remainder of Elizabeth's pregnancy.  Zechariah was not humble before the
Lord, and rather than being blessed, he was cursed with several months of
being unable to speak.




























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We, too, grow weary of trusting in God.  We often wish to take care of
things ourselves.  We forget His promises to us.  We fail to remember
mercy.  We lack confidence that the Lord will provide for our needs.

Instead, we try to take matters into our own hands.  Some try to get more
than they were given, as the couple who now has seven infants in Iowa.
Others try to get to heaven on their own efforts.  They forget the Lord's
promises.  They fail to approach the Lord in a humble state.

Into our world of pride and lack of humility comes the humble Christ child.
We now prepare the way for this Christ to come again.  We know we are
undeserving of His mercy, just as Elizabeth felt undeserving of a visit of
Mary, the mother of her Lord who was yet in her womb.  Yet, our Lord does
come to us.  He already came and has done great things for us.

His life of perfect obedience to the Law and His passive death on the
cross, punished for that which He was not guilty, and His resurrection are
all great things He has done for us.  The one who believes in this Christ
who did these things for us will be blessed, for the forgiveness, life and
salvation which He has promised us will be fulfilled.  Through these great
things, God will again prove that He is like He said He is.  He will prove
His name is holy.

The Son stooped low, coming in human form to serve us and to set us free.
He ransomed Israel, that is, His people, who were held captive to their
sins and in exile from God.






























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Now we wait for Him to come to make visible that which was done with His
mighty arm.  We wait for our rescue by the one called Emmanuel, Wisdom from
on high, Lord of might, Rod of Jesse's stem, that is, a descendant of
David, Key of David---
                     unlocking the promises made to David, Dayspring---
                                                                      which
is the dawning day we mentioned on Wednesday, and the Desire of Nations,
that is what all people need and for which they long.

The coming of Christ again has been promised a long time now.  What a glad
sound it will be when it comes.  As the unborn John leaped for joy in
Elizabeth's womb at the coming of Christ in Mary's womb, so too, the future
coming of Christ will cause us to leap for joy.  When He comes, we know
what He will bring to completion.  As we will shortly sing, He comes to
bind our broken hearts and bleeding souls.  In our humble state our hearts
are saddened over our sins and our souls are troubled by our disobedience.
Christ will come with His abundant grace to enrich by giving His treasure
to we who are the humble poor.  As we prayed, we ask our Lord to come and
heal we who are sorely hindered by our sins.  The bountiful grace and mercy
will help and deliver us.  And so we eagerly await the coming of our
Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus.


































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