The Songs of Christmas
Sermon # 2
“Mary’s Song”
Luke 1:28-35, 46-55
Last week we began a series entitled “The Songs of Christmas.” We are examining some of the central characters of Christmas and noting that they responded to the exciting events of the first Christmas, with songs of praise. It is my hope that our study will allow us to regain the wonder and excitement of Christmas that we may have lost.
We began last week with a look at “Elizabeth’s Song,” and saw how Elizabeth burst into joyful song when confronted with the wonderful prospect of the Savior’s birth. Today we want to backtrack just a bit to establish the scene as we look at, “Mary’s Song.”
In order to look at the songs as they occur we have move back and forth in the sequence of events. The angel had appeared to Mary and told her the great news that she is to be the mother of Jesus, the savior of mankind. Almost immediately Mary left her home and traveled to the home of her cousin, Elizabeth who was also pregnant with a miracle child, John. When Mary arrives Elizabeth greets her with a song of reassurance and encouragement. Now Mary still with her cousin, Elizabeth breaks out into a song of worship to God for his greatness.
How do we know what we find recorded here is a song? In the Greek text, it is arranged into lyrics just like the Psalms which are the songs of the Old Testa-ment. In fact you can’t help but notice that Mary’s Song reads like one of the Psalms. Mary actually quotes five of the biblical psalms in her song. This praise song is sometimes called the “Magnificat” a title taken from the first word of the Latin version.
This morning as we examine “Mary’s Song” I want you to see that Mary has much to teach about worship
First, Mary Worships God Even Though She Was Confused and Perplexed. (1:28-35)
First, lets return to the angels original appear-ance to Mary recorded in Luke 1:28, “And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" (29) But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. (30) Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (31) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. (32) He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. (33) And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." (34) Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" (35) And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”
In the last message we looked at some of the wrong things that are taught about Mary; that Christian should pray to here because she is the Mediator, belief about her immaculate conception, her assumption, and that she was a perpetual virgin all of her life. All of these things would have offended the humble heart of Mary. It is interesting to consider what Mary’s own reaction to people who seek her, pray to her, or worship her would be. Perhaps it would be the same that she gave to a servant who came seeking her advice and counsel at the wedding in Cana. Mary responded by sending him to Jesus and saying, “do as he tells you.” (John 2:5)
The announcement of the birth of the Savior came after four hundred years of silence from God. And I don’t want to overlook the fact that the announce-ment to Mary that she was “blessed among women” by the angel cause her some discomfort.
Perhaps we should stop and reflect on the time and place that Mary uttered this song of praise. She was in Elizabeth’s little home. Sometimes people think the only place to worship is the church and the only time to worship is on Sunday. Anytime and any-place is proper setting for worship. You can worship God wherever and whenever you decide to free up your spirit to do so. I will even go so far as to suggest that a great time to worship God is when you face troubling circumstances in your life. It’s easy to worship God when everything is going great for you, but what about when your life seems to be falling apart? When your life is pain-free, worship is a luxury but worship is a necessity when you are struggling.
We need to remember that it is extremely likely that when Mary expressed this beautiful song of wors-hip, she was very troubled. Sadly, today, in our nation there are many thousands of unwed teenage pregn-ancies. The statistics are staggering as we move toward the place where half of the babies born in America are born to single mothers. But in the time of Mary this was extremely rare. There was a heavy moral and social stigma attached to this condition. Mary could have been accused of adultery and the sentence for that was stoning. You may think her pregnancy was “no big deal” – but I t assure you that in the day and age she lived in it was!
She had to have been perplexed and confused about it all. I believe this expression of praise was her way of totally surrendering herself to God’s plan. Some of you came here today with tough problems and struggles. Don’t let your pain keep you from worshiping God. This is the very time you must worship. There’s a great line from a song that we sing sometimes which says, “For the chains that seem to bind you, serve only to remind you, that they drop powerless behind you when you praise Him.” (Russ Taft. “Praise the Lord.” )
Not Only Did Mary Worship God Even Though She Was Confused and Perplexed…
Secondly, Mary’s Worship Focus On the Greatness of God (1:46-55)
“And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, (47) And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”
Mary’s heart was filled with joy of the Lord and she expressed that joy in a song of worship composed from a deep knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures.Her song was not based on some feeling of what she thought the Lord might be like or the Lord she wanted to be. She sang a song based on the truth of his character, as revealed in the Scripture. He is all knowing, mighty, holy and merciful.
When she says, “My soul magnifies the Lord,” she uses a word that is very interesting. It is the word “magnifies” is megaluno and it literally means, “to make larger” and here means to make great with words.She is saying, “my soul is making the Lord bigger and bigger in His position of honor in my life.”
Mary is showing us that worship is all about God and His greatness, not about us. In our day a disagree-ment about worship styles has infiltrated many of our churches. The issue is the style of worship, which for most people means the style of music used in worship. Music is just one part of worship but it is an important part. Different generations prefer different worship styles, which usually means different music styles. We must come to realize that in worship substance is more important than style.
Actually, on any given Sunday morning in America, you can find a wide variety of worship styles, even within Baptist churches. There are some churches that are focused primarily on reaching Generation X
(the “twenty-somethings.”) -they won’t have choir, just a band. It will be loud and the people will stand and praise for thirty to forty-five minutes. I enjoy that occasionally, but I wouldn’t care for that week after week. But the point is that their music isn’t designed to please me, it is directed toward God.
Other churches are very formal and liturgical in their approach. That really doesn’t strike a cord with me either, but if they are worshiping from their hearts, I have to say, “More Power To Them!”
Some country churches have maintained they will only sing the old time classics. They will only sing out of the “Heavenly Highways” and “Stamps Baxter” gospel music, but I’m certainly not going to judge the hearts of those who sing it. I’m convinced that God receives and appreciates true worship, whatever the style, as long as it comes from the heart.
I think that it interesting to consider that throughout the Bible we find that God desires for us to sing a new song to him? In fact he even commands us to “sing unto the Lord a new song.” (Psalm 96:1) Now think with me about that for just a moment. We all have songs that are familiar songs we have sung all our lives that mean much to us because of their familiarity. Every time we sing those songs or we hear them sung our hearts is tremendously blessed and so people would rather sing the old, familiar songs. But we have to ask ourselves, “So why do we only like the old songs when God tells us to sing a new song to the Lord?” It could be because they are so familiar they make us feel comfortable. But we must stop and realize the whole purpose of worship and praise is not to make us feel good. The whole purpose of worship and praise is to honor and bless the Lord.
In light of music styles, I need to say that our church employs what we call a blended style of music. We use both the new and the old. I joking say we try to make everyone equally unhappy. But seriously the reason we employ a blended style is because we are a multi-generational church. We aren’t targeting just the younger crowd or just the older crowd. We are target-ing anyone who needs Jesus. The point is this – don’t focus on the style of worship – focus on God and his greatness. We need to understand that worship is all about honoring God, not about what is pleasing to me. Sometimes you hear a person make a statement like this (usually when they don’t like something about the music): “I just don’t get much out of worship anymore.” Whenever someone says that to it is clear they are focusing on the wrong thing. Worship isn’t for you to get something, it is for you to give something, give praise and honor and obedience to God.
So young people, when we sing one of great old hymns of the faith, some of which were written over 100 years ago, don’t just stand there and think “What an old song, it even has ‘thees and thous’ in it; why don’t we sing something newer?” If you are thinking that, you aren’t worshiping. Instead, don’t focus on your personal preference, just focus on Jesus and sing to Him! Perhaps you should be thinking, “This isn’t the style I prefer, but there are lots of others here who like this style. I’m so grateful for the older folks in our church who have faithfully served, prayed and worked for the Lord and after all, worship isn’t about me and my preferences; it’s all about God.” Don’t stand there with your arms folded or talking to your neighbor, join in singing that hymn with a heart that is full of praise for God. And when your heart is full you can’t help but sing! That’s what Mary did.
Older folks when we sing one of the new praise songs - Don’t stand there and think, “I don’t like this as much as the old hymns. We are just singing the same words over and over.” If you are thinking that way, then you probably aren’t worshiping. Stop focusing on your personal preferences and focus on God Go ahead and tell yourself, “This isn’t my favorite style, but there are many here who like it. I’m so grateful we have all ages of people in our church. I’ve got to remember: Worship isn’t about me and my preferences; it’s all about God and His great-ness.” Then join in and sing that song from your heart. Because when your heart is full you can’t help but sing! That’s what Mary did.
There are three aspects of God’s greatness Mary focuses and worship God for:
•Mary Worships God For His Great Mercy vv. 48-50
“ For He has regarded the lowly state of His maid-servant; For behold, henceforth 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 on those who fear Him From generation to generation.”
Motivating Mary’s adoration of God was her awareness of how greatly she has been “blessed” by God. But it is important to remember that being “blessed” does not mean an absence of pain or difficulties. In fact there will be many sad and difficult days in the life of Mary. Blessedness comes as a result of the spiritual satisfaction with life that only God can give. She realizes this blessing come from God. The blessing were a result of who He is not who she was!
•Mary Worships God For His Awesome Power vv. 51-53
“He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. (52) He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. (53) He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.”
Mark sings of a God who is not bound by how men think or what men do, in fact, God has reversed human values. It is not the spiritually proud, the socially mighty or the materially prosperous that will have the last word. Here Mary is saying that arrogance, power and wealth do not matter in God’s Kingdom. God in His great mercy will exalt and fill with good things all who fear Him, those of low degree, the spiritually hungry.
•Mary Worships God For His Unwavering Faithfulness vv. 54-55
“He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, (55) As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever."
We need to never forget this truth that the birth of Christ was the fulfillment of God’s age old promise. It began as a covenant promise to Abraham. I like what verse fifty-four says, “God remembered to be merciful.” Aren’t you glad that God remember to send His Son? Mary looking back at God’s promise to Abra-ham says, “You did it Lord. You kept your Promise. It has been 2,000 years but you remembered to be merciful.”
Third, Mary’s Worship Produced Service (v. 56)
We are very likely to miss the significance of verse 56. It could be called “What to do after you finish singing praise to God.” What do most people do after worship? Nothing. They just leave. Do you see what Mary did? Verse fifty-six, “And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.” Now, you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to figure out why Mary stayed. She stayed to be of service to Elizabeth. Mary is a beautiful picture of what should happen after we have a powerful experience of worship.
Many people work hard for God, but they seldom truly worship. Sometimes they may think that their good deeds are a substitute for worship. They work, work, work for Jesus, but they seldom sit at His feet and just adore and praise Him.
Others come into church and have a emotional worship experience that may even bring tears to their eyes. They are moved and touched by God. But when they leave church, and they are unchanged it never leads them to serve the Lord, they are just waiting for their next worship service. But real worship should motivate us to serve. Hebrews 13:15-16 says, “There-fore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. (16) But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Real worship always results in doing good and sharing with others. Mary did!
CONCLUSION
Mary’s song of praise has much to teach us about worship.
•Mary Worships God Even Though She Was Confused And Perplexed.
A great time to worship God is when you face troubling circumstances in your life.
• Mary’s Worship Focus On the Greatness of God The three aspects of God’s greatness that Mary focused and worship God for:
Mary Worships God For His Great Mercy
Mary Worships God For His Awesome Power Mary Worships God For His Unwavering Faithfulness
• Mary’s Worship Produced Service
“Mary’s Song”
Luke 1:28-35, 46-55
First, Mary Worships God Even Though She Was ____________ And ________________. (1:28-35)
•Notice the time and place that Mary uttered this song of praise.
•A great time to worship God is when you face _______________ circumstances in your life.
Secondly, Mary’s Worship Focus On the __________________ of God (1:46-55)
Three aspects of God’s greatness Mary focuses and worship God for:
•Mary Worships God For His Great ___________ vv. 48-50
•Mary Worships God For His Awesome ______________ vv. 51-53
•Mary Worships God For His Unwavering _______________ vv. 54-56
Third, Mary’s Worship Produced __________________ (1:56)
(Hebrews 13:15-16)
Mary stayed -she stayed to be of _______________.
