Concordia Lutheran Church
The Fourth Week of Advent, December 20, 2009
Our Souls Magnify the Lord
Luke 1:36-59
† IN JESUS NAME †
For you, there is God’s grace, mercy and peace, as we await the return of His Son, our Savior!
The Mary Dilemma
In today’s gospel, we see a young Mary, sent to serve her cousin Elizabeth in the midst of her pregnancy. Yet Mary is pregnant as well, a fact that Elizabeth realizes and proclaims with great joy!
Indeed, Elizabeth will proclaim and prophesy, that of all women, good things should be said of Mary. Two words in this passage are translated as blessed in this passage, and the one Elizabeth uses is related to the word eulogy – good words.
Some would take this phrase, and turn the word “blessed” into some kind of adoration. Others would decry that as near blasphemy, noting that only God deserves that kind of praise. Over time, in some churches Mary has taken on almost a god-like stature, and in others she is all but ignored – nothing more than a tool to be used in the plan of God.
Instead of plunging into either ditch, we look at Mary, and realize the miracle that she was part of – bringing to reality the promise of our Savior. Martin Chemnitz, perhaps the brightest theologian in Lutheran history, wrote this,
“Are Then the Saints of God Not to Be Honored at All?
They are indeed to be honored, but both in the way in which God has prescribed and they themselves want to be honored—just as the blessed Virgin Mary says in her song: From henceforth they shall now call me blessed, not because I can do great things and as though my name were holy, but because the Lord has done great things for me; He is mighty and only His name is holy [Lk 1:48–49]. On the basis of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession the position of Scripture on honoring the saints comes down to these three chief parts:
First, that we praise God by true thanksgiving with regard to the saints; He has adorned them with such various and excellent gifts (Gl 1:24; Mt 5:14, 16). And at the same time let us magnify those gifts and praise the saints themselves, who used those gifts faithfully, just as Christ commended the faithful servant (Mt 25:21; 11:11).
Second, that we might strengthen our faith and draw patience, comfort, and hope from their doctrine, confession, cross, affliction, constancy, relief from the cross, and deliverance. (Ro 15:4).
Third, that, everyone according to his calling, we might imitate their faith, hope, love, and the other Christian virtues (Heb 13:7; 1 Co 11:1). And this is the true honor, this the true veneration of the saints. ”
And that is what Elizabeth’s words do in this passage, as well as these words of Mary, which have been called the “Magnificat”, and have been chanted and sung through the centuries. The word magnificat is found in older translations, a way of saying “proclaims the greatness”.
The magnificat is not about the young lady, but it is her song of praise to a God who can be trusted, whose promises are but an extension of His faithful love.
Therefore, we too can magnify, we can proclaim the greatness of our God.
Blessed is the one who trusts
Mary and Abraham’s descendants
As Elizabeth proceeds to greet Mary, she cries the words that form something called the Ave Maria - a statement later added to, and mistakenly turned into a prayer. “Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” But what is often overlooked is the reason that Elizabeth calls Mary blessed, which is found in verse 45,
Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.
Mary trusted in God’s promise – in a time where one would question where that promise would lead. During the pregnancy, the knowing whispers, the rumours that would circulate. Even at Christ’s dedication at the temple, prophesies about the heartache of being the mother of the savior would at once gladden, yet cause great fear – for the price of her son, saving the people of God, saving the world would indeed be high.
In this, Chemnitz would claim we could imitate the trust she places in God. That if Mary can endure the challenges of her life, and the ridicule and stigma, then we can too trust in God to sustain
Blessed is the one who trusts in the promise
A question – which is great the trust someone has, or what they trust in? Which is great, the faith, or the faithfulness?
Obviously, the object of the trust, the faithfulness. For if the trust/faith is misplaced, and that which you have faith in lets you down, your faith/trust is meaningless. So it is with Mary, or any saint. It isn’t their faith that is remarkable, but the one they have faith in. The greater the challenge, yes the greater the faith needed, but so must be greater the promise of that in which you trust.
I have an old aluminum ladder at home. It’s pretty rickety, and it has a warning on it – do not stand above this step. Another message says that the weight limit is 180 pounds. Would I be smart in climbing to the top step – two steps above the warning? Wait, why do they put steps above the step they say not to go past – anyway? But for me to climb up that ladder doesn’t make to much sense. It doesn’t promise enough. Yet this ladder, into this pulpit has me climbing higher, and seems perfectly safe. It is built more secure – it promises more stability.
In Mary’s case, the promise is incredible – the words that she praises God with, tell of that promise.
Great things done, look at verse 51-5554,
51 He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart. 52 He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly. 53 He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty. 54 He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love 55 —according to the promise he made to our ancestors— of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.
While Mary’s words start out being about her, the promise she sees is far more complete. She realizes that the very promise made to Abraham so many generations before, are now to come true. The promise seen surely in her pregnancy, testified to by John the Baptist, as he leaps for joy in the older Elizabeth’s womb.
A promise that isn’t just for Mary though, it is for us as well. For in this descendant of Abraham, it was promised that all nations would be called blessed. That all people would know of the joy of God delivering them from satan, hell, and eternal death.
Magnified is the One who extends faithful love
The more we realize that, the more we too rejoice with Mary, as she rejoiced in God being her Savior, our Savior.
For it is he who extends His faithful love, even when we weren’t so lovable. It is God who keeps His promises.
One of the reason used the translation today, instead of the normal ESV, is because of the phrase “Faithful love”, which was often translated mercy in other translations. But the word contains both concepts, mercy and love.
That is what Mary praises Him for, not just what He is doing for her, in this surprise pregnancy. But that because we will be blessed as well – that we too will know the love of God that will take Jesus from the rough wood of the manger, to the rough wood of the cross.
So consider, as this advent draws to a close, the blessing you have been given, as was Mary, as Elizabeth realized, as she looked on the young mother of our Lord.
For to us has been born a child, the one called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of our peace.
Normally I close with the traditional comment about the Father’s peace,… but hear the entire passage it comes from this morning..
Php 4:4 (Phillips NT) Delight yourselves in God, yes, (like Mary) find your joy in him at all times. Have a reputation for gentleness, and never forget the nearness of your Lord. 5 6 Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the peace of God
