Mary’s Music
Luke 1:46-55
Rev. Brian Bill
12/11/11
I had the joy on Friday of being one of the chaperones for some of the junior highers at Pontiac Christian School while they rang bells for the Salvation Army at County Market. Joy is the right word because for 2 ½ hours this group of girls, along with Barbara Billerbeck, sang every Christmas carol they knew.
It was fun watching people come out of the store with no smile on their faces but when they heard the carols of Christmas, they immediately started smiling. One commented, “This is the best thing I’ve seen today.” Another said, “This makes me happy.” At least three individuals started dancing. Many sang along with the songs.
One woman came out of the store and immediately started crying. She came over and put some money in the bucket and thanked the girls. She then moved about 10 yards away and kept crying. She came up again and put some more money in. Now she was smiling ear to ear. When we found out it was her birthday, the girls serenaded her with “Happy Birthday.” She cried some more and put some more money in.
During this entire time, the girls only took one five-minute break. When they were gone, I rang the bell and all the people went back to not smiling and being Grinch-like with their money. Of course, I was too self-conscious to sing. The girls came back and told me that they had been asked to sing inside the store! As soon as they came out the smiles came back and the money started flowing again. I just slithered into the background.
I was reminded again of the power of music…especially at Christmas time!
Last week we began with some music clips and had you guess the name of some popular Christmas songs. Since you didn’t do very well with that, I came up with an easier Christmas Carol quiz.
1. What’s the most-often played and best-selling Christmas song of all time? White Christmas.
2. Of the top-ten most popular Christmas songs in our culture, which one has a spiritual theme? According to worldofchristmas.net, there’s just one. Here’s their list:
1. White Christmas
2. Last Christmas
3. Rudolph
4. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
5. Jingle Bell Rock
6. The Christmas Song
7. Snoopy’s Christmas
8. Here Comes Santa Claus
9. Little Drummer Boy
10. Donde Esta Santa Claus
That’s right. It’s the Little Drummer Boy. Amidst all the pa rum pum pums, we hear about honoring the King with our finest gifts and Mary nodding while the drummer boy plays his best for Him.
I read this week that more and more radio stations have been switching their formats to all-Christmas, all the time. According to Arbitron, it’s not unusual for ratings to double once a station makes the switch. The Hollywood Reporter, in its December 9th issue, said that it makes a lot of sense because “People who find the station often stick around after the holidays and discover a new favorite station.”
Music about Christ’s birth should be much more than just a clever marketing scheme during the holiday season. By the way, I had lunch with Willard Baker this week and he pulled a card out of his pocket that he made up to give to people when they say, “Happy Holidays.” Here’s what it says: “Don’t you mean, ‘Merry Christmas’? ‘Tis the season to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.”
Can you imagine Christmas without carols? What a tragedy it would be if there were no songs to announce the Savior’s coming or if they were all just about snow or reindeer or jingle bells. As we continue in our series called, “The Songs of Christmas,” today we’re going to listen in to the lyrics of Mary’s Music, which is perhaps the most well-known song of Christmas in Luke’s gospel. It’s my hope that after hearing her music, you’ll stick with the Scriptures and discover some other favorites. But before we do that, let’s just admit that Mary is often misunderstood.
The Overestimated Mary
Mary plays two widely divergent roles among Catholics and Protestants. Some of you know that I’ve been in both camps – I was raised Catholic and now I’m a Protestant.
It seems to me that many Catholics overestimate the role of Mary. According to Pope Pius, IX, “God has committed to Mary the treasury of all good things, in order that through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation.” Another Pope put it this way: “It is the will of God that we should have nothing which has not passed through the hands of Mary…The Blessed Virgin Mary is to be called Queen not only on account of her divine motherhood but also because by the will of God she had a great part in the work of our salvation…she co-operated in our redemption.” (Pius, XII).
And there has been a recent push among many Catholics to declare Mary the “Co-Redeemer, Mediator of All Graces, and Advocate for the People of God.” (Christianity Today, 12/8/97). In one Catholic Forum I read this week, I came across these words: “Jesus is obscured because Mary is kept in the background. Thousands of souls perish because Mary is withheld from them.” It was Jerome, an early church father, who said this: “Death through Eve, life through Mary.”
When we lived in Mexico for three years, we were astounded and grieved by all the attention given to Mary. In fact, tomorrow is the Virgin of Guadalupe Day in Mexico, what some call their most important holiday, and millions of people will pay homage to her. Hundreds of thousands will make a pilgrimage to the Basilica in Mexico City from all over the country; many of them will walk on their knees. Beth and I have been to this shrine on several occasions and have observed people climbing the rough brick stairs on their knees, leaving bloodstains behind.
I’ll never forget an experience we had shortly after we arrived in Mexico. As part of our attempt to understand the culture, we made it a practice to visit different churches. If we were out walking, and came across a church, we would try to at least look inside. One day, we found an open church and walked in. It was a fairly large building, but pretty plain on the inside. As we walked toward the front, we couldn’t help but see a huge statue of Mary, hung prominently right in the middle of the wall, directly above the altar. This image was probably 30 or 40-feet high! As we got closer, we then saw a small statue of Jesus, only about two feet high, placed at the feet of Mary. We just stared with our mouths open in disbelief, while our eyes flooded with tears. There’s something wrong with that picture, isn’t there?
Before I say what I want to say next, please understand that I am not a Catholic-basher. I care deeply for those who are Catholic. However, it must be clearly taught – Mary has no place in our redemption. It is only by the shed blood of Jesus that you and I can have forgiveness of sin and open access to God the Father. Mary is not a co-redemptorist, an advocate, the dispenser of all grace, or our mediator. She needed to have her sins forgiven, just like we do.
Friends, there is no biblical basis that she lived a sinless life, for her perpetual virginity or for her bodily assumption into heaven. Don’t give to Mary that which belongs only to Jesus and that which she never asked for herself.
By the way, Jesus deflected deference from Mary in Luke 11:27-28: “As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, ‘Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.’” Jesus is rather blunt with his answer: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” One other point to consider is that the Apostle Paul’s only reference to her is in Galatians 4:4 when he writes: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman…” He doesn’t even use her name.
The Underestimated Mary
Now, let me be quick to add that while many Catholics overestimate Mary’s importance and attribute things to her that are not taught in the Bible, most Protestants underestimate her importance. Many of us allow her a cameo appearance in Christmas cards, carols, and nativity scenes during this time of the year, but then we tuck her away like a Christmas ornament, out of sight, out of mind, until her reappearance next December. Mary is often the victim of simple neglect, having been abandoned to a kind of evangelical limbo. Some of us have consigned her to virtual oblivion.
As we will see this morning, Mary did play a crucial role in God’s plan, and we will be spiritually impoverished if we ignore her. Let’s not let the excesses of the Catholic tradition keep us from admiring her and learning from her example. Here’s the sermon in a sentence today: When we are humble the Holy One can use us. Before getting into the meat of Mary’s music, I want to list three impressions of Mary from Dr. Robert Rayburn that helped me to better understand the depth of her devotion. There is much here that we can apply to our own lives.
1. Mary immediately interprets her circumstances biblically. She strings together at least 15 Old Testament quotes or allusions, especially from the Psalms and from Hannah’s hymn of praise found in 1 Samuel 2. As a young woman she was probably drawn to women of faith like Sarah, Deborah, Hannah, Ruth and Abigail. It’s as if she tried to fit the whole Bible into her song. It’s amazing that such a young teenager was such a master of the Scriptures. She clearly had been taught the Bible at home and had studied it at great length.
2. Mary saw everything in terms of God reaching out to people through His Son. She starts by praising God for what He has done for her, but then focuses on what God has done and will do, for others. I count 9 different times that she refers to what God has done, not what she has done. Like John the Baptist, she deflects attention from herself to her Savior. In Luke 1:47 she calls God her Savior, meaning she was a sinner in need of forgiveness.
3. Mary was in awe of God’s greatness, not her own goodness. She saw herself as a humble servant because she saw the Lord as a great King. What God had done for her, as marvelous as it was, was part and parcel of what He always does. In Luke 1:49 she doesn’t declare that she was a doer of good things; but rather one for whom great things were done.
In Luke 1:28, when Gabriel appears to Mary and says, “Greetings you who are highly favored; the Lord is with you” we need to be clear on what he really said. This is where the song “Ave Maria” or “Hail Mary, full of grace” comes from. The Greek literally reads, “Grace, oh Graced One!” Let’s be clear. Gabriel was not referring to Mary bestowing grace on others but instead was focusing on how much grace she has been given. She is not the dispenser of divine grace; only God is.
Let’s set the scene… Mary traveled a great distance to be with Elizabeth. She needed someone who would understand her situation and that was certainly her cousin Elizabeth because she was pregnant and well past child-bearing years. When Mary arrives, little John gives an extra hard kick while still in utero. He was already doing the job that God gave him which was to announce the arrival of the Messiah. By the way, this is strong evidence that life begins at conception!
This was an outburst of joy, as the old covenant greeted the new. Luci Shaw describes the scene like this: “Framed in light, Mary sings through the doorway. Elizabeth’s six month boy jumps, a palpable greeting, a hidden first encounter between son and Son.”
Mary’s music is in response to Elizabeth calling the unborn Christ “my Lord.” In the verse immediately preceding Mary’s song of praise she says this: “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” God used Elizabeth to calm Mary’s questions and her doubts disappeared. Praise erupted from within like an overflowing fountain. This Scripture song is like Mary saying, “Aha!!!” as she glimpses God’s great work through the years, and her place in His plan.
Mary’s music is spontaneous, poetical and profoundly theological. Since poetry is a heightened form of expression, it causes us to slow down. I came across this statement this week: “Let’s approach Christmas with an expectant hush, rather than a last minute rush.”
Let’s take a breath and listen as I read straight from her lyrics as found in Luke 1:46-55. Follow along in your Bible or on your app: “And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”
As I meditated on her music this week, I saw three main movements.
1. Mary’s Adoration (46-47)
2. God’s Attributes (48-51)
3. God’s Actions (52-55)
Let’s use this outline to help us better understand what it was that so moved Mary to sing this song from her soul.
Mary’s Adoration
1. Magnifies the Lord. This song has been known for hundreds of years as the Magnificat, which is Latin for the word “to magnify.” The NIV uses the word “glorify” in verse 46: “And Mary said, ‘My soul glorifies the Lord.’” We should point out that it doesn’t say that she “sang” but rather that she “said.” When speaking of her soul, Mary is saying that this poetry comes from the depth of her being. To “magnify” means to declare as great, to enlarge or to increase in one’s estimation. My mind goes to Psalm 34:3: “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”
I’m reading a book called, Preaching to Yourself. In it, Joe Thorn writes this: “Take note – your view of Jesus tends to shrink over time…and as your shrinking Jesus becomes small Jesus, He is easily eclipsed by your idols and ego. The bigger and more biblical your understanding of who Jesus is, the more likely He is to be such an object of love and adoration that the idols that aim at capturing your attention and swaying your allegiance will lose their power…because small Jesus does not inspire awe, command respect, lead to worship, or compel us to talk of Him…so please remember – Jesus is bigger than you tend to think.”
Many songs start softly and then crescendo at the end. Not so with Mary’s music. She busted out with a song of praise extolling the immensity of the Almighty. She begins with reverence and then moves to rejoicing.
2. Rejoices in God her Savior. Because Mary magnifies the Lord, she can’t help but find joy in Him in verse 47: “And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” The word for rejoice here means to “jump for joy” and “to be exceedingly glad.”
God’s Attributes
For this section, I’m going to borrow three words that I heard Pastor Alistair Begg use in a sermon on this passage – mindful, mighty and merciful. Specifically, this is what Mary worships God for.
1. He is Mindful. Check out verse 48: “For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.” The word “mindful” means “to look upon, to regard with affection and to gaze at with favor.” God sees all that you’re going through right now and the Almighty is mindful of your misery. Psalm 34:15: “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry.”
Mary refers to herself as being of a low and humble state, which likely refers to her social position in the Jewish culture. The word “humble” references the fact that she was young and poor. I wonder if she had Psalm 136:23 in her mind: “He remembered us in our low estate.” She sees herself as a subservient handmaiden. She takes the position of subordination and absolute submission.
She can’t get over the fact that God would choose a sinner to bring forth the Savior. And yet she also marvels that the course of human history will be changed, as all generations will remember how blessed she was to be used by God.
2. He is Mighty. We see this in verse 49: “For the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name” and in the first part of verse 51: “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm…” God is all-powerful and she makes Him the subject of the rest of the song. The next phrase literally reads, “He has done to me great things.” The word “great” means, “big and exceedingly great.”
He is holy and separate from sin and everything else. Mary is turning all attention away from herself and putting it all on Him. She may have been meditating on Psalm 24:8: “Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.”
3. He is Merciful. We see this in verse 50 and again in verse 54: “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation…remembering to be merciful.” The word “mercy” refers to God’s faithful love towards those who deserve punishment. If grace is getting what we don’t deserve then mercy is not getting what we do deserve.
“Fearing” God has to do with having a reverential respect for Him. And notice that God’s intention is for His mercy to pass from one generation to the next, from parents to children to their children and on and on. That means that we as parents have a huge responsibility and opportunity to affect the formulation of faith for the next one hundred years or more!
God’s Action
Mary moves from adoring God to celebrating His attributes and now she lists three types of people that God acts on behalf of.
1. The Humble. Look at the last part of verse 51 and verse 52: “…He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.” This is powerful language and quite revolutionary. God has no tolerance for the proud. The phrase “brought down” means to demolish or destroy, to pull or throw down. Think about all the rulers who recently have gone off the scene around the world. It’s always been the case because the kingdoms of this world are temporary and transitory.
God lifts the humble and humbles the proud. James 4:10: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” God is the lover of the lowly. I’ve been drawn to Isaiah 66:2 recently: “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.” God has always undertaken for the underdog. God hates the haughty, but honors the humble. In Daniel 4:37 we read how Nebuchadnezzar learned his lesson about pride, “And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Proverbs 3:34 adds, “He mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble.” We tend to focus on beauty, bucks and brains. Philip Ryken writes: “This is the way God operates: The humble are shown mercy, while the proud receive justice. The lowly are lifted and the lofty are brought low.”
2. The Hungry. Before you can be fed, you must first be hungry. Look at verse 53: “He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” The idea behind “filled” is to be fully satisfied. And the meaning of “hungry” is not to just have a little rumble in the tummy but “to be famished and to crave.” By the way, a practical way to satisfy some hunger in our community this month is to give towards our Christmas basket ministry or to come out on December 21st to put some food together and deliver meals to the hungry and hurting.
Some of us are not spiritually satisfied simply because we’re not famished enough for God to fill us. We’ve gorged on so many other things that we have no appetite for spiritual matters. Again Ryken nails it: “When we get stuffed on the pleasures of this life, we do not feel our need for God, and then he has nothing more to give us. If we are too proud to admit that we need God the way a beggar needs bread, he will send us away empty.” Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Do you recognize that Christmas in our culture counts on our discontentment? That’s why all the commercials and ads focus on what we think we need and we’ll be happy when we get what we can’t live without. These two verses from Proverbs 30:8-9 have been helpful to me: “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”
3. The Helpless. We’ve mentioned this before but God doesn’t help those who help themselves; He helps those who are helpless. Look at the closing lines of her song in verses 54-55: “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” I love the picture behind the word for “helped.” It means “to take hold of, to embrace and hug, to support and help.” That’s how God treats us when we’re helpless.
Mary is remembering God’s covenant to Abraham and marvels that God’s mercy is now coming to fulfillment through her Son. Mary was well-versed in Genesis 12:2: “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”
God is always on the side of the humble, the hurting and the hungry. He’s cheering on the orphan and the widow. He’s for the preborn and the elderly, the poor, the disabled, the deaf, the blind and the feeble. God cares for those who can’t care for themselves. Listen, if Christmas teaches us anything, it’s this: When we are humble the Holy One can use us.
People are listening to the lyrics of your life. I wonder what they’re hearing. I heard about a little girl who watched her mom and dad get ready for Christmas. Her dad seemed preoccupied with burdens and bundles. Her mom was caught up in parties and presents. Neither had any time for her and she felt like she was being ignored, especially after hearing one of her parents say, “Would you please get out of the way?”
One night before going to sleep, she knelt by her bed and prayed this prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven, please forgive our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas against us.”
Would you notice how abruptly Mary’s music ends? All of a sudden, it just stops. I think it’s because the song is not over. As we allow the words of Scripture to penetrate our souls, we too will sing. And each of us can add our own verse. Let me ask you some questions. Is the music of your life secular or is it spiritual? Is it worldly or worshipful? If someone hung out with you for a day, would they hear a hymn of humility or would they want to puke because of your pride? Would they be drawn to the Lord by the lyrics of your life?
The key to Mary’s music was the fact that she believed and she obeyed.
• She believed. Luke 1:45: “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.”
• She obeyed. Luke 1:38: “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be done to me as you have said…”
What about you? Are you ready to believe? After you believe, will you obey? Are you ready to make these words your music today?
Whatever you want…do it, Lord.
Whatever you need…take it, Lord.
Wherever you lead…I’ll follow, Lord.
We’re going to end with a song that has no fluffy lyrics. It’s called, “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.”
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in thee.
