“Guidelines for Christmas: Make A Commitment”
Luke 1:46-55
To what are you committed? Why are you committed? On what basis do you make your commitments? Today’s passage about Mary forces us to consider these questions about commitment. What led her to her commitment? We can gain some important insights from her song.
The first thing we discover is that Mary had AN ATTITUDE OF REVERENT MAGNIFICATION. (46-47) “And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”” Mary said that her soul glorifies, and her spirit rejoices in, God. The word glorify can be translated, as it often is, as ‘magnifies.’ “My soul magnifies the Lord…” To magnify is to make something larger – to increase its size. Many of us wear glasses to magnify the words we read – to make the print larger and clearer. Mary’s attitude is that it is the purpose of her life to magnify her Lord – TO MAKE GOD LARGER AND BIGGER AND CLEARER FOR ALL TO SEE.
What a great moment for Mary. In this midst of this amazing, confusing, unbelievable news she affirms the purpose of her life. As Kribyjon Caldwell said, "There are two great moments in a person's life: the moment you were born and the moment you realize why you were born." (1) This was Mary’s moment of realization. No matter what the circumstances, no matter what the call or assignment of God, Mary would magnify her Lord.
MAGNIFICATION OF OUR LORD IS OUR PURPOSE as well. Psalm 66:2 – “Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!” Paul, in Ephesians 1:11-12, wrote “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” Praising and magnifying our Lord is not an option. God is richly deserving of our praise and we have an obligation to praise Him. In praising God we make Him larger for all to see Him more clearly.
And the beauty of magnification, the power of praise, is that it reminds us IT’S ALL ABOUT OUR LORD. When we are busy praising our Lord we are not thinking about ourselves. I appreciate how Bruce and Katherine Epperly put it in “Tending to the Holy”: “Praise centers and grounds us in divine love that brings worlds into being, guides the evolution of galaxies and people, and breathes new life through all creation in every situation. Authentic praise is not a matter of stroking the divine ego or perpetuating hierarchical understandings of the divine-human relationship, but the recognition that God is the lively, intimate, and creative reality from which each moment of life emerges…Praise transforms pastors and congregations alike by turning our vision from the crisis of the present moment to the ever-present goodness of God....While praise does not deny the realities of suffering and pain, it reminds us that divine love and creativity will have the final word in our lives and in the world.” (2) It’s all about Him.
Perhaps you feel like your life is nothing unusual, or too unusual, to magnify Jesus Christ. Remember – YOU AREN’T THE MESSAGE, YOU ARE THE MESSENGER. Think about it. Abraham (and Sarah & Elizabeth) were too old, Isaac was a daydreamer, Jacob was a liar, Joseph was abused, Moses wasn’t willing, Gideon was afraid, Samson was a womanizer, Rahab was a prostitute, Jeremiah and Timothy were too young, David had an affair and was a murderer, Elijah was suicidal, Isaiah preached naked, Jonah ran from God, Naomi was a widow, Job went bankrupt, Mary was a virgin, Peter denied Christ (3 times!), the Disciples fell asleep while praying, Zacchaeus was too small, Paul was too religious, Timothy had an ulcer, and Lazarus was dead! And they all magnified God. As the messenger you can magnify Jesus through your praise. It’s all about Jesus! Like Mary, let us develop an attitude of reverent magnification.
It’s important to understand, however, that Mary’s attitude was possible because it had A BASIS OF REVOLUTIONARY LOVE. “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation”. God’s mercy – His gracious faithful love – is never ending. IT CONTINUES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION. It goes on and on and on. God reminded the Israelites (Dt. 5:10) that He would show His love to a thousand generations. The Psalmist widened it when he wrote (103:17) that God’s love was from everlasting to everlasting.
MARY NOW UNDERSTOOD THIS EVERLASTING LOVE PERSONALLY. First of all, she was mindful of her lowliness, her station and status in life. (48-49) “…for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant…” Yet God chose her, a virgin, to be the mother of His Son. “…for the Mighty One has done great things for me…” Mary refers to God as her Savior (47), the One who reached down to her in her lowliness and gave her great honor. She knew she was not worthy; she now also knew that God’s grace and favor are pure gifts.
GOD LOVES US IN THE VERY SAME WAY. Perhaps you feel insignificant, or unimportant; or that your life is meaningless; or that your sins are too numerous to overcome; or that you lack the talent or platform to be of use to God. God loves you – not for who you are or aren’t, not for what you have or don’t have – but because you’re precious to Him. It has nothing to do with your education, your accomplishments, your wealth, your talents – it has to do with God and His love. After all, it’s all about Him! Just think about it. What has God, through Jesus, done for you? How has he worked in your life? It’s revolutionary but God is magnified and glorified by beautifying soiled lives.
No wonder MARY ALSO UNDERSTOOD SHE WAS BLESSED. (48) “From now on all generations will call me blessed…” And she was right – still today Mary is revered and blessed. But remember this: we, too, are blessed. How has God blessed you? When, where, and how have you experienced His blessings?
The whole of chapter 1 of Paul’s letter to Ephesus is a clear reminder that WE, TOO, ARE RICHLY BLESSED. (1:3-8 MSG) “…Jesus Christ … takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!”
MARY ALSO UNDERSTOOD THIS LOVE THOUGH THE PERSPECTIVE OF HISTORY. (51-53): “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.” GOD HAS UPSET AND REVOLUTIONIZED THE VALUES OF THE WORLD. One writer has suggested the importance in these verses of the image of Christ as a Waiter. (3) Picture God as “…feeding those who are hungry and clearing the table of those who are already full. If you are in need, God will help you ... he’ll be with you in a minute ... but if you are self-reliant and proud and powerful…” (if your plate is full) “…you aren’t going to receive any service from the Lord. Jesus followed this same path when he matured and began to wait on the spiritually starving people of the world… “I am among you as one who serves.”
God has continually upset and brought low the powers and values of the world. Nebuchadnezzar fell; Babylon fell; The Herods fell; the Pilates fell; Rome fell; Hitler fell; Saddam Hussein fell; Communism fell. (51-52): “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.” And all the while God has remembered “…to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” The Church of Jesus Christ lives on. It’s all about God.
This attitude and basis led Mary to A RESOLVE OF RADICAL COMMITMENT. (50) “His mercy extends to those who fear him…” While God’s grace is available to all, he extends special favors to those who are committed to Him. To fear God means to respect and revere Him, to live to honor Him, to be obedient to Him. The Psalmist said (111:10) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.” And this fear, this commitment, is radical.
It is, first of all, a SPIRITUAL commitment. Jesus said (Jn. 15:9-10 MSG) “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.” It is a commitment to live in relationship with Jesus through obedient service. That’s why Jesus had such strong words for the Pharisees: (Lk. 6:46) “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Mt. 7:21-23 MSG) “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’” (Mt. 23:25-28) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” Radical commitment is spiritual – it begins with a devotion to lovingly and obediently serve Jesus Christ. It’s all about Him.
Radical commitment is also SOCIAL. It is social, first, in the way we live with and treat one another. (Jn. 13:12-15) “When (Jesus) had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (Jn. 15:12) “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
But it is social as well in that we should live in purity. Those truly committed to Jesus Christ should have the highest standards of morality. When we realize that, as Arnold Toynbee once pointed out, 19 of 22 of the great civilizations collapsed not from outside pressure but from moral decay within, we recognize the impact of Jesus when He said we are to be the salt and the light, that our righteousness – our desire for purity and doing what is right – should be higher than that of the Pharisees. We so often hear that people do not want to ‘different’ from others because they don’t want to stand out from the crowd. To be a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ is to be different, to stand out, to be noticed – not for our sake, but for His. (Mt. 5:16 GNT) “In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.” The Message puts it beautifully: “You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” Radical commitment is social.
Thirdly, radical commitment is ECONOMIC. (Lk. 1:51) “…he has sent the rich away empty.” This is not a condemnation of wealth or riches, but rather a warning about letting wealth and riches become the core and heart of our lives. Jesus gave such a warning in stories about a rich young fool who could only think of building bigger barns and died apart from God, and a rich young ruler who could not bear the thought of selling what he had so he could follow Jesus. To be radically committed to Jesus is to believe that what’s mine is really God’s. As R. G. LeTourneau – a man of great wealth – put it, “The question is not how much of my money I give to God, but rather how much of God’s money I keep for myself.” It’s significant that when Zaccheus became committed to Jesus he not only restored four-fold what he had stolen from others but he also gave half to the poor. If we truly believe that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, if we believe that our Lord Jesus became poor that we might become eternally rich through His death on the cross, if we truly believe that we really own nothing but are merely administrators of a part of God’s estate, we cannot help but be part of God’s economic revolution. (4) Radical commitment is economic.
José Ortega y Gasset, one of the greatest of all Spanish writers, said, “Before long there will be heard throughout the planet a formidable cry rising like the howling of innumerable dogs to the stars asking for someone or something to take command.” Jesus came and took command – and He wants us to take command through His Spirit. Because of God’s radical love through Jesus, we can make God larger through our reverent magnification and our radical commitment.
Are you ready to make a radical commitment to Jesus Christ? Are you ready to pray the prayer of missionary Jim Eliot? “Lord, make me a crisis man. Let me not be a mile-post on a single road, but make me a fork that men must turn one way or another in facing Christ in me.” In that spirit, here are questions to ask each evening as you prepare to rest: “What have you done today that nobody but a Christian would do? How have I loved today in a way that nobody but a Christian could love?” How you answer will demonstrate the depth of your commitment to Jesus.
(1) Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell at a Willow Creek Leadership Conference as printed in Preaching Today online.
(2) “Tending to the Holy – The Practice of the Presence of God in Ministry”, Bruce G. Epperly and Katherine Gould Epperly, The Alban Institute, © The Alban Institute 2009, p. 50
(3) From Homiletics online
(4) The essence of this statement came from Leighton Ford – exact source unknown
