This morning we’ll continue following the Christmas story through the eyes of Mary, the mother of Jesus, an amazing young woman. Think with me about what must have been going through Mary’s mind and the emotions she felt in the early months of her pregnancy with Jesus. She had seen an angel who told her God was going to use her for something wonderful, and this something would happen through her son who would be born soon. That’s weird! And who could she talk about it with? Her fiancé, Joseph, didn’t believe her story at first, until an angel appeared to him, too, and confirmed the message. And he came on board! Good for him. But what about her parents and the neighbors? Soon a baby was growing inside of her; there was no doubt about that. And yet, how could she comprehend what God was doing? Even if it were all written out in precise, analytical, theological language, pages and pages, it wouldn’t help. This was still just too wonderful. There aren’t words to do it justice. There must have been such a hodge-podge of thoughts swirling in her mind.
But God took care of Mary. The angels had also spoken to her uncle, Zechariah, and now her aunt, Elizabeth was also expecting. That was another miracle. They were her best chance of finding someone else who would believe her. So Mary up and visited her aunt.
And Aunt Elizabeth must have meant so much to Mary. Here was someone who could understand. Here was someone who had been hearing from God, too, and was in the flow of what God was doing. Here was someone who could reassure her that God was with her and things would be all right.
A lot of young mothers need the support of a wise, older woman, and Mary was taking an even bigger step than bringing a normal baby into the world, a much bigger step.
And as she and Elizabeth got together, the whole wonder of it all came a little clearer in Mary’s heart and her mind, and it all came out. Mary burst out with a beautiful poem, maybe a song, of what God was doing.
I’d like us to look at that song together this morning. And as I read it, I want you to think about it carefully. What is the purpose of Christmas? This song is one of the most important parts of “the true meaning of Christmas,” a part that all too easily gets trampled in the rush. So much of our modern emphasis is on buying stuff, finding peace for ourselves, enjoying our wonderful little family groups, like we’ve hibernated in cozy cocoons. But is Christmas about me and my family? Listen to what Mary understood God was doing on the first Christmas.
Our scripture lesson for this 4th Sunday of Advent is Luke 1:46-55.
46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
Mary’s song gives us eight statements in a row of what God was doing. They will show us what Mary understood was going on. And in good Hebrew poetic form, they fit together in pairs.
The first pair is verse 51,
“He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in their thoughts of their hearts.”
Like many Americans are raised on Mother Goose and Dr. Seuss, the people of Israel were raised on the stories of the many times God had shown the strength of his arm for their ancestors giving them victory on the battlefield and scattering their enemies. Mary was named after Miriam, Moses’ sister, who led the victory celebration after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and were free of Egypt. She named her son Jesus because that was what the angel told her to do. But in Hebrew it was the same name as Joshua, the great military leader who led them in taking over the promised land. Those stories were all around them.
Sometimes you look at all the evil of this world and you can be tempted to think that God doesn’t make much of a difference, that he’s overwhelmed by it all. But in the birth of Jesus he made all the difference. He started a movement that started to turn the entire history of the human race in a new direction. We see God’s kind of strength in the Christmas story. And with all the abuses of power in this world, God’s ways are really good news.
What does the birth of Jesus have to do with “scattering the proud in their thoughts of their hearts”? Did you know this is part of the Christmas story, “the true meaning of Christmas”? If we really listen to this story, it’s like an atomic bomb for destroying human pride.
We puny humans can get so caught up with shallow, outward things that make us look good and feel good. We exhaust ourselves to accumulate titles and possessions and awards and are so quick to think we are really something special. But Jesus turned that thinking upside down in his beatitudes.
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.”
Doesn’t it just shout out to us that God, who is so much higher than us, was content to come into this world without any of that stuff? He was born into the poorest of families. Joseph was a carpenter. In our world a carpenter who works hard can make a pretty decent living when there is work. But in Joseph’s day the real financial security was for those who owned land for farming. And if your family had lost its land then you had to find other work. And houses were made mostly of stone. So the stonemasons had pretty much work. But the carpenters just came in and did the door and the windows and maybe a kitchen table. And carpenters were really poor.
And you know the Christmas story, that Mary and Joseph couldn’t even find a decent room to stay in when they came to Bethlehem so Mary gave birth to the Son of God in a stable. And you can bet it would have been different if they had had money.
If God himself is willing to live such a simple life, stripped of all the silly trappings of status we use to decide who sits where on the social ladder, how silly it is for us to get puffed up over who has more money or a bigger house or trendier clothing or prestigious friends.
At Christmas time we can get so caught up in putting on the whole Christmas production to a level appropriate for the social station at which we see ourselves. And the baby in the manger says to us, “Don’t worry about all that stuff. Sure, our Christmas traditions are wonderful. We’ll have 3 of our 4 kids home for Christmas and 5 grandkids and the tree is up and we’ll open presents and have a great dinner together. There can be a lot of love in all of that. But Christmas is much bigger than that. The first importance is what God has done for us.
God’s Christmas present to us is Jesus! Can anyone here top that? The best giving is done. Can you hear the freedom he offers us? Jesus is our Christmas gift. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you can add very much to that. Don’t let yourself get puffed up and distracted by what we do. God has already done the greatest thing.
This baby, the Son of God, born in a feeding trough just destroys human pride if we will take it for what it really is.
In the next verse, verse 52,
Mary said, “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.”
If you follow the news you know the concerns that have been raised that American culture is dramatically changing. There’s always some gap between a few people who are very, very rich and a whole lot of people who are just stuck in poverty. But right now that gap is huge and getting bigger. Mary said that one meaning of Christmas is that this is not God’s will. God’s heart is with lifting up those on the bottom.
Luke’s gospel tells us who had the power when Jesus was born. Augustus was the Roman Emperor. Quirinius was governor of the province of Syria. Herod was over Judea. And how do these big shots fit into this story? They are nobodies in this story. They are irrelevant. They are sort of footnotes to the story to help us know roughly when it all happened. Herod hears about it all after the fact and then tries to destroy what God was doing. Caesar Augustus and Governor Quirinius probably never had any idea what happened. They were clueless.
Now I am not against governments. I’m in favor of honoring and supporting our political leaders. But let’s be clear about what they do. They take care of the roads and the schools and national defense and that kind of thing. They keep us safe and provide justice. Those are important, but it’s not the most important. Politicians are never going to save the world. For the really important things in life, God turned to this insignificant girl from a small town, probably with minimal education, probably with no important social contacts or wealth. All she had was this huge trust in God and the willingness to make herself available for whatever God had in mind.
On the first Christmas God chose to do a great thing through this humble couple, Mary and Joseph. It was just one of many times throughout history when God did extraordinary things through the most ordinary people. Hear that good news.
Kings and governors are irrelevant for the most important things in this world. Hear that in the Christmas story. The God of the Bible raises up the lowliest in society and does great things through them. No one need be left out of God’s great things. Anyone in this room, whose heart is open to whatever God brings, can do great things in God’s kingdom.
And this is a message for Americans of the early years of the 21st century. We’re the super power of our day, as Rome was in Mary’s day. We can be tempted to think that we can fix or redeem the world with our military might or through stimulating the global economy or through our technological innovations. And those have their place. But our best chance at really blessing the world is through quiet, humble servanthood, of loving our neighbors of every country, working for justice, peace and reconciliation, and spreading the good news that Jesus came to show us a better way.
In verse 53,
Mary says, “He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”
The Bible speaks of God feeding the hungry in very literal ways. This baby Jesus grew up to be a man who fed the hungry crowd of 5,000 who had spent the day listening to his teaching.
Do you know what the first church committee was in the book of Acts? It wasn’t church trustees, finance committee or even Sunday School. The first church committee was a committee to be sure that hungry widows were fed.
That was the first committee.
And throughout the centuries God has moved his people to show his love in this most practical way of feeding the hungry. Collecting food for needy families at Christmas and supporting the food pantry throughout the year, those are a big part of the true meaning of Christmas.
Then, finally in verses 54 and 55,
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
Sometimes it can feel like God is far away and maybe getting a little forgetful about what we need him to do. When Jesus was born God made clear that he hadn’t forgotten promises from centuries before. God was demonstrating his faithfulness to his people. He was telling us we can trust him. So if the Christmas story seems long ago and far away to you, remember that this is the story of what a totally faithful God did. And that same God is here today
Mary’s song is full of references to what God had done in Israel’s history. It’s obvious that Mary was very familiar with the Old Testament. And for all of us, the more we immerse ourselves in what the Bible tells us about what God is up to, the more we can make sense of where he is in our lives today.
What was God doing when Jesus was born on the first Christmas? He was scattering the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He was bringing down the powerful from their thrones and lifting up the lowly. The rich may walk away empty, with nothing but gold. But Jesus came to fill the hungry with good things. And God is faithful to guide us in the same way today.
May each of us find his strength, his mercy, his power, his compassion and his faithfulness, which was so powerfully revealed through the baby born in a stable in Bethlehem. AMEN
