Magnificat
Luke 1:46-56
December 17, 2003
You can really tell that Christmas is right around the corner!! Those tell-tale signs of Christmas aren’t too hard to find. The Christmas tree lots have sprung up in many places around town, and many of them have already sold off the majority of their trees. Christmas is coming. As you enter and exit stores like Wal-Mart, Target, and Hy-Vee, the familiar sound of the Salvation Army bells ringing will reach your ears. Yep, it’s pretty obvious, Christmas is right around the corner.
You know what has really made me realize that it is the holiday season? Apart from all the decorations, apart from all the lights, apart from all the “Merry Christmases!” I receive from my friends, the #1 thing that really brings home the reality of Christmas is the music. You know what I am talking about! Christmas music is everywhere! Walk into any department store, holiday tunes are playing. Flip on the TV, many commercials have a “holiday-ditty” in the background. And when you tune into a radio station, odds are you won’t have to wait long to hear a Christmas tune.
Many of us have old favorites that are only sung this time of year. And boy do we love to sing ‘em! I was visiting one of our members the other day at Bryant East and as I walked past the construction area out front, I heard a construction worker just a whistling away to the tune of Jingle Bells. I don’t think he cared if the whole world could hear him! Last Friday, at dinner, one of the men at the table jumped up when “Holly, Jolly Christmas” came on, he declared that this was the “National Anthem of Christmas” and promptly sang along and danced to the beat until the song was over. No joke, it was a little disturbing. And even Vicars are not immune to this Christmas song phenomena, as Sheri and I were cleaning up the house the other day, Jewel’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” came on and I sang along and inserted all the extra lines that I have known since I was about 5 years old. There is something about Christmas and singing that go hand-in-hand.
And while there is nothing wrong with these secular Christmas songs, if those are the only songs in our heart this year, if they are the only songs on our lips, we are guilty of neglecting the greatest gift our God has ever given to us. Maybe there is no song in your heart this season. Maybe, like Scrooge you have “Bah Humbugged” the holidays away. While it may OK to shun the pomp and circumstance of the holiday season, it is never OK to shun Christ or the importance of His birth among us. This Christmas we don’t want to be found without a song in our hearts, and we don’t want to have the wrong song on our lips, so what are we to do?
Tonight in our Gospel lesson we have a great example of a Christmas song. Tonight we heard the words of the very first Christmas song ever sung. This song doesn’t talk about jingling bells, holly, or reindeer. It has nothing to do with snow or sleigh bells or Santa. This song has everything to do with what really makes Christmas Christmas. This song was all about sin and salvation, the free Gift of God’s Grace sent to a fallen human race. This song was all about Jesus.
This song was not sung by angels, or priests, or prophets. No, it was sung by a humble young woman whom God had chosen to bear His Son. Her name was Mary, the human mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. She was just an ordinary girl that God chose to play a part in His plan to save the world. Her song, the Magnificat, the first Christmas song ever sung, is a reflection of her faith. Faith that believed that God loves sinners. Faith that believed that He could even love and use a sinner like her.
We call Mary’s song the Magnificat. That word, Magnificat, is a Latin word which means “he, she, or it glorifies or magnifies”. The title of this song is simply, “She Glorifies”, an appropriate name for this wonderful song of praise from Mary to her God.
Now we gotta get something straight, there was nothing “extra-special” about Mary that made God choose her. She didn’t deserve God’s favor or earn this privilege, no, God chose her. She was a recipient of God’s grace. In the same manner, her song does not reflect a faith that Mary came up with on her own, no, she was expressing the faith that God had created in her through hearing His Word delivered by the angel Gabriel. The fact that Mary believed is not a credit to her, it is a credit to her God. Her faith was a gift from God. And her faith, her song, points us straight to God. This song isn’t about Mary at all, it is all about Jesus.
Let’s take a closer look at this song of praise. It is strikingly similar to many of the songs (Psalms) in the Old Testament. Mary was a child of Israel, she believed in God, she had heard the Word of God through the Scriptures of what we now call the Old Testament. It is no wonder then that her song uses some of the same words found in many of the Psalms. Her praise to God is patterned after the praises of the faithful who had gone on before her. Many of our songs today do the exact same thing. We sing back to God the very Word He has given us. Mary was singing back to God promises He had given in the past, because before her very eyes these promises were coming true. Before her very eyes the Miracle of miracles was taking place in her womb.
In verses 48-49 Mary sings, “From now on all generations will call me blessed because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and Holy is His Name!” There are precious few references to things in the Old Testament that last “for all generations”. So few that I can mention all them to you in a matter of a few seconds. They are: the Lord’s name (Ex. 3:15), His Will (Ps 33:11), His praise (Ps. 79:13), His faithfulness (Ps 89:1), His Reign (Ps 146:10), His Truth (Ps. 100:5), His Forgiveness (Ps. 106:31), and His presence (1Kings 8:12-13).
Remember, this song is not about Mary, it is all about Jesus. The reason all generations will call her blessed is because the embodiment of all these Promises of God is growing in her belly. Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God. He is God’s Truth, God’s Faithfulness, God’s Forgiveness, and God’s presence with His people. Jesus will provide God’s full salvation for all generations. He is the one through whom all the world will be saved. He is not just Mary’s baby, He is Mary’s Savior, that is why she is blessed.
This song was not sung 34 years after Jesus was born. This is not a song that remembers events of the past, it is a song of faith. Faith that looks forward. Mary did not know the details of how her son would save the world, she simply believed God’s Word that said He would. For Mary, the main event is not the birth of this child, but the salvation He would one day bring to all the earth.
It is the same for you and me. As we celebrate Christmas, we joyfully remember the birth of our Lord, but his birth is not our primary focus. As we peer into the manger and behold the Baby Jesus, we see the shadow of a cross. It is not His birth that sets us free, but the death He died in our place. It is not a manger that assures us of our salvation, but an open tomb. The reason we have comfort and hope in the words of the angels at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, “Today in the town of David a Savior is born” is because of the words those same angels speak at the end of Luke, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, He is Risen!!!”
Mary was blessed because the Lord was with her. All people are blessed with whom Christ dwells. You are one of those people. Christ dwells with you. He has given you faith to believe in Him. He has done everything necessary for your salvation. He talks to you, through His Word. He feeds you, with His body and blood. He watches over and protects you, and He always will, until the day He calls you to be with Him. All generations can most certainly call you blessed. You are blessed. Because Jesus is with you, and He always will be.
This Christmas we won’t be lacking a song, nor will we be confused about what song to sing. This Christmas and every Christmas, the song of Mary is our song as well. We rejoice with the same faith she had. We have been given the same promises. We share the same Savior.
This Christmas we will celebrate by singing songs. It is my hope and prayer that this Christmas season the majority of our songs will be like the songs I heard at the children’s program on Sunday, songs like I heard the carolers sing to our shut-in members last Saturday, songs like I will hear tomorrow at Homestead Nursing Home. Songs that are like the Song of Mary, songs that are all about Jesus!!! This holiday season, as you sing of Him who came to save us, may His peace be with you now, because His love is with you always! You have been blessed, thanks be to God. Amen.
