Sermon -- Advent Vespers: Week 2 (December 9, 2020)

LUKE 1:46-55

THE HYMNS OF ADVENT

THE MAGNIFICAT – SONG OF MARY

“PRAISE GOD WHO EXALTS THE LOWLY.”

In the name + of Jesus.

     There is always a question that lingers among Christians: Why did the Lord choose Mary to be the maiden who would conceive and give birth to Jesus?  Certainly she was not the only Jewish virgin pledged to be married, nor the only humble peasant to be considered.  There had to be plenty of other believers among the virgins in Palestine.  When we try to delve into the mystery of God's choice, we almost always end up crediting Mary somehow.  We figure that she must have done something, or refrained from something, far better than anyone else. 

     If that's what we conclude, it's because we assume God works like we do.  Promotions go to the more productive workers.  Awards go to the best competitors.  We make our purchases based on who gives us the best deal.  So, if Mary was chosen to give birth to the Lord, we assume that God rewarded her as the best and most noble candidate available.  But God does not work like us.  The theme repeats throughout the Bible, and perhaps no one sums it up more succinctly than the Virgin Mary.  Our God is a God who delights in reversals.  Praise God who exalts the lowly.  

     While it is true that Mary was a believing peasant, it was the Lord who had put her in that position to begin with.  The Lord had made her a believer in the promises.  The Lord had placed her in a lowly Galilean family where chastity was upheld as right and good.  But Mary was not rewarded for these reasons.  If you need to know why the Lord chose Mary to be the mother of our Lord, it is simply by God's grace.  God chose Mary according to God's good pleasure, not because Mary was the only logical choice, deserved a prize, or did something to make the Lord take notice.

     Praise God who exalts the lowly.  We are right to call her the blessed Virgin Mary; for she is.  We praise God for exalting her with Gabriel's announcement.  But it seems likely that Mary did not feel exalted when Gabriel spoke to her.  Granted, she responded with willing obedience, saying, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)  But how exuberant do you think she was?  

     After finding out she had conceived, she wondered how she would tell her parents and her fiance.  What about her neighbors in Nazareth?  What would they think?  She would be the talk of the town, and not in a good way.  Mary's initial reaction was probably that she was scared.  She would become the object of slander, not honor.  Her lowly position dropped a couple of rungs.

     How would you have weighed all these things in your mind?  Mary's pregnancy was unprecedented.  Whom could she consult?  Who could understand what she was going through?  Perhaps that is why Gabriel gave Mary a bit of a nudge.  “Behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.” (Luke 1:36)  With this news, Mary traveled down to Judea.  It was there that Elizabeth proclaimed reasons for Mary to rejoice.  “She exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  … Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:42-43,45)  Mary did not break out into song in Nazareth.  It was in Judea, at Elizabeth's words, that Mary finally responded and rejoiced.  Praise God who exalts the lowly.

     Elizabeth was probably the first person to note that Mary was truly blessed in her circumstances, and she said it twice!  Perhaps this was the first time that Mary had put it all together.  Therefore, Mary sang, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.  For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” (Luke 1:46-49)  Mary's praise was not for herself.  She had been lowly and poor before Gabriel announced her pregnancy.  Her economic status did not change.  Her reputation likely became worse.  But the Lord was still worthy of praise because he was sending a Savior into the world.  Mary's condition would be lowly her whole life long, but she was exalted by the God who would make her an heir of everlasting glory.  Her neighbors might curse her for an unplanned pregnancy, but all who know and believe God's word will call her blessed.  Indeed, God calls her blessed; for Mary's womb would be the means by which God would become flesh and the channel through which God would enter the world to save sinners.

     Praise God who exalts the lowly.  Though Mary may have been despised by her neighbors, she was beloved by God.  Though Mary was likely accused of adultery, God upheld her purity.  The people judged by appearances, but God assesses the heart and vindicates Mary's innocence.  This shows how God works differently than we do.  Praise God who exalts the lowly.  

     Mary sang God's praise and declared the reversal that God works in the lives of people.  “He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” (Luke 1:51-53)  Praise God who exalts the lowly.  This is how our Lord consistently deals with all mankind.  

     Our God is a God who delights in reversals.  The proud boast, “Look how much I've gained, what accomplishments I've gotten, what charity I've given, how much good I've done!  There is so much to prove that God favors me, and there are so many favors I have done for God and for others.”  The world takes notice, and applauds.  But God knocks such mighty ones off the pedestal they have made for themselves.  He casts them down from the throne of their power and pride.  God is not impressed that we are so impressed with ourselves.  If you are full of yourself, repent.  For the Lord sends such people away empty.  Even what you have will be taken from you, and you will be left without honor, hope, or mercy.

     So who does receive God's favor?  Who has hope or honor?  Who gets mercy?  Those who are humble, those who are poor, those who are oppressed, and those who hunger.  If you are oppressed by your sins, then you yearn for relief.  If you are poor in spirit, then you long to be enriched with something of real value.  If you hunger for righteousness, it is because you want to be satisfied by it.  If you are humble enough to realize that even the best you have to offer is nothing to boast about, it is because God has laid you low.  God strips you of any pride in what you have accomplished, in what you have accumulated, and in your altruism.

     If you have been laid low, then you must look somewhere outside of you to be lifted up.  Praise God who exalts the lowly.  It is God who raises you up and bestows you with honor.  He relieves your oppressed soul by proclaiming that your sins are forgiven.  He enriches your poor spirit with the good news that you have God's favor and will have untarnished glory.  He washes your filth with his innocence and clothes you in baptism with his righteousness.  He feeds your hungry heart with his life-giving body and blood.  Such is the reversal that God works.  Praise God who exalts the lowly.

     That is why Mary sings: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.  …  He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” (Luke 1:46-48,54-55)  

     Praise God who exalts the lowly!  To work his great reversal for your salvation, God himself became lowly.  He became an embryo, taking up temporary residence in the womb of the Virgin Mary.  Though he is God, eternally begotten from the nature of the Father, he is also man, born in time from the nature of his mother.  By becoming a man, the immortal God became a mortal.  More than that, he who is forever blessed became a curse.  Jesus traded in his innocence for your guilt.  He exchanged God's favor for God's wrath.  The Glory of Israel died in weakness, in pain, and in shame for you.  So, now the guilty are found innocent.

     Praise God who exalts the lowly.  Our God is a God who delights in reversals.  The blessed Virgin Mary had only one reason to rejoice in her lowly circumstances.  She had God's word to uphold, to vindicate, and to save her.  Though slandered by the world, Mary is exalted by God.  And so it is with you.  If the world does not marvel over you, fear not.  God does.  Your frail flesh and poor soul are exalted by God who is pleased to call you his own.  Your frail flesh will eventually be glorified.  And your poor soul is already enriched now by a gracious God who feeds you with holy things.

     Praise God who exalts the lowly!  Why has God been so mindful of you?  For the same reason he was mindful of Mary—grace.  This is why we magnify the Lord.  This is why we call Mary blessed.  And it is why God calls you blessed too.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.