Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 1:46-55
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 11, 2019

When the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would bear the Son of God she asked, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” He told her that the Holy Spirit would conceive the child and then he gave her some powerful proof. He said that her relative Elizabeth would also have a son, even though she was far past the age of child bearing. So Mary went to the hill country of Judah to see Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth saw Mary she exclaimed “Why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:43-45) And that sealed the deal for Mary. Filled with the Holy Spirit, she begins to praise God with the inspired words we know today as the Magnificat. In this song Mary praises God for his character and the amazing thing he has done for her: choosing her, lowly though she was, to be the mother of his Son Jesus! This unparalleled blessing has caused Mary to be recognized and celebrated by Chrstians for over two millennia! As she even says, “Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed.”

It is probably appropriate at this time to warn against an excessive adoration of Mary. She is unique; no one else was the mother of God. But the teachings of her sinless life, her perpetual virginity, and her bodily assumption into heaven are simply not Scriptural. In fact, in Luke 11:27–28, while Jesus was speaking a woman from the crowd says to him, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” But he answered, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” At another time in Luke 8:19–21, Jesus’ mother and his brothers came to get him, but when someone told him they were waiting outside, he said to them, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” So Jesus obviously didn’t act as if Mary had any special status and certainly there is no indication that Mary should be prayed to or placed in a moral class by herself. At the same time, let’s not let the unbiblical excess of some keep us from having the correct admiration for Mary that is due her. Her spiritual beauty is certainly evident in these words. Although she was probably no older than 15, we find in Mary’s song, lessons from a teenage girl that will benefit even the most mature Christians.

Lesson #1: The first lesson has to do with an interesting parallel. Do you remember the story of Hannah in the Old Testament? Hannah had no children and was made to feel ashamed by other women because of it. She prayed that the Lord would give her a son and he did. Well in 1 Samuel 2, Hannah also prayed an inspired song, a close match with Mary’s song here in Luke. Let’s look at them side by side:

The parallels are not word for word; Mary doesn’t quote Hannah. But Mary, who is known for pondering things in her heart, has often pondered Scripture. So much so that when she breaks out in praise, the words that come naturally to her lips are the words of Scripture. Being a young woman, she probably loved the stories of the Old Testament women of faith like Ruth, Deborah, Sarah, Abigail, and Hannah. What a great lesson for all of us, both women and men, young and old, to hear and ponder God’s Word so that the words and thoughts of God fill our mind and mouth as naturally as they did Mary’s. Lesson #1: Read and ponder Scripture!

Lesson #2: The second lesson has to do with the general theme of the Magnificat. Mary spends most of the time describing the character of God who exalts the lowly and humbles the proud. This is what she both knows to be true in Scripture and now in her own experience. She mentions his exaltation of the lowly three times: verse 50, “He has mercy is for those who fear him”; verse 52, “He has lifted up the lowly”; verse 53, “He has filled the hungry with good things.” That’s one side of the coin. The other side is that God opposes the proud. Mary also mentions this three times: verse 51, “He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts”; verse 52, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones”; verse 53, “The rich he has sent away empty.” What fills Mary’s heart with joy is that God loves reverse the way this world works.

This is the second lesson Mary teaches: God exalts the humble and opposes the proud. He is not the least impressed by any earthly fame, wealth, or success. He has mercy on those who fear him, who humble themselves and turn from their own pursuit of glory to the humility of repentance and the praise of God’s glory. The world may reward you for the amount of money you have, how well your kids are behaved, what brand of clothing you afford or the kind of car you drive. But God God does not judge by appearances; he judges the hearts, opposing not just the outwardly proud, but also those who are proud in the thoughts of their heart. God isn’t against rich people, but he warns them that pride is a great temptation that comes with wealth. God is not against those who eat their fill, but he reminds us all that we should hunger for his mercy. Regardless of our earthly position, our disposition should be that of humility and the acknowledgement of our need of the Lord. 

Lesson #3: The third lesson I’d like to draw from Mary’s Magnificat concerns the way this teenage girl praises the Lord. The title Magnificat is a Latin word, a translation for the first verb of Mary’s song which means “magnify”. She says: “My soul proclaims the greatness of, literally “magnifies,” the Lord.” When you magnify something it becomes bigger in your eyes right? If you take a magnifying glass and look at a book the letters get bigger. And this is what Mary is doing! At this moment Mary is so overwhelmed by the greatness and mercy of God that her soul, her Spirit, her voice, her whole being is compelled to bring attention to him. She magnifies him! She makes God big! Her whole song focuses on who he is and what he has done.

This is a good lesson for each of us to consider. Who do you magnify? Do you make God big? Or do you make yourself big? Do you talk about what you have done, or do you focus on what God has done? One way to consider this is to think about your daydreams, your hopes for the future. Do they include God’s name being magnified by more and more people? Do you only think about yourself and your family, or do you dream of making God big? Do you dream of people praising you or God? May we learn from Mary who could directed all praise to God for the good things he has done for us in Jesus Christ. Lesson #3: Magnify the Lord!

Lesson #4: The final lesson we learn from Mary’s Magnificat relates to how it would have aged with her. She talks about the mercy of God for those who fear him and the strength of his arm to scatter the proud. Specifically I wonder how she reconciled those words with what she saw as she knelt at the foot of his son’s cross. As she saw proud men hurl insults at him. As she saw the blood which dripped from his hands and feet. Where was mercy here? Where was God’s strength to scatter the proud? But we have no record of Mary objecting to Jesus’ crucifixion, as unimaginably painful that experience must have been for her. Her love for him compelled her to be there. Yes, even at her Son’s cross, in her silent suffering, Mary was still proclaiming the greatness of God. And she knew that God was fulfilling the Words he had given her so long ago: He was “remembering his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.” (Luke 1:54-55) She knew this was the mercy of God. This was the testimony of God’s mercy as her son gave his perfect life in exchange for her sin and the sin of all humanity. This was God’s greatest example of scattering the proud as the Devil rose up only to be crushed by the sacrificial love of our Savior. This is the last lesson: God is faithful to his Word no matter what. Amen.