Song of Mary

Well, good morning, welcome. Whether you're in the sanctuary or online, I wanna say I'm really glad you're with us. My name is Sarah Bentley, another one of the pastors here. I'm the associate care pastor, and I love when I get to stand up here with you on a weekend and open God's word with you.

But before we do that, for those of you who don't know me, I have a lovely family. I have husband Jeremy, we've been married 19 years and two kiddos, our oldest of whom is Dylan, almost 13, which is crazy, and our youngest Luke at age eight. And if you have a household full of boys, maybe you relate to this, we have a whole lot of fun and there's a whole lot of noise and it's kinda stinky, but it's kind of awesome. So I'm one of those moms that loves being a boy mom and we have a great time together.

Well, Advent is the name of the season that we find ourselves in. And this year, each weekend leading up to Christmas, we are looking at five Advent songs actually found in Scripture in the Gospel of Luke, leading up to the birth of Jesus. So today, let's listen in together as we turn up the volume on the first song we find in the Gospel of Luke. It's the song of Mary.

Now the song of Mary also goes by another name. It's sometimes called the Magnificat. And Magnificat is a Latin word meaning I magnify the Lord. So really this morning as we read this passage, we're looking at an original worship song written by Mary herself.

But before we get to the oldest Christmas song written by Mary, I thought it would be fun for you to meet somebody who has written one of the newest songs about Mary. In fact, the song we're about to hear about has been on the Billboard charts eight different times. There are 291 different recorded versions of it. Only Eleanor Rigby and yesterday have more recordings. The song is called Mary Did You Know? Some of you know it.

Well, our family has been friends with one of the co-writers of that song for many, many years. His name is Buddy Green. And I thought, well, since I'm preaching on Mary, wouldn't it be fun for you to hear from somebody who has co-written a song about Mary? So this week I caught Buddy at his home in Nashville on a Zoom call to talk about his song and my sermon. Check this out.

You were a part of collaborating to create a song with a gentleman by the name of Mark Lowry. The song was called Mary Did You Know? And I would love to hear a little bit about your process in coming up with that song.

Yeah, Mark and I met when we were both traveling with the Gaithers. He was a part of the Gaither vocal band. And I was just another artist in the show. And one day he handed me this lyric that he had carried around for seven or eight years. He just said, "See what you can do with this." And I went home with it and didn't even look at the lyric until I got home and pulled it out and was pretty astonished that this would come out of Mark. I mean, if anybody doesn't know Mark, he's mainly known as a comedian, a total nut job. I immediately had a little idea and started running with it. And within a few minutes was calling Mark to see if that was the direction he liked. And he did. We're both flabbergasted that either one of us could be a part of something that would actually be popular.

Why do you think a song about Mary resonated so deeply with people? I asked Vicky that this morning and she just said, "Girl power." But that is actually part of it. I mean, when you think about Mary, I think it is sort of natural for women and especially mothers to resonate with Mary with her person in the story and her plight in the story. During that time, especially, women were second-class citizens and had no voices. So they were powerless.

And so much of the story of the incarnation, all the things, it has to do with the powerless. It has to do with the people that are marginalized. God is doing this sort of upside down thing to turn the world right side up. When you read the words of Mary's song in Luke chapter one, both as a follower and as a songwriter, what strikes you about Mary's song? She just becomes this voice piece for the people of the world who were the most unlikely to be heard, to have hope, to be the ones who are getting the real revelation about it.

And so, I think about what we've turned Christmas into in America is a real tensely commercial sort of enterprise. And we can just lose all side of this. That's why I think Advent is so important for Christians, is to go back and see what the text really reveals and that's the Magnificat. There's no better place to start.

Well, I agree with Buddy. And the Magnificat is no better place to start. So this morning, let's look at Mary's song found in the Gospel of Luke chapter one. Now we find this set up kind of the behind the music story, if you will, for Mary's song in Luke chapter one, beginning in verse 39. Here's what we read.

"A few days later, Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth." Okay, it says, "A few days later." Well, a few days after what? Well, a few days after Mary got the surprise of a lifetime. We'll come back just a moment to that surprise.

And why was she hurrying to Elizabeth and to Elizabeth's husband, Zechariah? Other translations rendered that word, hurried as she went with haste or she went instantly. She went off in a hurry. My guess is she was hurrying out of feeling shocked, confused, maybe even fearful about what was taking place in her life. Here's why.

You see, Mary was a young virgin living in the town of Nazareth. And Nazareth was a tiny town with a very bad reputation. What's more, she was engaged to a man named Joseph when an angel, Gabriel, comes to Mary and says, "You are going to bear a child supernaturally." What's more, the angel tells Mary that this child will be the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior. Now we read that now and we think, "That sounds amazing." But back then, not so amazing because now Mary is pregnant and unmarried.

What's more, she lives in a shame-based culture where this could be a scandal leading to her banishment and maybe even her death. In fact, this is such a big deal. Apparently, she hasn't even resolved yet how to tell her fiancé Joseph here. And so with all of this swirling in her mind, Mary leaves, and she leaves in a big hurry to go stay with her cousin, Elizabeth.

Now why Elizabeth? Well, earlier in Luke chapter one, we learned that Elizabeth also has a surprise pregnancy. You see, Elizabeth and her husband, Zachariah, are on in their years. They're later on in life, have never been able to have children, and they are pregnant. And at the time of Mary's visit, Elizabeth is now six months pregnant. And apparently, Mary figures, if anybody is gonna be sympathetic to what I'm going through, this unplanned pregnancy, surely it would be my cousin, Elizabeth.

So with that context in mind, let's go back again to verse 39. "A few days later, Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea to the town where Zachariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth's child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, "God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said."

So picture this scene, if you will. Mary enters her cousin's house, and Elizabeth breaks out with this amazing greeting. And Mary is so struck by what Elizabeth says that suddenly it begins to come together for Mary. It's like a light bulb goes on, and the confusion that Mary has been wrestling with begins to give way to clarity and release. And Mary begins to sing the very first Christmas carol ever recorded.

We're gonna look at that song in just a moment, but before we get there, the first thing I think the story teaches us is this. God uses unexpected people. God uses unexpected people. In fact, God isn't looking for extraordinary or important people. Instead, he's looking for available, willing people. Like Mary, like you. People who are ready to respond in obedience and worship.

And so today let's consider Mary's song not because she's some super spiritual figure, but rather because Mary is somebody who had a close encounter with God and responds in worship and humility. And also because her song has three answers to a very important question. The question is this. What is God like? What is God like? And the first thing we're about to learn from Mary's song is this. God is mindful of us.

Look at how she begins in verse 36. "Oh, how my soul praises the Lord, how my spirit rejoices in God my savior, for he took notice of this lowly servant girl. And from now on, all generations will call me blessed." God is mindful. Now I realize this idea of mindful sometimes talked about as mindfulness is very popular in our culture right now. So let me get more specific by what I mean when I say that God is mindful. I mean this. God purposely chooses to take notice of Mary. And you know what? God purposely chooses to take notice of you as well.

I wanna linger here for just a minute because this point is so amazing to me. Here's what it means that God takes notice. First, it means that God sees us. He sees me, he sees you. You see, Mary humbly recognizes here that despite the fact that she is nobody of consequence, a young girl from a deadbeat town, God sees her. I love what Psalm 139 says as it relates to God, seen us. It says, "You, God, know when I sit down or stand up, you know my thoughts even when I'm far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I'm going to say before I even say it." God sees you.

Not only does God see Mary, but God chooses Mary. And God chooses Mary based on one thing only, his grace. You see, Mary has nothing to offer God, but God has everything to offer Mary. And the same is true for us. We can't earn God's attention, we can't earn his favor, we don't deserve it, and yet God in his grace chooses to see us. He invites us into relationship with him, invites us to partner with him in his work. God chooses to see Mary, chooses to be present with Mary, and God chooses to see you, to be present with you in whatever you are facing right now.

Second, when Mary says in verse 48, "From now on all nations will call me blessed," she is acknowledging that God has rewritten her identity. And God has rewritten our identity as well. Here Mary acknowledges that because of this baby, Jesus, everything is now different. She is no longer that lowly servant girl. She is somebody now who the nations will know. You see, part of God seeing Mary and seeing us is that God is at work rewriting the narrative of our lives.

Second Corinthians 5:17 puts it this way, "And anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun." God has given each of us a new identity, a new purpose, and all of it is rooted in him. All of it is a gift of grace.

Let me make this personal for just a moment. Many of you know that years ago I suffered a stroke. That stroke was followed by brain surgery. Well, in the days following that surgery, my memory was extremely foggy and my thinking very unclear. But you know what? Even though I could not always trust my thoughts, I could trust God's thoughts towards me. I could rest in the fact that God was mindful of me still tuned in, still present with me, that God saw me.

And some of you might have walked in these doors today feeling like your thoughts are a bit scattered. Your thinking is a bit cloudy because of all that is swirling in your life right now. If that's you, please hear this. God's thoughts are perfect. He understands all of it. And he sees you. He isn't just mindful of keeping this universe spinning. He is mindful of you in your unique situation and what you are walking through right now.

I love how pastor and writer Alistair Begg puts it. He says, "Here's the God of Christmas, of history. He is the God who knows you and he cares about you and he makes promises to you and he acts to help you. He is the mindful God." Church, if we will dare to believe that God is truly mindful of us this Advent season, it will change everything. And I mean everything. Like Mary will be able to worship, even in the face of uncertainty, you can live with more joy and less fear. We can find renewed hope because God sees us and he's rewriting our stories and he's present with us. God is mindful of us.

But Mary's song also reminds us of a second truth and it's this, God is mighty over us. God is mighty over us. In verse 49, Mary continues to sing this. "For the mighty one is holy and he has done great things for me. His mighty arm has done tremendous things. He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble."

We've paused for just a moment to say this. I recognize that for some of you, the descriptor of God as mighty might actually come with some baggage. And I say that for this reason. Maybe there are some of you in this room who have experienced somebody lording their might over you in a way that left you disadvantaged or hurt or abused. But in Mary's song, when we hear this title for God, mighty one, we have to hear it in conjunction with an understanding of God as also being perfectly good and unconditionally loving.

In fact, this picture associated with mighty one here is actually that of a valiant warrior, somebody extending their sword in strength, not to harm, but to bring about good purposes, to bring about justice, to provide hope. That is the kind of mighty God that Mary is singing about here. And verses 51 and 52 go on to explain what good purposes this mighty warrior God has accomplished and is continuing to accomplish.

Number one, she says, "God has scattered the proud in their inmost thoughts, and God has brought down the powerful, the rulers from their thrones and exalted the humble." Now maybe the idea of God bringing people down, even though they're proud and powerful people, doesn't seem to jive with what I said earlier about God being good, but think about it this way. First, this assures us that God is bringing down the proud dictators, the tyrants, the oppressors. This means injustice and oppression do not have the final word. Rather, as René reminded us last weekend, God will always have the final word. Praise God we can be certain injustice will not win.

But these verses also apply to you and me personally. You see, God isn't just dealing with the proud people out there, he's dealing with the pride that exists right here in each of us. And in his goodness and wisdom, God wants to work on the pride right here because he knows that pride always leads to destruction. Proverbs 11:2 puts it this way, pride leads to disgrace. And pride here doesn't mean healthy self-esteem. There's nothing wrong with getting up in the morning, looking in the mirror and saying, I actually like the person I see. That's okay.

Pride here is self-centeredness, a concern only for your own reputation, your own needs to the exclusion of being aware or helpful for anyone else. That kind of selfish thinking always leads to destruction. In fact, John Maxwell, who is a Christian author and a leadership expert, posted an article a few years ago listing some of the fallout of pride. This is what the article said, pride leads to blaming others. Pride leads to close-mindedness. Pride leads to broken relationships. Pride leads us to think we don't need anyone or anything else. Pride blocks learning and growth. Can you relate to anything on that list? I sure can.

Here's the bottom line when it comes to pride. Pride is a silent killer of relationship. Certainly our relationship with others, yes, but ultimately our relationship with God. Do you have questions you can't answer? Do you have fears you can't conquer? Do you have addictions or struggles that you can't manage? Here's the good news, you don't have to go it alone. Our mighty God invites you to surrender your pride and to let him help you. Let the valiant warrior, the strong one, the only one who is good enough, usher in his good purposes for your life.

God is mindful of us, he sees us in whatever circumstance we're facing, God is mighty over us, he is strong and good. Which brings us to the third thing that we learn about God here in Mary's song and it's this. God is merciful to us. God is merciful to us. You may have noticed a moment ago that I skipped over verse 50, that was on purpose, but I wanna come back to it now. Verse 50 in Mary's song says this, he, meaning God, shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him.

I find it interesting that Mary starts out singing her song talking about God's mindfulness and mighty goodness towards her as an individual. Well now she telescopes out to talk about what God has done and is doing, God's mercy towards his people as a whole. And here's how I want us to think about God's mercy this morning. God's mercy is his compassion and his kindness. And wrapped up in God's mercy is his promise to pardon us, to accept us, to restore us if we will surrender our lives to him.

And do you know what else scripture tells us about God's mercy? It's abundant. It's abundant. There's a book in the Bible called Lamentations and Lamentations is a book expressing feelings of loss and distress. Specifically those feelings are accompanying God's people after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and being pushed into exile, but in the middle of their hardship, the author of Lamentations writes this, the faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh every morning. Never cease. Brand new every morning.

You see when it comes to God's mercy, you do not have to live with a scarcity mindset. There will always be more than enough. In fact, I love how the English preacher, Charles Spurgeon once put it. He said God's mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water or deprive the son of its light or make space too narrow than diminish the great mercy of God. In other words, there's nothing you can do to stop God's mercy coming into your life.

But Mary's not done. She goes on to remind us that God's mercy pours out on those who fear him. And fearing God simply means this. Having reverent awe for God, assuming a posture of respect and humility before God. In fact, since we live here in Santa Cruz, you might choose to think of fear in this way. If you are wise, you have learned to develop a healthy fear of the Pacific Ocean, right? In other words, you have learned to respect the magnitude and raw power of the ocean. And it's this fear of the ocean that then leads you to act differently when you enter the ocean than you might act, let's say, if you were jumping into a swimming pool in your backyard, right?

In fact, if you were part of our beach baptisms earlier this fall, you got to experience the need for healthy fear of the ocean. That is a person right there, by the way, in that wave. The waves were massive and powerful. My motto is the ocean always wins. You see, here's why healthy fear is so important. Healthy fear right sizes us. And in doing so, it causes us to adjust our thinking, to adjust our behavior accordingly.

And here's how this affects our relationship with God. When it comes to God, healthy fear right sizes us, making us wildly aware of how deep our need for God truly is, because we begin to see our brokenness in contrast to His holiness, and how Jesus is the only one who can bridge that gap. If you think about it this way, healthy fear primes us to accept God's mercy.

You know, one of my favorite ministries that we have here at Twin Lakes Church, and we have a lot of awesome ministries, but one of my favorites is our recovery ministry. In fact, we have recovery groups meeting on all nights of the week, you can look at those groups on our website, I would encourage you to check them out. And one of the reasons I love recovery ministry is because I have witnessed time and time again that those in this ministry excel at embracing and accepting God's mercy.

And I think that part of the reason for that is that they truly believe step one in the 12 step process. Step one says this, "I admit that I am powerless over my addiction, that my life has become unmanageable." And you see, admitting that we are powerless is the first step in beginning to accept God's mercy, to see the need that we have for God's mercy. And then we get to this beautiful news, meet me back in verse 53 as Mary goes into detail about how God's mercy plays out.

She sings, "He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever." I wanna zero in on just two phrases. He has filled the hungry with good things and he has helped and remembered his servant. Here certainly Mary is harkening back to God's faithfulness to the nation of Israel.

But here's an interesting thing, the verb tense used here in the original Greek, a tense called the heirest tense, also carries with it future assurance, a future promise. Meaning Mary is purposely affirming here that just as God has filled, has helped, and has remembered his people in the past. So we can be sure that God will continue filling, will continue helping, will continue remembering his people in the future.

That means no matter what you have been through, what you are currently going through or what you will go through, you can bank on the fact that God's mercy, his compassion, his kindness towards you will never, ever end.

You know, in the interest of full disclosure, this past week leading up to this weekend has not been an easy one for me. In fact, it's one of those weeks where I have felt pressed down, knocked down on all sides and I have found myself needing every one of these reminders from Mary's song. And I suspect I'm not the only one in the room who feels that way this morning.

And so as you continue to turn up the volume on Mary's song this Advent season, my prayer is that you would find yourself encouraged, emboldened, that the Holy Spirit would continue to remind you that as you step into the plans God has for you, no matter how impossible or daunting they may seem, that God is mindful of you. God is mighty over you and God is merciful to you.

Would you pray with me? Lord, we are so grateful for the truths about you in Mary's song. Would you allow these truths to embed themselves in our hearts and our minds and our souls? Would you give us renewed hope as we choose to believe that you truly are mindful of us and mighty over us and merciful towards us? God, for all of those truths we say thank you, we love you. And we pray this in Jesus' strong name, amen.