1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word as we continue our Advent Midweek Series, the “The Nativity: Songs of God and Men,” is taken from Luke 1:46-56, it’s entitled, “The Song of Mary,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. When Mary sings her song of praise, after the unborn John the Baptist has confirmed that the Christ Child is growing in her womb, she doesn’t sing a completely original song. Her words, a song we call the Magnificat, are largely derived from a song sung about a thousand years earlier, a song proclaimed by Hannah, the mother of Samuel.
3. Now, this is a rather interesting choice. As the words of the Magnificat show, Mary clearly wanted to focus on the justice of the Christ, how her Son is going to give to those who have nothing and take away everything from the wicked. Because of this, there were plenty of other songs from the Old Testament she could have adapted for her own song of praise. She could have sung a variation on the Song of Moses, the boasting, joyful words the Israelites sang after watching the Lord drown the armies of Pharaoh. She could have sung a variation on one of the psalms or a section of the Prophets as they proclaimed the wonders of the Lord who was going to tear down the mighty and lift up the lowly. So then, why would Mary choose to sing her song from the song of Hannah?
4. One reason, of course, is that Hannah was a barren woman singing her song in response to the Lord opening her womb. So, in both cases you have women responding with joy to a miraculous pregnancy. But maybe more important, Hannah’s song of praise is deeply personal. For years, her husband’s other wife Peninnah has mocked and ridiculed Hannah for her barrenness, so when Hannah sings about God bankrupting the rich and enriching the poor, when she sings about the full going hungry and the hungry being filled, she’s not just speaking vaguely here. Listen to what Hannah sang: “My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord . . . because I rejoice in your salvation. . . . Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. . . . The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust . . . to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor” (1 Sam 2:1b, 5, 7–8).
5. Hannah is speaking about her own personal enemy in her little town, the one who’s been tormenting her over a conflict that most people will never know. Hannah is proclaiming that, yes, her God is the one who pours out mercy on entire nations, but he’s also the God who gives salvation and victory to individuals, to the unknown and insignificant. And the more you feel like that kind of person, the more you sing the song of despair, the lament of the worthless. You look at your life, and the people who are supposed to love you lose interest in you. They don’t understand your troubles, and they absolutely don’t want to be burdened with them. They keep their distance from you and make you feel invisible.
6. You want to leave a legacy behind you in your life, but your work doesn’t seem to matter. Your accomplishments don’t seem to matter. You worry that the world is going to forget you not long after you’re gone. Then you look at your sins and can’t imagine how things could be any different with God. You sing the song of despair. “Why would God love me? Why would he notice me? Why would he keep room in his mind and heart for someone who keeps going back to the same sins over and over again? Why would God remember me when I can’t remember my promise to follow him for more than five minutes? I give in to anger and bitterness all the time. I keep returning to laziness, to greed, to lust, and to jealousy. I’ve accomplished nothing and thrown away everything. Sure, God is the God of nations. He’s the God of kings and prophets and apostles. But why should I expect him to come near me?”
7. You should expect it because the mother of your Lord told you he would. She promised you this when she sang her own version of Hannah’s song of praise: “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 he who is mighty has done great things for me. . . . His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. . . . He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:46–53).
8. Your God is not just the God of big broad groups or world-famous figures. He’s the God of weeping women with barren wombs, the God of unknown maidens from hick towns, the God who sent his Son to find you & forgive you personally, and to save you personally. And at the cross, this is precisely what Jesus did, in fulfillment of everything his mother sang about him. There at Calvary, the Mighty One did great things for you by surrendering his might, by being betrayed and crucified, by allowing men to take the blood he would use to forgive your sins and make you worthy of eternal life. At the cross, he showed his strength by placing his foot on the devil’s head until he heard that serpent’s skull crack into pieces, setting you free from the condemnation he pumped into your veins. There, as Christ thirsted, he filled your hungry soul with good things. He fed you with the bread of life, with the salvation that he promised Abraham would come to all those who believed his Word.
9. This is what God gave to Mary through the child he put in her womb. This is what God gives to you through that same child named Jesus. There at Calvary, your Lord was not merely the Savior of nations, of big groups, of seas of people. He wasn’t just the Savior of people whose names will never be forgotten. He was the Savior of the forgotten. He was your Savior, the one who ripped you out of the hands of the devil and placed you into the arms of the God who will always love you, cherish you, always call you by your name.
10. With his song of forgiveness, with his song of victory over the grave, Jesus Christ silenced your song of despair. And he has now given you the right to join the song of joy that Hannah and his mother sang, the song proclaiming the mercy of the God who has filled the hungry with good things, cast the mighty from their thrones, and welcomed you into his kingdom. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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