Advent--Mary

Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed" (Luke 1:46-48).

Most of us will never have the experience of entertaining someone famous in our home.  But if you found out that someone notable was coming for a visit, I imagine that you would spend time getting the place ready for his arrival.  You would want both house and family to look their very best.  You would want this special guest to feel welcome and comfortable.  You would want him to know that you appreciate his visit.

This is what Advent is all about.  A very special Guest once visited this world.  The Son of God took up residence in a human body and lived among us as a man.  His visit to our earthly home has changed things forever.  The age-old promises of God became reality and have given hope and direction for those who recognize Jesus as their Lord and Master.

Although Jesus eventually returned to heaven, He still brings us God’s love and mercy.  In Word and Sacrament He offers the forgiveness and eternal life that He won for us through His perfect life and sacrificial death.  Jesus comes to each of us, but how much effort do we put into making Him feel like a special guest?   The weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas are a great time to focus on hospitality—getting our homes, our families and our hearts ready to honor Jesus as the most important guest we’ll ever receive.

As an example for us to follow, let’s consider Mary.  When she found out from the angel Gabriel that God would take up residence in her womb as a baby, she said My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.  As a faithful Jew, she treasured the ancient promises of God—how the Lord would send His Chosen One, the Messiah, to rescue the people from sin, death and hell.  Mary’s hymn of praise illustrates her familiarity with Old Testament prophecy.  The angelic messenger reinforced what she always knew—not only is God great and powerful, He is kind and good as well.  Mary responds as we should respond; she desires to praise God by magnifying Him.  To magnify something is to expand it until you can see nothing else; it becomes the primary focus of your attention.  When Mary magnified the Lord, she gave Him honor in two ways.  First she made a big deal about His goodness to her, giving the Lord praise for His generosity.  Second, by magnifying the Lord, Mary focused her heart and mind on Him alone, keeping her attention where it should be instead of on earthly distractions.  This provides a great model for Christian worship; when we magnify the Lord, we focus on Him to the exclusion of everything else and we make a big to-do about His greatness to show Him respect, honor and gratitude. 

As far as Mary is concerned, God deserves all the praise she can muster and more.  She calls Him Lord, a title that reflects God’s majesty, power and glory.  He is the Eternal One, the God who has no beginning and no end.  With just the power of His spoken Word, the entire universe was called into existence.  Incredibly, this mighty God chose the Israelites for His very own, chose Mary for His very own.  How could anyone praise Him enough?  And Mary also names this loving God her Savior, the God who showed mercy to His followers throughout the Old Testament.  As God freed His people from slavery to the Egyptians through Moses, He promised to free His people from slavery to sin, death and devil through the Messiah, the child that Mary would carry within her.  From ancient times, God’s followers have trusted in His power and mercy; this hope is summarized in Isaiah chapter 12: Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  Mary was overcome with joy, knowing that through her womb the Savior would come.

I wonder when the last time was that you felt such joy in response to God’s mercy?  For many people today, Christianity has become a religion of  “gimme that.”  Their main concern is how much they can squeeze out of God.  Their prayers are focused on themselves.  They come to church seeking comfort and peace, but give no real thought to magnifying the Lord as Mary did.  In worship we need to shift gears; instead of complaining “Lord, here's what I need”, we should say “Lord, thank You for everything you’ve blessed me with!”  God is doing great things in our lives which would be obvious if you just took the time to notice.  It is by His Word that we have life and health, food and shelter, the love of family and friends, and a place to worship the Giver of everything.  He deserves much more praise than the paltry amount we give Him on Sunday morning and throughout the week. Listen to King David’s words in Psalm 145: Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.

Nothing shows God’s greatness and goodness more perfectly than the miracle of the Incarnation, where the Son of God dressed Himself in a human body and lived among us as a man.  Jesus stepped down from the glories of heaven to be born in a stable and spend His first night among us in a manger.  Jesus did not get the kind of welcome an important guest should receive, nor was His stay a pleasant one.  He was arrested on false charges, punished for crimes He did not commit, and was sentenced to an excruciating death on the cross.  But He endured all the pain and humiliation out of love for us; His perfect life became the atoning sacrifice for our sin-corrupted lives; the scales of justice tilted in our favor when He laid down His life for us.  We can’t begin to imagine what Jesus went through for us, but if you can appreciate the magnitude of His suffering even a little bit you’ll never be able to praise Him enough.  Santa and Jingle Bells are nothing but empty distractions.  In Jesus, God has come—He has come to be our Savior.   If you are going to sing, you should be singing words like these: "Hosanna to the living Lord!  Hosanna to th’ incarnate Word!  To Christ, Creator, Savior, King, let earth, let heaven hosanna sing!"

We praise God for Jesus’ coming.  Although we are unworthy sinners, He chose to send us His precious Son.  Mary knew that she was unworthy; that’s why she sang he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  Can you imagine how she felt?  The angel Gabriel told her, You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end (Luke 1:31-33).  For thousands of years, women of faith hoped that God might choose them to be mother to the Messiah.  Now a poor girl, probably in her mid-teens, living in the backwater village of Nazareth, a person of no particular note, is declared God’s choice to bear His Son.  He would knit Jesus’ body together in her womb.  She would cradle the Holy One of God in her arms, nurse Him and care for Him.  Oh yes indeed, she was the “favored one”!

We can imagine that Mary often said to herself, “There must be other women who are far more worthy of this honor.”  This makes God’s rich mercy all the more remarkable.  He uses weak and fragile things to bestow great blessings.  Although we are unworthy of His attention because of our flaws, He puts us to work as members of His kingdom.  Like Mary, we should be astounded that God includes us in His plans.

Mary holds a special place in salvation history as the woman chosen to bring Christ into the world.  But Jesus also comes to each of us.  Like Mary, each of us has a role to play in the workings of our God here on earth.  And if you stop to think about it, God’s choice of you to work for Him is no less amazing than His choice of Mary.  We must face up to the fact that we are afflicted with sin; it infests us like cancer, and affects everything that we think, say or do.  If you looked at your life honestly, every day would provide examples of selfishness, lovelessness, and godlessness.  In Romans chapter seven Paul wrote, I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  So say we all.

But Advent starts the message of salvation with the words, your King is coming (John 12:15).  In a few weeks we will hear the angels say, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:11).  The New Testament goes on to tell us how this Messiah preached about the kingdom of God and then gave His life to establish it.  But the most mind-boggling part of it all, from Jesus’ miraculous birth to His terrible death, is that He did it all for you.  And so we sing, "Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed His blood for me; died that I might live on high, lived that I might never die."

This is all God’s doing.  He chose us; we did not choose Him.  The plan of salvation was motivated by God’s love, not our worthiness.  Throughout the centuries, billions of people have walked the earth—yet as insignificant as you and I might be, God chose to touch us with His mercy through Jesus Christ.  He speaks the Good News to us in His Holy Word.  Through baptism He adopts us into His family.  He invites us to pray to Him as our Father.  God loves us and He saves us—that’s what Advent reminds us of.

The blessings of Christ are intended for everyone.  Mary understood how far reaching Jesus’ influence would be when she said, From now on all generations will call me blessed.  Christ has changed everything for all time.  Uncountable multitudes have faced death unafraid because in Christ their sins were taken away; they are in heaven with the Savior now, singing His praises far better than we do.  Mary stood at a new beginning for all mankind, and she rejoiced at the privilege.

Paul writes, God our Savior…wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4).  God made this clear to the shepherds when His angel said, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people (Luke 2:10).  This is why we sing on Christmas, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come!  Let earth receive her King!"  All over the world, people are getting ready for Christmas; sadly, a lot of them have no idea who the guest of honor really is.  They need to be told.  They need you to tell them.

Advent is a time of preparation.  In a few weeks, we will celebrate the Son of God coming to be our guest, the guest who suffered and died to turn our lives around.  He gives us gifts we are not worthy to receive and can never repay Him for.  Don’t let the meaning of Christmas be lost under the crush of worldly distractions.  Magnify the Lord, and you can keep everything in perspective.