+ 4th Sunday in Advent – December 19th, 2021 +
Series C: Micah 5:2-5; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-56
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“The Grinch paused and he put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow.
But the sound wasn't sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Whoville! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!”
The great theologian Dr. Seuss was right. Christmas doesn’t come from a store…it does, quite often, however, come to us in a song. After all, with such good news – that God is born to save you – how could we not sing? When the Lord opens our lips, they can’t help but praise him. Every good Advent and Christmas hymn tells us the story of the Christ child, the God-Man Jesus born to save us.
Advent and singing go together…like PB&J or coffee and donuts. Just think of how many times in the story of Jesus’ birth when singing breaks out like it does in a Broadway musical. These biblical songs aren’t mere fluff. They advance the plot of the salvation story and tell us something essential.
Zechariah sing the Benedictus as John the Baptist’s birth is foretold. The angels sing the Gloria to the shepherds. Simeon sings “Lord now you let your servant depart in peace” as he holds the Christ-child in his arms.” Even our own Sunday School children here at Beautiful Savior have helped us sing and hear and rejoice in the story of Jesus’ birth to save us today.
We could take away all the trappings of Christmas - as the Grinch tried to do– and we’d still have Christmas. We’d stand in our pews or in our homes like the Whos down in Whoville in joyful defiance singing: “Joy to the World, the Lord, is come”.
On this fourth Sunday in Advent St. Luke invites us to strike the harp and join the chorus in singing an ancient song. A song of God’s great reversal in raising the lowly in Jesus humble birth and death for us. A song of promise and great rejoicing. A song we call the Magnificat.
“My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
Mary may be the vocalist of the Magnificat in Luke 1, but she is no soloist. As Gabriel announces the birth of Mary’s son, who is the Son of God, Mary does what Old Testament Christians have always done… she intones the psalms to God, for God had acted on her behalf. She praises the arrival of the very One who fulfills every word of the psalms she is singing.
Mary’s song is also a cover of an older song, the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel. There, Hannah prayed for a son from God. Now Mary sings because she bears a child who not only is from God, but who is God. In 1 Samuel, God remembered Hannah and she became the mother of Samuel. Here in Luke 1, God remembers Mary, Israel, and all nations, and she became the Mother of God.
Consider the first line or two…“My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
Lowly. Mary describes herself here. A humble peasant from a humble village. An unwed, pregnant, teenager. Poor in the eyes of the world. In the eyes God, however, she is blessed. Why? Listen closely.
He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
Mary’s song describes us as well. Lowly. Brought low by life in a wicked, broken, fallen world. Brought low by the weight of our own grief, guilt, or shame. Brought low by our own pride and folly and sin. Sometimes, by God’s grace, we’re humble; and other times we’re humbled by his word.
Mary’s song is surprising. Not because she sings, but because she sings a song that isn’t all about Mary. Mary sings about Jesus. You see, Mary’s Magnificat magnifies, not Mary, but her Son, our Lord Jesus.
As Mary sang the Magnificat, the Mighty One was in her womb growing, squirming, and kicking, preparing for his birth for you.
As Mary’s spirit rejoiced in God her Savior, her Savior, and ours, was months away from his humble birth to rescue us. Indeed, Jesus fulfills every note and word of the Magnificat. He has shown strength with his arms, nailed to the cross for you. He has exalted us in his humility. He has helped you in remembrance of his mercy.
As Mary sang the Magnificat, Jesus the Bread of Life, was preparing to fill the hungry with good things on the night in which he was be betrayed; his body and his blood, given and shed for you.
Today and always, Mary’s song is our song. My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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