A Mother’s Praise to her savior
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Luke 1:46-56
LaFayette Baptist Church
05/14/2023
By: Jacob Winters
Introduction
Good morning LaFayette Baptist Family. It is great to be here with you all this Special mother’s day, Lord’s day morning. What a wonderful and treasured time this is together, getting to sing Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs together and learn from the Word together. Please go ahead and get out your Bible’s Our scripture today will be from Gospel of Luke, specifically from Luke 1:46-56. Luke 1:46-56, please go ahead and turn their in your Bible’s. As usual, the scripture will be on the screen for us in a few moments, but please have it open so that you can follow along.
You know, a mother’s praise makes all the difference in the world doesn’t it? It can make a bad day good. A rough day calm. 3 strikes at bat not seem like a loss. And make a c+ an A+ if done correctly, can’t it? I bet as a child, every person in this room at one time or another you longed for your mother’s praise. I bet most of us in this room know that your children longed for your praise and would still welcome it today as adults. How then, does the Mother of God the Son correctly praise her Son? How does and did the Mother of Jesus praise the second person of the trinity? Don’t you think it would have been much more difficult to make it seem honest and good enough? I mean, for a regular kid putting a drawing on the fridge and saying, “It’s perfect.” Is more than good enough. How then does the mother of Jesus express her praise to her savior, who is yet her son. How do we express our praise to our savior, who was just like us? A flesh and blood human who was on the surface nothing all to special. Well, let’s look at today’s text where Mary offers A Mother’s Praise to her savior, Mary’s Magnificat. An act of pure, great, and understood worship that we should all try to follow to understand, and keep in our hearts to praise our savior.
Scripture
If you would all please rise for the reading of God’s Word today. The words to the scripture will be on the screen, please read along with me as we are reading. When I am done I will say “this is The Word of The Lord” if you will all please respond with “Thanks be to God.” Let’s Practice that for a second. First, let’s pray.
Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us today, this day. We thank You for all the mothers here today, be they mothers of young children, older children, or hopeful or expecting mothers or spiritual mothers. Father, we thank you for what they are, not just a gift to us, to me, personally, but as a gift to mankind. We ask this day, as we consider and hear the praises of a mother to You, that this day You would refine us with Your Word. Help us to hear it and apply it to all parts of our lives. Help us, take away any distraction we may have and make it go as far away as it possibly can, because we want to see and know more about You so that we can Love You More and more enthusiastically share You with others. It's in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and Precious name that I pray, Amen. Luke, chapter 1, starting in verse 46.
46 And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord,47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy. 50 His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him. 51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy 55 to Abraham and his descendants[g] forever, just as he spoke to our ancestors. 56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.
Context
This week, we are looking at very special hymn/poem/song of praise from the Gospel of Luke, who Luke is incidentally the author of both this gospel and The Book of Acts, where we will pick back up in next week.
This praise is of course from Mary, the mother of Jesus during her pregnancy with The Savior, Jesus. At this time, she was staying with her cousin, Elizabeth who incidentally was also pregnant with a very significant figure in Christian history. This child of Elizabeth’s would be John the Baptist, who Jesus himself said was greater than any other prophet that had ever come, and John the Baptist himself said of Jesus that He was so great, that he was not worthy even take his sandals off His feet.
You may remember when we watched The Chosen Christmas Special a few months ago, that Mary was working on, recalling, and eventually sent to Luke something she felt needed to be included in his Gospel, many bible historians believe that this song or praise to God was what she was passing along. I can see why she wanted to. When you see the words on paper, it may look one way, but when you say it out-loud, you can hear the happiness and joy that Mary had in God (this is a joy that we all should feel), know that now the savior of mankind has come, her savior has come, your savior has come; and gives each of us so much reason to praise God for what He has done for mankind, provided redemption for us, even though we don’t deserve. So, let’s dive deep in today and look where from the text, I want you to see and magnify these gifts from your savior.
Message
The first gift to see and magnify is: Joy in your savior. (46-49)
46 And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord,47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy.
Up to this point, Mary had just heard the praise to God from her cousin Elizabeth about the coming messiah that Mary was carrying. In fact, Elizabeth said that the child inside of her lept for JOY when Mary greeted Elizabeth. Mary responds here with this prayer and song of praise. She says here that everything about her in this moment is trying to (and hopefully doing) express the great Joy that she finds in God; because only God can heal us (or save us) from the wrath that we deserve. And guess what, here right now I can see and be a part of that, salvation for all in the world who would take it. And surely, I am blessed, as meek and meager and unimportant as I am; because the Mighty One (our Holy God) has done great things for me. Well, that’s a praise, but it’s not just a praise for Mary; but it also a praise for you. God has given you, believer, the ability, way, and command to be a part of the mighty one’s work on Earth. He has given us gifts and ways, and people that we can share the love of God with. This is something that is a joy for us to in and of itself, but even more important is the joy that we find in God that moves us to share Him with others.
This week in our children’s group, we talked about a similar thing in our lessons. This is where Jesus was calling His first disciples and Phillip (the newest disciple of Jesus in that moment) in joy looked for and found Nathanial so that he could share that he had found the messiah! His name is Jesus, from Nazareth, and you should come and see him! This invitation led Nathanial to have an experience like no other in his life. There he was, face to face with the messiah who showed that He (Jesus) knew Nathaniel (and everything about Him) and offered him a huge compliment, that he was a true and honest man. The lesson went on and said that perhaps this was the first time in Nathanael’s life that he felt seen and understood, by God Himself.
What a shame that would have been if Phillip didn’t share what he had discovered! What a shame when we don’t share what we have discovered ourselves! So, what have we discovered? That God saved me, God saved you, and this has brought us great joy; and He can do the same with others to. So, what’s the takeaway here? Is it, “Go and share your faith.” Well, yes and no. Yes, you are to share your faith, but it should come from the joy that you have in your savior (as Mary’s song sated). Don’t go and share your faith with your teeth grinding and your jaw clenched. Share your faith like Mary and Phillip did, out of Joy; because your love of God and what He has done for you is so great and so important that there is NO WAY that you can keep it to yourself. If you are having trouble doing this, maybe a question you need to ask yourself is, “Why, right now in life, am I not finding true and lasting joy in my life, in God?” Dig deep there, because that is a really good question to answer and solve for yourself. Find joy in your savior, because doom (that you deserved) does not await you, only peace and harmony and oneness with God. A God who loves and cares for you very very much. So, do your best and discover this first gift, joy in your savior.
Another gift to see and magnify is: Change from your savior. (50-55)
50 His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him. 51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy 55 to Abraham and his descendants[g] forever, just as he spoke to our ancestors.
Mary continues in her song, singing of God’s great mercy which is shown time and time again from person to person, generation to generation. Who, were just like us, just like me, just like you, rebellious against God. Despite this rebellion, which we call sin, God has shown and given salvation through the child that was inside of her. How odd God seems at times… Despite his bigness and awesomeness, and power; He chooses to work through means that don’t display his pure power and might.
While God could do things like snap his fingers and have everything good, or use a powerful muscle man like the mythical Hercules, or make some huge natural disaster that makes everyone go (Ohhhhh, yeah, that’s definitely God), instead He turns our perception of power and order in the world upside down. How? By sending a tiny helpless baby, belonging to a poor family, in the most unimportant region in Israel to save the world. Where we expect superman, instead we received a baby. But this child did it all. Mary comments on this change in the order of the world when she sings, “. 51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.” This part has a theme, an air, a tone of change a tone that many commentators say has revolution in it. Because, God is not playing by the worlds rules, by our rules, He is playing by His own rules and is much more concerned about His glory than what we think ought to be right.
So, what does this mean for us? It means when and if you are a Christian, it means change has to happen. Change has to happen on conversion; you must as Paul writes put away the old self and take on a new self. You must put away sin and spend your life removing sin further from your life and molding and making your life about bringing God glory. This is true, but it has further implications on your life as well. First, it implies that things will never be the same for you EVER. This means that we, each and every one of us, must expect and embrace that changes are going to happen to, through, and around us. The only thing that stays the same, is God and His Gospel, everything else is destined to change; and this is thing we must embrace. Secondly, it implies that for the rest of your life, you will discover time and time again that you are less Holy than you suppose you are; and that God is calling, equipping, and preparing you to remove some sin from your life that He can be glorified through this. The only thing Holy in you is The Holy Spirit, and He is beckoning you to a deeper relationship with God; which can and is often better achieved when we take away the sins that callus us against His calling. A third implication is that since you do have at least one thing that you will not change, the world and the people in it are probably not going to like you; because Satan and His world would like for who God is to change (to himself). Embrace the change wherever it needs to happen, that more people can learn about Jesus through you and your life. This is because change is a gift from your savior.
The next gift to see and magnify is: The arrival of your savior. (56)
56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.
Mary’s song ends. She stayed with her cousin for three more months, probably up until just before John the Baptist was born and certainly before Mary and Joseph’s trip to Bethlehem to be counted for the Roman census, where Jesus would be born. Mary’s song sounds kind of familiar doesn’t it? Flip with me in your bible to 1st Samuel chapter 2. 1st Samuel chapter 2…….. Here verses 1-10 are Hannah’s prayer. You will find many similarities between Mary’s Magnificat and Hannah’s prayer. We see themes of joy, themes of redemption, lifting up God and praising Him, and the order of the world being turned upside down. Now, Hannah was a woman who was long barren and desired to bring a child of her own into this world. One thing to know, was that for Hannah to not have a child at this point was a great shame to her. It’s not only a shame that we think of, that she couldn’t or didn’t have a child, but it was even worse in her culture; because the Israelites knew that through them the world would be blessed from one of their children. So, in a way it was each and every woman’s duty to have a child because their was a chance that their child would be the messiah. After the many years of barrenness, she was gifted with a child, who would be one of Israelites great prophets, Samuel of whom this book of the bible tells the tail of. With the child, the shame that Hannah felt she had, was removed. God did a mighty and seemingly impossible thing here.
Mary was not like this at all, in fact she was quite young, not yet married, and it would have been a shame for her to have a child at this point. Her situation was quite the opposite of Hannah’s. In fact, so shameful would have been her pregnancy that the law would have allowed for her to be publicly executed. Yet, through this seemingly situation of great shame, God was working a great and mighty work; sending the savior to the world that you and all who will be saved, would be saved from the slavery and wages of sin; which is death. Here, God was doing an even mightier and greater deed, becoming a child and continuing the path toward God’s the Son’s painful death for the redemption of mankind.
So, Here’s your homework for tonight. Go home, and read our verses today (Luke 1:46-56) and 1 Sam 2:1-10 and find and write down the similarities. Then, as you write them down. Think about what those similarities mean to you and your life. Where is a strength for you? And what are you going to do with that? Where is a weakness? And what are you going to do about it? Do I have joy? Do I and am I able to praise my savior just as Mary did?
Brothers and sisters, the arrival of your savior means many things for you, just as it meant many things for Mary. So, you know what God has been calling you to. You know where he is leading. You have felt the gentle nudges, now how are you going to respond? I urge you, take a step towards God. Then another, then another, and as you’re catching your feet, realize that you are able to run towards Him too. He is their waiting on you; come to Him and He will give you the rest that you are so desperately needing. Find joy in this gift, the arrival of the savior.
Conclusion
Beloved, did you hear these gifts from God today, all from A mother’s praise to her savior. That you have the gift of Joy in your savior, that their will be Change from your savior because of The arrival of your savior.
All to often, the way we look at consider a text can affect how we understand the Bible. So, let’s do something different today. I want us to look up at the screen, you should see the beginning of Mary’s song (her magnificent) here. Let’s sing this together like this. I’ll sing it one time, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant.” Now together, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant.” Now just you, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant.” Amen. Don’t be afraid to sing the rest of this song beloved and do whatever it is that is needed for you to do just that. Magnify the Lord and rejoice in God your savior; because he has looked with favor on you, His servant in your humble condition; and brought you into the family of God.
If there is a non-believer, someone who has not yet put their faith in Jesus, with us today. Friend, I want to thank you for joining us today. There is one thing I have to tell you while you are here. That is, that God loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His Son (Jesus Christ) to die for you so that you can be in a full and perfect relationship with Him. So that you are no longer under the wickedness of sin and are free and redeemed from it. For you to receive that gift though, redemption from Sin; it is required (and there is no other ways, period) that you turn to Jesus in truth and take Him on as the Lord and savior of your life. If you want to talk more about this, then after service, I will be here and I would love to talk to you.
Let’s conclude. Brothers and sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or need someone to talk to, or have something you need to bring to God; I will be here. Let’s pray. Father God, we praise You and thank You for who You are. A God who sees and knows everything about us, even the things we pretend aren’t true or want to hid from others. Still you see them, and love us just the same. There is no love, no thing greater than this that we will experience in our life. We thank You for the gift that is in that love and ask that you would help us to understand it more and apply it to every part of our lives so that you would be glorified in some small way through us. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.