Sermon Tone Analysis

By Glenn Pease

It was August of 1683, and Vienna was about to fall into the hands of the Grand Vizier of all the Turks, Kara Mustafa.

It would be a great victory for the Moslem Empire, and would open the door of all Europe for the warriors of Mohammed.

Christians were praying all over Europe for a miracle.

Vienna had to hold out for a few more days.

Then one morning the Viennese heard the booming of cannons from Mt. Kalen.

This was a signal for the arrival of John Sobieski and 20 thousand Polish troops.

In spite of the odds which were 10 to 1 against them, their surprise attack put the Turks to rout, and Christianity was spared from a devastating defeat.

Pope Innocent XI, issued a decree establishing a great feast in honor of the virgin Mary for this deliverance.

As Protestants, we ask; what in the world did Mary have to do with this providential guidance of God in saving Christianity?

It is hard for us to imagine a Christian life, so dominated by Mary, that she is exalted above her Son, the Savior of the world.

But for centuries, the virgin mother of our Lord had an influence that eclipsed even that of her divine Son.

Back in 431 A. D., at the Council of Ephesus, Cyril of Alexandria, established the level of veneration that Mary would have for the next 1,000 years.

He praised the virgin mother in this fashion: "Though whom the Trinity is glorified and worshiped, the cross of the Savior exalted and honored, though whom heaven triumphs, the angels are made glad, the devils driven forth, the temper overcome, and the fallen creature raised up even to heaven."

Web Garrison in his book, Women In The Life Of Jesus, points out that zeal for Mary's honor sparked the Crusades and the age of Knighthood.

All of the creative arts flourished to honor her.

Feasts of the Virgin multiplied until they dominated the civil, as well as the religious, calendar.

Schools, Cathedrals, hospitals, libraries, and shrines without number, were named for Mary.

At one point, one third of the women of the western world, bore some form of her name.

Mary had her millennium where she was queen of heaven, and she reigned also on the earth.

Legends and traditions formed around her until she dominated the theological thinking of the people.

Stories were told of how she was taken to the temple at age 3, and, like Samuel of old, was left as a servant in the house of the Lord.

She was fed by angels from the Tree of Life.

At 14, the High Priest informed her he received a message from God that she should wed.

All the widowers of the land were called to the temple.

One by one, they passed by her as she held the golden rod in her hand.

When Joseph walked by, a dove flew out of the end of the rod and landed on his head.

This was the sign that he was the one.

At her death, Jesus and the angels came for her soul.

After three days she rose from the dead and ascended to God's right hand to be with her Son in the work of intercession.

She became the goddess of Christianity and took the place of all the goddesses of the pagan world.

Where Venus once stood, statues of Mary were erected.

Thousands of paintings of the Madonna did much to spread the worship of Mary.

Masterpieces like Raphaels Sistine Madonna, made her the object of adoration to all who loved beauty.

The veneration of Mary has continued into modern times.

In 1854, the Immaculate Conception was made official dogma.

This means Mary was born without original sin.

In 1950, The Assumption of Mary was made dogma.

This means she did not decay, but her body was raised up to heaven miraculously.

Bishop Fulton Sheen, said in his message, The Role of Mary in the Church, "It is easier to understand the meek and humble heart of Christ by looking at His mother.

She holds all the great truths of Christianity together, as a piece of wood holds a kite.

Children wrap the string of a kite around a stick, and release the string as the kite climbs to the heavens.

Mary is like that piece of wood.

Around her we wrap all the precious strings of the great truths of our holy faith-for example, the Incarnation, the Eucharist, the Church.

No matter how far we get above the earth, as the kite may, we always have need of Mary to hold the doctrines of the Creed together.

If we threw away the stick, we would no longer have the kite; if we threw away Mary, we would never have our Lord.

He would be lost in the heavens, like our run away kite, and that would be terrible, indeed., for us on earth."

We could go on and on showing how the Catholic Church has exalted Mary.

This explains why Protestants have had a hard time being honest and fair about Mary.

It is the age old psychology: if something is taken to an extreme, go to the other extreme, to offset it.

It is called over-compensation.

If the Catholics adore her, let us ignore her.

The result is, Protestants have become anti-Mary.

The popular preacher, John Linton said, "I doubt if there is an important character in the Scriptures who have suffered the neglect that Mary has.

Many of you, I venture to say, have never listened to an entire sermon on the virgin mother of Christ.

Plenty of sermons on the Virgin Birth, but few upon the Virgin herself; many sermons about the disciple who leaned on Jesus' bosom, but few about the mother on whose bosom the Lord Christ pillowed His baby head.

Character studies on Peter who denied Christ, Thomas who doubted Christ, Pilate who sentenced Christ, Judas who betrayed Christ, but the Protestant pulpit is strangely silent concerning the pure quiet woman who mothered Christ."

We are so afraid of giving any support to the Catholic view, that we would rather neglect her than respect her, and give her, her rightful place in the plan of God.

There are false Christs too, but God forbid that we take our eyes off Jesus, because there are perversions.

It is folly to neglect any part of God's revelation just because men abuse it.

The facts are clear in the New Testament; Mary was with the 120 at Pentecost, and thus, part of the foundation of the church.

She was a sinner who needed a Savior, like all the rest.

There is no hint that she was lifted up as an object of veneration.

There is not one reference to her in all the New Testament Epistles.

She is never prayed to, and so all of the excessive exaltation of Mary is not based on the New Testament, but on the traditions of men.

Only once in the Gospels did someone try to praise Mary.

In Luke 11:27, we read, "a woman in the crowd called out, blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you."

Jesus replied, "blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Mary is blessed because she heard the word of God and obeyed it.

She is to be honored as an example of the blessed.

But in no way is she made equal to Christ in anything.

As we approach Christmas, the role of Mary stands out as crucial.

We want to give her the rightful place that is her's, in this greatest love story ever told.

She was a star and deserves her name up in lights.

Let's examine Dr. Luke's record of this, one of a kind, woman.

First look at-

I. THE VIRGIN'S VISITOR.

Gabriel was the messenger who came to Mary from God.

He and Michael are the only two angels in the Bible that are named.

They are very special messengers.

They do not just pop in on people for a visit.

There are only three people in the Bible who ever got a visit from Gabriel.

Daniel in the Old Testament, and Zechariah in the New Testament; and then Mary.

Mary is the only woman in all of history to get a visit from this special messenger.

I think we can safely conclude: Mary was somebody super special to God.

She is, therefore, to be admired and looked up to as a great example.

When you are the only woman in history to receive a visit from God's personal messenger, you qualify for VIP treatment.

Gabriel's first word to Mary was, "Greetings."

It is equivalent to the Hebrew, Shalom, meaning peace.

In our culture it would be, "Hello Mary."

In Latin it was, "Ava Maria."

Some translated it into English as, "Hail Mary."

This is where you get the famous Catholic prayer, Hail Mary full of grace.

Gabriel said to her, "you are highly favored!" Not, somewhat favored, or moderately favored, but, highly favored.

This leads us to the second point which is-

II.

THE VIRGIN'S VALUE.

Her value to God has already been established by the nature of the visitor she received from God.

It is also clearly stated in words.

Gabriel says in verse 30, "you have found favor with God." Keep in mind, that without faith, it is impossible to please God.