Luke 1:46-55 KJV And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, [47] And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. [48] For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. [49] For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. [50] And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. [51] He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. [52] He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. [53] He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. [54] He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; [55] As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
I. INTRODUCTION—JOSHUA BELL IN THE WASHINGTON, D.C. METRO
On Friday January 12, 2007, at 7:51 AM an unassuming street musician stepped into one of the ticket lobbies in the D.C. metro. He pulled out of a case, a violin, and after a few pulls with the bow begin to play. For 43 minutes did this musician play as 1,097 people passed by him with hardly a second look.
He played six classical masterpieces that generally are reserved for concert halls where tickets range in price from $100 to as much as $450 per seat for performance. He began with “Chaconne” from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D Minor which took 14 minutes to complete. He then went into Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria” from there to Manuel Ponce’s “Estrellita” and on to piece by Massenet before concluding with a piece by Bach. For the very few, in fact, only about six the other 1,091 missed the music on that day.
What all of the people who passed by did not know was the identity of the violinist although that might not made much of a difference because on 3-4% of the general public even listen to classical music. They also did not know that he was playing a violin that was made in 1713 by Antonio Stradivari and was almost 300 years old and had never been refinished, still in its original condition. They also did not know that three days prior to this metro interlude that the violinist had filled the Symphony Hall in Boston where the cheapest seats were around $100. What the hurrying mass did not know was that Joshua Bell one of the world’s top violinists on our times was putting on the performance of a lifetime.
Working in collaboration with the Washington Post, he agreed to help with a study about the effect of music on people in places where they do not expect to find it. Clearly only the six who stopped long enough to listen were familiar enough with the music to know. Of the six who stopped to listen, only one woman recognized Mr. Bell because she had been at a performance that he had given in the Library of Congress the previous year. She only caught the last 5 minutes of the performance and she jokingly said that only in a place like D.C. could people be so oblivious to greatness. One other man stopped to listen for about nine minutes and tossed $5 into the case and he was embarrassed that he only had that much cash to drop in on that day. Joshua Bell’s total intake that morning was a bit over $32 when he normally places for about $1000 a minute for his performances around the world.
-Strange it is how that we often miss the majesty that is right under our nose. Mary was music that many missed.
II. MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS
-Mary, the mother of Jesus, was surprised, scared, and humbled when she was chosen by God to bear the Savior of the world. Mary, so common, so ordinary, and many would miss her performance in the grand scheme of God’s work.
-In her obscure life, we can see the dedication that she set forth.
• Rebekah had a great example of intercession against barrenness.
• Leah allowed her discontentment to be overcome with unconditional love.
• Ruth had a great example of devotion in a strange land.
• Hannah gave a great example in prayer.
• Elizabeth was faithful in the later years of life and was blessed because of it.
• Mary had that simple dedication to God and His purpose.
-There is further insight when you look at her last recorded words in Scripture:
John 2:5 KJV His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
-Her last appearance in Scripture is at a prayer meeting in Acts 1:12-15 waiting for the Spirit. Those two keys will be crucial to any spiritual success that we have in our own lives. Doing what the Lord says to us and then being with a group that is willing to wait in unity for the Spirit.
A. Gaining the Grace of God—Luke 1:28-30
Luke 1:28-30 KJV And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. [29] And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. [30] And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
-Favor with God sometimes will propel us into places that we ordinarily might not want to go.
• Abraham had favor with God and it sent him from his homeland.
• Joseph had favor with God and it sent him to a pit and a prison.
• Moses had favor with God and it sent him to a wilderness to watch sheep.
• David had favor with God and it sent him to a cave called Adullam.
• Esther had favor with God and it sent her to marry a wicked king.
-Mary had favor with God but it was going to put her in a very precarious position. But with that favor of God there is a presence of the grace of God.
-There is always a cost involved in following the Lord that is what makes us need the grace of God more than we could ever know.
-Think of those days that followed the appearance of the angel. . . Fear not, Mary. . . You have found favor with God.
-Mary had a pure heart and an unblemished soul. . . now the burden of the Lord is on her. She was like a pure Passover lamb being set apart for a sacrifice. Who would understand her situation? Who could she confide in without being accused of being unstable?
-Being chosen by God sometimes means that there will be the passing of many dark nights and painful days. The burden will mock you, shout you down, and almost incapacitate you. But this is where grace and faith have to carry you.
Warren Wiersbe—The secret is not the ability of the creature but the grace of the Creator.
• Mary was a poor girl but glorifying God does not depend on wealth.
• Mary was from a rejected race but obedience does not require a special citizenship.
• Mary was from a town that the Jews despised but God’s blessing is not predicated on your address.
-All of the things that the world thinks is important and really makes a difference, grace scoffs at it and throws it all aside.
-What is grace? Paul answered that question in 1 Corinthians 1.
1 Corinthians 1:26-28 KJV For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: [27] But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; [28] And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
-There is something about the grace of God that literally takes the common and makes it uncommon.
• It took a scheming Jacob and turned him into the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
• It took the fear of Gideon and turned it into a great victory and he became a great general.
• It took the hatred of Saul of Tarsus and turned him into a church builder and great missionary.
-Just look around this congregation on this day and you will see what the grace of God is doing in many lives and turning their lives into something useful for the kingdom of God.
-Whatever you do don’t miss the music of God’s grace in the work of a lot of lives that have frayed edges and difficult times.
B. Doing the Will of God—Luke 1:38
-When Gabriel appeared to Mary with this incredible news, notice Mary’s response:
Luke 1:38 KJV And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
-“I am the Lord’s servant.” When Mary said she was a handmaid of the Lord, she was identifying herself in the lowest class of female slaves. It is sometimes hard to lower ourselves to be what God desires for us to be.
• Servitude involves living and working by the letter of the Master’s law.
• Servitude submits to the careful eyes of the Master.
• Servitude means that there is a loss of choices.
• Servitude brings us to a place of hard work, strained muscles, and tired bodies.
• Servitude forfeits all freedom.
-This is the sum total of doing the will of God. It is often an unpopular choice to say the least and very few find that they can fully submit to the rule of the Master. But if you can ever give yourself fully to the Kingdom of God there are some rewards of servant-hood that will exalt you.
• You will find the rewards of obedience.
• You will be formed into the image of Jesus Christ (which this world desperately needs).
• You will find the rewards of an elevated life—not ruled by corrupted passions—envy, malice, wrath, and so forth.
• You will find a crown at the end of your life.
The story is told of an old Holiness preacher who rode the circuit back in the days of the Methodist camp-meetings. This young preacher had a very humble upbringing and did not have much of a presence about him. When he showed up to preach, the home where he was to be received did not think much of him and sent him around to the back of the house to eat with the servants.
The servants were all very surprised to see him and did their best to encourage him through the meal and considering it all, the young preacher took it well. When it came time for bed, the young man went to the barn to sleep with the servants. He ended up in the corner of the loft with John to which the young preacher ended up preaching a sermon to him and praying for him before they turned in that night. Old John was very appreciative for the grace that God had seemed to drop in on him.
The next morning, John took the young preacher to breakfast, walked with him to church, and sat with him in the back until the young preacher was called on to preach. When the young man gained the pulpit that day, a great move of God broke in on the place and many people experienced a move of the Holy Ghost.
Afterwards the young preacher was received with great acclaim by those who attended the camp-meeting. The hosts were so embarrassed that they begin to do everything they could to fix the situation the best way they could. They invited him into the house and wanted him to sit in the parlor and eat the best that they could offer. But the young man began to be very uneasy with their change and told them, “I ate supper with John. I slept in the loft with John. I had breakfast with John. I walked here with John. So if it is all the same with you, John was with me in my humiliation and I think I am going to stay with him for the rest of the camp-meeting!”
-Being a servant can be so hard but it can also be so exalting. That is what happened to Mary. Willing to be just a handmaid, a servant, she stepped into the history of the world.
-“Be it unto me” was what Mary said in the end. “Gabriel, what you have said to me is so shocking, so unnerving, and so challenging but be it unto me!”
• It means living in places that you would not have ordinarily chosen.
• It means doing things others would never understand you doing.
• It means spending time, talent, and treasure in areas that you look foolish doing.
• It means embracing a humility that first will humiliate before it will crown.
• It means bearing sorrow that will take a long time to mature into joy.
• It means not missing the music.
• It means seeing and hearing what others never may see or hear.
C. Depend on the Spirit of God—Luke 1:35
-To do the impossible things for the Kingdom of God, you need the grace of God to do the will of God but it will take depending on the Spirit of God to get it done.
Luke 1:35 KJV And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
A. W. Tozer—It may be said without qualification that every man is as holy and is as full of the Spirit as he wants to be. (From Born after Midnight)
-How often I have fallen into the trap of doing the work of the Lord in my own power. Caught up in the hustle of life, I was like those folks going about the Washington metro who missed the music. Don’t do that!
• We cannot get along without the Spirit of the Lord in this place.
• We cannot sing without the Spirit.
• We cannot make it without prayer and the unction of the Spirit.
-Because Mary submitted to the will of God, it caused her to be filled with the power of God.
III. CONCLUSION—TRAGEDY IN PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA
Tuesday of the past week ushered a tragic experience into the lives of those in a Bay County, Florida school board meeting. A man who was obviously very troubled confronted the school board with a gun and begins shooting and although he missed all of those he was shooting at; he was shot and then ended his life with his own weapon.
Mike Jones was a retired police officer who was on-duty for security. Because of his training, he had a great part in possibly saving many lives. In the aftermath, Mr. Jones told the press that he really was not a hero; he was just someone who was doing his job.
-There are a lot of people who are playing some of the greatest music of life and we often miss them because of the very busyness of life.
-Don’t miss the music! (Romans 12:9-21)
Philip Harrelson
December 18, 2010
