GIVE ME A REASON TO CARE
Luke 1:39-56
November 29, 2009
Pastor Brian Matherlee
If we were to compile a list of as many songs of Christmas that we know or have heard, I imagine we would be able to come up with quite an extensive list.
• I did a Google search under the keywords songs of Christmas and it pulled up 128 million websites – by refining the search I was able to narrow it down to 77 million.
• The list included everything from songs like “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth”, “Frosty the Snowman” , “Grandma Got run over by a Reindeer” to “Ave Maria”, “O Holy Night”, and “Handel’s Messiah” and everything in between.
• Some are just frivolous and silly and give us a good laugh; others have the power to transform human hearts from self-centeredness to God-centeredness, to give hope to the discouraged, comfort to the sorrowful, and strength to the weary.
If I only searched for “Christian Christmas songs” it finally got down to 16,000 sites with that content only.
• Isn’t it ironic that the songs with the greatest truth in content is by far a minority representation.
• Christmas appeals to people all over the world with differing beliefs because it brings a different atmosphere to our world. But certainly Jesus gets placed in the background for many.
• One individual who gives some representation for what’s going on is the Innkeeper of Luke 2
Making Jesus a Priority in Today’s World is Almost Unheard Of.
• Caesar had his selfish intentions in mind when he issued his decree for a Roman census.
Self gets in the way of many things. When we place ourselves above others, we are not only breaking the laws of scripture (Great Commandment), but we are making many pay a price for our own selfishness. Caesar’s census and taxation practices were not necessary at the time, and they inconvenienced everyone under the Roman sun.
• The Inn was too full for Jesus and His earthly parents because of the census crowd in Bethlehem.
• Is my life too full for Jesus?
The Romans ruled the civilized world at the time of Jesus’ birth. By contrast, Joseph controlled very little. Against his desires and political convictions, he complied with the Roman order and traveled with Mary to Bethlehem. Often people feel like Joseph; caught by forces larger than they are. The Romans were in control insofar as human authority can get its way by exerting human power. But the Romans did not recognize their limitations. In reality, God controls the world. In all times and places, He works His will. God did not write Roman law, but judged it. God did not soften Joseph’s bumpy road, but strengthened him. God is in charge of your life too. He will guide you and provide all you need. Like Joseph, live each day by faith, trusting that God is in charge.
• We do not recognize God, act like God or look like God because our lives are too full for God.
Many Have Careless Attitudes About Christ.
• Perhaps the Innkeeper was only interested in his personal agenda.
Picture yourself being the Innkeeper. It is late. You have been fetching towels and roll away beds all evening long. Your inn is full and the “no-vacancy” sign is in the window. You are tired and it would be easy to not be the most caring soul in the world when the knock comes at your door. Careless? Perhaps. Nonetheless, the Innkeeper would have had no idea who it was that was standing on the stoop of his Inn.
• Maybe we get careless at times because of our personal comfort zone.
The government forced Joseph to make a long trip just to pay his taxes. His fiancé, who had to go with him, was going to deliver a baby at any moment. But when they arrived in Bethlehem, they couldn’t even find a place to stay. Doing God’s will often takes people out of their comfort zones. Jesus’ life began in poverty. Later, Jesus would point out to His disciples the fact that there might be a time when you don’t even have a place to lay your head down (Luke 9:58). Those who do God’s will are not guaranteed comfortable lives. But they are promised that everything, even their discomfort, has meaning in God’s plan.
Really what the innkeeper needed to hear is what we have the privilege of recalling each and every year.
THE SONGS OF CHRISTMAS: The Song of Mary
Luke 1: 46-56
1. So what do we know about Mary who sings this song?
• There is uncertainty about exactly where she was born – some traditions say Jerusalem, some say Nazareth. However, she was born to Joachim and Anna – members of the Davidic line - and grew up as part of the staunch Jewish community living in the dry Galilean hills surrounding Nazareth.
• The uncertainties of living in this area included the unpredictability of rain along with invading locusts and field mice to destroy crops and so learning by experience a strong reliance on the Lord and His provision was absolutely crucial.
• Her daily responsibilities as part of a rural Galilean family would have included grinding wheat and barley into flour, preparing dishes of vegetables, nuts and mutton, baking bread, spinning wool and making clothes, and fetching jars of water from the well for cooking and washing. There would also be a few chickens and a donkey to feed. Some of the crops to be sown and harvested in the area would have included wheat, barley, olives for food and oil for their lamps, figs, grapes and pomegranates.
• In spite of their land having been conquered and ravaged for centuries by one super power after another – the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, and now the mighty Romans - together with the people of Nazareth, Mary would have had a deep and strong faith in God’s promise to one day send His Messiah who would free Israel from its enemies.
• The Lord who heard the cry of His people in Egypt and mightily came to their rescue through Moses would certainly one day do so again. The God who had shown Himself over and over throughout their history to be on the side of the poor and oppressed and defenseless would not forever delay in showing His salvation.
• In a culture where women were barely noticed, except as a wife and mother, around the age of 15, Mary’s parents took the customary step of arranging her marriage and the man of their choice was Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, to be her husband. Following the engagement ceremony, Mary returned to live at home with her parents for about a year when she would then go to live with her husband.
2. And that’s when it all happened! The visit by the angel Gabriel, the announcement that she had been specially chosen, hand picked by God to bear His Son Jesus – His Messiah – who would establish a Kingdom that would never end. The power of the Holy Spirit would conceive the child within her womb without any human intervention for His arrival would signal the end of the old human race of Adam and be the first of the new race in Christ.
3. Mary is understandably overwhelmed, troubled, confused and needing another caring, understanding, and wise human to talk to.
• Trying to explain a private angelic visit and an immaculate pregnancy even to her parents and Joseph or anyone in the small community of Nazareth would not have been a wise move.
• With the amazing news that her cousin Elizabeth, had conceived and was already 6 months pregnant when she was way past child-bearing age, Mary knew instinctively that was where she was to go.
• Elizabeth’s joyous, affirming, and prophetic greeting as Mary entered the house now released the song from Mary’s heart that has become known as “The Magnificat” from the opening words in Latin, “Magnificat anima mea Dominum,”—“My heart magnifies the Lord.”
4. Mary’s song is a song of LOVE. It is a song of FAITH. And it is a song of HOPE.
I. A SONG OF LOVE
1. As soon as Mary hears the words of Elizabeth – before she has even had an opportunity to explain the purpose of her visit - referring to her as “the mother of my Lord” and pronouncing a blessing on her for believing the word of the Lord spoken to her – the questions quieted, the anxiety abated, the confusion collapsed and the doubts disappeared, and Mary knew in her spirit that what had happened to her was for real.
2. Praise erupted from her innermost being like an overflowing fountain. The moment that she and her people had waited for so long had finally arrived. God had heard the cries and the longings of His children and the work of salvation had begun.
3. Her song is made up of images and references to Scriptures from Genesis, from Job, from the Psalms, and from Isaiah and highlights how steeped her thinking was in the Word of God.
4. Now the Pharisees and Sadducees were also steeped in the study of the Scriptures but Jesus later pointed out that though they studied the Scriptures that spoke about Him they refused to come to Him – instead they rejected and killed the very One they claimed to love and follow.
• It reminds us that it is altogether possible to study the scriptures purely as an academic exercise as one might any other book of literature or history and completely miss the heart of the message
• Mary studied the Scriptures as a lover would passionately memorize and consume the letters from her beloved – they not only stimulated her thinking but transformed her heart and mind and soul.
5. So from the depths of her being she gives expression to her amazement, her adoration, her worship and love of God that He has singled out a nobody from Nazareth to accomplish His mighty purposes. How in keeping with the character of our God:
• He chose Israel in the beginning, not because they were a mighty and powerful nation, but because they were the least of all the peoples on earth
• He chose Moses, a child of slaves, to deliver His people
• He chose Gideon who was the least member of the smallest clan of the smallest tribe in Israel
• He chose Samuel while he was just a little boy and David, the youngest and least likely in his family
• So that no human being might ever boast in him or herself, thinking that their strength, their wisdom, their beauty, their attractiveness, their ingenuity was what brought things about – the glory and honor belongs always and only to God.
• Mary’s song is a song of love.
II. A SONG OF FAITH
1. Mary’s song is also a song of faith. And faith grows out of true worship and adoration of God. Worship takes the attention off of us and focuses it on God – on His might, on His power, on His mercy and grace. And that environment is perfect for strengthening and deepening faith – because faith keeps its vision focused on the word and promises of God and not on the surrounding or prevailing circumstances.
2. According to Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen” – it is believing that because God has declared something, it is already an accomplished fact even if the tangible and visible evidence is not immediately apparent to our visual, tactile and other senses.
3. And so here we hear Mary proclaiming that God has already scattered the proud and arrogant; pulled down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the poor; satisfied the hungry with good nourishment, and sent the self-sufficiently wealthy away empty-handed.
4. But as she speaks those words her visible material circumstances were no different – she was still a young peasant girl from Nazareth, the Romans and the Jewish sycophant king Herod still ruled Palestine with an iron fist, taxing the people to the benefit of the Emperor and his lackeys, the rich still had their goods and the poor continued to struggle.
5. But Mary could sing and praise because she already saw a vision of the changed society God was bringing into being where all wrongs will be righted, where every injustice will be corrected, where the oppressed and downtrodden will be lifted up and those who have elevated and exalted themselves will be humbled.
III. A SONG OF HOPE
1. Mary’s song is also a song of hope that is nurtured and strengthened and encouraged by her faith. It is a hope that is based in the promise God made to her ancestor Abraham and to all his descendants.
2. And that promise found in Genesis chapters 12 and 17 was to establish His everlasting covenant with Abraham and to bless all the nations of the earth through him. And He would be their God and cause them to dwell in their own land in peace.
• The believer’s hope is always firmly anchored in the faithful, sure and certain promises of God. Life’s unpredictable circumstances - sometimes favorable and sometimes chaotic - may come and go, but God’s promises will be fulfilled. Jesus affirmed that promise by saying, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away". [Matthew 24:35]
• Mary’s hope was firmly anchored in what God had promised.
Mary’s song is a song of LOVE, a song of FAITH, and a song of HOPE because in a unique way God had singled her out to carry the eternal Word in her womb and through her for that life-giving Word to become flesh – become a human being and be Emmanuel – God with us – God among us and one of us.
And here is the additional amazing news – God has also handpicked and personally selected you and me for that very same purpose.
• The eternal Word of God seeks to continue becoming flesh – continue being expressed through willing and responsive men and women, boys and girls and dwelling among us full of grace and truth
• Our lives have been crafted to be a dwelling place for God – the sacred vessel through which He will make Himself known in our homes, our families, our schools, our communities, every place where we live and move and have our being.
God forces Himself on no one. He takes the initiative and He makes the invitation
Mary responded by saying, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” And you and I are here this morning and have a living hope, a steadfast faith, and the experience of God’s eternal and life-transforming love because she said “Yes”.
Our hurting and broken world awaits your response. Will you let Mary’s song become your own?
AMEN
