Congratulations to our daughter Rachel, completing her M. Div next week!
(A portion of her manuscript from an advent message by Rachel S Wood, edited by JS):
We are mentored by our sister, Mary, through her song in Luke 1:46-56.
She sings into this extraordinary situation (Luke 1:21ff.): Gabriel appears to Mary announcing the miraculous baby she would carry, the Son of God.
Yes, this is good news – the savior of the world is coming, and through you, Mary, of all people! But, if we’re honest, this is also really hard news. What were your plans for next year, for your life with Joseph, for your family? Cancel them all.
You will be pregnant out of wedlock. You know, and I know, that this conception is miraculous, that you have kept yourself pure and that your relationship with Joseph hasn’t crossed inappropriate lines. But the neighbors won’t know that. The judgmental eyes and knowing looks will be the same as if you’d committed adultery.
Yes, it’s a beautiful blessing to be chosen as the bearer of our Lord. But let’s not over spiritualize to the point that we lose touch with the truly human. This is a hard calling.
Mary, an obedient servant of the Lord, says “let it be to me according to your Word” (Lk. 1:38). And the angel leaves. Where does that leave her? With a gloriously heavy assignment. No evidence…. except an angelic update about Elizabeth’s pregnancy. She didn’t have Instagram to see the pregnancy announcement post, she had no phone to call Elizabeth and check the angel’s story (and in so doing check the trustworthiness of his message to her).
So, she packs her bags and hastens (1:39) to visit Zechariah and Elizabeth. Can you hear the questions in her mind as she travels? Will her baby bump be visible or am I going to have to outright ask, “Elizabeth, I know you have struggled with infertility for years and this is probably a really sensitive and painful subject, but you don’t happen to be pregnant, do you?”
How incredible if she is – after all these years!
But, will she believe my story about an “immaculate conception”?
Imagine Mary approaching Elizabeth’s door with all the fear, anticipation, questions. The door opens, “Elizabeth!” and before she can ask a single question, explain her situation, plead for evidence or for belief, Elizabeth bursts out:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”” (1:42–45)
What joy and relief must have flooded Mary’s heart – Elizabeth IS pregnant! And she already knows about the baby in my womb – not just that he’s from the Lord but that he is the Lord! And it is here that Mary sings out our Scripture for today:
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
Lord, teach us through your servant, Mary, to put our hope in You. What a song! In it, Mary praises the Lord for how he dealt with her personally, then she recounts how that is characteristic of Him at work throughout history, and whether she knows it or not, foreshadows the ministry of her own Son. Mary’s hope for the future is based on the character of God in the past and it changes her present.
Her initial praise is based on what he’s done in her own life.
“My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
And what had he done? 48 …looked on the humble estate of his servant. Looked upon her. Seen her. Someone no one else would notice or think twice about, God saw. And lifted her to bear his Son. Note the kindness and condescension of God to provide Elizabeth for Mary to stay with in first 3 months – He deals gently with our humanity.
She says all future generations will call her blessed – not be impressed by her and focus on how great she was (don’t get me wrong, we have much to learn from her example, but that’s not what she is saying) – because of GOD and the great things he did for her. OT Scripture is woven all throughout Mary’s song. You’ll hear echoes of Moses and Hannah, the Psalmists and prophets.
When the LORD does great things for us, the right response is to tell everybody! Then others praise him too and his actions in our lives ripple out to greater and greater circles of praise. Mary praises the Lord for what he’s done in her life particularly, but this is not just how he treated her, it represents his way of working. Her song moves beyond her own circumstances and zooms out to magnify the character of the LORD and his way of working in the world. We’ve already been introduced to a major theme throughout the song – the lifting of the lowly. Mary is an embodiment of God’s delight to lift the lowly. The reverse is also a trademark of God’s character. He has shown strength with his arm – to do what? scatter the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones…
God has an MO of reversal. He uses his strength the exact opposite way from that which we’ve come to expect. On earth, “power” has come to carry negative connotations, skepticism, fear, because we’ve become so used to humans using their power for their own advantage at the expense of others. But we see in the character of God what power is meant to look like. He protects and lifts up, advances others, BUT ALSO brings down the proud.
In addition to reversal, God is characterized by his faithfulness to his promises, his faithfulness to his servant Israel, the true offspring of Abraham. Here again, Mary is one particular example of God’s consistent way of working in the OT. His mercy is for those who fear him and in that same mercy he has now sent the long-awaited seed to save his people.
Mary magnifies the Lord: You saw me and lifted me. Praise you because this is not just how you treated me — This is the kind of God you are. She didn’t know Jesus yet when she sang this song. She didn’t know what he’d be like or what he’d do…
And yet, she did. To the extent that she knew the Scriptures and the character of God in the OT, she knew what Jesus would be like and be about.
We can see, as Mary sings, the Holy Spirit is also foreshadowing the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. “God my savior.” “Holy is his name.” Didn’t Jesus do all these things?
- He gathers the humble disciples and scatters the proud Pharisees.
- He looks upon the lowly estate of Mary of Magdala and lifts her to be the first announcer of his resurrection.
- He tears down the money changers in the temple and lifts up the kneeling leper and the children.
- He feeds the 5000, but the rich young ruler walks away
- He helps his servant Israel by coming to be the servant that Israel could never be.
- He scatters those who thought they believed and gathers all the sin and shame of history unto himself.
- In his life He lifts up and in his death he is lifted up to tear down the veil of separation from God!
Mary’s hope for the future is based on the character of God in the past and it changes her present.
When Mary sings this song, she’s not likely far enough along in her pregnancy to be able to feel the baby inside, the savior hasn’t yet come, and the circumstances on the ground remain – she is an unwed pregnant woman.
This text is fitting for advent because it falls within the story of advent, Mary is carrying the Christ child in her womb, awaiting his birth. But it’s not just historically fitting, it’s fitting because it displays present hope enacted in praise, based on the promises and character of God revealed in history and in her own life before circumstances change. The sure hope of the future is pulled into the present and changes the now.
You know what Mary’s not doing? Trying to figure out all the details of how this Messiah thing is going to work. I don’t know about you, but if Gabriel tells me I’m carrying the Son of God, I’m starting to feel the pressure of parenting him, what school system he should be in, how we can make sure all those prophecies come true……
Mary does not mistake the call of God on her life for the responsibility to figure it all out.
So much of the Christian life is lived between the opposite poles of two true truths. So yes, we have responsibility to live into the call on our lives. Mary was faithfully obedient.
If you feel the weight of responsibility to figure out how exactly your calling is going to come together, how the timing and logistics are going to work out. let’s be encouraged by our sister Mary who responded obediently to the Lord’s call, but whose next step was not anxious striving but rather HOPE-filled PRAISE.
To close, let’s look at Mary’s role vs. God’s in this song.
Mary:
“My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
God:
48 looks on the humble 49 is mighty, does great things and holy is his name.
50 his mercy is for those who fear him 51 He shows strength with his arm;
scatters the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 brings down the mighty from
their thrones and exalts those of humble estate; 53fills the hungry with good things,
and sends the rich away empty. 54 helps his servant Israel, remembers his mercy,
55 as he spoke long ago
Clarifying, isn’t it? The job description of creature vs. Creator?
We serve a God whose character it is to have mercy on those who fear him, to lift the humble and bring down the proud, to fill the hungry and keep his promises. As we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in all the dark corners of our hearts and world that so desperately need Him – look to His character in the past and you will find abundant grounds for present hope.
How are you responding to present unusual or unwanted circumstances?