The Fourth Sunday in Advent

December 22, 2024

Luke 1:39-55

A Real Christmas—

A Real Christmas Lifts Up the Lowly!

39At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

46And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers.” (NIV1984)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

For all practical purposes Christmas has arrived. Our children and grandchildren are on Christmas break from school. Many parents are either on vacation or soon will be. Out-of-town guests have begun to arrive. The fact that Christmas is for all practical purposes here may leave us feeling more weighed down than ever. There is the weight that comes from knowing that we weren’t able to purchase the presents that our loved ones wanted. There is the weight that comes from knowing that our Christmas parties didn’t go precisely as we had planned. And then there is the weight that comes from knowing that we didn’t always use the four weeks of Advent to properly prepare our hearts and our lives to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

If that’s the case for you then perhaps all the frenzy and all the distractions that December brought into our lives has actually done us a favor. Now, as the Lord draws near to us in the incarnation of His Son, we, the people of God have once again been humbled. We have been stretched to our limits. We have been painfully reminded of our sins and our shortcomings. We have realized the futility of even our best efforts.

If that’s the case for you, then the Good News proclaimed by our Scripture lessons for today is exactly what we needed to hear! Being weighed down by our burdens and made aware of our weaknesses does not disqualify us from God’s attention or care. In reality, it does just the opposite! It prepares us for the work that our God does best! With that truth in mind let’s conclude our sermon series on A Real Christmas by seeing that: A Real Christmas Lifts Up the Lowly!

Our text for today overflows with the truth that a real Christmas lifts up the lowly. Look at verses thirty-nine to forty-one. Luke writes, “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill county of Judah, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”

“At that time.” With those words Luke takes us back to the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary. Even though Mary was a virgin Gabriel revealed to her that through the power of the Holy Spirit she was going to give birth to a Son— and not just any Son! Mary’s Son would be the “Son of the Most High.” Mary’s Son would be given “the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” Mary’s Son would be the long-awaited Promised Messiah! And even though Mary humbly believed what Grabriel had told her, the Lord graciously gave her proof that what Gabriel had just told her was true! That proof is found in the words: “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month” (Luke 1:36).

So what does Mary do? She eagerly gets ready and goes to visit Elizabeth! Excited by the news of her miraculous pregnancy and excited by the news of Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy, Mary was eager to share her news with perhaps the only other person who could truly understand the depth of God’s grace and the breadth of God’s power!

Elizabeth’s reaction to this unexpected visit from Mary is a beautiful example of how a real Christmas lifts up the lowly. The Holy Spirit made sure that Luke recorded Elizabeth’s reaction — for us! Luke writes, “In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child that you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”

Before Mary could even share with Elizabeth the miraculous news revealed to her by the angel Gabriel, the Good News of a real Christmas lifted up the lowly Elizabeth! “Filled with the Holy Spirit” Elizabeth joyfully blessed both Mary and her unborn Child. “Filled with the Holy Spirit” Elizabeth ‘s unborn child— whom we know as John the Baptist —leaped for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice! “Filled with the Holy Spirit” Elizabeth recognizes that even though she didn’t deserve it, God graciously gave her the “favor” of having the “mother of my Lord come to me.” You might be interested to know that this is the first time that Luke uses the Name “the Lord” in direct reference to Mary’s Child. The previous nine times Luke uses the Name, “the Lord,” are all referring to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the great “I AM,” the God who had established His Covenant with His Chosen People. The twentieth time that Luke uses this covenant Name for God is when the Christmas angel says to the lowly shepherds, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The fact that Mary’s Child is “the Lord” is the only reason we can confidently say that a real Christmas lifts up the lowly! That brings us to the “heart” of our text for today— Mary’s Magnificat!

As we look at Mary’s Magnificat the Holy Spirit makes it abundantly clear that a real Christmas lifts up the lowly. The first application of this truth is found in Mary herself. She says, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.”

Mary recognized that the reason she was “blessed” was not because of who she was or because of something she had done. Mary knew that like all of us she was a sinner— a sinner who needed a Savior! Mary knew that the only reason she was “blessed” was because of who her God is and what her God had done! All of Mary’s praise and all of Mary’s adoration is directed outside of herself and to her God. That’s why Mary’s soul “glorifies the Lord.” That’s why Mary’s spirit “rejoices in God my Savior.” That’s why Mary humbly acknowledges that she is God’s lowly “servant.” That’s why Mary confesses that the only reason “generations will call me blessed” is because “the Mighty One has done great things for me.” Yes, my friends, Mary is a beautiful example of how a real Christmas lifts up the lowly!

We need to follow Mary’s example— especially as we are preparing to once again celebrate the birth of the Child of Bethlehem. Even if we were the smartest and the strongest person in the world, even if we were the most attractive or the most charismatic person who has ever lived we don’t deserve to receive the greatest Christmas gift of all— the heavenly Father’s gift of His only begotten Son. But when we are filled with the humility of the virgin Mary, when we strive to be — not just act but to be — as lowly as Mary then we will experience on a very personal level how a real Christmas lifts us up! Then our soul will be able to “glorify the Lord.” Then our spirit will be able to “rejoice in God my Savior.” Then we will see and understand and acknowledge that “the Mighty One has done great things for me”!

Mary’s Magnificat then highlights that a real Christmas lifts up the lowly be reminding us that the Child of Bethlehem has a unique way of dealing with the people of this world. Look at verses fifty to fifty-five. Mary continues, “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has healed his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our faithers.”

Mary’s Magnificat is both simple and profound. Throughout history— “from generation to generation”— God extends His “mercy to those who fear him,” that is, to those who recognize His greatness, to those who honor and respect His majesty. Mary also praises and glorifies God for demonstrating the depth of His power. On both a physical level and on a spiritual level the lowly are raised, the poor are honored, the hungry are fed— but the proud are scattered, the mighty are brought down and the rich are sent away empty. And finally, Mary’s Magnificat praises and glorifies God for demonstrating His mercy and His goodness to Abraham and his descendants. God kept His promise— the promise to send the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior into this world! The mercy of this Savior-God will endure forever— to all those who look to Him (Pointing to the cross) for salvation.

A Real Christmas Lifts Up the Lowly! This is how our God works, my friends. Through a lowly birth in the lowly little town of Bethlehem God’s own Son enters into our broken world. His Kingdom would not be established in power and glory, but in suffering and shame. His honor is not secured by the pomp and circumstance of this world, but by the cross on Calvary’s hill. (Pointing to the cross). His victory was not proclaimed by blaring trumpets and columns of soldiers marching in unison, but by two angels standing outside an empty tomb and saying to a group of lowly humble women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” (Luke 24:5, 6)

For all practical purposes Christmas has arrived. In just two short days we will gather together once again here in God’s house to celebrate the birth of this world’s only Savior from sin. Is there anything that is still weighing you down, my friends? Perhaps there are presents you weren’t able to purchase. Perhaps there were parties you weren’t able to attend. Perhaps it’s the burden of recognizing your own shortcomings, your own weaknesses, your own sins. No matter who you are, no matter how much criticism you might hear from others, no matter what Satan whispers into your ear when you look at yourself in the mirror— even if you were the lowliest person to have ever walked on the face of this earth— a real Christmas lifts you up! A real Christmas lifts you up by enabling you to find comfort and joy in knowing that your heavenly Father loves you— yes, you!—so very much that He sent His own Son to save you from your sins! With the comfort and the joy of a real Christmas embracing your heart you can join the lowly virgin Mary and sing, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior The Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name!”

To God be the glory!

Amen