The Songs of Luke's Gospel

Jesus: Song of Joy

TEXT: LUKE 1:46-55

LISTENING TO THE TEXT
Luke is telling his story through two separate but parallel birth announcements, that of John and that of Jesus. These two story lines merge when Mary visits Elizabeth. This visit gives rise to this well-known text often called the Magnificat. It's a song of praise and joy for what God is accomplishing in the history of His people.

However, it's a redemption that is being done through impossible circumstances. When the angel, Gabriel, spoke to Mary about how God was going to use her to bring salvation to His people, "Mary was greatly troubled" (v. 29). Perhaps she had the intuitive wisdom to understand that being "highly favored" (v. 28) by God can be dangerous. In fact, Mary would soon discover that to be favored by God would not only produce joy but also bring her into contact with ridicule, loneliness, and pain.

She asks an important question when the angel reveals this awesome reality, "How will this be?" (v. 34). That's a question many of us ask when faced with the impossible. Do you know what the answer is? God will do it. "The Holy Spirit will come upon you" is the word of Gabriel (v. 35). Faced with that assurance, Mary's response is perhaps the most courageous, most faith-filled statement ever recorded: "May it be done to me according to your word" (v. 38, NASB).

The song of Mary comes out of that faith. It's a powerful song that says the mighty will be brought low and the humble will be exalted. God works through the unable. He brings His kingdom through the incapable. What God has done for Mary anticipates what He will do for the poor, the powerless, and the oppressed of the world. And that's why Mary's song is a song of joy.

ENGAGING THE TEXT
The Need
On any given Sunday, our sanctuaries are filled with people who have become convinced that God's intervention in their lives is impossible. Many are saying, "This can never change. This relationship can never be different. This circumstance will never improve. This person will never grow." People often feel unable to experience in any significant way the Advent declarations of joy and peace. Our people may come to Advent worship projecting all the right things on the outside, but inside they are saying, "Peace? Impossible! Joy? Impossible! Not in this life. Not at my house."

God's Answer
God seems to delight in working with our "impossibilities." Just when we come to the place of saying, "This is impossible" God says, "Oh yeah, watch this!"

The whole witness of Scripture tells us that our God is active and creative. He is always bringing about new things. One of the themes of Advent is surprise. Just when things are darkest and hope seems lost, that's when God surprises us with His redeeming work. It's His nature to bring new things where only old things are expected-to bring life where only death is expected.

Mary understood something about impossible things ("How will this be?"). Yet she came face-to-face with the God of new possibilities.

Our Response
To a people who feel unable and powerless to change the things in their lives that need changing, our gospel word to them is, "Don't be afraid, because God can work with that!" He will turn your impossible things into monuments of His grace and mercy.

How does that happen? By choosing the attitude of trust and openness to whatever God wants to do that Mary models in this story. She expressed absolute confidence in God that He would meet her at the place of impossible. In fact, Mary is so sure of this that when she speaks of what God will accomplish she speaks in the past tense. In her faith, it's already happened.

PREACHING THE TEXT
The preacher might begin this sermon by helping the people to connect to the idea of "impossible things." This can be done by telling a story of what it's like to face an impossible circumstance. The feelings of frustration or despair can be brought out so that the people have a fresh sense of what it's like for someone finally to throw up their hands and say, "This is impossible!"

The next move is to transition to the story that provides the context for this "song." Perhaps a sentence like, "You know something? Mary, the mother of our Lord, understood something about impossible things." One can then "run" the story, painting the picture of Mary's amazing interaction with Gabriel. Her response to the message of the angel is critical to where this sermon will end up. It's the response of total faith in the face of a God for whom nothing is impossible. At this point the song, or the Magnificat, needs to be allowed to refunction in the context of Mary's personal story. The themes of reversal, salvation, and hope for the oppressed are central to this song and need to be unfolded.

The transition to response can be accomplished with some statements like this: "What is your impossible thing today?" Or, "Are you feeling powerless to change the things in your life that need changing?" The example of Mary's faith is the key to experiencing real Advent joy.

I concluded this sermon by saying, "We can approach our impossibilities with that kind of confidence. It's more than exercising positive mental attitude. It's more than psyching ourselves up, because this confidence is not based on our ability to change. It's based in a God who has committed himself in Jesus, the Song of Joy, to redeem the impossible things in our lives."