Well, good morning, everyone. It's wonderful to see you. If you have your Bibles in, please grab them and turn back to Luke chapter 1.
And this is where we're going to be this morning, looking at Mary's song. So as you turn there, let's pray.
I'll stay very still.
So, Father, we ask that you would help us by your Spirit this morning, as we turn to your Word.
And as we take in these quite familiar words that we think about this time of year, about what you've done in our lives,
and we pray, Father, that your Spirit would take those familiar words and that he would bring them to our hearts with a real freshness this morning.
Father, thank you that you hear us because we pray in Jesus' precious name. Amen.
Well, as we build up to Christmas as a church over the next few weeks,
we're going to be thinking about some songs that we find in the Bible from the very first Christmas.
Because, and let's be honest, we're all friends here, okay?
Everybody loves a Christmas song, don't we?
We love a Christmas song.
So, to kick us off this morning to get us thinking,
I want you to turn to your neighbour for 30 seconds,
and I want you to ask them what is their favourite Christmas song, okay?
What is their favourite Christmas song?
And you've got the time, you can ask them why as well.
Go for it.
Okay, let's bring it to a close there.
Oh, you're good fun with that.
I wonder if anybody said the following.
Who said Bing Crosby?
Anybody?
Classic.
We love Bing, do we not?
Dreaming of a white Christmas, somebody?
There we go.
How about, and maybe this is a bit more modern,
what about Michael Bublé?
Let's not act like we've not had that album on on Spotify,
his Christmas album.
There's Michael Bublé.
What about the Jackson 5?
Yeah, Santa Claus is coming to town.
Classic there.
Well, I'm getting lots of shakes.
Nobody actually listened to these things, no?
You can go home and check them out.
Here is my favourite,
and I'll admit to having a blast of it in the office this week
when no one was around.
My favourite is Last Christmas by Wham.
Anyone else say that one?
Yeah?
A few of us said Last Christmas by Wham.
Last Christmas, here's the lyrics.
Last Christmas, I gave you my heart.
But the very next day, you gave it away.
This year, to save me from tears,
I'll give it to somebody special.
Now, it's very funny when you think about it,
because apart from that one line in the song,
that one word,
that song has got nothing to do with Christmas.
If you think about it,
because, and it's consistently voted
in the top ten Christmas songs of all time,
but if you think about it,
nothing to do with Christmas.
And the reason George Michael wrote the song
was nothing to do with Christmas.
It was to do with the fact that somebody came into his life
who broke their promises to him.
That's why he wrote the song.
Somebody came into his life who broke their promises to him.
And to some extent,
we can identify, can't we,
with George Michael at that point,
because we hate it in life
when people break their promises to us.
Think about it.
The politician who promised you the world,
who got your vote,
and didn't deliver on what he or she said.
The car mechanic who promised you a price,
only for it to rise, and to rise, and to rise.
The friend who you arranged to meet at that time on that day,
who pulled out with one minute to go.
We hate it, don't we, in life,
when people break their promises to us.
It's the little promises of life,
but it's also true, isn't it,
of the big promises of life.
And I think that's why this message this morning
from Mary's song is such good news
for all of us this morning.
For let me take you from a man singing a Christmas song
about a person who broke their promises
to a young woman singing a Christmas song
about the God who's kept his promises.
Here is Mary in chapter one of Luke's gospel
singing about and celebrating the God
who keeps his promises.
If you get one thing from this morning,
and encourage me by taking more than one thing
from this morning, but take that from this morning.
This God keeps his promises.
If you've got your Bibles there,
look at verse 55 of chapter one.
Mary declares, the end of her song,
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful to Abraham
and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.
You see, right at the heart of Mary's song,
right at the heart of what Luke wants us to know,
is that this God keeps his promises.
Now, with any good song,
before we go inside the song,
let's go outside the song.
Let's get under the skin of what's going on here
behind Mary's song.
So we pick up the story at verse 26 of chapter one,
with the angel Gabriel sent by God
to go and deliver a message to Mary.
Now, notice where she is.
Where is she?
She's in this little backwater town of Nazareth.
Nazareth.
Now, what do you need to know about Nazareth?
What you need to know about Nazareth
is not a lot goes on in Nazareth.
Okay?
Nobody's booking their summer holiday to Nazareth.
Hashtag Nazareth is not trending on Twitter.
In fact, the opposite is true.
Sometimes as you read people in the Gospels,
they're making jokes about Nazareth.
Who would come from Nazareth?
What good could come out of that place?
This is Nazareth.
But it's to this place that God sends Gabriel
to announce the dawning of the greatest promise
that the world will ever know.
Not to a palace and a princess,
but to a young teenage girl
who's living in a backwater town.
That's where she is.
And notice who she is.
Mary's a young woman.
Do you see it in the text?
She's pledged to be married.
Not to the village celebrity,
but to the village carpenter.
To Nazareth, to Mary, and to Joseph.
Now let's be honest.
If we were God,
and we had a message as big as this to deliver to the world,
we would have aimed a little bit higher
than Nazareth and Mary, would we not?
I mean, no PR expert is signing off on this plan.
This is not how you deliver a message of cosmic proportions to the world.
Surely, you can see that God.
But, God chose Nazareth,
and God chose Mary.
And friends, even with that,
I hope you're seeing today,
whoever you are here this morning,
what kind of God that we're dealing with here.
This is the God of the Bible.
The God not of pomp and pride,
but the God who looks upon and remembers the unimportant
and the seemingly insignificant.
Do you not praise him this morning,
that he does not operate on our wavelength?
He does not think like we think.
This is our God this morning,
as we meet him in Luke 1.
That's the kind of God that we're dealing with here,
the God of the Bible.
And so, verse 28,
Gabriel delivers God's message to Mary,
to see it, that she is greatly favoured.
And notice how she is.
How is she?
She's greatly troubled.
Interesting, isn't it,
that our society thinks of angels as being all cute and cuddly?
Personally, I blame Casper the ghost for that.
But that is never the reaction of people in the Bible
when they encounter angels.
Mary's petrified.
But, interestingly,
if you look closely at the text,
not so much at the messenger,
she's petrified at the message.
And so Gabriel says to her,
to quote Band-Aid,
it's Christmas time and there's no need to be afraid.
Why?
Because God has looked upon Mary in his grace.
In his grace,
which means it's not because of who she is
or what she's done that God is being kind to her.
She's not come top in the Galilean X factor here.
This is not what we're dealing with.
God has looked on her,
the text suggests,
for no other reason than he is gracious
and he is kind.
This is the God of the Bible.
Right off the bat,
you see it,
Luke wants us to know this,
this doctor turned historian,
research this carefully.
He wants us to know straight off the bat
that this is the kind of God
that we're dealing with here.
Looking on the lowly,
the God who reaches down to the humble.
Mary is favoured.
And Gabriel says,
Mary, you will be with child.
And she's not going to have to wait
for the 20 week scan to learn the gender.
Do you see?
It's a boy.
And she's not going to have to go through
that painstaking process
of trying to pick a name
and hedge your bets.
He will be called,
verse 31,
Jesus.
And instantly do you see
that there's a purpose
and there's a plan for this boy
and the clues in his name,
Jesus.
Meaning the Lord is salvation.
That's what his name means.
God saves.
Named not in hopeful expectation
about what he might become.
Named precisely in keeping
in all,
after all that he has come to do
and accomplish.
This is Jesus.
And Gabriel declares,
he will be great.
Do you see it there?
He will be the son of the Most High
who will have the throne
of his father,
David.
In other words,
God is saying,
this is my king,
my king who I promised
that I would send,
my king who you've been waiting for
and the king who you desperately,
desperately need.
And look at the length
of his tenure,
verse 33.
It will have no end.
No end.
Get your head around that.
No end.
Remember I used to love playing
when I was young.
I still do.
I don't really play it that often.
The board game Risk.
One of you have ever played Risk before?
That the,
it's a game that's great for your ego,
okay,
because the strapline of that game
is all about
build your empire,
conquer the world.
The strapline is
world domination.
That's what Risk is all about.
Played with my friends
when I was young.
I even managed to win
on a few occasions,
conquer the world.
And every time I conquered the world,
I had about one minute
to look at the boards
and to bask
in the fact that my pieces
were all over that board.
And this was before camera phones,
so I had to mentally store it.
Couldn't store it anywhere else.
Mentally store it.
And I had one minute
to bask in that victory
until somebody flipped the pieces over
and they went back in the box.
And it's time for bed
because it's five in the morning.
Friends,
down the ages,
many people have had their goal
at building their own little empires,
haven't they?
Think about it.
The Babylonians had theirs
and it ended.
The Persians had theirs
and it ended.
The Egyptians had theirs
and it ended.
And as someone pointed out
to me recently,
who would have thought
in Mary's day
that 2,000 years later
we would be sitting here today
and the first thing
that you and I would think of
when we hear the name Caesar
is dog food.
And who would have thought
that 2,000 years later
after this event
that literally billions of people
around this planet
today and down the ages
have had their lives transformed
by the baby boy
who was born to this girl
in this backwater town.
See, the proof's in the pudding,
isn't it?
His kingdom will have no end.
The event
which the whole
of redemption history
has been moving forward to
is about to kick off
and it's about to kick off
in this teenager's womb.
The virgin
will give birth
to a son.
Do you see,
it's not man's doing
this birth,
it's going to be God's doing.
Something spoken about
long before this moment
by the prophet Isaiah.
Speaking about
a future time
to his generation
when God would come
to deliver his people.
And what will be
the sign of that happening?
Therefore,
the Lord himself
will give you a sign.
The virgin will conceive
and give birth
to a son
and will call him
Emmanuel.
But maybe you hear
this morning,
you're thinking,
virgin birth,
seriously?
Sounds a bit like
Loch Ness Monster
and the Leprechauns
if you ask me.
I mean,
is this Christianity's
fairy tale feature?
Does it matter?
Well,
let me just say to you
today
that the virgin birth
really matters.
It really matters.
For the saviour
that you and I need
needs to be
one of us
so that he can stand
as our representative.
And the saviour
that we need
needs to be
above us
so that
he is unstained
by the sin
that plagues
each one of us,
meaning that he can live
the perfect
and sinless life
before God,
the one that he gives
to his people
and makes them
right with God.
Friends,
the virgin birth
really matters.
And if it really matters,
let me tell you
what it means.
Firstly,
it means that you
and I are lost.
We are lost.
This is one almighty
custard pie in the face
to mankind's thinking
that you and I
can save ourselves.
the human gene pool
is no place
to go fishing
for a saviour.
And the answer
to the problem
of the brokenness
and rebellion
needs to come from
outside of us,
not inside of us.
It means that we are
lost
without
God's intervention
in our lives.
It means we are lost
outside of Jesus Christ.
And secondly,
it means that we are
loved.
Because God could
quite justifiably
have passed over us
and left us
to our own devices.
Passed over us
and had nothing
to do with us.
But he acted.
This is what we celebrate,
isn't it,
at Christmas time,
that love came down.
I remember
growing up at school
and there was a song
that was popular
written by,
I think it was
Joan Osborne,
I googled it this morning
that we used to sing
in the playground.
And the chorus went,
what if God was one of us?
Do you remember that song?
What if God was one of us?
Just a slob
like one of us?
Just a stranger
on the bus
trying to make
his way home?
Now whatever Joan Osborne
was trying to say
in that song,
let me tell you
that what we celebrate
at Christmas
is God
coming down.
The truth of Christmas
is that God
in the person
of his son
came down
into humanity's
broken,
complicated
and messy
equation.
that God
in the form
of Jesus Christ
took on flesh.
He came to live
where we live
and the words
of John chapter 1
and if you want
your minds blown
hang out in John
chapter 1 this week,
he tabernacled,
he came to be
with us
in order
that reconciliation
to the God
who made us
would become
a distinct possibility.
Do you see
how the virgin birth
tells his friends
that when we weren't
looking for God,
God came
looking for us.
He came looking
for us.
He came down
to find us,
to lead us
out of death.
This is the extent
that God went to
to rescue us.
And maybe you're
here today
and you're asking
yourself,
does God really
care about my life?
If that's you,
then I would
invite you to see
the baby in the manger
that's promised
about here,
Emmanuel,
God with us,
as a resounding
yes.
Does God care?
Yes,
he does.
He cares enough
that he sent
his son
to come and seek
and to save
the lost.
He cares,
friends,
he cares.
Christ by
highest heaven
adored,
Christ the
everlasting Lord,
late in time
behold him come,
offspring
of a virgin's womb,
veiled in flesh,
the Godhead sea,
hail the incarnate
deity,
pleased as man
with man to dwell,
Jesus our
Emmanuel.
I'd encourage you
to stop and to think
about the lyrics
of some of the
Christmas songs
that we sing
because they are
packed full
of tremendous
theology,
friends.
And if that's
hard for you
and I to get
our heads around,
and it is at times,
isn't it?
Just think how
Mary's feeling
at this point
in the story.
Gabriel's just
dropped that one
on her.
How is she
feeling?
Well lastly,
notice what she
is.
What does she
say?
I'm sorry
Gabriel,
you've got the
wrong girl.
If you head
on down the
road,
I'm sure
you'll find
somebody else
who's better
equipped from
the job.
She doesn't
say that.
Do you see
how what began
with fear in
her mind
ends in
faith?
Mary responds
by declaring
and let's have
another song
cue the Beatles,
let it be,
may it be,
is this what
she says?
And so
having visited
and being
affirmed by
Elizabeth,
who the boy
in her womb
jumps for joy
at the very
presence of
his Lord,
do you see
how Mary
can't contain
her praise
about the
truth of
everything that
the Lord
is doing?
Verse 46,
and here we
hit the song,
Mary exclaims,
God,
my soul,
what glorifies
you?
God,
my heart,
what does it
do?
It magnifies
you.
Notice all
the personal
pronouns in
this section.
Do you see
it?
My spirit,
the mighty
one has done
great things
for me.
She is no
passive actor
in this drama.
She is in
this heart
and soul
and her
whole being
rejoices
at this
news.
Fascinating
again that
this song
says nothing
about a
baby.
This song
says everything
about the
significance
of the baby
boy who's
in her womb
because she
knows what
it means.
And so having
seen what's
going on
outside the
song,
let's quickly
have a look
at what's
going on
inside the
song because
as we think
about what
Mary's singing
here,
declaring,
it tells us
two great
things about
the things
that Mary
knows in
her life.
And it
encourages us
this morning
to think
about these
things in
our own
lives as
well.
They reveal
to us two
great things.
Firstly,
who she knows
her God
to be.
He is the
promise-keeping
God.
This is who
he is.
Mary looks
down the
corridors of
time and
she recalls
the promises
that God
made to
Abraham,
the promises
that she's
grown up
on,
the promises
that she's
heard,
no doubt
from her
family.
And she
recalls God's
promise to
rescue and
to bless.
And all the
times that God
delivered his
people in the
past with his
mighty arm.
And Mary's
declaring,
world,
my God's at
it again.
My God is
at it again
and this
time he's
at it again
in the
greatest way
possible.
And so she
says,
doesn't she,
my God is
what?
Mighty?
She's
reveling in
the truth
that her
God,
do you see,
doesn't work
on the
basis of
human
limitations.
Her God
is the
one who
defines the
realm of
possibility.
He is the
God who
formed the
world out of
nothing.
He is the
God who
parted the
Red Sea.
He is the
God of
angel armies
and for
him,
nothing is
impossible.
And maybe
some of us
here today,
we need to
recapture the
wonderful truth
about this
God,
that nothing
is too
great for
him.
He doesn't
work according
to our
agenda.
He doesn't
work according
to our
plans.
He isn't
limited to
working within
our contours
or being able
to fathom
things.
Our God
makes the
impossible
possible.
He is the
mighty one
and He is
the merciful
one.
Verse 50,
His mercy
extends to
those who
fear Him.
Feel the
invitation in
those words.
Verse 54,
He is
remembered to
be merciful
to Israel.
Our God
doesn't treat
us as we
deserve.
That's what
she's saying.
He doesn't
treat us as
we deserve.
He treats
us so much
better than
we deserve.
And our
God, He's
got a track
record of
overthrowing the
proud and
lifting up the
humble.
That's the
shape of
His
kingdom.
Overthrown
the proud,
lifting up
this humble.
Said in the
present tense
as if to
say this is
already a
done deal.
This is
what He's
done.
She knows
who her
God is and
secondly she
knows who
herself is.
She knows
herself to
be rather.
Do you see
how she's not
simply a
conduit of
God's blessing
and favour?
She's a
recipient of
it.
For this
great news of
rescue for
the world
is great news
of rescue for
the world,
but it's great
use of rescue
for her.
She knows she
needs a
saviour,
one that she's
not worthy
of, and she
knows she's
part of a
people who
need a
saviour that
they're not
worthy of.
It's the only
requirement,
isn't it, of
grace, that we
realise we are
unworthy of it.
You see how
Mary uses two
words to describe
herself at
verse 48, which
gives us just a
little window into
her heart here.
Do you see her
talking about
firstly her
humble estate?
In other words,
she's bowed the
knee to this
God, that's the
stance of her
heart, her
humble estate,
and as well
secondly the
humble estate
of his
servant.
God, I'm
yours, says
Mary, I am
yours.
And so she
joins in the
line of
Christian men
and women
down the
ages who
would offer
their lives
in service
of this
God.
The words
of Jim
Elliot, the
American
missionary who
took the
gospel to
an unreached
tribe in
Ecuador before
being tragically
martyred.
He is no
fool who
gives what
he cannot
keep to
gain that
which he
cannot lose.
I'm yours,
says Mary,
I'm yours.
And you've
got to admire
Mary for her
bravery here,
don't you?
For her to
walk by
faith here
is a very
costly thing
in her
life.
Think about
it.
Put it
yourself in
her shoes.
She, at
this point,
has got to
go and tell
Joseph that
she's pregnant
and he's
not the
father.
May well
cost her
her marriage,
all of those
dreams of
children and
of a family
home and
of grandchildren
may well
disappear in
an instant.
And not
just with
Joseph, is
Mary going
to take a
massive risk
here?
She's
jeopardizing
her standing
in society,
Nazareth,
as we said
at the
beginning,
not a
big place,
not an
awful lot
going on,
desperate, I'm
sure, for
some gossip.
And people
being people
being people,
as soon as
one person
finds out
that Mary's
pregnant, it
won't be long
before the
whole time
finds out,
and Mary's
reputation
would be in
tatters,
probably along
with her
parents.
Mary's got a
lot to lose
here in
trusting God,
but she
declares,
let it be.
despite it
all, she's
willing to
surrender her
life to
God's will.
What an
example that
is of
faith, of
fearless
faith.
You know,
as soon as
we enter the
season of
work Christmas
parties, of
school nativity
plays, of
time with
friends and
family, let
me challenge
us at the
outset of
Advent.
Are we
willing to
be brave for
our association
with this
child?
Are we
willing to
lay our
reputations on
the line for
the sake of
being obedient
to God?
And are we
willing to
make Mary's
declaration, the
one from her
heart, our
declaration, and
say today that
God, I am your
humble servant.
Let it be.
Interesting, if
you've got a
KJV there, some
of the older
translations of
the Bible,
Mary's words are
recorded as, be
it unto me
according to
thy words.
That's what it
says.
And those
words are
extremely close,
if you think
about it, to
the words that
her boy in
her womb would
utter years
later as he
found himself
on the eve of
his death in
the garden of
Gethsemane.
For Jesus, with
the fear of
the cross pressing
in on his
soul, would
say, not as
I will,
Father, not
as I will, but
as your will
be done.
You see, Mary
made great
sacrifices for
the baby in
her womb, but
he would make
an infinitely
greater one
for her.
Mary willingly
accepted the
shame that would
come on her for
bearing this
child, but
Jesus would
bear the shame
for the sin of
the world on
himself as he
made the
greatest ever
sacrifice,
surrendering his
life on the
cross for the
sin of his
people.
The sacrifice
we'll be
remembering in
just a few
moments' time
when we take
communion together.
And the
words of that
old hymn,
bearing shame
and scoffing
rude, in my
place condemned
he stood, sealed
my pardon with
his blood.
Hallelujah, what
a savior.
here.
Friends, just as
we close, I
wonder if you've
had fun maybe
yesterday opening
the first day of
your advent
calendar.
Did we have
fun with that
yesterday?
Yeah?
Love a bit of
chocolate, any
excuse will do.
I find it
fascinating that
everyone in our
society does
advent.
Do you know
what I find
that fascinating?
Find that really
interesting.
Do you know
what advent means?
It just means
coming.
It just means
coming.
We're counting
down the days
to Jesus'
first coming
into the world.
That's what we're
doing as we're
opening those
little windows,
isn't it?
We're counting
down the days
to his first
coming into the
world.
Friends, if you're
looking for a
wonderful way
into an evangelistic
conversation this
week, go with
advent.
Do you know
what advent
really means?
Do you know
what advent
really means?
But as we
celebrate his
first coming,
let's remember,
like Mary here,
that we are
waiting on a
coming.
Now, we're not
waiting on his
first coming.
We, on the
other side,
awaiting on his
second coming.
When he won't
come as meek and
mild Jesus, he
will come as
judging and
victorious Jesus,
and he will make
right all that is
wrong with the
world.
Now, as we think
about the promise,
not of his first
coming, we think
about the
fulfillment of the
promise of his
first coming, we
think about the
promise of his
second coming.
What have we got
to go on?
What have we got
to go on?
What we've got to
go on is exactly
what Mary had
to go on
here.
She's staking
it all on the
promise of
God.
She's staking
it all on the
truth that she
knows in her
life, that this
God keeps his
promises.
She's staking it
all on the
word of the
Lord.
And that's
where we find
ourselves in the
story.
So as we open
our Advent
calendars,
friends, let's
remember we are
celebrating the
first coming, but
we are awaiting the
second coming.
George Michael
wrote a song
about the
person in his
life who broke
their promises.
Mary says, come
and have a
listen to my
song.
I think that's
why Luke wrote
it, wasn't
it?
Come and have
a listen to
her song.
And let her
tell you just
how good her
God is.
And let her
tell you about
the God who
keeps his
promises.
And don't
just admire the
song.
Don't just
admire the
song.
Come and be
part of the
song.
And make
this song your
song.
For this God,
he has done
great things
for me, says
Mary.
And his
mercy, and
here's the
invitation to
come to know
this God this
morning, his
mercy extends to
those who fear
him from
generation to
generation.
This is the
God who keeps
his promises.
Let's pray.
And so
Father, in the
silence now we
would just offer
to you our own
prayers.
As we begin to
think about
Christmas, as we
begin to think
about Advent and
everything that
comes with that.
And Lord, in the
silence now we
would want to
make Mary's
prayer our
prayer and say
let it be.
Let it be.
And so
thank you for
the wonderful
truth that you
are the God
who makes all
things possible.
That you are
the God who
loves us so
much that you
would send
your Son to
find us and
to seek us and
to save us.
And Lord, I
pray that as we
journey through
Advent, as we
journey through
this little series
as a church, that
you would help
us to savor your
greatness more.
And so it's in
Jesus' precious
and worthy name
that we pray.
Amen.