WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.640 is spent per person at Christmas time. It's $1,600 is spent on each person at Christmas time. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:14.359 That figure shocked me. It seems really large. Although if you're part of my family, that figure's 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:23.120 fine. It's an incredible amount of money. And I wonder if we're spending a lot of money at 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:32.420 Christmas time because we have a lot of insecurities. I wonder if the cost of Christmas reveals our 00:00:32.420 --> 00:00:39.179 insecurities. We're worried about what people will think, and so we respond by spending money to try 00:00:39.179 --> 00:00:45.719 and change people's perceptions. Easy to think, I have to be known as the generous uncle, so I've 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:52.280 got to buy the best present. I need my children to love me, so I'm going to buy them everything 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:58.480 they've asked for for Christmas. I haven't spent much time with my wife this year, so I'll spend 00:00:58.480 --> 00:01:06.280 a lot of money on her instead. Maybe in my family, they don't love or appreciate me, so I'm doing 00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:11.640 Christmas lunch with all the trimmings. There is more food than you can poke a stick at. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:20.460 I wonder if Christmas reveals our insecurities, this feeling of being loved and appreciated. 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:27.019 If my husband buys me the right gift, then he knows that he's actually been listening for the 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:32.679 last six months when I've been dropping hints all along the way. Don't worry, Alyssa, I think 00:01:32.679 --> 00:01:37.139 I've heard all of those hints. At least we'll find out on Christmas morning. 00:01:39.099 --> 00:01:45.219 Is it possible that we do the same thing with God? That we are striving to get God's love and 00:01:45.219 --> 00:01:52.060 acceptance. But instead of trying to buy gifts for God, we do things out of a feeling of insecurity. 00:01:53.379 --> 00:02:01.039 Today, the good news of the Bible is that God has a wonderful present for us. One that destroys this 00:02:01.039 --> 00:02:09.199 feeling of insecurity and anxiety before God. And we see it in the song that Mary sang. We got a hint 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:14.899 of it before with our kids. We saw the very start of it in the song that Mary sang. But we're going to 00:02:14.899 --> 00:02:21.159 have a look at this song a little bit more now. Now, Mary, she wasn't in the highest position. 00:02:21.979 --> 00:02:30.419 She was not a queen or a princess. She wasn't a rich influencer mom with a million followers on 00:02:30.419 --> 00:02:38.759 Instagram. She was a young, soon-to-be-married girl from a backwater town called Nazareth. 00:02:39.839 --> 00:02:48.579 She was a no-one. And yet God chose her to be the mother of Jesus. And we've seen how Mary and 00:02:48.579 --> 00:02:57.839 Elizabeth responded out of joy to what God has done. So let me read Mary's song again. It's in Luke 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:02.500 chapter 2, and it's from verse 46. It says, 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:11.319 My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he has been mindful of the 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:17.560 humble state of his servant. From now on, all generations will call me blessed. God has been 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:25.719 mindful of the humble state of his servant. What a wonderful reversal of the order of humanity. 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:33.500 Usually, we are only aware and care about those who are rich or who we can gain something from. 00:03:34.419 --> 00:03:39.419 But here, God is aware and he cares for the lowest in society. 00:03:40.180 --> 00:03:42.060 Mary keeps singing from verse 49, 00:03:42.060 --> 00:03:49.520 For the mighty one has done great things for me. Holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:55.680 fear him from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm. He has scattered 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:03.920 those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. The mighty one, God, does great to the lowest. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:11.339 He honors Mary and he lifts her up. And those who are proud and arrogant, he pushes them away. He scatters 00:04:11.339 --> 00:04:18.819 them. And he has brought down rulers from their thrones, but he has lifted up the humble. God 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:28.360 has totally flipped the way that we usually operate. In a world where the rich seem to get richer and 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:35.020 no one seems to hold them accountable, God knows the acts of all people. And he says he will lift up 00:04:35.020 --> 00:04:43.379 the low and keep those in high position accountable. At Christmas, we can be tempted to think that we 00:04:43.379 --> 00:04:49.780 need to be impressing people with the best gifts, the best parties, the best lunch, hoping that when we 00:04:49.780 --> 00:04:57.319 do, we will get their love and acceptance. And it would be terrible for us if we operated in the same way 00:04:57.319 --> 00:05:06.180 with God. But the good news of Christmas is that we can sing this song of Mary's with joy just like 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:16.019 she did, because God has been mindful of us. God is mindful of you. We don't need an angel like 00:05:16.019 --> 00:05:23.120 Gabriel to speak to us. We don't need to get pregnant in an immaculate conception to know that God is mindful 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:33.379 of us. God shows he is mindful of us through Jesus, this baby who was born, who lived a life 00:05:33.379 --> 00:05:40.740 obeying his father, who suffered on a cross, died and yet was raised three days later. Because of what 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:48.840 Jesus has accomplished, God offers us to be his children. This is the highest position of all. This 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:55.459 is a position of love and acceptance as his children, not because of what we have done, but because of 00:05:55.459 --> 00:06:04.019 what God has done through Jesus. This is good news for us this Christmas, because we don't need to be 00:06:04.019 --> 00:06:11.939 anxious before God. We don't need to be worried about where we stand, what does God think of me? We can be 00:06:11.939 --> 00:06:19.839 secure in Jesus. We don't need to hedge our bets, ticking off a box of doing things at Christmas, 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:27.839 trying to secure God's love for us. God is mindful of you. He knows you and he loves you. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:37.019 You don't need to work hard to get him to love you. You don't need to worry or fear. Instead, we have a God 00:06:37.019 --> 00:06:42.579 who has shown his love to us in Jesus. And so we can rejoice like Mary and sing, 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:49.680 my soul glorifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my savior, for he has been mindful of the 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:57.439 humble state of his servant. This position before God is secure. It has been nailed firm to a cross. 00:06:58.279 --> 00:07:06.839 We live in a world that has many joys that are often temporary and many insecurities and anxieties 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:14.759 this is the best joy. This is a secure joy that takes away fear and anxiety. 00:07:16.019 --> 00:07:24.979 I have three children. One of those is Micah, who is two. Hi, Micah. Micah likes to copy his older 00:07:24.979 --> 00:07:31.219 brother and older sister. His older brother and older sister have grown in competency at climbing. 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:36.819 They're pretty good climbers. Micah likes to copy them and he thinks he is as good as 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:41.459 them. The biggest thing he thinks he's good at is jumping down. The other two, they're pretty good 00:07:41.459 --> 00:07:48.619 at jumping down and landing and not dying. Micah, when he climbs, he is totally secure. He has no fear. 00:07:49.459 --> 00:07:56.279 Why? Because he knows that I'm below. And Micah will climb and he will stand on the precipice 00:07:56.279 --> 00:08:05.279 with no fear. With no fear. No fear of falling three meters away. He will jump and have no fear when 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:15.000 he's in the air because I am at the bottom ready to catch him. And when he jumps and when he's in the 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:24.759 air, he is full of joy. We might be living a life that feels like we are standing on the edge of a cliff. 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:30.459 We might even be in a position in life where we feel like we are falling and drifting and we're about 00:08:30.459 --> 00:08:39.419 to hit the ground. And this can bring so many anxieties and so many fears. But we have a God that is 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:50.960 mindful of us. He loves us and he accepts us and he is not just standing at the bottom waiting for us to 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:58.720 come to him. He has come to us and he has showed his love and security in the death and resurrection 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:05.639 of his son. And so now we can have joy. Even if we feel that we're on the edge, even if we feel that 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:12.360 we are falling, we can have joy because there is a God who has made us secure in Jesus. Let me pray. 00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:22.100 God, I thank you so much for what you have done in Jesus. Thank you that you made promises to both 00:09:22.100 --> 00:09:27.220 Mary and Elizabeth and it brought them joy. And thank you, God, that you have been mindful of Mary 00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:34.940 and that you are mindful of us. Us who are lowly and sinful and don't deserve anything from you. 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:41.560 But God, we thank you that you are mindful of us and that we are secure because of Jesus. 00:09:42.300 --> 00:09:46.340 Lord, help us to have joy now because of that. Amen.