My Soul Magnifies the Lord

 All right, friends, when you are able, would you please grab a Bible and open with me to Luke chapter one,

Luke chapter one.

A couple of weeks ago I wanted to introduce my, uh. My children to those, to that great, um, cinematic experience of watching, uh, a Kung fu movie. And, uh, you know, those kung fu movies where they talk and then this audio is dubbed separately and they're moving their lips, but the sound is matching and it creates a little dissonance, doesn't it?

And when you're watching a movie and the sound is, it dubbed exactly right and you got a quiz art in the back, grinding away in the kitchen, and your children are asking you to sign their homework, it doesn't take very long before you have totally lost track of what's happening on the screen. And something very similar to that experience happens to you and to me spiritually.

Our lives are full of dissonance. And the steady melody of redemption has drifted out of sync with the action of our daily lives. And not only have we lost confidence in biblical knowledge, but we have adopted a completely different story altogether. We see one thing, we hear another thing, and we struggle to make sense even out of our own story.

And so this morning, as we look at the very first Christmas Carol, the Magnifico merry song, I just want to remind you that though we tend in our western world to feel like we're the center of world, the action is because of the enlightenment, because of the French, uh, revolution, because of. Constantly being taught that we can achieve all things in and of ourself.

We forget that we're actually part of a bigger story. And do you know that it is placing yourself back into that grand narrative that you actually find yourselves most deeply satisfied. And so when you come here on Sundays, you might just stop when you walk into this room and say, Lord, place me back into the redemptive story.

That I might know the heart you have for your glory, and thereby have our own stories redefined. Remember it started in a garden. You can use the trusses as an monic if you want to. And then God called a special people, Abraham and his family out of earth, the caldis, and then he rose up Moses and then the kings and David, and then the prophets came, and there's Daniel in the lion's den.

And then Israel, after their exile returned to rebuild. The Walden, the temple in Jerusalem. And then in the passage we're gonna read in just a moment, God appeared. The angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, behold, favored one in you will be born, the savior of the world. And so there's the incarnation. Jesus grows up and he demonstrates his ministry beginning at the wedding of Cana.

He dies in our place on the cross for us, and he rises again on the third day. Hallelujah. And he gives us his Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and we live between those last two trusses. Don't let that pass you by, that you stand on the shoulders of giants. And we worship together with people who have worshiped for thousands of years and who have come to submit themselves to God's word to be changed by it.

So as we long for his return to make everything new, and the lion will one day lay down. In peace with the lamb, would you stand? And let's read from Luke chapter one, the Magnifico. The song is called The Magnifico because in Latin when they translated this, the first words of this psal is Magnifica anima Maya, do My Soul Magnifies the Lord.

It is the very first Christmas Carol, please give your attention to it. Luke writes it. Fourth Theophilus and to us with love. My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my savior, for he has looked upon the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me.

Blessed Mary. Sad. For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and Holy is his name, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.

He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but God's word stands forever. This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be the God. You may be seated, please. Father, would you open our hearts to sing the anthem of Mary's song again, Lord, this is the anthem of your new creation. Oh, father, would you help us to sing it by faith? In Jesus' name, amen. In the New Testament Greek, this passage breaks down into two sections.

There's verse 46 through 50, that's the message carrier, and then there's verse 51 down through 55. That's the covenant message. Notice first in verse 46 and 47. It says, my soul magnifies the Lord.

Now that is a li. It takes a lifetime of maturity. To be able to do that or to say that, and she was probably only 13 to 16 years old. Mary was, I want you to feel the weight of this young girl who had just been visited by the Angel Gabriel and told that she will bear a son. And it says that she has never, earlier in Luke, it says literally in Greek.

She has never known a man. She was a virgin. How can this be? And she sings, perhaps standing in the doorpost of her cousin Elizabeth's home. My soul magnifies the Lord. Mega luna is the word in Greek, and it means to make much of it means magnification doesn't make something bigger than it really is. It makes those things that are huge and giant as big as they really are.

And so here Mary is saying, magnify your name Lord. She doesn't say, my pregnancy magnifies the Lord. She doesn't say that my voice and my song magnifies the Lord. She's saying God is great, and I want the world to know that his greatness is shown through what he is doing in me That. Is worship. It is not performative.

It is not trying to impress anyone. She says that my que my soul, my heart, it. The word soul in Greek is like the heart is the center, the core, the emotions, the self-awareness, all that she has my whole life exists to make much of God.

And now if we're honest, let Dr. Lt take the text as it was intended for O Theophilus, the one for whom he wrote it. You can read about that in the first couple of verses of chapter one and let it massage your heart and ask the question if you're like me. You've magnified a lot of things this week, but you have perhaps not magnified.

It's the only thing that can satisfy you. Sometimes we say in the midst of our pride, we'll say, look how well I'm doing, or in our guilt or in our shame, you hear it, the whispers you are not doing enough. And you begin to magnify those things that you think will satisfy you. Just this morning at seven, at seven 30, by the way, every Sunday morning we meet in room four to pray the boiler room of the church.

We meet to pray that the Lord would continue to work through this church. And Pastor Mark and I were back there and Pastor Mark reminded me that when his kids were little, they would take those Fisher-Price magnifying glasses and they would look through them. Have you ever seen these parents? Except Mark said, but my kids would turn them backwards.

And they would be able to look at things that were really big and see them as really small. And I thought, what a great illustration of the way we do that With the gospel,

there are a thousand things. This world will

invite you to be dazzled by that house, that neighborhood. That standard of living. Listen, every culture, every place has certain idols of their heart, and some of them can be really superficial. Like I'm still kind of in a bad mood that the Aggies lost yesterday. And some of them can be so intensely personal that we don't really talk about 'em very much.

But that's where the Holy Spirit wants to go. He wants to say, what have you been magnifying? Oh, would you ask yourself, what have I been magnifying? In my life. And here, Luke, inviting you back to magnify the only thing that can satisfy you. And you can magnify the Lord Jesus because he's the only one who, one who can possibly satisfy because he's the only one who has said to you, you know what the world says, you're not enough.

But Jesus says, I died for you. I gave my life for you. You are enough when you find your rest in me. Romans eight. One. You heard Pastor Nathan mention it last week in his sermon. There is therefore now no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, our Lord. When Mary sings, my soul magnifies the Lord.

She's not just showing spiritual maturity, she's also showing her deep spiritual rest. And I wonder this Christmas season, if you know that kind of rest. Ask yourself self, what is it that I magnify by default? And would you be so bold even as you come to the table this morning in just a little bit, would you take your baggage and would you metaphorically lay it down before this table?

Would you come to take the element. It's, I have magnified my job. I've magnified my children. I've magnified the reputation or life I thought I would lead. Lay it down and to say, Jesus, only in you. Can I find my true rest? Let's join Mary and sing in the anthem of New Creation and say, my soul magnifies the Lord.

She is the message carrier. Look at verse 48. She writes or sings for, he has looked on the humblest state of his servant. For behold. From now on, all generations will call me Blessed. He has looked epi ble. He has looked upon us. He sees her this little young girl in the midst of a town called Nazareth.

The Lord sees her not because she was special or because she fit the part, he chose her because he chose her, and he said in you, I am going to bring my son into the world. Can you imagine the Lord Jesus Christ for? Infinite. I mean, eternity past existed in perfect loving fellowship with his father and the spirit.

He takes on flesh fully. God always has been, always will be became fully man at the appointed time. Paul says, when the fullness of time came, Galatians four, four, he took on flesh for you. That's how much he loves you. And some of you magnify other things in your life because if you're really honest, it's because you don't believe that God really sees you.

But friends, if he can see a young girl in the midst of a city called Nazareth, about four bc, you know what El, who else he can see, he sees you. And I know that you look around the world and you think, you know, you see your daily life and you think, I just don't know if I'm seen. But your savior sees you.

He knows that anxiety of your heart. He already knows it. He knows why. He has put everything in your life exactly how he has, and he did not make any mistake. In so doing, do you know that the doctrine of God's providence is that he has by his most holy, wise and powerful, preserving and governing orchestrated everything in your life.

Every detail of your life is. Absolutely perfect for your sanctification. He didn't make a mistake. He didn't say, oh, I'm sorry. I was checking my email. I wasn't paying attention. He knows exactly what you need and he has actually given it to you even by allowing you to be in this very place, this very moment, he's inviting you to magnify to see how big he really is and say, oh, would you know that?

Not only do I see Mary, but I also my friends. I see you, Mary here has a kind of glad dependence. She calls herself God's servant, her the A do loss, a slave, a servant of the Lord. There's no pretense. She doesn't wave her resume. She's just glad dependence on being noticed by the one who is perfect. Love and humility in the Bible is never humiliation.

God doesn't work like that. It is confidence that God never. Misses you.

He sees you. He has called you to believe the gospel because he has set his love upon you. Paul says in Galatians chapter four, just after he says that, the fullness of time and verse four of chapter four, he says in verse six, and because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts crying.

Abba Father. You have a father in heaven who sees you and who loves you. Not only does Mary invite us to magnify the Lord, but Mary says to every one of you, God sees you.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. He says in Psalm, uh, 34.

Jesus says in Luke 12, fear not little flock for it is to your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. He's a good father. He says in Luke 11, you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more so does your father in heaven know how to good, give good gifts to those he loves?

Do you know that you have a father in heaven who sings over you? With his love. I want you to internalize it for just a second. Don't push, don't push God away. He is. He wants to confront the idols of your heart, and he wants you to say, where do I feel unseen right now?

And to say, with fresh faith, thank you Lord that you see me even there. And he doesn't humiliate you. He says, bring all of those idols to me, the idols of your heart. And he gets his arms around you and he says, you know what? You're already accepted because my son died for you, and I sing over you with my love.

And in Mary's case, she says, for behold, from now on, all generations will call me. Blessed, God's promise. God's promise that started to Abraham now goes all the way to Israel, to the nations and beyond. It goes to thena, it goes to all those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not just to Israel.

And all generations will look back upon Mary and they will call her blessed. Not because she was perfect, but because she was humbled by God's mercy. And she received by faith the promise. Notice what it says. It says, my soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my savior. She is bearing in her womb, the savior of her own soul.

Mystery of mystery in Greek. She says, for behold,

behold. Some of you live your Christian lives like you try to play chess. What is the right next move? How do I do this? And Jesus wants to say, would you just behold my beauty? Would you just see that my story is so much bigger than yours? And would you allow your heart to be captivated by this story in would you believe it?

For behold, she will be a blessing to the nations. Verse 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Not only does he invite you to magnify him, not only does God see you, but there's a shift here, a subtle shift. Mary moves from being seen by his grace to being strengthened through His grace.

It's like her voice rises a bit. Here, there's a note of confidence. She's drawing courage from herself, she says. He who is mighty, has done great things for me. One of the, um, most regular benedictions that we give in this church at the end of the service, you know, it's from Zephaniah chapter three. Behold, the Lord your God is in your midst.

He is a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness and he'll quiet you by his love. He exalts over you. With loud singing. One of you visited the church and heard us say that and the benediction, and you thought that's not in the Bible, and you had to go look it up to see, because you never really believed that God actually exalts over you.

He sings over you. You've constantly been performing for him. You've constantly been trying to measure up to his holiness, and that's why you're so spiritually tired. But the gospel says, I have come to complete everything that you couldn't complete for you and on your behalf. Would you believe it? Not only does Mary invite us through the words of Luke to magnify the Lord, but he sees you.

And not only does he see you, but he invites you to look at your life and to see that God the same mighty one has done great things for you. Do you know that Mary is exalted all throughout church history? Not because she was perfect, but because she was incredibly grateful. Her life utterly changed by God's providence.

And are our lives marked by that same kind of gratitude. I wonder, I've said many times, the strength of this church is in the consistent prayerful begging of the Lord to continue to bless this church, her leadership, her members, our families, our lives together. But you know what else needs to always mark this church?

Profound gratitude. We don't deserve any of this, and become humbled before the throne of grace. And so when people walk through those doors, our first posture is to say, welcome, welcome to a room full of sinners who are saved by grace. There's room here for you.

I wonder where Jesus is meeting you right now in your weakness. He's the mighty one to save.

He wants to meet you there.

Notice that she says holy is his name. The name refers to this totality of God's character. Whenever you see the word name, you think God's character. He is holy, infinite, mighty, and beautiful in all of his incommunicable attributes. Those attributes that he does not share with us. They're incommunicable, his internality, his as sanity, his omnipresence.

He is holy.

Thomas Watson, uh, writes a little book called, um, a Godly Man's Picture. Or portrait, and he calls what Mary feels a holy triumph. It's a kind of God-centered nature that produces this profound kind of courage. And when the spirit awakens in Mary, this true love for the Lord, Watson writes, the soul becomes brave with a kind of holy boldness, a holy triumph in God, and how sweet that is.

He writes, it's a thought that puts a man in heaven before his time. And that's where Mary is right now. She is humble, yet fearless. She is small, and yet she is fortified by a wander. And I wonder if that also marks your life. You are invited to sing the Anthem of Mary's Song of New Creation. Would you see it?

By seeing her as a message carrier and she invites you to magnify the Lord. She invites you to. Confess and know that God sees you. She invites you to see how even with her and in your life, the Lord has done great things for you.

We saw a couple of weeks ago, um, well, it's been more than that in Ephesians a number of months ago. In Ephesians chapter one, he reminds us of. The might that is for us. And Paul writes in Ephesians chapter one, that you may know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us, who believe according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and that great might the Lord has placed in you by the power of his spirit.

He is working in and through you.

Not only do we magnify the Lord, not only are we invited to see that God sees us, not only are we invited to recount how he has done great things for you and for me. Are you still with me? Look at verse 50. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation. To generation. This is the exegetical hinge of the passage.

LIOs in Greek refers to his mercy. It's a reference to his covenantal ed, loyal love throughout the whole of the Old Testament. It's not that his mercy will find you eventually. It's not that his might might be offered to you if you measure up. It says that his covenant faithfulness in Christ has conquered sin and death already, and our union with Christ means that his victory overshadows your defeat.

It is no longer you versus sin. It is Christ in you versus sin, and let that confidence sink in. That gospel gives you a kind of strength, this quiet resilience that's rooted in someone else's success. That means that your successes don't define you and neither do your failures because you are rooted in union with Christ If you believe.

And God is working through you by his spirit. Even now, Philippians two 13, it is God who works in you both to will and to work in you. And so friends, would you in the midst of listening to my voice just be, say, Jesus, thank you. How incredible it is that you have already accepted me. Do you believe that

Mary is the covenant messenger? She's the message carrier. And secondly, verse 51, you see the, you. Covenant message. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud and the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. You can hear the shift of the melody line here.

Mary is turning from herself and she's looking to see what God has done. She just bangs out these, HES verbs in Greek. He says, look, it's as though he has already accomplished all these things for us. Notice what he says. He has shown strength. He has scattered. He has brought down, he has filled the hungry.

He has helped his servant in Israel. Mary is pulling back from Isaiah all the promises of the Old Testament that will be fulfilled in Christ. It's as though she is just reliving Isaiah 61. The spirit of God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. Isaiah says of the Messiah, for I, the Lord, love, justice.

I hate robbery and wrong. I will be faithful to give them recompense and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spread up before all of the nations. Do you hear Isaiah and Mary's magnifico?

She's singing the prophet Isaiah back in after 400 years of silence. This first Christmas, Carol says, sing. And yes, spiritually he wants us in poverty of spirit, but he also is talking about a very real physical need here. He also intends to take care of those who are physically materially poor. Luke writes in a way that this is not just metaphorical.

We're not just gnostics separating the spirit from the material world. He's saying, oh, church, you are the ones. Would you have eyes to see the world? Who needs it? You are the ones through whom. We are to care for the poor in our midst, and we want to do that. We have a deacons fund people give to and they give to it in order for it to be used.

And our deacons are constantly helping people who need physical needs. And if that is you, we invite you to ask the deacons because he wants to provide even for you to have your daily needs met, that you might be able to magnify not your need, but to magnify the Lord and his provision. For you.

He goes on to say he has shown strength with his arm. Whenever you see the word arm in the New Testament, you think back to where he flexed his muscles in the Old Testament and that was in the Exodus. And Mary is drawing from the first Mary Maryam Moses' sister. Who sang after they came across the Red Sea, the horse and the rider, they've rolled into the sea.

She sings this beautiful song in Exodus chapter 15, and Mary is standing on the shoulders. It's not just of Isaiah, but even older than that of Maryam to sing of the way the Lord has delivered us.

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones. He's exalted those of humble estate. The Lord orchestrates the appointment of every king and every ruler. And one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

And it's interesting here that Mary says that, um, he'll satisfy the hungry. He will fill the hungry with good things. It's as though she knew that her son, one day in the upper room. Would say this bread is my body given for you, and this blood is my bloodshed for you. And it's as though Mary is inviting us through the corridors of time to step back and come to the Lord's table this morning and say, you can be filled again in your hunger.

Your spiritual hunger can be satisfied only in Christ.

And Pastor Mark will invite us. To take heat of that again this morning. He, she ends in verse 40, uh, 54 and 55 with this covenant message, and she attaches it to Abraham. He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers to Abraham and to his offspring forever. Her entire soul rests upon a God who remembers.

He acts in faithfulness to what he has promised. When you worship in this place and when you read your Bible throughout the course of the week, and when you think about the grand narrative or story of your life, you stand on the shoulders of giants who remind you. Covenant kids. We sing it over you every week in this church.

We long for you to come and be satisfied by Jesus's spiritual presence at the Lord's table and to believe by faith we sing it over you. God is faithful to his covenant promises. Not one of them will he forget and you know that's true because every single one of them are fulfilled in Christ. And Christ is at the right hand of the Father and he is waiting to come again.

He is ready to come again. And Lord Jesus, would you come stop waiting. Come we long for and when he comes, he will make everything new. He has helped his servant Israel. That is adoption language. If you are in Christ O Church, you are Abraham's offspring. Galatians 3 29. You are heirs according to the promise, and that means that Mary's Song Friends This Morning is also your song.

It is the anthem of new creation, and she invites you to sing it, to see her as the message carrier and to see the covenant message, and to know that God invites you to magnify the only thing that can truly satisfy you, and that His his work for you. And how do you magnify it by placing your faith in Christ once again.

By running into repentance to this table, which we'll enjoy in just a moment. Knowing that God sees you, he sees into the closets that you want to keep closed. He sees it every skeleton, every idol. He sees it and he says, bring it into the light. For I have died for you, and I sing over you with love. I am the mighty one to say.

He invites you to see what good things he, the mighty one has done for you, and he wants you to see the covenant message that that story can become yours. I wonder if it's

so this morning, would you trust his covenant love knowing that he has helped his servant and he will help you because he remembers. His hesed, loyal love, just as you spoke to Abraham, to our fathers and to our offspring forever. Mary's song is the anthem of God's New Creation, and she invites us to sing it and let us with the wonder of Jesus's work for us, sing along with her this Christmas, the glory of Christ the King.

Hallelujah. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for this first Christmas, Carol, thank you that just as you helped your servant Israel and you helped Mary, you now from generation to generation help us. Would you help us to remember your mercy? Father, would you help us if we're in this room and we don't yet believe, would you remind us that the gospel is a story so good, too good to be untrue about what you have done for us?

And help us to place our faith again in you. Would you anchor our identity in your unchanging covenantal love? And would you help that same mercy that Mary sing of on that first Christmas to rise and praise in our hearts as we embrace your covenant message by faith. And thank you that our victory is secure in your work for us, Lord Jesus.

And thank you that you have pronounced victory over death. And hell and sin forever and maybe rest in that good news. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Sermon transcript is computer generated.