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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Birth announcements can take various forms. These days birth announcements may be posted to Facebook, or they may be tweeted on Twitter. Some people may still hand out cigars with colored bands indicating the baby’s sex, and others may still send hard‑copies of announcements through the snail‑mail. I still remember the announcement my sister and brother‑in-law sent in that fashion for my older niece, who celebrated her twenty‑second birthday this past Wednesday: her birth announcement was a take on “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”.
Just days before Christmas, the Fourth Sunday in Advent, in each year of our three‑year series of appointed Readings, gives an “announcement” of a sort for Jesus’s birth: in the first year, to Joseph; in the second year, to Mary; and in this third year, to Elizabeth. But, as we heard, there really is no announcement like the others to Elizabeth; rather, when Mary visits, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaims her knowledge of the news! Today’s Gospel Reading not only narrates that visit of Mary to Elizabeth, but, with the optional extension that we heard, it also includes Mary’s song, usually called by its first word in Latin, Magnificat. The Magnificat is also our song, for we rightly sing it in services such as Vespers, and this year also Evening Prayer. And, as we this morning consider that song and all of today’s Gospel Reading, we especially realize how “God exalts those of humble estate”.
To begin with, Mary said that the Lord had looked on the humble estate of her, His servant. That the Lord picked Mary to be His mother primarily because of something in her seems quite unlikely, but that does not mean that the Lord had no regard for who Mary was as a person, especially given that she says that He looked on the humble estate of her, His servant. “The servant of the Lord” is exactly what she called herself to Gabriel only a few verses earlier, as she arguably consented to be the mother of the Lord (Luke 1:38). Mary humbly submitted to the will of the Lord for her life and so offered herself to serve in the vocation to which God had called her. And, we note well all the wonderful things that the Lord did through the Fruit of her womb as a result.
Do we likewise humbly submit to the will of the Lord for our individual lives? Do we so offer ourselves to serve in the vocations to which God calls us, including those in service to this congregation? What kinds of wonderful things might the Lord do through us as a result if we did more so? Neither Mary nor Elizabeth were perfectly sinless, of course: Mary refers to God as her Savior, and Elizabeth presumably recognizes her own unworthiness in asking why the mother of her Lord should come to her. And, neither are we perfectly sinless: on account of our sinful nature and actual sin, we likewise are unworthy of being in the presence of the Lord, and, as much as if not more than anyone else, we need a Savior from sin and its consequences, temporal and eternal death.
Especially in this penitential season of Advent, the real question is whether we are those like Mary whom she describes in her song as of humble estate, or whether we are those who are proud and mighty in the thoughts of their hearts. For example, do we recognize and seek forgiveness for our own sin and in turn forgive others? The proud and mighty the Lord brings down, but those of humble estate the Lord exalts. When we recognize and seek forgiveness for our sin, trusting in God to forgive our sin, then God does just that: He forgives our sin—our failures to humbly submit to His will and offer ourselves to His service, or whatever our sin might be—He forgives all our sin, for Jesus’s sake.
We rightly hear today’s Old Testament Reading prophesy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2-5a), but we might miss what one commentator has called the “liturgical hinge” for that Reading on the Fourth Sunday in Advent: namely, the Reading’s mentioning the time when she who is in labor has given birth (Burreson, CPR 29:1, 26). Then the rest of the people of Israel will return, and the One, Whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days, comes forth to be ruler in Israel, to shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the Name of the Lord His God, and to be their peace. In today’s Gospel Reading, Elizabeth, her yet unborn child, and arguably also Mary herself recognize Mary’s Child as the Lord and rejoice as a result. For, that Child would grow to be a Man who would go to the cross for their sin, for your sin, and for my sin. As we heard in today’s Epistle Reading (Hebrews 10:5-10), Jesus the Christ came as prophesied to do God’s will and so offer Himself once and for all, making all people holy, if they only will not reject but receive in faith the forgiveness that God offers them. So, Mary could say that the Lord’s mercy is for those who fear Him—that is, believe or trust in Him—from generation to generation.
At least one commentator assumes that Mary was filled with the Holy Spirit in order to sing the Magnificat as she did, although the Divinely‑inspired St. Luke does not say so, as he did in the case of Elizabeth, presumably also including her yet unborn child, as Gabriel had told the child’s father Zechariah would be the case (Luke 1:15). Such are extra-ordinary fillings with the Holy Spirit; far more ordinary, though still extra-ordinary in their own right, are the fillings with the Holy Spirit accomplished both through God’s Word’s being read and preached to congregations like this one and through that same Word being applied to individuals, including infants, with water in Holy Baptism, through the pastor’s touch and words in Holy Absolution, and with bread that is the Body of Christ and wine that is the Blood of Christ in Holy Communion. In all these ways the Lord fills us who are spiritually hungry with good things—such as the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation—leading us to respond in praise and service like Mary’s.
Children learn that to magnify something is to make something appear to be larger than it is, such as by using a magnifying glass, microscope, or camera lens, although today people perhaps are more familiar with zooming in on a computer, tablet, or smart phone. When Mary and we magnify the Lord, we are not making Him appear to be larger than He is, of course, but, as Mary said, we are rejoicing in God our Savior—so, instead of “magnifies”, some translations use words like “glorifies” (NIV) and “extols” (NASB). And, we “glorify” and “extol” the Lord not only in our words but also in our deeds. We at least try to do better submitting to the will of the Lord for our individual lives, and so offering ourselves to serve in the vocations to which God calls us, including those in service to this congregation, with Him perhaps working more wonderful things through us as a result. We recognize and seek forgiveness for our own sin, and, in turn we forgive one another.
Perhaps in some sense no birth announcement was necessary for us on this Fourth Sunday in Advent, with our celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord beginning tomorrow night, less than 31 hours from now. Yet, as we this morning considered the “birth announcement” that is today’s Gospel Reading, we especially realized how “God exalts those of humble estate”. When we are those of humble estate, then the Lord exalts us, forgiving our sin by grace through faith in Jesus the Christ. And, then, according to His will and our callings in life, He uses us, our words and deeds, to magnify—glorify and extol—Him. For, in answer to our prayer as in today’s Psalm (Psalm 80:1-7; antiphon v.7), He lets His face shine, that we may be saved.
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +