Christmas Eve Luke 1:39-56 My Soul Glorifies the Lord
Micah 5:2-5a Hebrews 10:5-10 Luke 1:39-45 (45-56)
There was once a man who went to visit a friend who lived in Africa. He was amazed at all of the animals there, especially the huge elephants. One day his friend said to him, “Be sure to bring your binoculars along because tomorrow we are going to catch a live elephant.” The man said, “We do not need binoculars to see an elephant. Besides those elephants are so large, how in the world are you going to catch one alive?”
His friend said, “It’s simple! All we need is a pair of binoculars, a small jar and a pair of tweezers. Then we go out to the elephant we want to capture. We turn the binoculars around and look through the big end. When we see the elephant though the binoculars he is very tiny. Then we take the tweezers and pick him up and put him in the jar. That, my friend is how you catch an elephant.”
Of course, we all know it doesn’t work that way. Binoculars only appear to make things look smaller when you look though the wrong end. Although it may look a lot smaller or very far away, in reality, the elephant still remains very large indeed and closer than it appears. In our scripture lessons for the Christmas season, we learn (Philippians 2:6-8) that Jesus made Himself small or rather He humbled Himself to come close to the world as a babe, born to a young virgin. But Mary saw her baby as very large indeed.
As a baby, born in Bethlehem, Jesus appeared as a weak, small and helpless human child. But even as a tiny embryo, the Lord filled Mary, Elizabeth and John, her unborn baby, with the Holy Spirit. Even in the womb, even as a tiny human, all of the fullness, power and Gory of God dwelled within Him. When the word of the Lord spoken by Mary reached Elizabeth, all were filled with the joy of knowing their Savior. Little John leaped in His mother’s womb. Who says a little baby cannot have faith? Remember, as Paul says, Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
Mary saw Jesus as if she were looking through the proper end of a pair of binoculars.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, she saw how large God was when she said, “My soul glorifies the Lord.” The Greek word that is translated glorifies in our lesson is (ìåãáëýíù) “megaluno” which means to expand or make larger. Mary prophesied, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”
God allowed Mary to look at her Son as her Savior. Mary saw things that were far away in time with the same kind of clarity as Old Testament prophets had. She saw her unborn child for who He truly is; almighty God in a human body. She saw the first light of the final fulfillment of all God’s promises for his people. She saw the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of the world’s Salvation. Filled with faith, that final victory was so certain that she spoke of it as already accomplished. Just like looking through a pair of good binoculars, she saw far away events taking place as she proclaimed that all generations would call her blessed and all generations of those who glorified her Son would be blessed.
But what blessings were bestowed on Mary? When we look at Mary and Joseph’s life, we do not see fame and fortune for them while they were still alive. In fact Joseph died while Jesus was young. Surely Mary had a tough life as a mother raising her children without her carpenter husband. Yet among all the hardships she faced, Mary considered herself to be very blessed. The joy that she expressed in her song sings forth the deep happiness that goes beyond the superficial gratifications of the flesh. With a heart filled with the Holy Spirit and a body where the Lord Himself lived it is now wonder she sang out, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
Mary is a good example for all of us. Life can be rough. Life is hard. But life can also be a blessing filled with fun and excitement. The things that we need to live are blessings in themselves, but the sinful side of us, the fleshly side always wants and even longs for more. For many people, to be blessed means to have more worldly things than they need. And so the more they have, the more blessed they feel. No matter have much external pleasures or comfort you may have, these things cannot fill your soul with peace and joy.
Mary saw that those who are too proud to make Jesus a large part of their lives, those who have made themselves large, those who see themselves as rich and powerful, will be brought down.
When you surround yourselves with these temporary and external comforts, Jesus becomes smaller, farther away from your everyday lives. Like looking through the wrong end of binoculars, Jesus seems to be small, perhaps even insignificant. And as your vision of Jesus diminishes, the emptiness of your soul deepens. All the riches of earth cannot comfort those who are poor in spirit. The proud are always empty in heart before God although they may outwardly seem rich, strong and famous.
Additionally, as far as salvation is concerned, the smaller you make Jesus, the larger you have to make yourself. In other words, when you stop looking to Jesus, you have to justify yourself by your own good deeds, the way you live your life, and by how successful you are. You set yourself up upon a throne and point to the things you now have, how rich and powerful you are. You forget that God has given you everything you have including you talents and abilities. In doing so, you look at God through the wrong end of the binoculars and in your own mind; you rob God of His greatness and belittle the work of Jesus.
Once again, take a look at Mary. True blessings in this life can only be seen in spiritual terms by those whose hearts have been opened to believe in their Savior. You can see the same blessings Mary saw when you carry Jesus within your hearts and minds. When you see Jesus not only as a man but as your personal Savior, you see someone bigger than yourselves and your short lives here on earth. Mary also saw those who are humble, who have made their own works small and have made the work of Jesus Christ large, lifted up and made great in the kingdom of heaven. The humble, who set their hope on God, who fix their eyes on Jesus, are the ones who are really blessed.
When one looks at God rightly, life itself then consists in trusting in our mighty God. Life is walking by faith not by sight through all our failures and disappointments.
Life is walking by faith not by sight through all the successes and joys we experience. Life is judging ourselves not by what we have in the way of material possessions or what we have accomplished for ourselves but rather what we are in Christ and what Jesus has accomplished for us.
When the time was right, Jesus “being found in appearance as a man, humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Our Savior took our sins upon Himself and paid for them upon the cross. His mighty work accomplished great things for you and for me. We are now saved, forgiven of our sins by God’s grace through faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ. We are not saved by our own works. No one can boast or magnify themselves as to how much they did to enter into heaven. Only through the mighty work of Jesus have we been saved.
Today, as you look forward to tomorrow, focus on the birth of little baby Jesus. You do not need binoculars to see how large He truly is. Thanks to God, He has given you the vision to look ahead to see Jesus as your God and Savior. And you can also look earnestly ahead to your future home in heaven. For some, that day is close; for others, that day is far off. Jesus however always remains close by. He entered into your heart at your baptism and He comes to you each time you celebrate His supper. So you, like Mary, can see Him clearly as you worship and proclaim His blessings. And may all who hear your song be filled with the same joy that caused Elizabeth to utter blessings and little John to leap for joy.
In Jesus Name, Amen.