Or, A Christmas Call to PraiseLuke 1:44-55 December 5, 2021 Lord’s Day Worship Sean Higgins

Introduction

Hindsight is 20/20; reporting accurately on what happened is easier than predicting accurately (even though these days the “news” may exhibit more creative license than a charismatic preacher’s work in an abstract pottery class). The point is, before and after really are different positions.

One of the ways that God distinguishes Himself from idols is by telling the future (“Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them” – Isaiah 42:9). One of the ways the godly distinguish themselves is by praising God based on what he said before He brings it to pass. This is faith, yes, but it is not sleeping or silent. It’s faith that goes all in, in obedience and also in reverence and joy. We worship God on the first day of the week for a number of reasons, but we don’t hold back our praise until He “produces” later.

We are in the season of advent. From our historical perspective, Christ has already advented once—He came to earth. Christmas day is our marker of Christ’s birth, born of a woman, miraculously born of a virgin. Isn’t December 25th sufficient? Do we really need to extend our excuses for being distracted in December and shove in extra shopping and make extra work for ourselves by raising kids’ expectations for almost a whole month? Doesn’t this make us worldly, not godly?

Of course it could. Religious people have always been good at ruining religious gifts. We win at religious ways to sin, as if that were a competition unbelievers cared about. But advent—lowercase a, as in an advent principle with many opportunities not a rigid one-size-fits-all box of traditions—gives us reason to meditate on what to do before the big day.

The New Testament has much more to teach about Christ’s second coming, His next advent, then His first. The church should be actively waiting for His return. The Bride longs for he Bridegroom. We can learn from the epistles and the Apocalypse, AND we can learn from Israel’s example of waiting for the Messiah. The NT may not be overflowing with first advent details, but the OT certainly anticipated it. We are looking in Luke’s gospel for some of the pre-birth pieces which include faith, Mary’s more ready than Zechariah’s, and praise.

We saw the Annunciation (1:26-38), we will still consider the Birth (2:1-7) and the Choir of Hosts (2:8-20), but today let’s consider the Magnificat (1:46-55) along with a key doctrine and a call for us.

The Magnificat – Luke 1:46-55

Based on the numbers, Mary went to see Elizabeth not long after Gabriel gave her word about her pregnancy. We, the readers, know Gabriel visited Mary when Elizabeth was six months pregnant (1:26), Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months (1:56), but there’s no indication that Mary was there for John’s birth.

It was around 75-100 miles from Nazareth (1:26) to Judah (1:39), where Mary came to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house (1:40). Miraculously, in utero, John recognized Mary and “the baby leaped in [Elizabeth’s] womb” (1:41). It’s probably a good thing that Elizabeth “was filled with the Holy Spirit,” because, even though I’ve never had the privilege of having a womb, I wouldn’t want anyone jumping around in there. The Holy Spirit made clear to Elizabeth that the leaping was a sign (1:44), making this John’s first witness to Jesus. The Spirit also made clear that Mary was carrying a son, well before 20 weeks and no ultrasound required.

Elizabeth shouted, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? …Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (1:42-43, 45). Two (and a half) #blesseds f[...]