“26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, ‘Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.’
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’
34 ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’
35 The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”
38 ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’ Then the angel left her.
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!’
46 And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.’
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
”
What exactly is the meaning of Christmas? The answer you get depends on who you ask. If you asked Bing Crosby in 1943, he would tell you that it’s about being home. He sang I’ll be Home for Christmasfrom the perspective of a soldier stationed overseas. “Christmas Eve will find me, where the lovelight gleams. I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.”
If you asked Bob Geldof in 1984, he would tell you that it’s about helping those in need. He was the driving force behind Do They Know It’s Christmas?, the charity song recorded for famine stricken Ethiopia. “And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy, throw your arms around the world at Christmas time… Feed the world, let them know it’s Christmas time again.”
If you asked Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, he would tell you that he learned Christmas meant a little bit more. “Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas perhaps means a little bit more?” ‘And, what is that little bit more, Dr. Seuss?’ Here’s the genius of the man: he never tells us. But we can be sure that the reason for the season is not the presents.
So, what is the meaning of Christmas? This morning we will ask the woman best situated to answer. We will ask Mary.
Mary is the final woman listed in Jesus’ genealogy. We’ve seen the mess of Judah and Tamar. We’ve seen Rahab switch allegiances and join the winning side. We’ve seen steadfast love follow Ruth all the days of her life. We’ve seen God work good even out of what David did to Bathsheba. We’ve seen how each of these women connect with the Christ of Christmas. Now we come to Christmas and we come to Mary. What would Mary say is the reason for Christmas?
Mary would say that Christmas exalts the humble and humbles the exalted. That’s what the virgin in Bethlehem’s stall would tell us: Christmas exalts the humble and humbles the exalted. That’s the claim of this sermon.
We will see this in two points. First: How Christmas came to Mary. Second: What Christmas meant to Mary. We see how Christmas came to Mary in verses 26-38. We will see what Christmas meant to Mary in verses 46-55.
First: how Christmas came to Mary. The angel Gabriel announced Christmas to Mary. Luke has just told us about Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah in the holy place of the temple itself.
Now he comes to Mary in the plainest of circumstances. Verse 26, “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee.”
The biggest announcement in human history was made in the sticks. We humans like to orchestrate our announcements. Trump announced his candidacy for the office of president at Trump Tower in New York City. That wasn’t a mistake. Obama announced his candidacy standing where Abraham Lincoln began his political career. There are optics to consider. God announced His candidate for Messiah in a marginal town in what was considered to be a pretty backwards region.
That christens the middle of nowhere with beauty. God isn’t particularly impressed with any of the buildings any real estate mogul has constructed. God isn’t in awe of the legend of any president. Every square inch of creation belongs to God and with this announcement He chose to clothe the middle of nowhere with grandeur. “The world is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil,” as the poet Hopkins put it. If you have eyes to see, you will see it on your way home.
God orchestrated His Son’s birth in the same humble fashion. “Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed, where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed.” This is God’s way, “He chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
God likes to humble the exalted and to exalt the humble. We see that in the Gabriel’s greeting. “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you… Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”
Can you think of a higher compliment than that? ‘You have found esteem in the eyes of God.’ Maybe you are a writer. What would it mean for Shakespeare to read your work, hand it back to you and say, ‘that was really quite good’? Maybe you are a football player. What would it mean for Tom Brady to watch you play, smile, and say, ‘nice’? What would it mean to hear God’s messenger say, “you are highly favored… you have found favor with God”?
We know how what it meant to Mary. It troubled her. “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.”
That’s true humility. It seems that if there was anyone else in the room, Mary would have assumed the angel was talking to them. Mary was humble and that’s why God exalted her. The perfection of true humility is that it can’t see itself.
God delighted in Mary’s humility. This might bother you. We are quick to say, ‘well, yes, but all Mary’s righteousness was as filthy rags.’ God isn’t a sin detection machine that buzzes upon finding something unrighteous and then throws out the human sample. Luke isn’t telling us that Mary was perfect; he is telling that God delighted in Mary.
Do you think God delights in you? Well, what does God say? Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness.” Psalm 147:11, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His steadfast love.” Psalm 149:4, “the Lord takes delight in His people; He crowns the humble with victory.” Do you think God takes delight in you? If not, why not?
God delighted in Mary, and so Gabriel said, “you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Mary was an unlikely candidate for the dream of every Jewish girl. She would be the mother of the Messiah. That is the exaltation of the humble. If you are a fan of talent shows, think Susan Boyle. In 2009, Susan Boyle was a contestant on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent. She was 47 at the time. Most of the ladies competing might be in their mid twenties. The best word to describe her appearance at the audition might be frumpy. The live audience laughed as she spoke about her dream to be a professional singer and the judges held her in thinly veiled contempt. Then she sang. Now she’s worth over $40 million. If you want goosebumps, watch that audition. Google “Susan Boyle.” Watching that video is one of the few things in life that gives me chills every single time. It is the exaltation of the humble.
Mary becoming the mother of the Son of God is the exaltation of the humble. It is beautiful.
Mary was dumbfounded. She asked, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” Her question assumed willingness. This shouldn’t surprise us. God delighted in Mary for a reason. God delights in people who submit to His will. Moses was great because he submitted to God’s strategy. Paul was great because he submitted his life to Jesus’ will. These people weren’t great on their own. They would say with Hudson Taylor, “All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them.” That’s Mary.
Mary would experience the impossible. Gabriel gave her some evidence for the impossible. Another impossible pregnancy was already underway. Mary’s barren relative Elizabeth was having a baby. “For nothing,” said Gabriel, “is impossible with God.”
God’s omnipotence dovetails nicely with Mary’s humility. Mary was weak. For God, nothing was impossible. Christmas is about the baby born of these two. This is where our vulnerability, our anonymity, our obscurity and God’s power and glory meet. This is where the infinite and the finite meet.
Mary was willing. “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Mary spoke these words as a soon to be pregnant, engaged woman. On a purely horizontal level, Gabriel’s announcement caused her serious trouble. Matthew tells us that upon hearing about this pregnancy, Joseph decided to divorce Mary. Sex outside of the marriage was his warrant for divorce. Suspicion was what Mary had every reason to expect.
But that didn’t deter her. Why? She was humble before God and the humble tremble at God’s word. “These are the ones I look on with favor,” God said through Isaiah, “those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at My word.” That’s Mary.
That’s how Christmas came to Mary. Now let’s see what Christmas meant to Mary. That’s our second point.
We pick up the story at the home of Mary’s relative Elizabeth. Mary’s words, the Magnificat as it is called, reveal what Christmas meant to Mary. “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name.”
Mary stood amazed that God would work through her. She saw God’s abundant kindness to her in her low estate. This is a ‘why me?’ of humility. This is a ‘why me?’ of gratitude. This is a ‘why me?’ of joy.
We should share that spirit at Christmas. Those same three virtues should be ours this season. We should be humbled. We should be grateful. We should be joyful. ‘The Father sent His Son to be born so I might live. Why me?’
Mary saw that God’s decision would exalt her low estate. The Messiah would be born to a peasant woman. That consecrates poverty. There is nothing preferable about poverty, but Mary’s song shows that there is nothing inferior about it either. If the Son of God were born today, he would be on all types of governmental assistance. He would be carted around in rusty his parents’ rusty vehicles that were never more than half full of gas. Just scraping by isn’t preferable, but Mary saw that Christmas meant that it didn’t make her inferior.
She saw that wealth didn’t make the rich superior. No posh estate would enjoy the Messiah’s presence. The rich could buy anything but not the right to bear the Son of God. God humbled the exalted at Christmas. He exalted the humble.
He did it forcefully. That’s what lies behind the lines, “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.” These, and the next few lines, are in the past tense because Mary saw them as good as done. Mary thought that God’s mighty arm would humble the exalted.
Mary was using Exodus language. God’s outstretched arm was Moses’ favorite picture of the plagues, the splitting of the Red Sea, and the beginning of the Conquest. God struck down proud Pharaoh. He cast down the exalted Egyptians. He raised up the humble slaves of Israel.
“You saw with your own eyes,” Moses said, “the great trials, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.” “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.” “The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders.”
This power language, this outstretched arm, is all over the Christmas story. Let’s not sentimentalize it out. “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ, the Lord.” “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.”
Mary saw Christmas as a God’s loud laughter at the powers of this world. She would have thought of Psalm 2 as a Christmas text, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.’ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, ‘I have installed my king’”?
That’s why she says, “He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” Christmas humbles the exalted and exalts the humble.
Is that the case today? Does Christmas exalt the humbled? Does it humble the exalted? Is there some truth to the statement that Christianity is a middle-class pursuit? How many income brackets are gathered here this morning? Is the Christ of Christmas still good news to people in Mary’s situation? Does it still exalt the humble? Does it still humble the exalted?
Even the background of Christmas does that. I imagine that many of us have memorized Luke 2. It starts off by telling us about Qurinius who was governor of Syria. That was a pretty exalted position, but what do you know of Qurinius? All I know is that he happened to be the governor when Mary gave birth to Jesus. Mary isn’t remembered as a number in his census. Quirinius is remembered as a footnote in Mary’s story. Jesus’ birth exalted Mary while showing us how very unnecessary Quirinius was. Now he’s just a name that kids have trouble pronouncing when memorizing Mary’s story.
Mary’s son would make it his business to humble the proud. Jesus’ harshest words were reserved for the self-righteous and the well off. He gave nothing to Pilate and Herod but silence. He placed radical requirements on the rich man who loved money, “sell all you have and give it to the poor and then follow me.” If you think you are something, you will stumble over Jesus.
Mary’s son also exalted the humble. The angels didn’t announce Jesus’ birth in the temple. They didn’t announce it in Rome. They announced it to shepherds. These men were the third shift convenience store workers of their day. God took on flesh as a baby and the announcement was made at midnight at the equivalent of the Pump ‘N Pak in Canton. That was intentional. God loves to exalt the humble and humble the exalted.
Mary liked that. “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” Mary was one of the humble.
I am too well off to put too much weight in Mary’s boat. I’m closer to being powerful than being powerless. I’m closer to being rich than being hungry. That’s a trumpet blast telling me to humble myself in the sight of the Lord or God will humble me.
Christmas is a call for the proud to humble themselves. The world drowns this call to humility in the trappings of the holiday season. In the culture wars, it’s a big deal whether you say, “Merry Christmas,” or, “Happy Holidays.” I think Mary would pay more attention if you said, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” That’s the card Mary would send at Christmas.
What does Mary’s Christmas look like? Herod and the magi are the perfect picture of Mary’s Christmas. The wealthy, powerful magi humbled themselves before her son. That’s what the exalted should do at Christmas. Meanwhile Herod was humbled. Shortly after slaughtering the innocents in Bethlehem, he died and appeared before the judgment seat of God. ‘Now Herod, about those babies…’ The magi humbled themselves and so God exalted them. Herod exalted himself and so God humbled him.
Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector is the perfect parable of Mary’s Christmas. “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Jesus is his mother’s son.
O Little Town of Bethlehemis the perfect carol for Mary’s Christmas, “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is giv’n; so God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.”
Do you think that’s the meaning of Christmas? Do you think it has been lost? Have you lost it? The Christ of Christmas will exult you or humble you. Which will it be? He exults the humble. He humbles the exulted. Amen.