“Advent
Beginnings”
Midweek
Advent 4, December 21st
2011
Luke
1:26-55
Jesus
the Son of Mary and Son of God
We've
heard from 3 of the 4 Gospels already in this Advent series, on the
beginnings of the Jesus story. Mark begins abruptly, and emphasizes
repentance. John begins profoundly, showing Jesus the Word made
flesh. Matthew gives attention to prophecy – and Jesus as its
fulfillment. Now finally, Luke. The most “Christmas-y” of the
Gospels. We'll actually wait until Christmas Eve to hear Luke's
nativity account, that well-loved text that tells of the census, the
manger, the angels, the shepherds, and the birth of God's own Son in
Bethlehem.
Today,
we look more closely at what happens right before this in Luke's
Gospel. Luke, a physician, tells us in Chapter 1 that he undertook
to carefully write an orderly account based on the eyewitness
testimony from the beginning. He has a historian's sense, and you
get the impression this was all very thorough and diligent of Luke.
So in this Gospel we hear the most detail about Christ's birth and
what led up to it. And especially important in this is a virgin from
Nazareth named Mary.
In
the three episodes from our reading today, we have the Annunciation,
the Visitation, and the Magnificat. Each points us to Christ, tells
who he is and will be. Each is an important part of the orderly
account Luke writes. Each lays the groundwork for Christ's birth.
So let's briefly survey these as we prepare to celebrate that blessed
event.
The
Annuciation was this past Sunday's Gospel reading. Pastor Poppe
highlighted those words from the Angel Gabriel – that Mary, highly
favored, would bear the savior, and that David's kingdom would be
restored through his eternal reign. Yes, with God all things are
possible. A virgin giving birth. The eternal, omnipotent God
becoming a finite human being. That one man could die and save all
people, that his life could count for theirs. It's even possible for
Jesus to promise resurrection and then deliver. Not just possible,
it all happened.
The
Annuciation reminds us that God alone takes the initiative in our
salvation. No man can claim the credit. God chooses Mary, God grants
his favor. God establishes his kingdom. God brings salvation. And
faith responds, “let it be to me as you have said”.
Jesus
comes, without our asking, and he brings salvation. He takes it upon
himself, takes our sin upon himself, and he dies, not asking our
permission. He does the work, finishes the job, and proclaims “it
is finished”. Let it be to us all as he has said.
The
Visitation – when Mary then went to visit Elizabeth, herself
pregnant with John the Baptist. And at Mary's greeting, the unborn
John leapt for joy. Elizabeth, too, confesses faith – that the
“mother of her Lord” should come and visit her. “Blessed are
you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” We can
learn from Elizabeth and John – to confess in words and actions our
faith in the Son of Mary, and the Son of God. Jesus comes to visit
us still, today, brought not in a womb, but by our mother the church
– through the vehicles of word and sacrament. This brings us
undeserving sinners great joy! This good news compels us to confess
all he has done for us.
And
for Mary's part, she sings a song. We call it the Magnificat, from
the first word in Latin, “Magnify”. “My soul magnifies the
Lord...”. Mary's song is worthy of repetition, and so the church
echos it forth to this day, just as all generations call her blessed.
In this song, she confesses her lowly standing, her humble estate.
Mary knew she was a sinner. She needed a savior, too. But lowly
Mary believed in the God who spoke to her through the angel and
through the prophets of old. She believed the promise of her savior,
her son yet unborn. He who is mighty and does great things for his
people.
Luke's
Gospel, all throughout, takes great care to show Jesus as savior of
the whole world, and especially the lowly. Old barren Elizabeth.
Humble Mary. Even unborn John the Baptist. The women, the poor, the
widow and orphan, the leper and the Samaritan and Roman. All have a
place in the kingdom of Christ, this Son of Mary and Son of God.
We
are lowly, too. Oh maybe we're better off than others financially.
And maybe our health is in better shape. Maybe we've been around the
block enough to know many things in this world. But we're all,
still, lowly. We are humble beggars who deserve nothing of God's
goodness. Our best works are filthy rags. Our good deeds are
tarnished and tainted. Our holiness is a thing of the past – we
humans are born into sin and death. We can't reach up and grasp God,
even if we wanted to. We are lowly. Poor. Humble. Pathetic. We
are sinners. And we need a savior.
From
his humble beginnings, we can see that he comes down to be lowly and
save the lowly. Laid in a manger, no crib for a bed. He becomes sin
to save the sinners. He bears God's wrath to save us from God's
wrath. The Story of Jesus beginnings is the story of our beginning,
in a way. The beginning of our salvation, and reunion with God.
The
Annunciaiton – the Visitation – the Magnificat. In these short
episodes Luke begins to tell the story of Jesus our savior. With
Mary, we too confess faith in our magnificent God, who has done great
things for us in Christ – Mary's Son, and Son of God, our savior.
And
now with Advent coming to a close, and Christmas Eve just a couple
days away, we take a breath and anticipate the celebration of his
birth for us lowly sinners. May your soul also magnify the Lord this
Christmas and always. In Jesus' holy name.
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