Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

SCRIPTURE

Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸ for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; ⁴⁹ for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. ⁵⁰ And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. ⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, ⁵² he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; ⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. ⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, ⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."

SUMMARY and FUNCTION

Summary: God identifies himself with the average person as well as the lowly,

dispossessed and poor. This means that God can use the average person or

even the lowly, dispossessed and poor person to do great things. God can use

anyone to do great things as long as we are willing to be like Mary and say

“yes” whenever we are called.

Function: To encourage the members of the congregation to say ‘yes’ when ever God

calls them to do something.

The Sermon

I. Introduction: Imagine yourself as an average teenage girl being visited by the Angel

Gabriel

A. Think back to the time when you were 14-16 years old.

· Like most of us, you were probably insecure about many things but also…

· Trying to be independent and claiming to have all the answers to life’s questions.

· You were probably wondering what you were suppose to do with your life?

B. Now, imagine what it would have been like if the Angel Gabriel visited you when you were an insecure yet independent teen-ager. What if Gabriel told you that God was going to use you in an extraordinary way to save the entire world? How would you have reacted? This is what really happened to Mary. She was most likely a teen-ager when Gabriel told her the astonishing news that she was to become the mother of God’s son.

· I think I would have reacted more like Moses and less like Mary.

- When God spoke told Moses that He was going to use him to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, Moses kept coming up with excuses. Moses said…

1) “Who am I to do such a great thing?” God answered, “I will be with you” Then Moses said…

2) “What if they ask me your name?” God answered, “Tell them ‘I Am’ sent you” Then Moses said…

3) “What if they don’t believe me?” God answered, “You will do great miracles to show them I sent you” Then Moses said…

4) “I’m not eloquent. I don’t speak well. I stutter” Then God said, “Your brother Aaron will speak for you.”

- Yes, I would have been like Moses. I would have made excuses. I would have considered myself to be unworthy to be used by God. I believed I was not ‘good enough’ to be used by God in such a great way. It would have been hard for me to imagine that God could use such an average person like myself.

· Mary, however, reacted quite differently.

- After being told she was going to be the human mother of the Son of God, she simply wondered how this was going to happen since she was a virgin. In response, the Angel Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit will impregnate her.

- Then she simply said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

- Mary seemed to understand something about God that enabled her to trust God.

II. What Mary understood about God

A. What Mary understood:

· God, identifies himself with average people, to include the lowly, dispossessed and poor.

· This means that God can use the average person or even the lowly, dispossessed and poor person to do great things.

· We don’t have to be ‘good enough’ to do God’s will. God will make us ‘good enough’.

· For this reason, Mary was able to say, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”

· This is seen in the praise Mary gives to the Lord in response to her God-induced pregnancy

B. Mary’s praise to God (Luke 1:46-55)

· Luke 1:46-48a - Mary starts off by simply praising the Lord and recognizing her low status- My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.

· Luke 1:48a-49 – Mary then recognizes that people will honor her, not because of who she is but because of what God has done for her - For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

· Luke 1:50 – Mary then acknowledges God’s faithfulness - And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.

· Luke1: 51-55 - Lastly, she talks about how God takes down the proud and then lifts up and uses the weak, lowly and poor

- Luke1:51-52a – God takes down the proud - He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones,

- Luke 1:52b-55 – God lifts up and uses the weak, lowly and poor - and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."

III. God demonstrated how he lifts up the lowly by becoming lowly himself

A. God could have come to this earth as a king, military commander or high priest but He doesn’t

B. God became human as a

· Child in a poor to low middle class family

· Political refugee (Jesus’ family was forced to flee to Egypt to escape King Herod’s order to execute all children in Bethlehem 2 years old or younger.)

· Member of an oppressed ethnic group. (Jesus was Jewish. The Jews, at that time, were oppressed by the Roman Empire.)

C. The Lord God almighty identifies with the lowly, oppressed and poor people of the world. God calls the lowly, oppressed and poor to do great and wonderful work.

IV. Conclusion: How do we respond when God calls us to do great and wonderful work?

A. We’re just average human beings but God calls average humans to do extraordinary things.

B. If we are not ‘good enough’ to do what God is calling us to do, God will make us ‘good enough’.

C. Mary understood this and obeyed God. LET’S BE LIKE MARY!!!