Mary: Faith changes everything (Luke 1:39-56)

We’ve talked recently about how to be (or bring) a blessing to others; but another worthy question is how best to experience and enjoy God’s blessing ourselves. In an endeavour to embrace that question, we can again observe Mary, the mother of Jesus. Last week we saw how she made the most of God’s personal presence that came to overshadow her. But in the text of Luke, we also see Mary moving from shock and puzzlement to extraordinary faith, and also an understanding that such faith leads on to blessing – for we read in Luke 1:45, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord”.

Once Mary had earlier realised that the astonishing words being spoken to her were from God, she complied with God’s wishes (“let it be with me according to Your word” – v.38), and while we could see this as an initial step of faith, it perhaps is more an act of humble obedience (that opens the way for faith). Faith doesn’t just happen – one has to be ready for it, open to it, and prepared to do something with it! When Mary paid her visit to Elizabeth, Mary received all the confirmation she needed, that indeed God was at work – the child in Elizabeth’s womb “leaped for joy” (v.41, 44), and Elizabeth identified Mary as the mother of her Lord (v.43). We then have those words of Elizabeth that recognises Mary’s receipt of faith: “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord” (v.45). Elizabeth rightly recognises that Mary will continue to be blessed, because having heard the voice of God, she trusted and believed that what had been said to her would come to pass; an apt forerunner of all those in the future who would come to believe in Jesus, and bring themselves under a similar blessing!

What did Mary believe? What was her faith enshrined within. We would have to go back to the earlier words of God’s angel to Mary (v.31-33): “… You will conceive in your womb and bear a son … Jesus … he will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David … he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end”. Believe that if you will … and Mary did! Mary believed that the child within her was the long awaited Messiah, Christ, Anointed One – the One who would save her people from the perilous state they were in. As we have said, through such faith, Mary has thus put herself in the place of God’s blessing.

The faith being expressed here, by Mary, indeed changes everything. It firstly changes a frightened and perplexed young girl into the bold and committed mother of the Son of God. Mary’s faith also places her in a state of blessing whereby God can really work in, with and through her, to bring about God’s own purposes. Humility led to faith which led to blessing. This is the same as our discipleship path today: humility (or openness) leading to faith, in turn leading to blessing – where “blessing” indicates a consciousness of the presence, acceptance and approval of God. And Mary would indeed need such a ‘blessing’, because she would still face the accusative looks of a faithless crowd.

Faith in God changes everything, in fact it can bring about complete reversals, as indicated in the words that follow. Mary speaks or sings words that are familiar to her, largely drawn from the scriptures of her upbringing (v.47-55), but now with new faith-filled meaning. Mary now sees the fulfilment of these ancient texts in the coming of the child she will bear. She also gains much reassurance that in placing her trust firmly in God, that, no matter how tough it gets, God is with her, and everything will work out for the best. This song of Mary highlights God’s gift of mercy, and also reflects that those who faithfully respond to this mercy can expect to see significant reversals – i.e. the lowly will be lifted up, and the proud will be brought down.

God’s choice has passed over the proud, the rich, and the mighty, and has instead fallen upon Mary as the future mother of the Son of God (Wilcock). The very notion of the Son of God being born to one viewed as a lowly servant puts any such earthly status into a new perspective. The “lowly” will be lifted up (v.52b) and the “hungry” filled with good things (v.53a) … why?? Because they have opened themselves to God! The “proud” will be scattered (v.51b) and the “rich” turned away (v.53b)… why?? Because they have no room for God … indeed many have erected huge barriers separating them from hearing God’s voice! The Kingdom of God is centred around faith not position. When viewed in the light of Jesus, earthly powers will always be seen to be lacking (v.52a). For with the eyes of faith in Jesus, God’s people will see things differently according to more enlightened perspectives. And at some times and in some places these Kingdom perspectives will need to be acted upon against the tide of the defensive status-quo.

The possibilities of new faith are fuelled by God’s mercy, a mercy which reaches down and touches the world through Jesus. First Israel, and then the Gentiles across the whole world (in line with God’s covenant with Abraham), will receive the offer of such mercy. The new Israel, the new family of God, will be those that humbly receive God’s mercy and become lifelong followers of Jesus. And for all this, God deserves our praise; and Mary offers this – “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. This was living under blessing par excellence! There is a connectedness in relationship here that is worthy of our attention. What might we say (in confirming our belief in God)? Echoing Mary (refer v.31-33), we might simply say ‘Jesus IS the Lord’! Have we sufficiently experienced the faith that changes everything to be able to say ‘Jesus IS Lord’?

Mary: God's Personal Presence (Luke 1:26-38)

“The Lord is with you”. How does this happen, and what does this mean?? “The Lord is with you” (verse 28). These are the words the angel said to Mary when introducing that Mary would conceive and bear a son, who will be called Jesus, the Son of God. We read (in verse 29) that Mary was quite perplexed about this and was pondering what this “greeting” meant, so we might ponder about this also! “The Lord is with you”. These are really appropriate words, because, as the Lord God would draw close to Mary, she would give birth to the child, that would draw close to all humanity. Indeed, this child would actually be the answer to humanity’s most pressing need. Jesus would bring God close to everyone, because Jesus was to take up human life on earth. Indeed, “the Lord is with you”!

Mary, being perplexed herself about what this “greeting” meant, and then wondering however it could be that she was pregnant, then heard the angel give the following assurance: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you; and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (v.35). God’s attentiveness to Mary was very ‘up close and personal’ … very intimate. And this foreshadowed and demonstrated God’s available presence to all the people of His creation. All the community of God – the Trinity – are involved here: God the Creator, Parent, Initiator; Jesus the Saviour, Redeemer, Lord; Holy Spirit the Guide, Comforter, Transformer.

There are two references in the surrounding verses to Mary finding God’s favour: “Greetings, favoured one!” (v.28), and, “Mary … you have found favour with God” (v.30). What was going on here!? Obviously, in one way, Mary had shown certain character traits to allow her to be chosen for this most important and blessed of roles. And the wisdom of God’s choice, as always, was seen in Mary’s later statement, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (v.38). Still … pretty impressive for a girl maybe as young as 12 or 13! But also, there is a sense in which this expression of “favour” upon Mary, foreshadows and demonstrates the “favour” (or, grace) of God upon all people. God loves us so much, and so wants to connect with and relate to the people of His creation, that God brings this outstanding and unprecedented gift of grace to all humankind. The “favour” upon Mary leads to the great gift of the glorious Son of God to all of us on earth! Jesus will then come to reign over a kingdom made up of all his followers from across all nations.

Part of God being with us, is what he wants to do in us, with us, and through us! It is clear what God was going to achieve through an obedient Mary, but what does it mean for each of us that God is with us??? God’s grace is not only saving grace, but also purposeful grace – “the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (v.35) … meaning an ‘effective’ and ‘purposeful’ God overshadows us!! God’s grace is not only so that we can escape something (darkness, sin, death), but also so that we can engage in something (eternal life, kingdom living, mission). Yet, lest we start to shake in our boots, this will never be in the absence of God’s presence … but actually quite the opposite – like Mary (v.35), we are being “overshadowed” too. Have a look at the front cover of Leonard Sweet’s book ‘I am a Follower’, and you’ll see a bit of what this means.

This whole business of God being with us is so important. It means we can overcome our fear, deal positively with our suffering, cope patiently and courageously with outside opposition, and not feel so daunted about the challenges of life (especially being involved in God’s mission). Just as Mary needed to be reassured about this reality at the moment of her calling to be Jesus’ mother, the original disciples needed a similar reassurance when Jesus pointed them toward the mission-field. Matthew records Jesus saying to his disciples, “And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20b). Luke records these words of Jesus: “You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:48-49). You can see the common themes between God’s angel’s words to Mary and Jesus’ words to his disciples … both incorporating God’s close presence and God’s purposeful effectiveness (or “power”).

This ‘divine presence’ and experience of empowerment is worn so close to us it is like the clothes that we wear next to our skin – that is how close God can be. Now, because this ‘divine presence’ has such an activation of grace attached to it, what is happening here would perhaps be better designated ‘divine agency’! Luke’s whole ‘birth’ narrative here emphasises ‘divine agency’ – God, and God alone, has brought about these remarkable events. And, as a result of these first Christmas events, ‘divine agency’ will ultimately facilitate a transformation in people’s lives so that they can live out, in their various contexts, the life of Jesus. “Together, these transformed human beings form an unmistakable Jesus community that is capable of transforming the world into a Jesus kind of place” (Leonard Sweet, p.225). Hard to imagine!?! Or can we just begin to imagine it?!? “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). 

Preparing for Christmas: A Time for Joy

The angel said to the shepherds, Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day … a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord (Luke 2:10-11).

Unusual things were happening, so there was much fear around. Mary was unexpectedly pregnant, and an angel of the Lord needed to say to her, “Be not afraid”. Joseph, to his great shock, discovered that Mary had become pregnant, so an angel of the Lord needed to say to him as well, “Be not afraid”. Now the shepherds, minding their own business watching over their sheep, were confronted by this great light or Divine appearance all around them, and they needed to hear the words, “Do not be afraid”. Why, “do not be afraid”? Because this was not a time for fear, but for joy (and indeed for celebration)! Why, why “joy”?? Because, as unusual as events might appear, this was the resolution of God’s eternal plan to bring salvation into the grasp of all the world’s people. This is indeed “good news of great joy”. So this is what Christmas is about – “good news of great joy”! But sometimes, for a variety of reasons the potential for joy can be robbed from us.

So my little message this Christmas surrounds the idea of finding ways to maintain a level of joy. We don’t want to allow anything to unnecessarily take away the possibilities of joy this Christmas. But that’s exactly what can so easily happen. People can get too busy – rushing, rushing, rushing – often over things that really are quite peripheral in relation to the big ticket item. Yes, for some people, there is a lot to get done. But if all these things work to take away “joy”, then perhaps these things are being seen with wrong perspective. Then there are the distractions … what we might call the material side of Christmas. If we are looking for our ultimate “joy” here, then I think we are looking in the wrong place. This is because the real “joy” of Christmas is completely tied to the good news of the birth of the Saviour. There is “joy” to be found in the love that has come down at Christmas: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours” – the Creator of the Universe has personally come to earth, in all his generosity and compassion, to connect with us. “Joy to the world, the Lord has come”!

Now, it’s true to say that there are some really significant factors that can at times make our Christmas less than joyful. This is usually connected with sad losses we have encountered during the year, especially recently. This could also be connected to our own health concerns, or deep concerns we have for family members. How can we recover some “joy” within these circumstances? Well here we can draw on some good memories from Christmases past – times when we have been together with loved ones … celebrating and sharing life’s stories. Then we can also draw deeply in the centre of the message of Christmas: God has come to the earth in human form and identified with all the suffering and all the trouble and offered to become our friend and co-traveller. This is a message of great hope … that God will never leave us uncared for … never! If we ever feel lonely, we can talk with God. And God is not an abstract concept – Jesus has made God so real, and personal, and approachable. We read about Jesus and learn what God is like.

Even in desperate situations there could be one thing that can be found (and hung onto) that brings enough “joy” to keep us going: the smile of a little child for instance, or the beauty of a rose; what about the warmth of the sun, or even a refreshing shower of rain; then there is the taste of that good piece of chocolate. Then there are those instances in life that can restore our faith: a simple act of kindness, a timely word of encouragement, a new friendship, or just an inescapable sense of the presence of God. A successful search for “joy” can not only benefit our own well-being, but also can be encouraging for others. Smiling can go viral, spreading from one person to another to another, leading to ever larger celebrations of life itself. Christmas can remind us that Jesus is the source of our deepest joy. And just imagine the great joy that God expressed as he created the earth and everything in it. We ourselves can draw from this same immense depth of joy, not only to satisfy our own needs, but also to soothe the troubled souls of those around us.