Family Worship

If you would take your Bibles
and open once again to Luke chapter one, Luke chapter one. What an amazing insight we’ve
been given that we’ve enjoyed so far in the lives of not one,
but two Jewish couples. Zacharias and Elizabeth, and
then Mary and Joseph. In this particular account, we
haven’t seen anything of Joseph yet, just a mere mention. But
in the case of the former, Zacharias and Elizabeth, we were invited
into the scene where only Zacharias and the angel Gabriel were privy. Well, God himself, obviously,
Gabriel’s sudden declaration to Zacharias included an announcement
that God would be providing he and his wife a son, a long desired
son, in many ways a miraculous son, given their advanced age. But we saw that the announcement
of a marvelously provided son was only the beginning of good
news for Zacharias because this son would be special in a uniquely
spiritual way. He would grow up to serve as
the Messiah’s forerunner. And that alone meant that there
was an even greater announcement Something else for Zacharias
to consider that God after long last was providing a savior to
the world. The long awaited Messiah. Zacharias
was literally dumbstruck. Not only for the amazing nature
of this news, but also for his doubt of it. Nevertheless, Zacharias
must have been silently elated at the astounding report that
he had received, for which he now had proof, he would gladly
bear his lack of ability to speak for the next nine months or so,
because God was sending, including to him, a savior. And we don’t
know how or how much Zacharias was even able to communicate
to his wife, Elizabeth, about that meeting in the holy place
with the angel. But she would know, and very
soon, that she was pregnant. And all we’re told is that Elizabeth
quietly sequestered herself as the child within her developed.
And we resumed that story last week with the even more stupendous
narrative about the angel’s visit to Mary. The same angel, Gabriel,
providing the pinnacle announcement to this young woman, Mary, that
she was to be the miraculous bearer of the God-man, the Messiah
himself, Jesus. And we came away, didn’t we,
with a different picture, a different perspective of Mary. We’re no
longer as evangelicals reluctant to mention her name. We found
her to be a sweet godly woman but one in need of a savior just
like you and I. We saw how senseless even cruel
it is that her nature and her character have been so embellished
and distorted over the course of history. She’s not God. She’s not the queen of heaven.
She’s not a co-mediator with Jesus Christ. She’s not one who
commands our worship. She would be horrified at the
thought of it. To deify her is to abuse her
name and her person. When we considered the passage
last week, Luke chapter 1, verses 26, Through 38 we came away with
a completely different perspective of Mary. A young godly woman
whom God had chosen to bless in an amazing way for his glory. We don’t need to overreact to
the false teachings about Mary. She can be to us a godly, simple,
pleasant example of faith and faithfulness. And we are granted
a more remarkable insight into the way both of these women,
Mary and Elizabeth, react to these astonishing reports given
to them by the angel. We saw the initial reactions
by each of these young women, each of these women. Elizabeth
kind of recoiled into a private and likely prayerful retreat
for five months. Luke captures only a single mysterious
sentence of her reaction. This is the way the Lord has
dealt with me in the days he looked with favor upon me. to
take away my disgrace among men.” An expression of gratitude, likely,
and worship, Mary’s response is likewise detailed. Initially,
not only surprised, but even fear at the presence of the angel,
which grew into inquisitiveness about his announcement. This unheard of miracle But once Gabriel assures and
instructs young Mary, her immediate response is one of humble submission
to the will and workings of God. Be it done to me according to
your word, was her reply. And all of that so far is fine,
both women graciously responding. to what was, humanly speaking,
incredible news, unbelievable. But how would things be once
that news settled in? Once the reality of the angels’
announcements began to be realized? Elizabeth had a lot longer to
reconcile these things in her mind, almost six months. And
we’re not even sure exactly what Elizabeth knows. Mary, on the
other hand, has the full report from the angel directly from
Gabriel’s lips. What will be the reaction once
these two relatives meet? Luke takes us directly into that
thrilling meeting. If you would, We want to pick
up the narrative in verse 39, coursing all the way down through
verse 55. Now, at this time, Mary arose
and went with haste to the hill country, to a city in Judah and
entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it
came about that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby
leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with
the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud
voice and said, Blessed among women are you and blessed is
the fruit of your womb. And how has it happened to me
that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when
the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my
womb for joy. And blessed is she who believed
that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her
by the Lord. Mary said, My soul exalts the
Lord. And my spirit has rejoiced in
God, my savior. For he has had regard for the
humble state of his bond slave. For behold, from this time on,
all generations will count me blessed. For the mighty one has
done great things for me. And holy is his name and his
mercy is great upon generation after generation. Toward those
who fear him. He has done mighty deeds with
his arm. He has scattered those who were
proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers
from their thrones and it has exalted those who were humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the
rich empty handed. He has given help to Israel,
his servant, in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our
fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever. Family gatherings are one of
life’s sweetest yet most complicated occasions. These are the people
who know us best and therein lies the problem, doesn’t it?
The people who know us so intimately can often be most bothered by
our quirks and we theirs. We may even have a tendency to
try to cover over our feelings and emotions so as to hide in
plain sight. not so with Mary and Elizabeth.
From the first moment that they meet, their hearts are laid bare
before each other. We don’t know the exact relationship
between Elizabeth and Mary. Most have believed that they
are cousins, making John Jesus’ cousin as well. Some have suggested
that Mary’s mother, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s mother were sisters
making Mary Elizabeth’s niece. But scripture says nothing at
all about either of Mary’s parents. We just don’t know the exact
relationship. We know that they’re relatives.
That’s all that the angel mentioned. And that word relative is a very
generic word and we don’t get any help from anywhere else in
the New Testament because it’s only used here in Luke’s gospel. Whatever the exact relationship
was, Mary didn’t hesitate to pay Elizabeth the visit. She
was welcome there in her home. Upon her arrival, what ensues
could appropriately be described as an impromptu time of praise. Last Christmas Eve, we considered
Mary’s example of worship. We called it exemplary worship. And we’ll briefly review that
near the end. But first, let’s consider her
elder relative’s response. Because Elizabeth’s worship,
too, is exemplary. What we have in these A few opening
verses, verses 39 through 45, is a reunion of spiritual joy. Two relatives coming together
that results in, because of the news granted to them, exuberant
worship before God. We’ll take it just a few verses
at a time. Look first at that opening section,
verses 39 through 42. Luke’s account of the two women’s
meeting begins with Mary’s travels. It simply says that she made
haste to go see Elizabeth. After all, it was Gabriel’s mention
of her relative and her condition that surely prompted Mary to
go. Remember, the angel said, Behold,
even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived. and is now
in her sixth month. When Luke tells us that Mary
arose and went with haste, he paints a very graphic picture
in order to reveal Elizabeth, Mary’s rather eagerness to go. This would have been a four day
journey from her hometown of Nazareth, and she couldn’t wait. That’s the main point that Luke
provides in verse 39. All other details fade, including
a specific location. Luke just includes here that
she went to the hill country, to a city in Judah. The location wasn’t even critical.
Mary arrives and enters the house of Zacharias, the now quiet priest,
and greets Elizabeth in some fashion. We don’t need to make
more out of this greeting than is necessary. It probably was
no more than, Elizabeth, my dear aunt, how are you? Or perhaps the more traditional
Jewish greeting, Shalom, peace to you, Elizabeth. It likely
wasn’t much more than that. It wasn’t the words of Mary’s
greeting, but her mere presence that stirs Elizabeth. Look at
verse 41. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
simple and standard as it may have been, everything changed. The baby, baby John in her womb,
stirring might have been a fairly normal experience for a pregnant
woman. But Elizabeth will go on to interpret
that as a remarkable sign. Just briefly glance down to verse
44, where it says that the baby leaped in her womb for joy. That was Elizabeth’s interpretation
of it. Elizabeth might have sensed instinctively
as a mother that this was no ordinary stirring of her unborn
child, but Elizabeth now has much more than a motherly instinct. Verse 41 also tells us that she
was filled with the Holy Spirit. This is a reunion of spiritual
joy, and Elizabeth erupts with a threefold declaration of praise. Look, if you would, at verse
42, where the first thing that we see is a cry of praise. Verse 42 says, and she cried
out with a loud voice and said, blessed among women are you and
blessed is the fruit of your womb. Elizabeth cannot contain
herself for the joy in her heart. Her words were powerful and strong. Luke specifically says, loud. She cried out with a loud voice. There are, there can be loud
cries of anger, loud cries of agony. This was a loud cry of
joy. This is exultation. As we saw
last week, these words have been incorporated into that prayer
called the Hail Mary, that Roman Catholic prayer. And as we were
critical in the opening of those, the words of that prayer and
the closing as well, these words are cited verbatim in that prayer,
just as we find them in scripture. As I mentioned last week, there’s
nothing deceptive or improper about the citation of these words. As I said, we don’t need to manufacture
any discrepancies or contentions with them. Blessed among women
are you, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Mary was very much
blessed. honored to have been chosen as
the one who would bear the God-man. Immanuel, as Isaiah 714 refers
to him. God with us, as Matthew interprets
and translates that word. Not only was Mary blessed, so
also was the child that she was then carrying. In its simplest
meaning, blessed carries the idea of happiness. But this is
no merely earthly happiness. It’s the recognition that an
undeserving person has been graciously treated, blessed, by God himself. Elizabeth declares that First
and foremost, Mary herself was blessed. Divinely blessed to
have been chosen by God to bear forth the Christ child. And it’s
a superlative declaration. It’s as if she says, among all
women. You are most blessed, Mary. You are supremely blessed. Elizabeth
shows not the slightest hint of jealousy at the fact that
the child that Mary is carrying will be infinitely greater than
the one she herself is carrying. After all, Elizabeth herself
will also be the undeserving recipient of the Savior that
Mary is carrying. And so, Elizabeth’s subsequent
declaration, blessed is the fruit of your womb, tells us that Mary,
even at that moment, is already with child. The miracle had already
occurred. And that this child is supremely
blessed, exceedingly beloved and honored by God, the Father
himself. God declares his love and honor
at Christ’s baptism, at his transfiguration, which are just echoes of that
messianic prophecy of Isaiah 42. Behold my servant, whom I
have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. But Elizabeth’s declaration of
worship is only just beginning. In addition to this cry of praise,
she utters a cry of humility. Look, if you would, at verses
43 and 44. These words strike us with the
same degree of astound as that great hymn and can it be. For this godly older woman, the
news just keeps getting better and better. And she is overwhelmed. First a son, and not only a son,
but a son who will serve as the one who will go before, be a
forerunner to the Messiah himself. And now she learns that the Messiah
is even at that moment being carried by her close relative
Mary. She cannot contain herself. But
instead of a heart of pride, look at what God has done for
our family She’s humbled to the core. She
can’t believe it. And it has to be noted here that
Elizabeth has been provided absolutely no information about what it
is she’s declaring. Not from any human. The angel
said nothing to her husband about her relative, Mary. conceiving
a child, the Messiah. Mary herself said nothing, nothing
recorded to Elizabeth about what had happened. And so the understanding
must be due completely to the indwelling Holy Spirit, which
occurred the moment that Mary greeted her. She knows that she
does not deserve God’s kindnesses. But this kindness is above them
all. How has it happened to me that
the mother of my Lord should come to me? When Mary drew near
to her house. Mary was just a dear relative
to Elizabeth. But now she is so much more.
She is the bearer of her savior. In one line, Elizabeth humbly
declares her own need of that savior. And in God’s kindness for providing
him. And she utters, at least for
Mary’s sake, an explanation in verse 44. The mysterious agitation
inside of her And it begins with what is now a familiar word in
this section of Scripture. Behold. Look at this. Think of it. That word of exclamation
was used by the angel, remember, three times in his very declarations. Behold, behold, behold. was used by Mary for her own
declaration back to the angel. Behold, be it done to your servant
according to your word. And now it’s used by Elizabeth.
Behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the
baby leaped in my womb for joy. This is the very sign that the
Holy Spirit used to communicate to her. Not only that Mary was
with child, but that hers was a truly miraculous conception,
and that the child within her was God incarnate. There’s a very old Christmas
spiritual called Sweet Little Jesus Boy. The first line goes
like this. Sweet little Jesus boy, they
made you be born in a manger. Sweet little holy child, didn’t
know who you was. Didn’t know you’d come to save
us, Lord, to take away our sins. Our eyes was blind, we couldn’t
see. We didn’t know who you was. That
song expresses the sentiment of so many. who did not grasp
the nature of who this Christ child was. Mary knew. And now Elizabeth knows. And
she cries out one last thing. Not only a cry of praise and
a cry of humility, but a cry of affirmation. Look at verse
45. And blessed is she who believed
that there would be fulfillment of what had been spoken to her
by the Lord. This declaration is not a mere
echo of the one that we have in verse 42, blessed among women. In the first place, the word
translated again here as blessed in almost every translation,
the word is different in the Greek. It’s a different word.
The difference is slight. There, in verse 42, Elizabeth
acknowledged the kindness that God had bestowed upon her, Mary. Here, though, Elizabeth acknowledges
the great faith exercised by Mary in the face of so stupendous
an announcement. And how Elizabeth is aware of
this detail? that Mary humbly submitted herself
to the Lord. It could only be explained by
supernatural means. The Holy Spirit, now resident
within Elizabeth, had informed her of it. Remarkable. She knew that Mary had yielded
to the plans announced to her by the angel. But this sentence
here beautifully has been called the first beatitude of the gospel. Because this truth is true of
anyone who takes the Lord at his word. If you do, if you take
God at his word, you are blessed. Just as Jesus admonished Doubting
Thomas, blessed are they who know and do not see and yet believe. Faith generates the blessing
of the Lord. And that leads us right into
Mary’s response. And Mary’s response provides
for us, as I mentioned, a model of praise. A prayer intended
not just for God’s hearing, nor exclusively for Elizabeth’s ears,
otherwise the Holy Spirit would not have seen to it that it was
communicated down to us in his word.” It’s a running blend of
Old Testament citations and allusions. It reads much like a psalm and
is closely parallel with Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel chapter 2. Glance, if you would, beginning
at verse 46. It begins here, Mary does, with
a declaration of worship. My soul exalts the Lord. This statement is not unlike
many of our own declarations of worship. Oh, praise him. I worship you. Praise the Lord. I love you, Lord. The word itself
exalt means to magnify, to extol, and it’s used with reference
to declare the greatness of someone or something, and here, obviously,
of God himself. Mary is declaring her heartfelt
worship of the Lord. God in his fullness was magnified
in the depths of Mary’s being. And she echoes that sentiment
in the true style of Hebrew poetry, where one line echoes the previous. It’s an echo, but it expands
upon her declaration, verse 47, because from her innermost, she
says, her spirit, she worships, she rejoices in God, her Savior. And by Savior, Mary is not expressing
her hope in some kind of political or military ruler like so many
Jews. misinterpreted it. It’s not just
any savior. She sees not only her own hope,
but the spiritual hope of the world that this child that she’s
carrying will bring. She understands exactly what
the angel communicated to her, that the child would be the Messiah. And so Mary looks with thankfulness
to God for this savior. She explains the reason for her
thankfulness in verse 48. Would you glance at it? Rather
than seeing herself as deserving, as having measured up to God’s
standards, Mary admits that she occupies the lowly place of,
again, a bond slave. Hers was a humble state. She
was no more than a soon to be carpenter’s wife. She was among
the peculiar class of people called the Jews. And she was
a woman, which in this culture meant that she lacked even the
most basic rights. But most of all, Mary knew that
she was in a desperate spiritual condition. And yet God in his
mercy had showed regard for her. The greatest consideration ever
given to anyone, the motherhood of Jesus. So she readily acknowledges
the kindness of God. That all generations future would
count her blessed. Having received God’s undeserved
favor. Well, Mary’s example of worship
not only is a fitting response by God’s children, secondly,
it acknowledges God’s character. That’s what worship is. That’s
the beginning of worship, is to acknowledge God and His character. Look at verse 49. For the Mighty
One has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation
after generation, toward those who fear him. Mary, for her part
in worship, focuses on three of God’s most beloved attributes,
his power, his holiness, and his mercy. What a perfectly reasonable
response. Mary had just been told of God’s
power by the angel. And even though this is some
four to six weeks prior, Mary still remembers it vividly. The
Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High
will overshadow you. This, you will recall, was the
angel’s response to the question of how. How is it possible that
me, a virgin, can conceive a child as an unmarried woman. And the
angel explains how God is all powerful. The mighty one has
done great things for me, Mary echoes. But not only does she
acknowledge God’s omnipotence, she recognizes God’s holiness. Holy is his name. This is a brief and direct declaration
of God’s sinlessness. God’s holiness speaks of his
distinctness, his apartness from his creation, especially with
regard to sin. He was infinitely higher than
his creation, his love of righteousness and hatred of sin. The psalmist
declared this of him. In Psalm 99, let them praise
your great and awesome name. Holy is he. God is holy in his
very nature. And so Mary speaks of God’s omnipotence,
his holiness, and thirdly, his mercy. It’s the only way you
could ever stand before a holy God. Verse 50 says his mercy is upon
every generation, generation after generation toward those
who fear him. Where would anyone be without
God’s mercy? Mary acknowledges that not only
is the kindness of God undeserved, but it is the reception of the
exact opposite of what was deserved. namely the righteous indignation
of God. It’s only because of his mercy
that Mary, that we receive his favor, his kindness, his blessings. This is the essence of worship.
Observing God as he is and acknowledging that in humble praise. The wholehearted
worship of God acknowledges God’s glorious character. But it’s
not as if Mary has exhausted the catalog of God’s attributes. Think of his wisdom, his patience,
his omniscience, his sovereignty. We meditate on the significance
of those truths. And we worship him accordingly.
That’s what Mary does here. And still there’s a third example
of her worship that we can observe. The wholehearted worship of God
recalls God’s awesome deeds. It recalls God’s awesome deeds.
And we see this in verses 51 through 53, but note they’re
spoken of as deeds that have already been accomplished. They
are so rooted in the character of God That given the context
of what Mary is saying, the same God who has accomplished such
deeds in the past is doing a similar, even more profound work in Christ. And that in these, in that sense,
these things, even though their future are spoken of as already
having been accomplished, it’s an astounding thought. And look
here. There’s a familiar metaphor used
throughout Scripture. He has done mighty deeds with
his arm. Sometimes God is spoken of as
doing some small task with his finger. God, remember, sent flies upon
Pharaoh in Egypt and Pharaoh’s own people attributed it to the
finger of God. They knew that it was not the
worst plague that God could send. He had plenty more. Sometimes
God is said to use his whole hand. Psalm 118 says the right
hand of the Lord does valiantly. But he want when he wants to
exert the greatness of his power. As Mary acknowledges here, scripture
speaks of his arm. Mary recounts the awesome deeds
that God has done, and she details these contrasting God’s deeds
with the puny deeds of men. Whether proud or rulers or exalted
or rich, God has overruled them all by his spirit and his might. Mary’s looking back over the
history. of her own nation and acknowledging God’s plentiful
episodes where he exercised his might, rescuing them from Pharaoh,
evil nations, evil men like Nabal, Saul, Nebuchadnezzar and Herod,
all the while exalting those who were humble. Men and women
like Moses, who wondered, who am I to go to these people? And Joseph and Ruth and Isaiah,
who humbly acknowledged that he was just a man of unclean
lips. Truly, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to
the humble. Mary says he has filled the hungry
with good things and sent away the rich empty handed. Those
who have a childlike faith and a dependence upon God, he blesses. The wholehearted worship of God
recalls God’s awesome deeds. My question to us this morning
is, are we living and walking and carrying ourselves by faith
in this world? Are we walking in humility? Are
we watching for God’s deeds? Or are we trusting in our own
might, our own wealth, our own resources? We have to always be mindful
that God is opposed to the proud. He gives grace only to the humble.
There’s a final element to observe in Mary’s example of worship
here. The wholehearted worship of God, fourthly, proclaims God’s
great faithfulness. God had repeatedly shown forth
his faithfulness throughout Israel’s history. And this is exactly
what Mary is recounting. But not only does Mary acknowledge
that God has helped in the past, he was now helping again by sending
the Messiah. The fulfillment of the long ago
promise. Made to all those saints of the
Old Testament. A Messiah. A savior. The day has come. In the ever-growing list of God’s
faithfulness, faithfulness to the world, faithfulness to his
children, faithfulness now to Mary specifically, the greatest
act of faithfulness ever was God’s keeping of his promise
of the provision of a Redeemer. The promise kept to Abraham and
David, even to Adam. promise in the prophecies of
the Messiah. The wholehearted worship of God
proclaims God’s great faithfulness. This stirs the worship of God
from the depths of our hearts, doesn’t it? That’s where it begins
as we ponder God’s deeds and his workings. But worship doesn’t
stop. It doesn’t end on Sunday with
what we call worship so often. It washes over everything that
we do and influences everything that we do. And so it is with
these two examples, two Jewish women to whom few in their day
would have looked to as examples for anything. And yet God sets
them forth as examples of worship. We cannot help but recognize
how quickly their observations of what God was doing led to
praise. Is that true of us? Certainly none of our observations
are going to be as dramatic as those which Elizabeth and Mary
observed and enjoyed, but we can draw from their example. We can draw from their example
a proclivity to worship the natural response of a child of God. We
can draw from their example an inclination to praise. We can
draw from their example a readiness to express our gratitude to God. In whatever we observe of his
works and his ways. Do we acknowledge that God has
provided a Savior? Then we respond in worship. A
Savior who paid for your sin by a brutal death deserves our
gratitude. Are we thankful for our salvation?
A salvation that now is not to be earned by good works, but
by faith alone, in Christ alone. Are we thankful for the privilege
that we have to worship that in doing so he listens to us,
whether it’s in joyful song or quiet prayer? Are you thankful
for the gifts that God has bestowed upon you? I’m not talking about
the things that you have. God has equipped you for service
to Christ in the church. Are you thankful for the church? It’s God’s institution. It’s
the institution for which Christ died, where God can be glorified,
where believers can have their faith strengthened, where the
lost might hear a clear testimony of Christ the Savior. Are you
thankful for your fellow believers with whom you walk in joyful
earthly fellowship? And one day, by God’s grace,
we’ll worship with them in eternity. Are you thankful for God’s word?
That God saw fit that you would have the Bible in your language,
regardless of which version you carry. Are you thankful for the
privilege that you have been granted to support and pray for
missionaries? Are you thankful for the air
that you breathe? If you get up in time, are you
thankful for the sunrises? If you don’t get up in time,
you can be thankful for sunsets. Are you thankful for the freedoms
that you enjoy, at least currently?