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Isaac BrownTri-County Christian ChurchDecember 10, 2017Resources: WordSearch; Commentaries; Barnes’ Notes on the New TestamentA Spirit of Extravagant PraiseIntroductionJim and I are involved in a 3-part series called, “The Spirit of Christmas,” and the series is really about how the Holy Spirit calls for and brings us into worship of God. We know that we are amidst the Christmas season, and I know that everyone has all of their shopping done, so there’s no reason to be distracted from this sermon. All humor aside though, it’s exactly because of what I just said that it’s important that we explore the Holy Spirit and praise of God in the holiday season, as Christmas is an often busy and commercialized time in our culture. It becomes easy to lose sight of the “reason for the season,” and I hope this sermon will help to bring you back to ground level on the importance of remembering the blessing of Jesus Christ beyond everything else involved in a good old fashioned American Christmas.Towards this effort, we’re going to talk today about someone who arguably loved Jesus more than any other. We’re going to talk about Mary, and in addition to a mother’s love for her child, we’re going to see a God-fearing woman’s love for her Savior. We’ll talk about the conditions under which Mary would be required to trust in the Almighty God, and we’ll gauge our own temperature on the issue to see if our praise to Him falls in line. After that, we’ll look at what is called the first Christian hymn ever written, and through it, some of the specific praises that Mary offered up to God through her poetic words. I hope this message will provide you with Spiritual refreshment as we look in on the loving mother of the Christ at the earliest account of her story in our Bibles.We’re going to start our journey by reading from the book of Luke, chapter 1, beginning in verse 26…Luke 1:26-38 - In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him 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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on 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. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.Was this good news, or bad news for Mary? I’ll tell you that the answer is that it certainly contained amounts of both. This will lead us into our first question… Do we remember to…Praise God in Both Good Times and Difficult TimesMary was faithful in her pledge to serve the Lord. We’ll make no mistake about that. But we have to imagine the difficulty of the situation that Mary was put into. Remember that Mary was essentially a common woman, betrothed to marry Joseph but not yet married. Though she was told by an angel of the Lord that she would play a critical role in what would be the greatest blessing to touch the Earth, it would spell complete havoc on her own earthly life. One commentator explained it this way…A young unmarried girl who became pregnant risked disaster. Unless the father of the child agreed to marry her, she would probably remain unmarried for life. If her own father rejected her, she could be forced into begging or prostitution in order to earn a living. And Mary, with her story about being made pregnant by the Holy Spirit, risked being considered crazy as well. Still Mary said, despite the possible risks, “May it be to me as you have said.” When Mary said that, she didn’t know about the tremendous opportunity she would have. She only knew that God was asking her to serve Him, and she willingly obeyed.Mary would definitely face an uphill battle until her marriage. Her peers would ridicule her, and her fiancée would come close to leaving her, but nevertheless, she praised God in her own storm because she trusted God. Do we trust God in the storm? Do we praise Him in the storm? It’s almost cliché to ask that question, but it’s an important question to ask. The holidays are known for high levels of alcohol sales and depression as surely as they are known as times of celebration and rejoicing. Joy comes in remembering that even though our emotions may land on either end of the spectrum, God is the constant that we can grab and hold onto… Never-changing amidst bad times, or good times.And do we praise God in the good times? You must think I’m crazy for asking a question like that. I stand before you today to testify that it’s easy to miss the Spirit of praise in our hearts when things are going well. Let me ask a question. Has anyone in the audience ever had “tennis elbow?” I have. Tennis elbow is a terribly painful. My injury was exercise related, though not specifically to tennis. The terrible thing about tennis elbow is that there’s simply not much that you can do about it. The pain will run its course, but sometimes it can take months, or even a year, to work itself out. I used to wear a little arm-band that provided nerve compression on my arm. It barely made a dent in my pain, and I just had to live with it, day in and day out, for a little more than a half-a-year.During that half-year, I was well in touch with God. Darkness and difficult times have a tendency to do that to us, don’t they? I would pray to God constantly for relief of my nerve pain, and yes, I even remembered to praise Him during those times. The point is, it was easy to see the Light from the darkness of where I was. But, after about a half-year, my pain did go away, and to the best of my recollection, it wasn’t a gradual disappearance on the condition, it was just gone one day. Ironically, I’m not sure how quickly I noticed. If you can believe it or not, in spite of how painful I am touting this experience to have been, I’m not sure I noticed that it had finally ceased. I am sure, however, that I forgot to thank God. It was probably weeks before I realized that everything was back to normal, and I hadn’t praised God for finally answering so many prayers that I had prayed.You might think me ungrateful or even lazy in this story, and that may have been true, but I have a different caution for you. We may have a tendency as people not to reach out to God in any way, in prayer or praise, unless we are in the darkness. When we’re in the darkness, it’s easy to see our need for the Light, but when we are in the light, it sometimes becomes more difficult for us to see our need for the capital-L Light that is Christ. We need to remember to pray to and praise God in all times… In both the darkness, and the light.James reminds us in his own book…James 5:13 – Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.Reach out to God, in both good times, and bad times…Mary nailed this concept. The announcement from the angel Gabriel would bring about a time of both difficulty, and blessing, but her response was quite simple. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”You may think this less a statement of praise, and more a statement of obedience, but Mary had amazing praises to come. In order to get there, we need to take a brief look at some verses that we won’t be covering in depth. In doing so, we’ll learn another quick but valuable lesson…In good times and in bad, we should remember to…Praise with on One AnotherThis is a brief point, but a point nonetheless. Beginning in Luke 1:39, we see that Mary hurried off to see Elizabeth. Elizabeth was Mary’s cousin, Zechariah’s wife. Remember that Mary was amidst both a time of immense blessing, and immense personal challenge. She was smart enough not to go it alone, and so ought we try to remember to share our prayers and our praises with one another. I’m not sure what Mary’s mindset was. Perhaps she was a little panicked at what she had heard, and what it would mean for her daily life. Perhaps she was filled with excitement at the news she had received from the Lord’s angel. It was likely a combination of both.Regardless of her motives, she was met with a Spirit of Encouragement from Elizabeth. Do you remember that from Jim’s message last week? Upon hearing Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth was overcome by the Holy Spirit, and showered Mary with words of encouragement. Whatever Mary’s mental state was, that had to be a boost. The Holy Spirit then prompted Mary to the following words that we’ll read now in Luke 1:46-55…Luke 1:46-55 – 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.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.He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”We’ll spend the last portion of the message today talking about these poetic words. This set of verses is known as the Magnificat, and commentators rightly cite it as the first Christian hymn. Remember that we had many hymns throughout the Old Testament, especially in the book of Psalms, but this is arguably the first hymn to be written after Gabriel’s announcement of Christ and Mary and Elizabeth’s subsequent placement of their faith in the Son, the Savior. Also known as Mary’s Song, this piece of Scripture contains numerous praises that Mary offers up to God, speaking both to who He is and what He does. We’re going to look now at 5 praises that Mary offers to God. Our lesson here is that we must remember to…Count our Blessings and Return Them as PraisesThe first of Mary’s praises from verse 50… “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.” For those who know and believe in the Lord, God’s mercies are never failing, and always renewing. Jeremiah praised God in this same way in the book of Lamentations.Lamentations 3:22-23 – The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.I preached from Lamentations a couple of months ago from this very pulpit, and if you remember, Jeremiah wrote Lamentations from a very dark place in his life and in the history of Israel. Jeremiah and Mary both knew how to praise the Lord in difficult times. From generation to generation, the Lord’s mercies are constant and perpetual. Jesus would be the greatest embodiment of the Lord’s mercies that the world would ever know. Let’s move on to the second praise of Mary.Verse 51. “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.” Here, Mary continues to look beyond herself, seeing the bigger picture of God’s blessings. Mary remembers so many things that God has done for his faithful across history. Albert Barnes notes that, “From a contemplation of [God’s] goodness to her, she enlarges her views to a contemplation of his goodness and power in general, and to a celebration of the praises of God for all that he has done to all men.” Mary praises God for scattering the proud. These are the oppressors of history who would exalt themselves at the expense of others. It’s important that our praises to God move beyond simply what He has done for us. Remember that as surely as God loves the entire world and every soul in it, so are we called to love others, in action, prayer, and praise.Third…Verse 52. “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.” God has placed the kings and rulers of the world beneath Him, exalting Himself as the Most High. How comforting can it be to us to know that our God is higher than any ruling force in existence? What’s further, God lifts up those of humble upbringing. This was true of King David, the youngest of many brothers and a mere shepherd-boy who would become Israel’s most renowned earthly king. You have to understand that this is also true of Mary. Who was Mary in the Jewish community? She was not a princess or anyone of note. She was an average if not lowly woman within the grand scheme of the Jewish social circles, yet God would use her as a catalyst for the most amazing blessing that the Earth would know in Jesus Christ. Let this be a lesson to us that God’s favor does not depend on our status. God can use meager people to bless the world in wonderful ways! In what ways has God lifted you up over the years of your walk? Count them today and praise Him!Fourth… Verse 53. “He has filled up the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.” Mary praises God for feeding the humble hungry. Those who rely on God for their daily bread are better off than those who turn their eyes and hearts away from God and trust in their own wealth. Remember that again, Mary was a meager woman, and not a woman of wealth. She would have been familiar with praying to God for her daily needs, and with praising Him when He met those needs. Oh, and how God fills the hungry!!! He does so not only by providing them with food and water by His graces, but He is also the only one who can truly and eternally satisfy the spiritual hunger that every soul has, whether that soul realizes it or not. God provides for us in so many ways. Can you think of ways that God provides for you? Praise Him!Finally, verses 54 and 55… “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our ancestors.” Mary is praising God again for His mercy here, but also for His faithfulness in keeping the promises He makes…All of them. The sense of the world “help” in this verse is one in which someone takes ahold of someone else, as if they were about to fall. Oh how we continue to fall every day, as each of us is a sinner, but Christ came to take ahold of us all if we would invite his outstretched hand to hold us. God had promised to help Abraham’s descendants throughout time, if they would have Him. And so Christ came to help us all. What a blessing! Christ’s hand saves us from the fatality of our sin, once and for all. Have you accepted that blessing today?ConclusionI’d like to close with a verse of encouraging scripture from the book of Psalms that sums up the Spirit of Extravagant Praise well:Psalm 150:1-2 – Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.Friends, as we process this Christmas season, please don’t forget what Christmas is about. Whether you’re in calm waters, or stormy squalls, remember to praise God, because no matter what, He never leaves your side. Remember to share your praises and blessings with those that you love. Praise Him together. This is surely a great bonding experience for those of us who have Christ in common. I want you to go home today and pray for God to enumerate the ways in which He has blessed your life. As believers, there are a few that we all have in common. Once you’ve counted your blessings, turn them back to God as praises. This is more than a season of extravagant meals and gifts. Make it a season of extravagant praise, like Jeremiah, David, Mary and so many others before you have. Remember, we’re talking about our Savior’s birthday party. We should make it about Him after all, shouldn’t we? Stand with me as we prepare for the invitation song.Invitation ................
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