Luke 1:39-55

1:39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country,

1:40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

1:42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

1:43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

1:44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.

1:45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

1:46 And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,

1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

1:48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

1:49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

1:50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

1:51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

1:52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;

1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.

1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

1:55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

NRSV (ComLec) (c) 1989 NCC

INTRODUCTION:

Dr. Ed Otwell, a good friend and former DS who is spending his first Christmas in Heaven this year, loved to tell about the year one of his granddaughters was helping unpack and set up the Nativity set as the family decorated for Christmas. As she was taking the pieces out of the box she said: "Here's Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus in his car seat." (1)

David Crocker sent me a number of stories this week and there's one that I can't resist telling you. It seems this family had spent the day moving from their farmhouse into their new house in town. Early the next morning, their 3 ½ -year-old ran into the bedroom to wake his parents who were worn out and sleeping late. Mom got up, dressed him and told him to play in the yard and to quit bothering them. Well, about 20 minutes later, he came running back into the bedroom yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, everybody has doorbells . . . and they all work!"

This is the day of surprises. The day when all the doorbells of the world be rung. And every one of us will have our own little visitor. I'm not talking about Santa Claus. I'm talking about the Christ Child.

We open the door and we see a mother pregnant with hope. Pregnant with the hope of both God and the world. And like the Inn Keeper, we will all be put to the test. Will there be room in the Inn of our homes? Will there be a place for the Savior? Will Mary and Joseph be welcome?

This is the eve of the most exciting event the world has ever seen. And it took place in an out of the way little town. In an out of the way, backwater little country occupied by an army that didn't want to be there. The event was so low key that only a few ragtag shepherds, some wise men from the East and a maliciously jealous king even paid any attention.

Yet this is the day that changes everything. It is the opening paragraph of the story of our redemption. It is the opening verse of our hymn of glory. And it's the overture of the symphony of our salvation. Christmas Eve. Those two small words hold so much hope and so many memories. And they all started when Mary said "Yes," to God and sang this beautiful song of faith and joy.

I. MARY REMEMBERED GOD'S PROMISES:

A. The Magnificat. What a beautiful song of faith. Through the voice of a young woman we are reminded that God is merciful and loving. Like Zechariah's song, Mary' Song reminds us that God Keeps God's Promises.

Not only does God Keep God's Promises, but Scripture and this song tell us that Mary remembered those promises. That was why she was able to say "Yes," to God and sing this beautiful song of faith. She remembered the promises.

B. A daily devotional I use had a wonderful story about a six-year-old girl who got a brand new Bible at Sunday school. She proudly walked into the Worship service with the Bible tucked under her arm. She sat down with her family and put the Bible between her and an elderly man sitting in the same pew. The man picked up the Bible and asked the little girl if he could look at it. "You can look at it, but don't open it," warned the child. "You might let God out!" (2)

We would all be better off, the world would be a better place, if like Mary, we let God out and into our hearts and lives so that the promises of God could live on.

So many times, especially at Christmas, we bring out the greatest promise of all, this Child Savior lying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes but we leave Him there. We don't open the door of our hearts to let Him in. We don't unwind the swaddling clothes and let Him out to hold Him in our arms and in our hearts. But Mary did!

II. MARY LIVED HER FAITH:

A. Mary Lived Her Faith. You see, as hard as it was for this young unwed mother, Mary was able to live her faith because when God's promises live in your heart then everything changes. And you can do whatever God calls you to do. When God's promises live in our hearts, we change. Worldly things don't hold the attraction they used to. Even the ridicule of the world doesn't matter any more.

Can you imagine the ridicule Mary must have gotten? Oh, not to her face, except maybe by parents and close relatives. But imagine the stares and the whispers and the gossip behind the backs of Mary and Joseph. Neither one of them could stand up to defend themselves and tell the truth because it sounded like such an outlandish story. Angels and dreams? What would you think if your kids told you an Angel visited them and had chosen them to use to change the world? See what I mean?

But none of that mattered to Mary and Joseph. God had touched their lives in a spectacular way. They promises of God were alive in their hearts. They both knew they were part of something bigger. Something bigger than life, the world and the universe. And when you know you're part of something as big as God and the Salvation of the World, you can do anything.

B. A number of people have sent me a copy of a Christmas story going around right now by Sharon Palmer titled, "The Toothless Grin." It's told in the first person so I've adapted it some to share with you.

The author was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store and decided to look at Barbie dolls for her nieces.

A nicely dressed little girl was excitedly looking through the Barbie dolls as well. The little girl had a roll of money clamped tightly in her little hand. When she came upon a Barbie she liked, she would turn and ask her father if she had enough money to buy it.

He usually said "Yes," but she would keep looking and keep going through their ritual of "do I have enough?" As she was looking, a little boy wandered in across the aisle and started sorting through the Pokemon toys.

He was dressed neatly, but in clothes that were obviously rather worn, and wearing a jacket that was a couple of sizes too small. He too had money in his hand, but it looked to be no more than five dollars or so at the most.

He was with his father as well, and kept picking up the Pokemon video toys. Each time he picked one up and looked at his father, his father shook his head, "No."

The little girl had apparently chosen her Barbie, a beautifully dressed, glamorous doll that would have been the envy of every little girl on the block. However, she stopped and was watching the interchange between the little boy and his father. Rather dejectedly, the boy had given up on the video games and had chosen what looked like a book of stickers instead. He and his father then started walking through another aisle of the store.

The little girl put her Barbie back on the shelf, and ran over to the Pokemon games. She excitedly picked up one that was lying on top of the other toys, and raced toward the check-out, after speaking with her father.

The author picked up her purchases and got in line behind them. Then, much to the little girl's obvious delight, the little boy and his father got in line behind the author.

After the toy was paid for and bagged, the little girl handed it back to the cashier and whispered something in her ear. The cashier smiled and put the package under the counter.

The author paid for her purchases and was rearranging things in her purse when the little boy came up to the cashier. The cashier rang up his purchases and then said, "Congratulations, you are my hundredth customer today, and you win a prize!"

With that, she handed the little boy the Pokemon game, and he could only stare in disbelief. It was, he said, exactly what he had wanted!

The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway during all of this, the little girl smiled the biggest, prettiest, toothless grin on that little girl that anyone had ever seen. Then they walked out the door, and the author followed close behind.

As they walked back to their cars, the father asked his daughter why she had done that. And the little girl replied: "Daddy, didn't Nana and PawPaw want me to buy something that would make me happy?"

Daddy said, "Of course they did, honey."

To which the little girl replied, "Well, I just did!"

With that, she giggled and started skipping toward their car. Apparently, she had decided on the answer to her own question of, "do I have enough?"

Ms. Palmer writes: "I feel very privileged to have witnessed the true spirit of Christmas in that toy store, in the form of a little girl who understands more about the reason for the season than most adults I know! May God bless her and her parents, just as she blessed that little boy and me that day!

Like that little girl, Mary understood what was really happening and the reason for the season. The promises of God lived in her heart and as a result, she was able to live her faith in such a way that it mirrored the Grace of God. And we can too, if we let the promises of God live in our hearts, not just at Christmas, but every day. (3)

CONCLUSION:

Little Nicholas, was in kindergarten and it was an exciting time. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." Mom didn't have the heart to tell him she'd be working the night of the production.

Unwilling to miss the program, Mom spoke with the teacher and was assured there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, Mom filed in 10 minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, several other parents quietly scampered to their seats. As they waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas", Mom didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment — songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when her son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love", Mom was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.

Those in the front row, center stage, held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas", a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy", and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love" .The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, everybody noticed her, a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down. She was totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W". The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little girl's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W". Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and then everyone saw it together.

A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, they understood the reason why we celebrate the holiday. And why even in the chaos, there is a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: CHRIST WAS LOVE. (4)

And, I believe, He still is. As we begin the countdown to the excitement of Christmas morning, the exchange of gifts and family gatherings, let's remember Mary's Song. It was a song of faith and love for the one who would come and change everything through His love. It's was a song that was filled with promises and hope.

Listen for the doorbell. Open your Bible and let God out and into your hearts. And then, like Mary, say "Yes!" to God and sing your song of faith and hope.

1. With fond memories of Dr. Otwell's friendship and ministry.

2. Daily Uplink. http://www.tln.com/uplink/

3. The Toothless Grin by Sharon Palmer

4. Adapted, Candy Chand (c) 1999, from Chicken Soup for the Christian Family Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery and Nancy Mitchell Autio.