Just a Thought! - 24 December 2012

At the time of Jesus, the nation of Israel was expecting a Messiah that would come and depose the Romans and rule the nation with a mighty arm. Mary would have been no different. In the final section of her prayer, Mary continues to look back on God's mighty acts for the nation. Let us look at the final verses of her prayer as see what we can learn as Christmas approaches.

Mary's Reflection

The Greek of the first part of verse 54 paints a picture more beautiful than any of the English translations. The word translated as "given help" (antelabeto) literally means to be taken by the hand and helped up. The picture is of a nation that could not help itself, being lifted up by the mighty, merciful hand of God. All done in accordance with the prophecies and promises spoken to the nation through Abraham and his descendants.

Here Mary is likening her miraculous pregnancy to God's continued merciful acts. The greatest act of grace and mercy that God could do for the nation, He was about to do through Mary. An act that she saw as a fulfilment of prophecy.

Mary's prayer is a remembrance of God's mercy, not only in terms of His actions, but in terms of His character. God by nature is merciful. Though at times we may not see it, He is always acting mercifully towards His people. As she looked back into the history of the nation, Mary remembered God's many acts of mercy towards the nation. From the time of Abraham, to the Maccabees, God had continually acted mercifully towards the nation of Israel, and indeed to the rest of the world as a result. And Mary also recognised that this mercy was going to continue.

Mary's prayer is also a remembrance of God performing according to His promises. God's mercy was not only acted out, but it was also declared, spoken by God since creation (see Genesis 3:15), through the time of the patriarchs, David, and the prophets. Mary understood that what God has spoken about, He will perform. He had in the past in other areas, and He will in the future.

Our Reflection

How often do we look back over our lives and thank God for His acts of mercy towards us? How often have we been in a situation where there was absolutely nothing we could do, and God reached down with His mighty hand and rescued us? Times of despair and depression, hopeless situations that seemed would never end?

How often do we thank God for His fulfilling the promises and prophecies dispersed throughout the Bible? And following from that, how much hope do we have for the fulfilment of the prophecies and promises concerning His second coming? Do we truly trust Him, like Mary did, that He will continue to do what He said He will do?

But more importantly than that, how often do we thank God for His greatest merciful act towards us, our salvation? Through Mary, God provided a way for our sin to be dealt with. He reached down and pulled us out of the darkness, saving us from the judgement that is to come.

This Christmas, let us put aside all the stuff and nonsense that so easily fills the season. Though it is good to be with family, enjoy a meal together, and to give gifts, let us not make them the most important part of the day. Rather let us look back and remember what God has done in our lives. Let us give thanks that the birth of Jesus ultimately lead to His death, because if He had not died, we would still be living in darkness and sin.

Let Christmas be a day we remember God's mercy and character, and His reconciling us to the Father.

Just a Thought!

© 2012

Just a Thought! - 17 December 2012

"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 has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed." (Luke 1:51-53)

Imagine for a moment that you were told that God is going to make His boldest move in centuries and that you were going to have the chief role. How would you feel? How would you handle the situation? Would you take the bull by the horns and say, "Give it to me God. I can handle it" and then charge on ahead with the task He has assigned you? Would you tell everyone about it and rally people behind you to support you?

Mary was in such a position. It was her task to carry God's Son in her womb for nine months, and then to raise Him as her own. Betrothed to be married to a righteous man, and in a town of very little significance, this certainly seemed like a major task for her. It would certainly be life-changing. So how did Mary deal with it? Let's take a look at the next part of her prayer.

Mary's Perspective

In our verses today we clearly see that Mary understood where the power lay. God may have given her an important role in His plan to bring the Messiah into the world, but she recognised that at the end of the day it was God who had the power.

Being a true Jewish girl, Mary would have been known the history of the nation. It was taught through the feasts and sacrifices that they perform and in the synagogues. She was living in a town overlooking the Jezreel Valley that had witnessed many major events in the nation's history. A history filled with many mighty and godly men and women: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Deborah, Ruth, David, Elijah, Nehemiah, to name but a few. Their actions and faith were highly regarded by the nation of Israel, and in some cases, envied by other nations.

But Mary, probably recalling these people and their actions at this point in time, declares that it was God who performed the mighty deeds. That He raised up the humble, which all of these men were, and destroyed the proud, such as Pharaoh, Saul, Nebuchadnezzar and Darius. And that it was God who provided.

Our Perspective

We are living in a society that puffs itself up. That elevates certain men and women above others. Where people are praised for what they have accomplished or achieved in their lives. It is also a society that looks down on people who seem to be of a lower station. Where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. A society that criticises and points fingers at people who do not do things they way they "should" be done. A society where the ordinary person on the street has to struggle to get by in life. Sadly, this attitude is in the church too.

It is so easy for us to think that we do not have any task to perform for God and His Kingdom. That those tasks are for the people "closer" to God or more holy than us. After all, none of us will ever be given the task of being the mother or father of the Messiah, nor will we be chosen to lead a nation out of captivity and through a great river. Those things have already been done and have served their purpose.

However, each of us in our own right has been tasked with some work for the Kingdom, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant it may be. Each of us has been given gifts to use within the Kingdom. It is up to us to just get busy and do what we can.

But we need to remember that the gifts and accomplishments in our lives are not as a result of anything we have done, but rather are from and by God. Nor must we allow ourselves to become proud about it, because God will cut us down to size. Rather we are to do our bit for the Kingdom in submission and humility before the one who has all the power, and when we do, God will use us in ways beyond our imagination. Just like Mary.

Just a Thought!

© 2012

Just a Thought! - 10 December 2012

"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." (Luke 1:49-50)

At Christmas time, we as believers celebrate the first coming of Jesus to earth. It is a time of looking back to the Saviour of mankind crossing the great divide between Heaven and earth to become a man in order to reconcile man to God. Despite what Christmas is meant to be about, there are many who have either forgotten the true meaning, or ignore it.

Mary's prayer in Luke 1 is a great example to us of what the Christmas season is truly about. It is not about gifts, family, parties, or holidays, but rather it is all about God. Let us continue to investigate her prayer.

Mary's Attitude

Imagine it was your responsibility to pick one person who would be responsible to raise the next president of South Africa. Who would you choose? Someone famous maybe, such as a pop star, an actress, a celebrity, a TV presenter? Or maybe someone influential, such as a politician, a lawyer, a teacher, a doctor or a pastor?

Chances are you would not do what God did by choosing Mary. In His plan to provide a Saviour for the world, God starts in an obscure town in Galilee called Nazareth. A town that everyone ignored and even mocked. And he calls a young woman, probably a teenager, who is still a virgin and is engaged to be married to a man would rather cast her out than to raise an illegitimate child. Let's face it, in terms of modern society she was not the ideal woman for the job, but in God's eyes she was.

But why did God choose Mary? There are a number of reasons, but one that is evidenced in her prayer is that she trusted Him with her whole heart. Throughout the Bible, God chose the obscure, unimportant people who feared Him to do His work. He never chose the proud, the powerful, or the rich. If anything God cut those people down to size. But in every major event in the Bible, God used the lowly in order for His mercy, grace and power to be displayed. He did this in almost every generation of Israel from the Exodus to the closing of the Old Testament. And God was doing it again. This time through Mary and her cousin Elizabeth.

We see here in Mary's prayer that she recognised this. Though God had been silent for four hundred years since Malachi, Mary still recognised His hand in her life. She praised Him for the great things he had done in her life, and for all people for generations. She trusted Him and worshipped Him wholeheartedly.

Our Attitude

We are living in a society that does not recognise Christmas for what it is. The person and character of Christ has been taken out of it. It is a season that has been reduced to parties, family gatherings, food, gifts and decorations. There are even many in the church today who do not celebrate Christmas because of it being such a commercial time, and also because historically Jesus was not born on 25 December.

The question that we are faced with then is not whether or not we celebrate Christmas, how even we celebrate it, but rather, what is our attitude? Do we celebrate Christmas with an attitude of praise like Mary did? Do we recognise God's hand of mercy, grace and power in our lives and do we express gratitude to Him for it? Do we express the honour and respect that is due Him? Fearing Him the way the Bible commands us to?

But we also need to remember that this is an attitude that is not only for Christmas, but for our whole lives. We need to fear God at all times and express our gratitude to Him for all that he does to and for us. From the mundane, to the miraculous, God is worthy to be praised.

As Christmas approaches, let us come before God on a daily basis and praise God like Mary did.

Just a Thought!

© 2012

Just a Thought! - 3 December 2012

"And 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 bondslave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed." (Luke 1:46-48)

Throughout Scripture songs have accompanied special events. For example, Moses and the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-2), Deborah and Barak after they defeated the Canaanites (Judges 5), and many more. Even Jesus and His disciples sang songs before He went to the Garden to pray on the eve of His crucifixion. In our text today we see the same thing with Mary, the mother-to-be of Jesus. Her song is a shining example of both praise and submission to God.

As we prepare for Christmas, let us look at this song together and see what we can learn and apply from it.

Structure

The song can be divided into four basic partts:

- Mary's confession of her understanding of who God is and of who she was in comparison to Him (vv46-48),

- A description of what God is like (vv 49-50),

- Mary marvelling at God's intimate concerns for the details of her life (vv51-53),

- A reflection of God's convenant with Abraham (vv54-55).

Mary's "Hallelujah"

Verse 46 is typical Hebrew poetry, where the second line parallels the first. Mary was clearly glorifying God. But why? Was it because God had done something for her that she had asked for? The truth is, God had done the opposite. In Israel, to be pregnant and unmarried was a crime punishable by stoning. This was certainly not something Mary would have wanted. So then why praise God? Simply because she knew that it was in God's plan, that He had specially chosen her to carry His Son. Despite what could potentially happen, she trusted Him and glorified Him for it.

Notice the personal pronouns in these verses. Except in verse 46, Mary does not use the first person pronoun (I/me). Instead she spoke only about God and what He did for her. It is also interesting to note that Mary never referred to God as "You." For her, God was too wonderful and holy for her to refer to Him so casually. He was not a friend, or just another person in her life. He was her God and she honoured Him accordingly.

In verse 48 we see the word "humble." I have heard many a sermon using this passage to teach us to be humble like Mary was. However, in the Greek the emphasis is not on humility, but rather on the fact that God was mindful of her, even though she was such a lowly person with no credentials, unmarried, and still very young. Mary's focus here is all about God and not her humility.

Our "Hallelujah"

Now put yourself in Mary's place. Imagine for a moment an angel came to you with the news of a similar nature about how you are going to fit into God's plan. That it was going to be the hardest thing you would ever do and that it may even cost you your life. How would you respond? Would you sing a song like Mary and give all glory to God, totally ignoring your own comfort and desires? Or would you try and reason your way out of it like Moses, or even run away from it like Jonah? But remember in both cases, God still had His way.

The key here is true, wholehearted, voluntary submission to God's will simply because of who He is - God. It is better to submit ourselves to His will, than to be dragged kicking and screaming and being forced to do it.

This Christmas, let us wholeheartedly submit to God and give Him all the glory and praise, not only for what He has done in our lives, but for who He is and what He is yet to do - like Mary did.

Just a Thought!

© 2012