Luke 1:39-55 Fourth Sunday of Advent Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke Sunday, December 19, 2021 “When the Lord Comes Near, He Lifts Up the Humbled” Who would you choose? How would you choose? When an important task needs to be done, many of us would want to see a track record, some evidence that the person we chose is able to get the task done. Companies looking for a spokesperson perhaps look for fame and beauty and charisma to help get their point across. Who would you choose to lead your team or to lead your company or to lead your military? Why would you choose anyone other than the best of the best? Yet when the Lord was coming near to his people in a most unique and special way, he chose differently. When God was choosing the mother of his holy Son, he didn’t look for track record or experience. He didn’t look for fame or outward beauty or charisma. He didn’t choose riches and power. He didn’t place his Son into the arms of a queen or princess, into a palace or a mansion. He went to a lowly town and a lowly virgin within that town. And he gave her the most amazing honor, the most amazing role, the most amazing job. In her, Mary, the Savior was conceived and from her he would be born. And though this unmarried woman would no doubt be humbled by ridicule and dishonor, though she recognized full well her lowliness before God and people, God lifted her up to be the very mother of God. When the Lord comes near, he lifts up the humble. This is a profound truth. It is the theme of the song that Mary sings in her joy, or perhaps better the poem that she recites. It is the character of the whole event recorded for us in Luke 1:39-55, our Gospel read just minutes ago in our service. We see here that when the Lord was coming near he lifted up with unique blessings two women who were humbled before God. And we ought to see that this profound truth is at work throughout God’s dealing with people and in our very own lives as well. So as we look at this event, and as we apply it to our situations and circumstances, let’s consider how the Lord lifts up the humbled from four particular angles: it’s in his promise, his purpose, his present, and his pledge. Lifting up the humbled is the Lord’s promise to his people. God made a promise to Mary when he sent the angel Gabriel to announce that she would be the mother of Jesus the Savior, even though she was a virgin and would remain so until his birth. And God kept that promise. Not because Mary had passed a specific test or shown an amazing aptitude, but because God had chosen her and filled her with his grace and favor. He led her to believe and to act according to what he said. Elizabeth at the very time of our lesson had also been the beneficiary of a specific promise. She may not have heard the angel, but her husband Zechariah did. The angel announced that this elderly man and his elderly and barren wife would have a child. And that child was, by the time of this event, leaping in her womb when Mary’s greeting reached her relative. Another promise of God was being kept. But both of these women knew that God’s promise to lift up the humbled had been around long before they knew their own roles in his plan. Mary sang about God’s promises that he spoke to the fathers of the people of Israel, to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants. Here were two faithful women who had heard those promises and were waiting for their fulfillment. And God had blessed them with promises that they would play a special role in that fulfillment. And those promises for whose fulfillment they waited went all the way back in time to the newly-created world and to the first man and woman in that world. Those promises go back to the first time that God’s people were humbled by temptation and sin, the first time that they really understood what it meant that death had entered the world and that separation from God was a real thing. From that very moment, God promised to lift up his humbled world through the offspring of a woman. Adam and Eve didn’t need to prove to God that they would try harder or do better. They didn’t need to earn his favor. They received a gracious promise. And in the womb of the Virgin Mary, God was coming near to keep that promise. That was his purpose. It was God’s purpose in making the promise and the purpose of Jesus his Son in keeping that promise, entering the womb of the virgin and taking to himself the flesh of mankind. The
purpose was to lift up the humbled. It was to raise up all who had been humbled by sin, who could not enjoy a close and familiar relationship with God, all over whom death loomed along with the threat of hell. God’s purpose in sending his Son was to lift up the humbled, and so Mary could say, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” The very child in her womb was the one who would take her sins away. Generation after generation would acknowledge how God had blessed Mary by raising her up into this role, generation after generation like us who still read about how God blessed her. But the object of God’s purpose, the object of Jesus’ work was much broader than this one virgin mother, much broader than these two faithful women. This was for the whole world and this was for all time. Mary rightly proclaimed, “His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” And Elizabeth was right to call Mary “the mother of my Lord.” He, Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the Lord and the Savior of the whole world of people who have been humbled by sin and sinfulness. His salvation comes to all who fear him, to all who believe. When the Lord comes near, he lifts up the humbled. It is his promise, and it is his purpose. It is also his present. It is what he is accomplishing right now, at the present time. He is coming near to his people in Word and sacrament. He continues to humble us by showing us our sin. He continues to lift us up by showing us our Savior. In Mary’s words: “He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones. He has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he has sent away empty.” Yes, he has done all of those things in an earthly sense, given physical food to some who are hungry and removing certain rulers from thrones, but even more importantly, God has done these things spiritually. He has crushed the haughty who see no need for a Savior. He has scattered those who in their selfish sinful pride think they need nothing but themselves. Over the last two Sundays we have heard how God humbles both his people and his enemies. The difference between the two is whether they respond to his humbling. His people are led to repentance. His enemies cling to their thrones and their pride and their riches. They will ultimately be humbled. Do not miss this warning. Do not let the focus of Christmas come off of the Christ-child and be directed to your own feelings or opinions or desires or expectations. Do not lose sight of the greatest Christmas present ever given. It didn’t come from you. It didn’t depend on your shopping prowess or your understanding of the recipient. It came from God to you, and he knows exactly what you need. Be humbled by your sin, but be lifted by your Savior. He, the Lord, Jesus comes to you in the waters of baptism and in the feast of Holy Communion and in the whispered assurances that he has filled you with all you need. He has made you rich by forgiving your sin and making heaven your home. The Lord lifts up the humbled. It’s his promise. It’s his purpose. It’s his present, the work he is doing right now, and it is his pledge. I guess we could have used the word promise again, but here’s the point: the final revelation of this truth, this fact, is still ahead of us. We still live in a world where we see the proud and they aren’t scattered. There are hungry ones still searching for food. There are rulers still sitting on thrones and causing misery and doing evil. There are still times when our lives leave us feeling empty. There are times when the weight of our sin feels like it could crush us. There are times when we are humbled only to be humbled some more. Here’s the pledge. The Jesus who once dwelled in the womb of a virgin in order to accomplish your salvation—he’s going to come back. You won’t need an ultrasound to see him. You won’t need a forerunner to point him out. You will see him and you will know who he is and what is happening. He is coming to keep his pledge, and he will humble all his enemies with the harshest blow. And he will raise up, lift up, all who have been humbled by their sin to look to him for grace and mercy. He will lift you up to live at his side. He will lift you up never to be humbled by sin or pain or sorrow ever again. Yes, it is his promise, his purpose, his present, and his pledge to you and to me: When the Lord comes near, he lifts up those he has humbled. Come near to us, Lord Jesus.
The Text: Luke 1:39–55 (EHV) 39In
those days Mary got up and hurried to the hill country, to a town of Judah. 40She entered the home of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41Just as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42She called out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44In fact, just now, as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy! 45Blessed is she who believed, because the promises spoken to her from the Lord will be fulfilled!” 46Then
Mary said,
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, 47and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, 48because he has looked with favor on the humble state of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52He has brought down rulers from their thrones. He has lifted up the lowly. 53He has filled the hungry with good things, but the rich he has sent away empty. 54He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, remembering his mercy, 55as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.