Word of Salvation – Vol. 14 No.45 – November 1968
The Lord At Work At Christmas
Sermon by Rev. A. H. Schippers, M.Th. on Luke 1:51-53
SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 1:46-56
PSALTER HYMNAL: 62:1,5; 299:1,2; 332; 331:3,5; 339:1
Only a few more weeks to go and it will be Christmas again. It will be there as it was last year and the year before; as it has always been: Christmas songs, and Christmas trees, and on Boxing Day (if we can wait that long), gifts and presents.
"Peace on earth" is the tune you can hear in cinemas, in theatres, in dance-halls, in churches of every type and denomination. We forget for a while all the misery and trouble in the world and also if possible the trouble and worries in our own lives and we speak and talk about that little child of Bethlehem, or at least about some love and understanding between people.
It sounds a bit ridiculous, a bit unreal, all those Christmas speeches and addresses that call upon us to live in peace with each other, whereas at the same moment the world is involved in a tremendous armaments race, and will go on with that after Christmas just as before Christmas.
Men strive hard to obtain world-hegemony. And we shiver when we think of what war really means. Several times we have been on the brink of a new war. We have experienced nervousness and tenseness and we have felt the relief when the imminent danger was over – for the time being anyhow.
And so the world goes on and on, day after day, unchanged – although it was Christmas last year, and although we are about to celebrate the birth of the Saviour of the world again this year.
The world seems never to forget Christmas. But instead of changing itself in the light of Christmas, the world has changed Christmas, so that it is still acceptable for modern life.
Only by forgetting that we are bound to die and to appear before the judgment seat of the Lord can we have some fun in our lives. Only by forgetting the end of the world in which we live can we have our Christmas entertainment. Only by forgetting that we live in a very dangerous world-situation can we have our "peaceful" days.
But, in spite of everything around Christmas, the most essential part of modern life is FEAR!
And where there is no fear, life has lost its meaning, anyhow. Therefore, gladness and joy is something quite different from the convulsive laughter of this world today.
"Peace on earth" is the tune of this world, but it has to close its eyes first. Otherwise it could not see anything else than misery and uncertainty, fear and dread, distrust and abuse, misuse of power and strength for our own benefit only.
Our world does not know what the peace of Christmas really is. We do not expect the world to know this, and we do not blame it for its ignorance. The bible clearly says that spiritual things can be understood only by spiritual people.
But is it only the world outside the church that does not know about the real meaning of Christmas?
When we listen in these days to the official voice of many churches, we are astonished to hear the message which the churches bring on Christmas day (celebrating the birth of the world-SAVIOUR!) to a world in dire need.
Do the churches really have a message today, or are they trying to keep up with the world in friendly, but superficial speeches about men who must be willing to live in peace and quiet with their neighbours?
When we look at the things that happen in these days, is it still possible to live with great joy in our hearts?
Must not WE, too, close our eyes to reality, and sing of peace in HEAVEN? Peace on EARTH is not a reality at all!
The gospel of the birth of Jesus Christ says clearly that the peace on Christmas day is for people on EARTH. And the last word is not the word of fear and anxiety, but of the child of Bethlehem.
On this Sunday of Advent we will think about Mary's song, in which she praises the work the Lord is doing in Jesus Christ.
Is DOING in Jesus Christ. One of the basic problems today is: that we are not aware any more that the Lord is really doing something in Jesus Christ. We usually look at what people do – and that is not too encouraging, to be sure!
Mary sings of the power of the LORD'S arm.
This power of the Lord reveals itself in a twofold way:
a. it is a power to destruction
b. it is a power to fulfilment.
Mary was one of those who waited for the consolation of Israel. It was characteristic of these people that they lived so close to the Word of God. They were the faithful attendants of the services, permeated with the speech of prophets and psalmists.
We can see this in Mary's song, too. She knows the Word of the Lord thoroughly, and she does not create a new language of her own. She is not looking for words, and yet, the old words of the Old Testament sound completely new.
The words and thoughts of her song of praise can be found in many places in the Old Testament, especially Psalm 113 and the song of Hannah in 1Samuel 3, but the joy of her heart gives new colour and new life to these old words.
Mary had listened to the old songs of Israel. And now these old songs come to life again, because she sees the God of the Old Testament at WORK in her very own day.
The life of believers is not only spiritual, it is also biblical! And this biblical spirituality does not mean that we have a sound dogmatics and confessions of a truly biblical character somewhere around us, but that the words of GOD resound in our lives.
Christian life is living with the bible, so that the Word of God becomes really a living Word.
The dominating tendency of Mary's song is: the greatness of the Lord! She is but a small and humble creature, but HE is the great and majestic God of Israel.
Therefore it sings in her heart: My spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour. Listen well: her SPIRIT has rejoiced. That is the DEPTH of her HEART, in her innermost life she is rejoicing in God her Saviour.
She did not whip herself up to a state of ecstasy through her singing, as we find it in our modern days. No; it was because she was so truly happy that she HAD to sing of her God.
Not "my lips" (oh yes, her lips too praise the Lord), but the first and main thing is that her SPIRIT, her HEART is full of joy in the Lord. And so Mary becomes a prophetess, by the grace of her Saviour.
A prophetess. Her words are not limited to what she feels in her heart. There is far more in her song that just her own feelings. There is revelation of the Lord God Himself. Mary says: "He has shown strength with His arm", and so on.
When Mary explains in greater detail what that power of the Lord's arm is, she paints in bright and vivid colours the history of mankind. There are two contrasts in that world; contrasts which are so deep that they exclude each other.
There is no in-between; there is no third possibility, no way out, no middle-of-the-road.
On the one side there are the humble and the hungry people; on the other side the proud and powerful and rich.
The latter group of people will be destroyed, their thoughts will be confused, thrones will fall down, riches will vanish. Nothing will remain of these things or of these persons. But the first-named group of people the hungry, and the humble, and the poor they will be fed and exalted by the Lord.
We must be careful, however not to put these two categories in the wrong light. Mary was one "of low degree", as the bible tells us. Well then, it would be understandable to think of Mary singing her song of class-struggle, with the victory going to the socially under-privileged – and to see this song as an early example of a socialistic gospel in the midst of a capitalistic society. But Mary herself gives an entirely different explanation. She says in vs.50, "And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation.' And so the deepest contrast in this world comes to the fore: those who FEAR the Lord, and those who DO NOT.
And over THESE two groups of people the Lord extends His powerful arm.
HE has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. The PROUD: they are the tower-builders who, as we can read in Genesis 11, erect the visible tower as a symbol of the invisible tower of their high thoughts, their proud thinking: to be independent of the Lord.
The Lord had said after the flood: the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.
And therefore, out of such a heart there arises no psalm of PRAISE of THE LORD, the SAVIOUR.
If these people sing, they sing their own praise and glory. They boast of themselves their achievements, their successes, and their freedom.
But Christmas says: He who sits in heaven shall LAUGH. He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
When Mary sees the Lord bringing down the proud, the rich, the powerful, then there is a song in her heart, a song of praise.
HOW can Mary SING, when so many people will be destroyed? These proud, rich and powerful people were trying to push the LORD out of their lives. And the Lord was the only hope for people like Mary. And now she sees the Lord coming to HER AID. But this coming of the Lord is right through all those who obstruct His Kingdom and His Lordship. Instead of being pushed aside, the Lord pushes all these obstacles aside – and Mary sees them falling, right and left.
That is why the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the WORLD, is such a SERIOUS affair. Many will be pushed aside and will have to be pushed aside, because they are hindrances to God's help and salvation.
The Lord is DOING something in Bethlehem and in our modern world.
Oh, we can sing devoutly about a child who was born in a stable, whose name was "Immanuel" (the Lord with us); but how can we be sure that the Lord is really WITH US, and not AGAINST us? Can we stand beside Mary and sing of the wonderful things that the Lord has done for us; that He has done the seemingly impossible?
What a dreadful thing that Christ was born in Bethlehem. Dreadful, if we do not accept Him as the Saviour. This means: if we do not confess that we are hopeless and helpless without Him, and for that reason we NEED Him.
There is destruction around the birth of the Saviour, because the Saviour wants to be Lord, the ONLY Lord! Therefore He will destroy everything and everybody that does not want to bow before Him!
But what a comfort and consolation for the poor, the humble and the hungry! Whereas the world teaches that MONEY and ABILITIES and POWER open the whole world for you, the bible tells us that JESUS CHRIST opens a truly new world for those who are hungry and poor and humble.
Christ really turns everything upside down.
These hungry and poor and humble people are not blessed just because they are hungry and poor and humble, but because they WAIT for Israel's consolation.
Hunger and poverty are not in themselves the guarantee of God's blessing. Just as riches and power are not in themselves the reason why these people will be destroyed. Amidst these humble and poor people there is a longing for GOD'S salvation. The Lord had promised to help them. Therefore they wait for Him – for they TRUST His promises!
Mary KNEW that the Lord was powerful and mighty, but, although she trusted in the Lord, it was not THIS that made her so happy. Knowing that the Lord is powerful and able to save us cannot make US happy today. This knowledge of the Lord can make us HOPEful, as it did Mary, but not JOYful. Mary became JOYful when she saw that she had not HOPED for the Lord in vain. As soon as she saw the LORD EXERCISING His power, she started to sing and to be happy. The Lord AT WORK! This is our joy!
And what a mighty work He is doing!!
He is the SAVIOUR!
The birth of Jesus is not just a pleasant break for Mary in the daily monotony of her everyday life! Not at all. This birth is the fulfilment of God's promises to His people.
What does it mean to have a Saviour? Does this mean that we do not have to be afraid anymore? That we will go to heaven, and that in the day of judgment we will enter into eternal life and happiness? Yes, this is all included in it. But there is more!
Mary sings of a FULL AND EXALTED life already, here and now! What a Saviour that is!
Do we not hear every day that life is so EMPTY, so MEANING-less; that it is so DOWNGRADED?
Well, isn't this SAVIOUR who FILLS life and EXALTS life the right Saviour for our modern age, too?
No, Mary's song is not outdated as far as the world is concerned!
So we may not only bring this message of the FILLING and EXALTING Christ to the world of today, but we OURSELVES may also sing of this wonderful doing of the Lord.
Believing in the Lord Jesus is more than sticking to some principles and some convictions. It means: to have a FULL life, and to live at a HIGH LEVEL, because Christ has done it!
Is this our joy today? Is this the joy of the coming Christmas days?
Are we happy that we see the LORD at work in our lives, CHANGING those lives of ours? Is that why we are so happy?
There are many powers in our lives and around us that drag us down and away from the Lord. There are many wrong thoughts and words and deeds in our lives (think of Romans 7 and 8), and when we look at ourselves we despair of any betterment. But Christ is born, the Saviour!
And HOW HE COMES TO US...!
All the opposing powers and weaknesses; all our riches and our poverty; all our pride and humbleness everything is pushed aside by this Saviour as He comes to us with outstretched arms! And when He embraces us our lives OVERFLOW with goodness and mercy – and we sing of our SAVIOUR; yes, of OUR Saviour.
Amen.