I do a lot of work on a computer. Most of what I do is word processing with some use of other programs, mostly for planning and communication. But at the end of the day, the thing I do a lot of involves reading and reflecting and then spending long hours wrestling with the English language trying to get it to behave, trying to get it what is going on up here in my head out here into some sort of understandable collection of words and sentences and paragraphs. And for me, it is a slow process, a kind of three steps forward, two steps back sort of thing. I'll write a sentence or two and then look back over it, often saying it out loud. And in the process, I'll usually be unhappy with what's been written. And we'll go back and delete the whole sentence or sentences, sometimes a whole section and then start it over again. It's often a pain, but I can tell you having a computer certainly helps. I can remember when I got my first computer, it was halfway through my time at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson. And it was a revolutionary thing for me because for the first couple years in seminary, I was writing papers and sermons in the way I had always done it. Unlew sleep paper with a pen or pencil. And using that process, I would typically go through mountain loads of paper as I struggled to say things in the way I thought they needed to be said. And then I got my first computer, an IBM desktop that was big and bulky and had 20 megabytes of memory, imagine that. And really, back in the day, that was a thing of great wonder. I mean, if you told me that one day we would have computers with terabytes of memory and beyond, I would have stared at you in disbelief, and then I would have gone in search of a dictionary because I would have had no idea what you were talking about. Well, anyway, the great thing about the computer, for me at least, was the fact that with the word processor, I could write and rewrite for hours and hours without wasting a single sheet of paper. Without having to start over and re-type whole pages or reprint whole pages just to insert an additional sentence or paragraph here or there. I mean, it was truly revolutionary for me at least. And in particular, it was this ability to completely undo what I had done to back up, to start over by hitting a single key, that was an amazing thing.
And that power, you see, the power to undo things, to go back, to start over, to reverse things. That is a great power. Indeed, it is perhaps one of the greatest of all powers. So much so that it has captured the imagination of many a writer and filmmaker over the years is countless novels and movies have emerged that in one way or another deal with this subject. And in writing about these things and in making their various movies, these artists or books, these artists have astutely appealed to this sentiment that I believe is not very far from many if not most people on this planet. I mean, who among us has never ever wished that they could change something that has happened or is currently happening in the lives of people they know and love or in their own life? Can anybody honestly say they've never wanted to do that?
For some, I expect the change, if they can have it, would be to go back and maybe take up an opportunity that was missed or to simply go in a different direction, to turn right instead of left, or to prevent some personal tragedy, maybe the untimely death of a friend or a family member. Or perhaps it would be to change the outcome of a particular event or to stop some villain or to say something that you wish she had said or to take back some careless words that you've always regretted. When you think about those sorts of things, it becomes clear that the power to undo things, to reverse things, would be a very great power to have. And the passage before us this morning, we will see how this particular power is one that God does have and is one of the distinguishing marks of God's work in the world, one of the very fingerprints of God. That's where we're heading before we go any further. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, please guide us now as we continue to look at your word together. Please take these truths and impress them upon us in our hearts in an indelible way and make us more like your son as a result of this, causes us to live in ways that honor you, and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Let me read to you now from Luke's gospel starting at verse 39. In those days Mary arose and went with haste until the hill country to a town in Judah and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Lisbeth. When Lisbeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb and Lisbeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me, behold when the sound of your greeting came to my ears the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. Now in the verses immediately prior to what I just read to you, we saw how an announcing to Mary about her upcoming role in the birth of Christ, God told her about her relative, Elizabeth, who was also expecting after years of infertility and who was going to play a role in the Lord's coming. And so Mary upon hearing this wants to go and see Elizabeth and congratulate her to comfort her and to marvel with her about being caught up in this great thing that God is about to do. And so she does and when Mary arrives she greets Elizabeth and at the sound of her voice, the baby in Elizabeth's womb who is John the Baptist, leaped excitedly. And in that same moment Elizabeth and presumably her baby as well as verse 15 suggests was filled with the Holy Spirit. And since Elizabeth's baby John cannot yet speak or exclaim his mother in a sense speaks for him, saying to Mary, Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Now that is quite a greeting and a greeting like that demands some sort of response. And so Mary does respond. In fact, she apparently breaks into song or at least into poem as the metered structure of these words would indicate reciting what is now commonly referred to as the Magnificat, which is the verses 46 to 56. And so called because of the words found in the open line as it appears in Latin Magnificat, anima, mea, domino, which means my soul magnifies or glorifies the Lord. Thus we see here one of the first hymns of the New Testament church, which is simply a song in praise of the greatness of God. And as you read carefully through the words of this song, you find that one of the specific things about God that is being praised here is his great reversing power, the way he turns things completely around. Well, as the song begins, Mary quite naturally starts out speaking about the place where this great reversing power of God has been experienced most vividly by her and that is in her own life. And Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant, for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed, for he who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. As we saw in last week's study, for no inherent reason, and certainly not because of her great personal holiness or purity, God simply chose Mary out of any number of other people he might have chosen and he chose her to be the one through whom the human birth of Christ would take place. And Mary recognizes straight away, even if there is a great deal she does not yet know, but Mary recognizes what sort of privilege and honor this will be for her. In spite of the difficult consequences that this would have for her both physically and socially as we saw last week, Mary is able to look past all that and focus on the incomparable blessings that this intrusion of God will bring. I mean to a young girl whose life would certainly have come and gone in utter obscurity, God has taken that life and lifted it up and permanently engraved the words and actions of this young woman upon the conscience and memory of the world. Well, continuing through the song and looking beyond what God was going to do in and through Mary, we see a number of allusions here to other times and places which show among other things this great ability that God has to completely change things around. For instance, there's verse 51, he has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. I read those words and I'm reminded of the events of Genesis 11 for example, the Tower of Babel were a unified but proud people were stopped in their tracks and scattered in humility before God. Then there's verse 52, he's brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. Again, I don't know about you but when I read those words I think of people like Mary of course but also of other Bible figures such as, for instance, Nebuchadnezzar, a proud pagan king who was humbled and reduced to living like an animal, C. Daniel, chapter 4, or a remnant of the opposite, a humble shepherd boy who becomes David, the great king of Israel. And then there's verse 53, he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. Reading that I think of the story of the widow in 05 to whom Elijah was sent and for whom her hunger was exchanged for fullness, C. 1 Kings, chapter 17. And as you continue on reading verses 54 to 55, you see the mention of Abraham and in thinking of him you might recall the story of how Abraham in faithful obedience to God was prepared to offer up his only son as a sacrifice. And why was he willing to do this? Because as the writer of Hebrews later tells us in Hebrews chapter 11, Abraham believed in this power that we're speaking of. He believed in God's great ability to reverse things and in this case specifically in God's ability to raise his son from the dead if that was what the Lord desired. And so in these verses in this song by both statement and illusion, you see among other things the illustration of God's reversing power, his ability to completely turn things around. Now all of this raises a question at least for me it does and it's this of all the things one might praise about God and there's a lot. But of all the attributes or truths about God which could be highlighted why this one you know the reason that stars in the countryside appear brighter than they do in the city is not because they are in fact brighter in the country. But because the black background against which they are set is blacker when you get away from the city and as a result the contrast between light and dark is greater and more extreme out in the country and so the stars stand out all the more. Well in a similar way the power of God is made to stand out all the more sharply by means of contrast that is when things move from one end of the spectrum to the other when the unlikely happens indeed when things are done that allegedly cannot be done or conversely when things are undone that supposedly cannot be undone. And again the more extreme the contrast the more defined and sharp things become a shepherd becomes a king beariness becomes fertility a water-drenched pile of wood suddenly burst into flames at the word of Elijah hunger gives way to contentment bondage is replaced by impossible freedom out of nothing and entire universe is brought into being. What is that that's power it is raw wild limitless power and that is the power of God the power to completely turn things around to move between extremes to do the unlikely what cannot be done that's one thing I want you to see in this song. But not only is there something for you to see there's also something I want you to hear there is to put simply there's an echo here. Now because the evangelical church in our day is typically very poorly grounded in the Old Testament it is not likely that many Christians reading this account today would pick up on the particular Old Testament echo that I believe reverberates throughout this portion. But the echo is very much there in the words and content of this song that strongly resembles an earlier song in the Bible a song sung by another woman in praise of God and for similar reasons that is praising God for his ability to do wondrous things including his ability to completely change things around. This other song that I'm speaking of is Hannah's song as recorded in 1 Samuel chapter 2 verses 1 to 10. Let me read that for you and Hannah prayed and said my heart exalts in the Lord my strength is exalted in the Lord my mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation. There's none holy like the Lord there's none besides you there's no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly let not arrogance come from your mouth for the Lord is a God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed the bows of the mighty are broken but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread but those who were hungry have seized to hunger. The Baron has born seven but she who has many children is for Lord the Lord kills and brings to life he brings down to she old and raises up the Lord makes poor and makes rich he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them set with princes and inherit a seat of honor for the pillars of the earth are the Lord and on them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his faithful ones but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces against them he will thunder in heaven the Lord will judge the ends of the earth and give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed. Now if you're not aware of who Hannah was Hannah was a woman married to a man named Elkana who lived in the closing days of the judges that is after Moses and just before the time of the great king Saul David and Solomon. Hannah had been infertile and thus unable to conceive much like Mary's relative Elizabeth was many years later and yet one day against all hope God blesses Hannah causes her to conceive through a husband something for which she had prayed and wept and hoped for many many years. In fact she wanted a child so badly that she made a pretty radical vow to the Lord if he would grant her a son she would give him to the Lord that is she would dedicate him to engage in a life of full time ministry serving as a priest in the Lord's temple. Now that God had given her a son Hannah kept her vow and presented Samuel to the high priest Eli who then raised him and prepared him for a life of faithful service as a priest. And so pausing for a moment to just reflect upon and review that what you have thus far in Hannah's story is a woman unable to bear children who nevertheless conceives quite miraculously. She's given a son who has been taken as wholly dedicated to the service of God. Is that familiar? File that away for a moment. As you read on in Samuel you see how this boy grows up under the care of Eli the high priest in alongside Eli's own sons who were absolute rat bags the fact which the writer goes out as a way to make sure you know. And he does this I believe in order to point out the huge contrast between the other sons of Eli and Samuel. Indeed at one point commenting on yet another incident of heinous behavior by Eli's sons the writer for Samuel says this sin of the young men was so was very great in the Lord's sight for they were treating the Lord's offering with contempt. But Samuel was ministering before the Lord a boy wearing a linen effort which is a priest's special garment and in setting that his text the way he does the writer Samuel clearly wants his readers to see that there is something different about this boy who has been dedicated to the Lord. While Eli's boys are out creating mischief and doing horrible things Samuel is in the temple ministering among the other priests of God. Well hold that picture in your head and fast forward in your mind to Luke's Gospel where you read in chapter 2 about the boy Jesus in Jerusalem and who at the age of 12 is inadvertently left behind as his parents return home from the Passover feast and where is this missing child to be found? In the temple of course in fact when his parents asked him what's going on he says to them why were you looking for me did you not know that I must be in my father's house? In other words didn't you know I had to be in the temple and as you file that away momentarily there is yet another comparison I want you to see. In Samuel there is a brief summary given a short description of the progress and development of this boy who has been dedicated to the service of the Lord and it reads this way. Now the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man which sounds a whole lot like a verse just a bit further on in Luke which reads and Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. And in favor with God and men. Now if you continue to follow Samuel's career and other important things happen perhaps one of the most important things roles that Samuel plays is to judge the people of God and to be the one who essentially prepares the way for the arrival of their king. It is Samuel who is first involved in the setting a part of Saul who because of his rebellion is rejected by God and is then replaced by David and Samuel also sets apart and is described as a man after God's own heart. Now a lot more could be said I think that with just those few things being highlighted you can hopefully begin to hear the echoes and feel the reverberations between what was going on in the Old Testament with Samuel and what was now taking place in the New Testament with Elizabeth and John and Mary and Jesus because in some ways both John and Jesus are prefigured by the life of Samuel. For example think about John just as Samuel was the last judge who prepared the way for Israel's kings even eventually used by God to set apart and anoint David himself so John was the last prophet who prepared the way for the coming of King Jesus who was David's greatest descendant and he was also set apart by John when he was baptized. At the same time Samuel prefigures Christ himself Christ who was also set apart from birth like Samuel who was also found in the temple from an early age and who grew in stature and favor with God and men and as we've seen and who was also a priest indeed the last and greatest high priest for the people of God. And so it is that Luke's gospel both in this song and by means of a few other references in this same section and by what it says and by what it echoes it manages to bring together a number of realities and thus perfectly sets the stage for what is about to take place namely the greatest ever display of God's reversing power in the life of Jesus and through the miraculous birth of one child. John who will prepare God's people for their coming King and the miraculous birth of the second child Jesus who will be and is in fact the King himself and this reality of Jesus being the greatest demonstration of God's great power to reverse things to do what cannot be done and to undo what has been done but this reality is seeing both in Jesus's life as well as in his death. In the life of Christ as we read the accounts of that we see God completely changing things around over and over again as the hungrier fed the death are made to hear the blind are made to see the lame are made to walk and then in the death and resurrection of Christ we see the very pinnacle of God's reversing power as the wrath of God against sin is replaced by forgiveness as punishment gives way to pardon and death becomes life. And this same power that was historically seen in Christ's life is one that is ongoing and very present for God's people in every age in the cross Christ brought us from death row to full pardon we who were once guilty are now acquitted we deserved hell but will receive heaven instead and the reversals just continue throughout our lives as God changes our hearts of stone into a heart of flesh. Our self indulgence is forged into self sacrifice our indifference is replaced by love our immaturity gives way to maturity as foolishness is supplanted by wisdom as humility takes the place were pride once stood and as weakness becomes strength. And if that is not enough in itself in addition to all of that we have a future before us in which we will see God's reversing power once again on display. The day is coming when all the books will be balanced when every wrong will be made right every tear will be dried when sorrow will be replaced with joy permanently. A kingdom is coming where the last will be first where the meek will inherit the earth where the powerful in this life will be the powerless in the next where the hungry will be full and the poor will be rich and the lowly will be exalted. And where those who in this life were despised and rejected will be comforted and honored and rewarded in the next where those who tried to save their lives will lose it where those who gave up their lives for Jesus's sake will get it all back and so much more. And that well that is something we're singing about I reckon Mary had the right idea after all let's pray.