There is, during the season of Christmas as our thoughts settle on Bethlehem’s Babe, a temptation to miss the magnitude of the moment. It is easy for us to imagine the rustic and rural scene. Discovering that there is no room for them in the inn, a poor young man pounds on door after door frantically seeking a place for his young wife to give birth to her first child. Just as the couple is about to give in to despair, a place in on of Bethlehem’s barns is offered to them and there the sounds of labor and the lowing of cattle mix until the newborn babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. It is a tender scene, one that fills us with compassion and sympathy. We of course know who this baby is and what He came to do, but even as the song of the heavenly host echoes off the pages of scripture we still can’t help but focus on the earthiness of the event, and unless we are very careful, we will miss the magnitude of the moment.
Tonight, we conclude our mini-series on the Magnificat. Mary has sung to us about the Lord’s mindfulness, she has sung to us about the Lord’s might, tonight she sings to us about the Lord’s mercy. And if we listen carefully to her song, we will be able to look upon Bethlehem’s Babe and not miss the magnitude of the moment.
For this to happen, we must begin with a proper understanding of mercy. What do you know about mercy? How do you understand it? I know you have heard the word countless times before. We sing hymns about it and pray for it, but what is it? It is often spoken in the context of God’s grace and could not exist without God’s grace, yet it is not a synonym of grace. Indeed, in one respect mercy is the antonym of grace. Grace gives. Mercy withholds. Mercy withholds even though it calculates the cost. Mercy recognizes that every sinful slip, every tiny transgression, every iniquitous impulse is punishable by an eternity in hell. Mercy adds up the sum-total of those sins, transgressions, and iniquities and determines how many eternities in hell a person rightly deserves. In this sense, mercy has a great deal in common with righteousness. Yet, in contrast to righteousness that seeks to punish, mercy withholds. Mercy withholds punishment. Punishment that has been earned; punishment that has been deserved is not inflicted upon the guilty because mercy withholds.
Mercy withholds punishment. To understand from whom punishment is withheld we must proceed to a proper understanding of fear. Mary’s Magnificat tells us that mercy is extended to those who fear the Lord. The fear that Mary sang about is not a trembling with terror kind of fear. That is how those who reject mercy will feel as they stand before the Lord on judgment day but that is not the kind of fear Mary is talking about here. The kind of fear that Mary sang about is a reverent awe that is common among worshipers. This kind of fear fills a person when they look upon Bethlehem’s Babe and see beyond the earthiness of the event. This kind of fear recognizes that the eternal second person of the trinity, the only begotten Son of the Father allowed Himself to be born in a barn and laid in a manger. This kind of fear looks upon the face of Mary’s son and sees the sinner’s sacrifice. This kind of fear understands that all the punishment that mercy withheld from us was put upon this child. Despite the rural and rustic setting, this kind of fear appreciates the magnitude of the moment and causes the head to bow and the knee to bend before Bethlehem’s Babe.
Mercy is extended to those who are filled with this kind of fear. 2000 years ago, mercy was extended to Mary. This Christmas, mercy is being extended to you.
Our Reading for tonight is Luke 1:46-55
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”