“SONGS AND PRAYERS OF HOPE” Luke 1-2

4th Sunday of Advent
1. last week I talked about our storied existence. We live in stories. AND the Bible is a story book – grand narrative – composed of 5 chapters:
* creation (Gen 1-2)
* fall (Gen 3-11)
* Israel (Gen – Malachi)
--> advent / Christmas
* Jesus (Matt – John)
* Church (Acts – Rev)

2. God has a sovereign & saving plan for all of creation. This salvation is inaugurated by Jesus himself in his life death resurrection & ascension. This salvation is implemented through the Spirit-led life of the church. Jesus is the main character & salvation is the main theme of the story.

3. today I want to add song to story. We write & sing songs to mark important events in our lives. 2 examples:
* when the Bonneville Dam was being built in the late 1930s, the Bonneville Power Administration hired Woody Guthrie to write songs to promote the dam. In 30 days he wrote 26 songs & was paid $270. Out of that came Roll On Columbia, Roll On which was adopted as the Washington State Folk song
* after 9/11 Bruce Springsteen recorded The Rising, deeply emotive story songs about 9/11 that have helped thousands of people work through their grief

4. Our faith is not only communicated in & through story. It is sung through song. Ours is a singing story, a singing faith. The Christian Church is meant to be a worshipping community.

5. and this is no better illustrated than at Christmas time – we love singing Christmas hymns that tell the Christmas story.

Luke’s songs
1. in telling the story of Jesus Luke includes 4 songs that express the story significance of Jesus’ birth.

2. these are 4 songs of hope. Historically they have been identified in the church by the Latin words that begin each song:
* magnificat (1:46-55): Mary’s song
* benedictus (1:68-79): Zechariah’s song
* gloria in excelesis (2:14): shepherd’s song
* nunc dimittis (2:29-32): Simeon’s song

Magnificat – 1:46-55
1. the teenage virgin Mary goes to tell Elizabeth she is pregnant. And the elderly, barren, post-menopausal, pregnant Elizabeth hits her with Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me. Mary’s heart bursts with song & prayer – the Magnificat.

2. revolution is on the horizon. The proud, the powerful & the rich are reduced to size. And God, the downtrodden & the deprived are lifted up. In Jesus’ words, the first shall be last & the last shall be first. This is a picture of Jesus’ upside-down kingdom. God is on the move in Jesus.

3. this is a song to be sung. Mary’s soul glorifies the Lord. Her spirit rejoices in God her Savior. More on this next week in my Christmas Sunday message.
4. but notice this re: worship – 2 people meeting in a home out in the countryside. Is your home a place of worship?

Benedictus – 1:68-79
1. Elizabeth’s priest husband Zechariah, speechless since the day the angel Gabriel announced to him the conception of John, gets his voice back on the day his son is named & circumcised. The first thing he does is pray this song of praise!

2. read 67-75. Zechariah bursts into praise – praise be to the Lord. This song gathers the revelation of God to Abraham, David & all the holy prophets. It places Zechariah’s 8-day old son in their company.

3. read 76-79. this 8-day old infant is a prophet in the making. He is going to prepare the way for the Messiah. Salvation & forgiveness of sin will grace John’s lips. Light will shine in the darkness & death. Peace is coming. The tender mercies of God are being unleashed.

4. praise be to the Lord. When we hear of God’s tender mercies, his salvation, his forgiveness, his peace we praise God!

5. this song, these songs, are God-centered. They are about God & sung to God. They include humans but humans are not the focus. True worship has God in its sights. The more God is the focus of our worship, the more we can expect to experience his presence & glory.

6. worship is all about God & what God is doing.

Gloria – 2:14
1. the setting is a field near Bethlehem. It is night. Shepherds are tending their sheep. This is their work place. Jesus has just been born in a stable not far away. History has just been split in two. God has entered our space-time continuum in a little baby.

2. hinge-joint between chapter 3 / Israel & chapter 4 / Jesus.

3. suddenly the shepherds are flooded with light. An angel appears. Jesus’ birth is announced.

4. and then something even more incredible occurs. A great choir of angels appears. They are praising God. Can you imagine what a choir of angels praising God sounds like?

5. I’ve done 5 funerals this fall. I know of 5 people who now know the sound of a heavenly choir:
* Maureen Guthner’s sister
* Nancy Pickett’s mother-in-law
* Renae Roskott
* Tom Sawyer
* Bob Cryder
And others as well –
* Carol Beck’s mother
* Steve Thoroughman’s mother
* Kathe Cutsforth’s mother

7. these angels are singing their lungs out – glory to God in the highest and on earth peace on those whom his favor rests. What a picture of worship!

8. U2 often sings a song entitled Gloria at their concerts. This song comes from this verse –
I try to sing this song
I try to stand up
But I can’t find my feet
I try, I try to speak up
But only in you I’m complete
Gloria, in Te Domine
Gloria, exultate

Oh Lord, loosen my lips
I try to sing this song.

9. the praise of these angels joins what originates in heaven with what takes place on earth.

10. This is what worship is meant to be – a bridge activity. The joining of heaven & earth, God & humanity. The realities of heaven inform our praises on earth & our earthly realties are carried up to the heavenly realms in worship. On earth as it is in heaven, in prayer & in worship.

11. for the shepherds this worship scene happens at work. In the marketplace. Not at church. Do you expect God to show up at your job? You should. Can your work-place become a place of worship? It can!

Nunc dimittis – 2:29-32
1. read 2:27. Jesus’ parents bring him to the temple 40 days after his birth. According to the Law of Moses at this time a purification rite was held for the birth mother.

2. they are met by Simeon, an obscure senior citizen who is well-acquainted with the Holy Spirit (2:25-27). Simeon takes the baby Jesus in his arms & erupts with a song of praise, a song of completion. What he has been praying for his whole life is now present in this infant. He is ready to die!

3. if you’ve been around here long you know that Frederick Buechner is one of my favorite writers. I’ve told the family for years that I want to meet him before I die. I got the chance to meet him at Calvin College, April 2004. As he signed one of my Buechner books I told him that I was now ready to die, having met him. He quickly looked up with a panicky smile on his face & said something like – please not here, you don’t have to die!

4. what a lesson in visionary, expectant prayer. In patience & waiting. In not giving up but living in hope between promise & fulfillment. God can be trusted.

5. the theme of Simeon’s song? Salvation in Christ will to come to all people – Gentiles & Israel. I’m now back to our CAC barrenness from last week – do we have any new Christ-followers among us? where are they?

6. salvation-wise, I see our empty wombs. I encounter our quiet nursery. Each of these 4 songs celebrating Christ’s birth point to the reason for his birth – he’s a Savior. Where are the people he is saving?

7. there’s a repentance issue here. There’s a brokenness issue here. There’s a passion issue here. There’s a love-of-God-for-lost-people issue here that we must deal address.

8. mark Sunday night, 1/22/06 on your calendars. We’re going to gather together as a church that evening. We’re going to seek to make things right with God.

9. In the baby Jesus Simeon’s eyes have peered down on salvation. Salvation for all people. A light of revelation to the Gentiles & for glory to your people Israel. God intends to extend his tender mercies to all. Are we willing to join in? To help him?

Wrap-up
1. we began with Mary – we end with Simeon. The 1st & last worshippers in the story. They complement one another. Mary the young girl starting out in submission to God’s word as it comes by the Holy Spirit. Simeon the old man ending in submission to God’s word as it comes by the Holy Spirit.

2. a good place to end – in submission before God.