Christ Gives More Than Santa And Takes More Than The Grinch.
Christmas is spoken of as the season of giving. We get excited about the gifts we are going to receive and those that we are going to give to others. It’s fun to watch your kids, spouse, and friends open up gifts that you bought them. It is also fun to open a thoughtful gift that was purchased by a friend. Gift-giving is a delightful part of this holiday season. We often don’t think about the dark side of this giving frenzy. In all of this giving, there is a sizable amount of loss many people place on themselves in the accumulation of debt.
When we are generous with money we don’t have, we experience the loss of debt. Credit Card companies enable us to be givers, but in turn, they become takers. Did you know that 25% of Americans are still paying off their holiday debt from last year? This generosity and debt connection makes Christmas a season of giving and taking. This may surprise you to hear but the greatest giver and taker of Christmas is the same person. Christ is the greatest giver and taker. Mary made this point about her son, Jesus, in the second part of her song in Luke 1:46-55.
Big Idea: Christ gives more than Santa and takes more than the Grinch.
It is very easy to focus on the generosity of Christ and not the justice of Christ. To be fair to the scriptures, we need to have a balanced view of Jesus. A view that highlights his compassion and love, but also is honest about his justice and righteousness. Mary had a balanced view of the work that God was going to accomplish through her son, Jesus. She spoke of the future gifts that God was going to bestow on his people through her son. The gifts she spoke of are better than Santa could ever deliver. On the other hand, she spoke of what her son would take away from those who maintained their rebellion against God. He takes more than the Grinch could ever steal. Let’s explore together how Mary poetically expressed her balanced view of her son’s benevolence and justice.
Luke 1:46-55, “46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
Framing the Future: Mary's Vision beyond Immediate Events
Before we look into what Christ gives and takes away according to Mary, we need to understand Mary’s concept of time in this song and the recipients she was speaking of. First, the verbs in 51 to 55 are translated with a past tense. This may lead us to believe that they are referencing actions that God has done before this point in Israel’s history. That is not the best way to understand these verbs. In both Greek and Hebrew, one could speak of future events in a “past” tense. This is often referred to as the “prophetic perfect.” The past tense was meant to emphasize the certainty of the events spoken of. Even though these events were yet to have happened they were presented as inevitable. Mary wanted those who heard or read her words to view the future events she was speaking of with the same level of confidence that they had in knowing that a past event had occurred. It’s similar to when we say that the Raiders’ season “is over” before it’s actually over.
Saying “they’re done” before they are done with the season is still accurate. Mary has already indicated in verse 48 that she was thinking of the future when she mentioned that many would call her blessed. Verse 51-55 unpacks the future implications of the work that God was doing in allowing her to give birth to the promised messiah.
Humble Hearts and Empty Hands: Sorting Out Blessings and Consequences
Second, we need to understand the objects or recipients of the many verbs that Mary used to describe the future work of the Messiah. Mary listed the proud, the mighty, those of humble estate, the hungry, the rich, and God’s servant Israel. All of these are portrayed as experiencing God’s generosity or justice. Christ is either giving them something or taking something away.
We should understand Mary as describing two groups here and not six. The group that will receive great gifts is the humble and hungry servants of God. They will be exalted, filled, and helped. The group that will experience loss is the proud and mighty rich. They will be scattered, brought down, and sent away empty. Luke does not portray God as opposed to the rich, simply because they are rich, or favorable to the poor, simply because they are poor. Luke often speaks of the pride the rich are prone to and the humility frequently exhibited by the poor. These descriptions are not always true, but often true. We must understand that the rich and poor in this passage are described with other characteristics as well and that the descriptions of “rich” and “poor” are not the primary adjectives for these two groups.
We can zoom out from this passage and see that Luke’s primary contrast is between the proud and the humble.
Luke 18:9-14, “9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get. ’13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner! ’14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
This story from Jesus illustrates how God, as Mary said in 1:52, exalts the humble. In 1:47, Mary confessed that she was a sinner by referring to God as her “Savior.” This reflects the posture of the tax collector in 18:13. The humble recognize their need for salvation and plead for God’s mercy. The proud, who are blinded by their riches, if they have them, are unaware of their need, either because of their indifference or their self- righteousness. The humble rejoice at the announcement of a Savior. The proud resent such an announcement. The humble and the proud approach God differently and God responds to them differently. Mary spoke of a future reversal of fortunes for the humble and the proud brought about by the work of God in the messiah, her son.
Seeds of Judgment and Grace: Unpacking the Implications of Mary's Prophetic Reversal
Mary described a reversal of fortunes with reference to position and power. The proud and mighty rich are scattered, brought down from their thrones, and sent away empty. The humble and hungry servants are exalted, filled, and helped. This great reversal of fortunes is similar to what we read of in Luke 19, where Luke records Jesus’ story of the “ten minas.” In that story, the faithful servants are rewarded with the privilege of ruling over cities, whereas the unfaithful servant loses what was entrusted to him and experiences the pain of judgment. Jesus elsewhere speaks of prosperity and positions of authority being given out to the faithful at the final judgment as a reward. An example of this is in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. The master in that story tells the faithful servant, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23). The faithful servant is rewarded with an increase of joy and authority.
Christ Gives and Takes: Unveiling the Rewards and Consequences in Mary's Prophetic Song
I don’t know all the details of what the joy and authority of the New Heavens and Earth will look like for the faithful followers of Christ. I do know it beats the best Christmas gift you could ever receive in this life. The exaltation of God is better than the generosity of man. Mary also spoke of the Messiah filling the hungry. This is a description that goes beyond the appetite of our stomachs. The hunger of our souls will be satisfied. The eternal state will be a place of wholistic and eternal satisfaction. Imagine never having unmet expectations. The gifts of God at the final judgment will fulfill your hunger forever. That sounds better than any prime rib or ham you have ever eaten on Christmas. Christ gives more than Santa.
Christ also takes more than the Grinch. The act of “scattering” is frequently used to describe God’s defeat of his enemies in battle. Mary spoke of God overcoming the forces that are set against him. He also takes offensive action against their authority. He dethrones them. They lose their positions of power. Lastly, Mary described the proud and mighty rich experiencing a loss of prosperity, they are sent away “empty.” Their appetites are never satisfied and they are doomed to an eternal state of despair and want. This is similar to the great reversal in the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. The proud rich man in that story begs to have his thirst quenched while in hell and his request is denied. This loss is greater than the Grinch or any credit card company can inflict. Christ inflicts this consequence. He is the subject of these verbs. He scatters, brings down, and sends away empty. The proud and mighty rich are not victims of unfortunate circumstances but rather recipients of the active opposition of Christ. He takes. Their loss is due to his judgment.
Christ gives more than Santa and takes more than the Grinch.
Gifts are great and credit card statements can be frightening, but both of these pale in comparison to the work of Christ, which culminates in the final judgment. He grants positions of responsibility in his kingdom and the enjoyment of eternal blessings in the presence of God. He takes away power from those who have abused it and banishes the unrepentant to the despair of eternal loss.
Our greatest concern this season should not be if we are on Santa’s naughty or nice list, but rather if we are on the right side of Christ or not. Thankfully, getting on the right side of Christ is not like getting on Santa’s list. We don’t merit the salvation of Christ. We receive it by faith. It is a gift and not a reward. A reward is something you work for. A gift is something someone else worked for. My prayer is that you will receive the gift of Christ’s salvation this holiday season if you haven’t already. To receive this gift you need to admit that you are a sinner, believe that Christ died and rose again for the forgiveness of your sins, and confess him as the Lord of your life.
Hope Amidst Hardship: A Scriptural Blessing for Those Walking the Long Road of Faith
If you have already decided to follow Christ, I encourage you to see that the journey of faith is a long one and that the works that Mary spoke of her son performing are only fully realized in the future. The great reversal is far away from us and we have to hold on until we get there. Many faithful followers will die in poverty, weakness, and under the oppression of the proud. Holding onto hope during times of hardship is hard. I want to end our message time a little differently than normal. I want to pray a scriptural blessing over you this morning. When I was writing this message, I was thinking about all the difficult things many of you may be going through. I felt that pushing you to be more hopeful during the challenges you are facing would feel insensitive and uncaring. Hope in the scriptures is not simply something we are called to produce on our own. Hope is a work of the Holy Spirit. So, I want to pray a scripture over you and ask the Lord to produce hope in your heart. The scripture I want to pray over you is found in Romans 15.
Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
May God fill your hearts with joy and peace. May you rejoice in the unhindered intimacy you have with God through the peace that was won for you on the cross. May you carry on through the hills and valleys of this life. And when you are unable, may you be certain that he will carry you. Amen.
