Mary’s Song and the Upside-Down Kingdom

For nearly fourteen hundred years, the smartest people in the world believed something that turned out to be completely upside down. Aristotle taught it. Ptolemy mapped it. Generations assumed it without question.

They believed the universe revolved around the Earth. That the sun moved for us. The stars circled us. And the heavens themselves were arranged around where we stood.

And it made sense. Because when you wake up in the morning, it feels like the ground is still and everything else is moving. It feels like you are at the center. But then in 1543, a quiet book was published by a Polish mathematician named Copernicus. And in it, he said something deeply unsettling. “We are not the center.” “We never were.” The resistance that erupted to that idea was not really scientific. It was personal. And it was personal, because human pride hates losing the center.

But in Luke chapter 1, we encounter that same unsettling truth again. Only this time, it does not come through a telescope It comes through a song.

What Copernicus did to the sky, Mary’s song does to the human heart. Because it tells us that God is not a planet rotating around our needs. We are the ones rotating around Him. And once our hearts align with that center, our whole world is reordered.

Because everything that looked "right side up" to our pride suddenly flips. That is why the proud are brought low. They have lost their center. And that is why the lowly are lifted. They have found their King

Everything flips when we realize that God is the Sun, and His grace is the only gravity that matters. But…

To embrace Christ’s upside-down kingdom, we must:

1. Receive Grace (39-49)
2. Relinquish Pride (50-53)
3. Rest in His Promise (54-55)

1. Receive Grace (39-49)

Before Mary ever sings, a lot has already happened.

The angel Gabriel appears to her. Not to a queen. Not to a priest. But to a young, poor girl from Nazareth.

He tells her she will conceive and bear a Son. That this Son will be great. That He will sit on the throne of David. And that His kingdom will have no end.

Mary responds with one honest question. “How can this be?” because she was a virgin.

And her response is a remarkable act of faith. She doesn’t argue, She doesn’t demand proof. She simply says: “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be according to your word.”

That sentence is not naïve. It is costly. Mary knows exactly what this will look like. Because in her world, good girls do not come home pregnant.

Her obedience will not raise her to the status of queen It will lower it to peasant. It will cost: her reputation, her security, and possibly her future.

Can you imagine this? Mary hearing that her son will save the world, but wondering how that’s possible when she’s just a poor, uneducated girl, who will very soon become a social outcast. And yet, she complies.

The Angel tells Mary that her relative Elizabeth, who is much too old to have children, is now pregnant. Which serves as a sign to strengthen Mary’s faith.

So after hearing this, Mary then takes a 3 day journey to visit Elizabeth, And it is there where the song erupts, after she is received, blessed, and her calling is confirmed,

In verse 41, the text tells us that when Mary entered the house and greeted Elizabeth, the child, who is John the Baptist, leaped in her womb for joy. Elizabeth is then filled with the Holy Spirit, and then prophecies saying:

… “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? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Luke 1:42-44 ESV

Do you see that? I didn’t… Even from the womb, John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus is already doing his job! Which is to point people to the Christ, which is exactly what Gabriel predicted he would do back in verse 16.

And notice how Elizabeth responds: She doesn’t center everything around herself, she doesn’t compare callings. Instead, she is completely astonished saying: “Why is this privilege granted to me?”

Do you hear the humility in that question? Because you’re supposed to. See, Elizabeth is amazed that she gets to be involved at all. And that’s only because she understands that God doesn’t rotate around her, She rotates around Him!

God does not owe her anything. And yet God has graciously included her. Remarkable. And understanding this truth is the secret to humility and living in right-side up in humility, and not right-side down in pride.

And it is the same humility her son John will one day express when he says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Do you feel the peace in this passage? it’s there because everyone knows their place. John points to Christ. Elizabeth carries John and rejoices in Christ. Mary carries Christ. No rivalry, No insecurity, No complaints of unfairness. Just joy at being used by God in any way at all.

In verse 45, Elizabeth says:

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Luke 1:45 ESV

This verse is here because it’s a big part of Luke’s message. Blessed is the one WHO BELIEVES the Lord. That’s His point. And by God’s grace both of these women believed by faith that God would turn the world upside-down through the birth of Jesus His son.

In response to this, Mary then, filled with the Holy Spirit of God bursts into song:

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.

Luke 1:46-49 ESV

That word magnifies does not mean Mary is making God bigger. It means she is putting Him back where He belongs. At the center. Mary’s soul does not magnify herself. It does not magnify her courage. It does not magnify her obedience. It magnifies the Lord HER Savior.

Mary sings this because she knows she needs a Savior. She knows her lowliness and her greatest need. Yes, “all generations will and have called her blessed,” But not because she’s sinless, But because she trusted in the sinless Savior she bore, who would accomplish great things for her on the cross he bore.

And then Mary ends this section, saying: “And holy is His name.”

Mary is saying: “Look at what my Holy God has graciously done for a sinner like me?!”

Mary’s response should convict us church. Not because she is morally superior to us. But because she understands grace better than we often do. She knows who God is. She knows who she is. And she knows that God owes her nothing.

That is why she is grateful. Even though she facing a life as a social outcast, who will be the object of whispers, slander, and lies.

And yet, she doesn’t complain, she doesn’t try to get God to orbit around her, she is thankful.

And yet, how quickly are we the opposite? How quickly do we complain when we are stuck doing the menial ministry tasks that no else signed up for? How quickly do we grumble when service is unseen? And how quickly do we resent the assignments God gives that do not come with applause and instead come with hardship?

But not Elizabeth, and not Mary. Both of these godly women found themselves blessed to be used by the Lord, who through their humble faith received God’s grace that would accomplish great things, which includes the bringing the proud low.

To embrace Christ’s upside-down kingdom, we must:

2. Relinquish Pride (50-53)

Mary’s song shifts in verse 50. Up to now, she has been singing about what God has done for her. Now she sings about what God does to the world. And the first thing she addresses is pride.

And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

Luke 1:50-53 ESV

Mary is recounting the story of God, Who gives mercy to those who fear Him. From generations past, to generations in the future. God humbles the proud but raises up the humbled who fear Him.

This isn’t the idea of sheer terror, it’s fearful delight and reverent submission, that says, as Mary did in verse 38: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your Word.”

But, for those who refuse to recognize that the sun doesn’t revolve around them, God scatters them. That’s a term of violence, It’s a military term that has to do with scattering a defeated enemy so they can never reunite in rebellion. That’s what God does to the proud. Because pride is no small vice, it’s an attempted military coup against the God of the universe. It is the desperate attempt to break our orbit.

And pride is not merely arrogance you can easily spot, No, “the thoughts of the heart” as verse 51 says. It’s a heart that thinks: “I deserve better.” “I should be noticed and recognized.” “everyone and everything should ROTOTE around me!”

And make no mistake, that’s the default position of your heart and mine. And unless we embrace Christ’s upside-down kingdom by grace and relinquish our pride, God will scatter us to the point of no return! Because “HOLY IS HIS NAME!”

And if you want proof of God’s track record on doing this, Mary reminds us in verse 52 that God has done this over and over again. Pharaoh. Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar. Xerxes. And Herod will come soon enough.

But… for those of humble estate, He has filled the hungry with good things, while the rich are sent away empty.

These verses aren’t speaking to mere economic poverty, they are speaking to those who fear God which results in keen awareness of our spiritual poverty before Him.

See, we tend to think blessing can be seen: By the size of a house. By the neighborhood we live in. By the margin in our bank account. And by whether a person’s life is stable and impressive. But Mary says God is looking somewhere else. The address that matters to God is not a street address or a financial one. It is the address of the heart.

God does not ask, “Where do you live?” He asks, “Who do you fear?”

This is why the proud are in danger in this song. Not because they are wealthy, but because they are self-satisfied. And this is why the lowly are lifted. Not because poverty itself is virtuous, but because need makes room for mercy.

In a materialistic culture like ours, this confronts us. Because all of us are wealthy by global standards. Which means we are constantly tempted to believe that we are fine, that we are secure, that we are in control.

But that’s just pride, and Mary’s song shows us that God will scattered the proud!

That is why pride must be relinquished. Because pride is not about how much you have. It is about how little you think you need God.

And the reason Mary can say all of this without fear is because she knows something we now know even more clearly. God does not humble the proud because He delights in crushing people. He humbles the proud because pride destroys us.

Which is why the same God who scatters the proud is the God who has promised, and still promises, from generation to generation, to fill the hungry with good things.

And that brings us to the final movement of Mary’s song…

To embrace Christ’s upside-down kingdom, we must:

3. Rest in His Promise (54-55)

Mary ends her song by looking beyond herself and the present moment and locating it inside God’s long story. from Israel’s past, to it’s glorious future.

He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Luke 1:54-55 ESV

These verses aren’t about Mary first. They are about Israel. Mary understands that what is happening to her, which is the incarnation of God’s Son, is not an isolated act of grace, but the continuation of a covenant.

See, when Scripture says God “remembers,” it does not mean He forgot. It means He is keeping His promises.

Mary is saying that God is doing now After Adam sinned in the garden, God promised that sin and death would not have the last word. And through Abraham, that promise took shape in history to bring in God’s anointed one, Jesus Christ.

In Israel, God bound Himself to a people, He offered grace, Promised mercy, and continued to be faithful from generation to generation.

And now, after centuries of waiting, with sin upon sin, judgment, exile, and years of silence from heaven. God decisively acted through a young woman named Mary. And the child she carries is the proof that God keeps His promises.

And realizing this, Mary burst into song declaring that God has not abandoned His people, He Word is not forgotten, and His promises endures from generation to generation forever.

That is why Mary can sing with confidence. Because the God who has acted in the past is the God who will remain faithful in the future.

I was reading about Abraham this past week, and about how similar Abraham’s call was to Mary’s.... Because both of them came with a cost.

With Abraham, God said, “I want to bring salvation into the world through you.” “Now go. Leave your homeland, your family, your friends, your security, everything you know.” “Go out into the wilderness.”

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Hebrews 11:8 ESV

And it was the same with Mary. All of her dreams, all of her plans to Marry Joseph and to have a nice little house, with many children, friends, family, and a loving community, But now God is asking her to be willing to follow Him no matter the cost.

She doesn’t know her future. But she knows it will be hard... And so when Mary says: “I am your servant” she too, like Abraham, “went out not knowing where she was going.”

And make no mistake here, Anyone who wants to become a Christian must do the same thing as Mary and Abraham before her. You must give up on the idea of God revolving around you, and instead reorientate your entire life to revolve around Him.

Does that sound scary? Only someone who is completely naive would say it doesn’t... But here’s the remarkable truth about this call. It’s for God’s glory, but for our good. Because the second we center our life on God, and stop expecting Him to center His life upon ours, He does something even better. He centers His love upon us.

When the angel Gabriel tells Mary what God has in store for her, She responds: “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Which is very close to the words her son would someday use, when he prayed in the garden, “Not as I will, but as thy will be done.” And unlike Mary, who didn’t know exactly what Jesus was going to do for her, We know that every sacrifice Mary made for Jesus, He made infinitely more for her.

As one theologian explains: Every ounce of shame she experienced, was gallons of shame upon Christ. Every ounce of poverty, homelessness, and hardship, Jesus drank in full. Every bit of lowering of her social status, paled in comparison to the lowering of Christ, Who came down from heaven’s glory to suffer and die on earth. In that brutal shame-and-honor culture, Mary knew that she was accepting God’s will even at the risk of her life. But Jesus accepted God’s will knowing it would cost him His life.

In the garden, when Jesus agreed to drink the cup and obey the will of the Father, He knew that He, the light of life, would be plunged into utter darkness and death... And so like Abraham and Mary, Jesus went out not knowing where He went, All so we could be with Him from where He came!

And if Abraham and Mary could do that, with what little light they had, What excuse do you and I have Who have been given the much greater light found in the Resurrected Lord of Light?!

And so Mary’s story is really our story... Because it’s a hymn not only about herself, but about all those who fear God and center their lives upon His mercy, love, and grace.

No one here has the honor of giving birth to the Savior of the world, But we do have the blessing of becoming His children by grace through Faith in Mary’s Son. And that’s what makes Mary truly special. Not simply that she carried the Son of God, But that she trusted in the Son of God as her Lord and Savior.

“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.

Luke 1:46-55 ESV

And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

Luke 1:46-55 ESV

He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Luke 1:46-55 ESV

All throughout this Narrative, We find people who are truly amazed at the blessings God showers upon His people, and my friends, we should be no different.

Because the truths of God’s character must not be mere abstractions to us... They must not be theoretical, they must not be merely understood They must be concrete realities that we experience in our daily lives that leads us to WORSHIP!

Which means the story of Christmas must never become ordinary to us. Not routine. Not merely sentimental. When we reflect on what God has done for us in the Gospel of His Son, it should cause our hearts to leap within us, just as the child leaped in Elizabeth’s womb.

It should leave us saying, with Mary and Elizabeth, “Why me?”

And the truest response to grace is worship. Amazing Grace How sweet the sound the saved a wretch like me I once was lost But now am found Was blind, but now I see

This is the upside-down nature of Christ’s kingdom. He lifts the lowly. He humbles the proud. And He shows mercy to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.

Have you experienced the upside-down nature of Christ’s kingdom in your life? Does your heart leap for joy at the sound of His name? By God’s grace in His Son, can you sing with Mary and all the redeemed...?

Now my soul magnifies the Lord I rejoice in the God Who saves I will trust His unfailing love I will sing His praises all my days

He Who is mighty has done a great thing Taken on flesh, conquered death’s sting Shattered the darkness and lifted our shame Holy is His name Holy Is His name

Prayer

As we leave today, hear the song Mary knew by heart the prayer that taught Israel to wait for a God who lifts the lowly and keeps His promises.

This is the manuscript the sermon was preached from, so the recording may differ in places.