Valley Church Clinton
Our Response to a Good God | Sunday, December 28th
  • God With Us
  • Holy Holy Holy (Nicaea)
  • Introduction
    Good morning Valley Church Clinton!
    So glad you’re here, so glad to worship with you and serve the Lord with you.
    If you have your Bible, get them open to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1, were going to start in verse 46 today and explore Mary’s Song of Praise.
    Pray with me as we get into God’s Scripture.
    The news today is a weird phenomenon, isn’t it? We get news in so many different ways in our day. I found our this week through some research that the first “news’, at least recorded, came from Rome all the way back in 59BC.
    They would post stone or metal sheets in in public places with political news, court reports, etc. Our need for gossip really does stem from our human nature.
    But, throughout history, there were messengers on foot or horse delivering the news and messages, then the printing press was invented, and newspapers began to be widely circulated.
    Then, the radio with nightly shows, eventually the video camera would revolutionize our minds with news stations reporting all kinds of things.
    Now, we have Youtube, Tik Tok, X formerly known as Twitter, all kinds of social media that feeds our dopamine and tells us what’s going on in 90 seconds or less.
    But still, to this day, there isn’t a more stressful way, in my opinion, to receive news than a person coming up to you and saying “hey, we need to talk”. In the workplace, this comes in the form of “can you come to my office please”.
    This is especially stressful if it’s a Friday afternoon.
    And yes, before you wonder, this happened to me. See, I took a week long vacation at one of my previous places of employment, and when I get back, about half the staff is laid off.
    I’m gone for a week and the whole place is up in flames.
    And there’s a note on my desk, a simple thank you card, that just says - thanks for your service, or something like that.
    So I sit at my desk, read it, that’s weird, oh well. And I toss it in the trash. You’re welcome for my awesome service.
    Turns out, I got that card a week too early, because my boss would call me down the next Friday and lay me off because of our cash flow issues.
    And that kind of news is never a good feeling. But this day, it was mixed with emotion.
    Because for a long time, I’d been wanting and waiting for the right time to step into ministry. And to do that, I needed to go get my education.
    So, walking out of the building with an empty backpack that usually held my work laptop, it kind of felt a weird sense of freedom. Like, this horrible thing had just happened to me, but in a weird sense, I knew it was God causing growing pains, uprooting my life because, frankly, I think I’d been ignoring His call.
    He had to shut a door, he had to make my life a bit painful to nudge me in the right direction.
    And I think we see this theme throughout the history of humanity, and especially Biblical history.
    There’s all kinds of things that are unexpected, that our Biblical characters and heroes are hit with.
    And the neat thing is, we get to see their response in full, recorded historical form. And one-this makes me thankful that my life’s blunders aren’t recorded for all generations to see,
    But two - it gives us an idea of how we should respond to God. How we should respond to the good news, the Gospel, to Jesus.
    Because we see people, like Mary the mother of Jesus, who seems to respond with all kinds of joy, in the correct way, to God. Then, we see people, people with hard hearts and hard heads, like me, but people who respond with skepticism and doubts, and God has to really work on their stony hearts for their good.
    So, without further ado, I’d like to invite (READER) up. She is going to read our passage for the say, which again is Luke 1:46-59, and if you are physically able, could you please stand for the reading of Scripture?
    Luke 1:46–59 CSB
    46 And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 because the Mighty One has done great things for me, and his name is holy. 50 His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him. 51 He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the proud because of the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has toppled the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. — 53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering his mercy 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he spoke to our ancestors. 56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home. 57 Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she had a son. 58 Then her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her his great mercy, and they rejoiced with her. 59 When they came to circumcise the child on the eighth day, they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father.
    Thanks, you can be seated.
    What a beautiful song and poem that Mary exclaims here. And the first thing that strikes me is two perspectives and hearts in this Christmas story - Zechariah and Mary.

    Two Perspectives

    Mary’s first line of her song is: My soul magnifies the Lord. I can’t remember a time ever saying that as a reaction to something. And this really reveals the true heart of Mary, her real, raw emotion.
    Remember, right now, Mary is is a weird, precarious situation. Mary, this 12-14 year old kid really, she’s been pledged to be married to her future husband, Joseph.
    And this isn’t a true-love, Hallmark story like we want to believe. Life was hard for women, especially young women. They were second-class citizens. Little to no rights.
    They had to prove themselves to be a virgin, and prove their puberty before marriage. I’ll let you look into that one on your own.
    And normally, these marriages were set up by the families. See, marriage was just as much a contract between two families as a union between a husband and wife. Often, the families would come together and benefit one another, whether in the form of resources, money, connections to power or government, higher status in the world, you name it.
    Long story short, their intention was just a bit different than today, not to discount that Joseph and Mary were truly in love or something, but this was just the culture of the day.
    And this is the situation Mary finds herself in. No power, being told what to do. Answering to anything and anyone other than her own volitions and ideas.
    Then one night, the angel Gabriel shows up to Mary. And let me tell you, this would’ve been completley out of the realm of possibility to Jewish thought. An angel, send by God, showing up to an unmarried, young woman with no kids, poor, no power.
    Absolutely crazy.
    And Gabriel tells Mary -
    Luke 1:30–33 CSB
    30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.”
    See, God has a bad habit of using those the world looks down on. God uses people, His people, to do His work and will.
    But this one really takes the cake.
    Not only is God using Mary to do something, He’s using Mary to birth someone named “The Son of the Most High”.
    Someone that will take the throne of David. Boy, what news that would’ve been.
    And of course, Mary has questions. Her initial response is this:
    Luke 1:34 CSB
    34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”
    Honestly, fair, and logical question. But, her overall response to Gabriel, at the end of their conversation, really reveals the intentions behind her word.
    Here is Mary’s ultimate response to that news:
    Luke 1:38 CSB
    38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
    Then, Mary goes to see Elizabeth who is a cousin of Mary’s, and as it turns out, Elizabeth is also pregnant with a son, named John, who will end up being John the Baptist.
    And Elizabeth, as is recorded in the gospels, is quote “well along in years”.
    Were talking older, past child bearing years. She’s lived with her husband, Zechariah, who was a priest. And in those days, again it was hard to be a woman, if you we’re childless, it was considered your fault.
    You did something wrong to make God mad, your husband isn’t doing his priestly duties right, someone in your family has a curse.
    And a lot of the times, the husband would be encouraged to divorce his wife and marry another, because children were seen as the ultimate blessing, leaving a non-virgin, previously married woman on the street.
    But, the good news here is that Zechariah and Elizabeth seem to have a firm faith rooted in try love and affection for God.
    And see, Zechariah has a very similar conversation with the same angel as Mary, Gabriel. Gabriel comes to Zechariah, tells him that a prophet type, a type similar to the great and well-respected Elijah, would be born to his wife Elizabeth.
    A person, albeit not as great as the Messiah, but someone who would “turn many of the children of Israel back to their God”.
    And here is Zechariah’s response:
    Luke 1:18 CSB
    18 “How can I know this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”
    Sounds a lot like Mary’s question, right? Logical, fair. How can this be?
    But if you continue reading on, Zechariah’s heart is revealed, as this is Gabriel’s response to him:
    Luke 1:20 CSB
    20 Now listen. You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”
    Sheesh. That seems like a harsh response to the exact same question that Mary had. Zechariah would be rendered mute, and as an excellent scholar that I am, I’ve carefully and meticulously calculated how long that was, from John’s conception to his birth, 9 months. The standard time a woman is pregnant.
    But 9 months without being able to speak. To anyone. To his wife, to do his duties as a priest. No one. This is the discipline of silence and solitude on a whole other level.
    Listen to what happens when his child is born, when Elizabeth has John:
    Luke 1:59–64 CSB
    59 When they came to circumcise the child on the eighth day, they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. 60 But his mother responded, “No. He will be called John.” 61 Then they said to her, “None of your relatives has that name.” 62 So they motioned to his father to find out what he wanted him to be called. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they were all amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
    This tells me two things: one is that it did Zechariah a lot of good. This was a growing time, although painful, it’s what he needed. And God knew that.
    And two, it tells me that Zechariah had a different heart of question than Mary.
    Because on the surface, Mary and Zechariah had the same question to Gabriel.
    But again, as has been the theme of our advent season, it’s not what you put on the outside, it’s what comes inside that God cares about.
    Because God, whether you like it or not, He can see your heart. God may be the only person you cannot truly hide who you are from.
    Because our God is a God of the heart.
    And we can see Mary’s heart within her song, especially given the first line:

    My Soul Magnifies the Lord

    Mary’s response is that of pure joy. Her soul responds with gladness, her soul exalts the Lord, her soul declares that the Lord is great. This is the first line of her song.
    And that word, that soul word, it’s very similar to the Hebrew word we talked about last week for the “heart”.
    The soul is the “seat and center of the inner human life in its many and varied aspects”, and in this case, it is especially relevant to Marys inner emotions and feelings.
    She can’t help herself.
    She says “my spirit rejoices in God my savior”.
    And this entire song, really, is a callback. You know it’s coming, you know I’m gonna bring up an OT connection, because the Bible is chalk full of wonderful connections!
    See, Mary’s song is essentially a remake of Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel.
    If you aren’t familiar with the story, at the beginning of 1 Samuel, as Israel is wanting a king so badly, a lady named Hannah was longing for a son. Very similar to Elizabeth, she was getting older, and year after year, prayer after prayer, Hannah continually was without child.
    In fact, it says this rival lady in her life would taunt her relentlessly, making fun of her for not having a son. Again, it was thought to be the woman’s fault.
    Eventually, she stopped eating, even her husband couldn’t console her.
    This is what she does:
    1 Samuel 1:10–16 CSB
    10 Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears. 11 Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.” 12 While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!” 15 “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord. 16 Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”
    I have been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.
    Eventually, God gives Hannah a child, named Samuel, and she made good on her vow - Samuel would become a great prophet of Israel.
    And Hannah prays a prayer of praise, just as Mary’s sang a song of worship, look at the similarities:
    God exalts the lowly Expressions of rejoicing in deliverance
    Declaration of God’s holiness
    Humble exaltation vs. proud brought down
    Contrasts of poor vs rich, hungry vs full
    Rulers displaced
    Transition to broader deliverance
    The point here is that both of these women, in completley different times and societies, they had the same, unchanging, good God.
    Suddenly, both of these women of no power, of no status, mocked, belittled by society,
    They’re carrying the new hope to bring Israel back to God.
    And we see through all of these responses, theses people’s stories, from Zechariah, Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary, they all have one thing in common -
    They come to God in every situation. Despair, heartbreak, sadness, joy, contentment, excitement, the common thread is they lay their hearts before God.
    And this is what we need to do as followers of Christ -

    Come to God in Rejoicing and Despair

    The absolute worst move we can make in regards to our relationship is to run. To hide. Just like Adam and Eve in the garden when God calls out “Where are you?”.
    And this trend we find again and again in the Bible. God calls, he gives some news, he reveals himself to someone, and they run. They try to flee God.
    Fleeing caused Jonah to get thrown overboard and swallowed by a giant fish. Trepidation caused Moses to need Aaron. Lying and hiding caused Ananias and Sapphira to drop dead. Jealously, fear and lying caused Cain to kill his brother. Abram and Sarah tried to go around God’s plan, and they caused all kinds of problems.
    The reason we lie, and hide, and flee, and try to clothe ourselves in righteousness is because we don’t know our God. We don’t know his character.
    His character that is eternal and unchanging, the only constant in the universe.
    God’s character is what led Him to have compassion on Hannah and Mary.
    Our God wants us to come to him, with our broken heart.
    Proverbs 28:13 CSB
    13 The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
    Our response to God in every situation, in every call, should be to not hide, but to move in closer. To allow our hearts to be completley revealed, on the cutting room floor, Lord remove anything that’s hidden, even things that I don’t know about.
    But. Our natural response is to hide.
    That’s the tension we live in, we know deep down that we aren’t good enough. We know deep in our souls that standing in front of God, the Creator, the King, the definition of truth and goodness - we know standing in the presence of that Being would absolutely annihilate us.
    See, Hannah could have easily stopped praying. She could have easily stopped going to the temple. Stopped seeing the prophets.
    She could have so easily turned her back on God, went to a witch, or a soothsayer, or a magician. But she knew her God. She knew his character and his status.
    Mary could have easily given up, she could have told Gabriel - no way, I won’t do it. This isn’t fair, this will ruin my life.
    But she knew her God. She knew he was good. She knew her position as the Lord’s servant.
    And even if we respond like Zechariah, with a heart that does question God, we know that he’s a God of second chances, and that he wants us to come to Him out of obedience and love, not fear and compulsion.
    I think the reason we try to run so often, why we hedge against God, why we resist coming to Him in both the times of hurt and the times of happiness, the valleys and the peaks,
    Is because we’re a people who often forgets who our God is. We forget, and we make God in our own mind, how we would prefer Him. How He’s comfortable in our mind.
    This is why the ten commandments start out like this:
    Exodus 20:3–5 CSB
    3 Do not have other gods besides me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 Do not bow in worship to them, and do not serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,
    Idolatry is a real thing. It may look a little different than it used to in ancient times, but it’s absolutely the same heart posture.
    And it’s maybe the biggest thing our enemy uses against us - the first lie ever was questioning God’s character, and ever since, Satan has been using our own versions of God to drive a wedge between us, humanity, and a good creator, God, who wants us.
    As a church, as a people of God, we need to know God better.

    Know God Better

    This is our call.
    Hosea 6:6 CSB
    6 For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
    We need to know how he works, what he wants, what he loves.
    Just like Hannah and Mary, who went through these songs of praise proclaiming what God is like,
    We also need to remind ourselves, constantly, to know God. To really know who he is.
    And in that, He can establish a relationship with us. God knows us. Really well, actually.
    He sent his son Jesus to know us. He knows what it’s like to be man, to be human.
    To struggle. To feel joy. To have family. To live life.
    Jesus knows me, he knows you. And he wants us to know him too.
    That way, when we get a call, when we get news that is unimaginable. When we hit a high or a low point in our lives.
    We have the God constant. We have that marker in our life that we can follow and without fail, it will always be right.
    So, I know were coming up on New Year’s, and were all trying to figure out our resolutions. I’m gonna lose 200 pounds.
    But, if you need a resolution going into 2026, here’s my suggestion: know God better.
    Even if you think you know Him good enough, even if you have a really solid tradition behind you, you’ve already established everything in your mind,
    The beautiful thing is, we can all meet God in a way we’ve never experienced him before. Do yourself a favor - wipee your slate clean, get rid of and preconceived notions,
    And ask God to reveal Himself to you. Study your Bible in a way that not only give you information, but that reveals the true nature of God.
    Because every page is dripping with life changing transformation if you start looking for God in ever crevice.
    This year, let’s get to know God better. And respond to him not by running, or hedging, but giving Him our all, and our everything.
    Habakkuk 2:1 CSB
    1 I will stand at my guard post and station myself on the lookout tower. I will watch to see what he will say to me and what I should reply about my complaint.
    Church, let’s get to work in 2026, and show the world who Jesus is.
    Let’s pray.

      • Luke 1:46–59CSB

      • Luke 1:30–33CSB

      • Luke 1:34CSB

      • Luke 1:38CSB

      • Luke 1:18CSB

      • Luke 1:20CSB

      • Luke 1:59–64CSB

      • 1 Samuel 1:10–16CSB

      • Proverbs 28:13CSB

      • Exodus 20:3–5CSB

      • Hosea 6:6CSB

      • Habakkuk 2:1CSB

  • Worthy
  • Christ Be Lifted Higher
Valley Church Clinton
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