He [God] has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors. Luke 1:51-55
Heavenly Father, as Mary worshiped you with wonder, love and praise, there’s no way she could have possibly imagined how her journey was going to unfold. In nine months, she would experience birth pains in a stable; and in thirty-years she would experience even greater heart pains at the foot of her son’s cross. How could a young maiden, pregnant by God with God, ever wrap her mind and heart around such a story?
But there’s one thing she did understand—at least one thing she took to heart from her years of growing up in a family of faith. She was taught that you are a God who remembers to be merciful—a God who will never suffer from dementia. You’ve proven this beyond all doubt—to Mary, and your whole covenant family.
Father, I too worship you today with wonder, love and praise. Though I have many treasured Yuletide memories, I too am thankful that Christmas is a celebration of your perfect memory and your matchless mercies. With the gift of Jesus, you remembered all the promises you made to Abraham and to his descendants, which includes me. I’m humbled and overwhelmed.
You promised Abraham you would take him to a land of your choosing, make of him a great nation, and through that nation ultimately bless all the families on the face of the earth (Gen. 12-17). No one could fulfill these promises but you. No other god, would or could, redeem a people as numerous as the countless stars, grains of sand (Heb. 11:2), or particles of dust (Gen 13:16). The mathematics of your mercy are beyond all calculating! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Indeed, Lord Jesus, you are the fulfillment of all of God’s covenant promises. Every promise God has made finds its “Yes” in you (2 Cor. 1:20). Because of your faithfulness, from cradle to the cross, we live in the loving embrace of the Father of mercies (2 Cor. 1:3)—whose mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-25) and whose steadfast love will never come to an end (Psalm 136). Great is his faithfulness.
Because of you, Jesus, the only sign of forgetfulness in our Father is his forgetting to remember our sins against us! What peace, what joy, what hope this brings us today. There is no merriment like gospel merriment, none! So very Amen we pray, in your gracious and loving name.