Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

Delivered By
Pastor Scottie

Delivered On
August 15, 2021 at 10:00 AM

Subject
A HUMILITY GAUGE

Description

Mary’s role is not limited to giving birth to Jesus and mothering him in his childhood. In John’s gospel, she is among the women standing near the cross; in Acts, she is among the disciples awaiting the gift of the Spirit. Through all that happened she continued to see how God was at work through her son, keeping the ancient promises to her ancestors, brushing aside the rich and powerful, and focusing on those as poor and powerless as Mary herself.

---

First Reading: Isaiah 61:7-11

The prophet proclaims a hopeful message: God loves justice and will make an everlasting covenant with Israel and her descendants. In response, the prophet sings a joyful song, like Mary many generations later, about God’s mercy and salvation.

 ⁷Because [the] shame [of God’s people] was double,
  and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot,
 therefore they shall possess a double portion;
  everlasting joy shall be theirs.
 

⁸For I the Lord love justice,
  I hate robbery and wrongdoing;
 I will faithfully give them their recompense,
  and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
 ⁹Their descendants shall be known among the nations,
  and their offspring among the peoples;
 all who see them shall acknowledge
  that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
 ¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
  my whole being shall exult in my God;
 for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
  he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
 as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
  and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
 ¹¹For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
  and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
 so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
  to spring up before all the nations.

 

Second Reading: Galatians 4:4-7

In the promise of the Incarnation, Jesus Christ embodies God’s mother-father heart, in love claiming people as adopted children.

⁴When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. ⁶And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

 

The Holy Gospel:  Luke 1:46-55

 

P    The holy gospel according to St. Luke, the first chapter.

C    Glory to you, O Lord.

Mary’s song, the Magnificat, serves as a thematic anthem for God’s work in the world and therefore for the ministry of her son, Jesus. In Mary’s praise we hear of a saving God who remembers the humble, scatters the proud, lifts up the lowly, and fulfills all things.

 

⁴⁶Mary said,
 “My soul magnifies the Lord,
  ⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 ⁴⁸for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
  Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
 ⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
  and holy is his name.
 ⁵⁰His mercy is for those who fear him
  from generation to generation.
 ⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm;
  he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
 ⁵²He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
  and lifted up the lowly;
 ⁵³he has filled the hungry with good things,
  and sent the rich away empty.
 ⁵⁴He has helped his servant Israel,
  in remembrance of his mercy,
 ⁵⁵according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
  to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”