12-06-20 Kevin Goins Advent 2 Do Not Be Afraid to bring Peace

Advent 2021:  Bringing Peace
Luke 1:46-55
If there is one word that usually always finds its way into our understanding of the Christmas story, that word is peace.  Whether the observer is Christian or non-Christian, people cannot go very long in discussing the meaning of Christmas without bringing up this word.  Of course, we often have very different understandings of what this peace actually consists.  Fortunately for us, the second most important character in the Christmas story had a clear vision of this peace and she is going to share it with us today.  What exactly is this peace that the Christ child gives?    

I First, the peace this child will bring is p_____________________ peace.

A. Mary says, “My very life, my spirit, the d______________ part of me, the e__________________ of who I am, glorifies God for what he has done for me.”

B. Mary, throughout her life, was treated as a nothing, and that is no exaggeration:

 1. First, she was an u_______________ teenage girl.

 2. Second, she was dirt-_____________.

 3. Third, she was a citizen of an e__________________ nation.

C. Mary says, “God did not call me to be an i____________________ for his child, not a means to an end.  To him I am a v_________________ person.

II Second, this peace is s___________________.  Peace has to do with how we t____________ each other in this world.

A. First, she says, “He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.”  This is a s_____________________ revolution.

B. Second, Mary says, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.”  This is a p____________________ revolution.

C. Third, Mary says, “He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.”  This is an e____________________________ revolution.

1. Some believe that all this attention which Jesus and Luke give to the poor is not about p_______________ poverty; it is about s__________________ poverty.

a. First, Jesus does not say, “Blessed are you who are poor spiritually.”  He says, “Blessed are you p_______________.”

b. Second, remember that most of the people in Israel in Jesus’ day were l______________ poor; they had very, very little to eat.
 -So, if the good news Jesus had for these physically poor people was limited to spiritual bread, then Jesus was being horribly c___________.

2. Some think that what Mary is talking about here refers to the s______________ coming of Jesus.  

a. But how odd that Mary would praise God for the second coming of her son b______________ she has even experienced his first coming.

B. Second, Mary does not speak in the f_____________ tense in these verses.

3. What began with the birth of Jesus has obviously not yet been c_____________________.  

 -Which means that while we look forward to the second coming when all the hungry will be filled and every wrong will be made right, we cannot simply sit back and w______________ for Jesus to do it a_________.  

 
III Third, this peace is s_____________________.
-How does God show mercy “to Abraham and his descendants forever?”  By placing Jesus in the w_____________ of Mary.  In other words, by sending a S___________________.