David Bahn – Reflections

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Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:

⁶⁸ “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
    because he has visited and redeemed his people.
⁶⁹ He has sent us a mighty Savior
    from the royal line of his servant David,
⁷⁰ just as he promised
    through his holy prophets long ago.

⁷¹ Now we will be saved from our enemies
    and from all who hate us.
⁷² He has been merciful to our ancestors
    by remembering his sacred covenant—
⁷³ the covenant he swore with an oath
    to our ancestor Abraham.
⁷⁴ We have been rescued from our enemies
    so we can serve God without fear,
⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness
    for as long as we live. ” – Luke 1:67-75

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Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:

⁶⁸ “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
    because he has visited and redeemed his people.
⁶⁹ He has sent us a mighty Savior
    from the royal line of his servant David,
⁷⁰ just as he promised
    through his holy prophets long ago.
⁷⁸ Because of God’s tender mercy,
    the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    and to guide us to the path of peace.” – Luke 1:67-70, 78-79

I was stunned to learn that Cat Steven’s song, Morning has Broken, was actually not his song. It is a Christian hymn written by English author Eleanor Farjeon. And just now I learned that the tune is also known as Child in a Manger. It was Inspired by the village of Alfriston in East Sussex, and is an ode to creation, and acknowledgment of “God’s recreation of the first day.” 

Maybe you’ve seen a particularly beautiful sunrise. Perhaps you are simply drawn to enjoy the awe of the colors of the dawn. They are beautiful. Here, however, we have a different focus of morning’s break. This focus is on Jesus as the bright morning star. It’s about his rising in the hearts of people. It’s about his appearance 2000 years ago. And just as sunrise may portend great opportunity, so Jesus’ birth portends the very greatest opportunity. Through Jesus we may know God truly. We may find peace. We may be saved. 

They often say it is darkest just before dawn. In other words, when the times are dire and dangerous, and we are desperate and discouraged, we will find the greatest joy in Jesus’ presence. He is the light of the world. He is the light that shines in the darkness. And the darkness cannot comprehend or overcome it. Light one candle and the darkest room is filled with light. When the Son of God comes into the world, the whole world is filled with light. This is indeed a re-creation of the first day, when God said, “Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good” (Genesis 1:3-4).

Here we learn of God’s tender mercy which moves him to send light from heaven. He will come. And John (the gospel writer) tells us that in the Word-made-flesh was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4-5). 

Sometimes we try to ignore the shadow of death that darkens our world. Then a friend dies. Or a father. Or a sister. And it hits us hard. Sometimes we think we’re in the light, only to discover that we’ve only imagined the light, and it’s all glitz: fools gold. 

Jesus has come to guide us to the path of peace. It is not found apart from his presence. Peace does not come in paths that turn from his commands. We will not find it seeking the fools gold of the world’s glamor. 

We might use the saying, “It suddenly dawned on me…” Like an idea popped into our minds. Jesus’ appearing is like that – only more dramatic and far reaching. His is the light that shines on in the darkest night, and illuminates the pathway of true peace.

This version takes the first thought of Zechariah’s hymn of praise to the One who has come in the name of the Lord. The cello is elegant. The children’s choir is heavenly. The Hosanna! is dramatic. Translation of the Latin lyrics are below. 

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‘Twas the night of the Christmas party
And all through the club
Not a flash tube was popping
We were all waiting for grub.

And I with my Sony and
Others with their gear
Were happily talking
And sharing good cheer.

When out from the kitchen
There came plates for a few
We’d all soon be eatin’
We couldn’t wait to chew.

But first things first!
We’ll have to hold tight;
Let’s remember to pray
Before we eat tonight!

Face to face, and in the flesh
We celebrate with joy and bliss
Whether Nikon, Canon, Fuji, or Pentax
Olympus, Sony, iPhone, or who did I miss?!?

So let’s bow our heads now
And offer up a blessing
For food, drink, and friends
It’s God we’re addressing!

So what’s on your list?
Will you join me in praying?
“Thank you, God, for these gifts,”
The greatest is Jesus, I’m saying.

And any who wish
Can join me again,
And speak it out loud:
A heartfelt…Amen!

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And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
    for he has visited and redeemed his people
⁶⁹ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰ as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
⁷¹ that we should be saved from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷² to show the mercy promised to our fathers
    and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³ the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
⁷⁴     that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
⁷⁵     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    in the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.” – Luke 1:67-79

We were sitting in the cafeteria of the Towers dormitory. I was nervous and didn’t really want to make the call. But I was with a pastor whom I was training in the Kennedy Evangelism method. We had arranged to meet a girl who lived in the dorm there. We were to share the gospel message with her. She never showed, but we did manage to engage another student who was hanging out there. I was in college at that time.

The Kennedy Evangelism method had as its centerpiece two spiritual questions:

• If you were to die tonight, have you come to the place in your spiritual life that you know you would go to heaven?
• If you were to die tonight and Jesus would ask you, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” What would you say?

Two challenging questions to be sure. And helpful, possibly, to focus a spiritual conversation. But there are other ways to do this. Perhaps they are even better. You might ask someone, “What do you think are the great problems of the world?” That could be an open door into a deeply spiritual conversation. In fact, that question gets to the core of what Zechariah mentions twice in this canticle.

He speaks of God who “has raised up a horn of salvation for us.” He also prophecies how John, his son, would “give knowledge of salvation to his people.” Salvation is a theme of Zechariah’s song. He uses the word twice, and references being saved or delivered twice more. Key to all that is that salvation is more than an entrance into heaven – good as that may be. 

Salvation is being saved from something. From our enemies. From the hand of those who hate us. From the consequences of our sin: death and darkness. From eternal death, despair, and subjugation to Satan’s evil whims and ways. This is what God has done by sending Jesus. And John, Zechariah’s son, will be Jesus’ forerunner to prepare the way for the coming morning of God’s love and grace. 

So what would you number as the world’s greatest problems? War? Poverty? Human trafficking? Godless leaders? Human rights? Social injustice? Immoral political leaders? Financial inequities? To every one of these problems Jesus’ grace and truth speaks. He is the prince of peace. He lifts up the poor and needy. He speaks truth to power. He points us to faithful suffering if need be and promises ultimate relief in the resurrection and the life of the world to come. 

The world is a mess. And Jesus has come to redeem the world and all who are in it. He brings life and salvation. Thanks be to God!  

Click here for an audio version of this blog post. 

And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
    for he has visited and redeemed his people
⁶⁹ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David,
⁷⁰ as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
⁷¹ that we should be saved from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us;
⁷² to show the mercy promised to our fathers
    and to remember his holy covenant,
⁷³ the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
⁷⁴     that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
⁷⁵     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
⁷⁶ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
⁷⁷ to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    in the forgiveness of their sins,
⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
⁷⁹ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.” – Luke 1:67-79

We just finished celebrating a milestone birthday at my house. I may have been the birthday boy of honor. It was a wonderful affair. Good friends. Kind wishes. Joy shared. Conversations. Food. Drink. Music. Even a trivia game about the birthday boy’s life. “Happy birthday,” wishes were accompanied by other kind words. Thank you, friends!

I mention this because of the first word in Zechariah’s song. It is translated, “Blessed,” or “Praise be,” or “Let us praise…” And rightly so. But the word might also be “Let us speak well of…” We get the word eulogy, an almost literal transliteration of the Greek. Let’s speak well of God, is what Zechariah is saying. A footnote in the New American Bible offers this insight:

Like the canticle of Mary (Lk 1:46–55) the canticle of Zechariah is only loosely connected with its context. Apart from Lk 1:76–77, the hymn is speaking of a horn for our salvation (Lk 1:69) and the daybreak from on high (Lk 1:78) applies more closely to Jesus and his work than to John. 

Whatever the context or focus, the question for us today is whether we will speak well of God. Will we praise him? Will we declare him blessed? Is he set apart in your heart and life? Do your words acknowledge what he has done for you? Are you aware of his grace and goodness to you and to all people? Do you believe that God has raised up a horn for our salvation; a place of strength, hope, grace, love and life? Do you realize that the daybreak from on high has risen? The Daybreak from on high?

Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. God opened his mouth to express his praise, and help the people look beyond even this current moment of great joy. After all, John has been born. She who was said to be barren has born a child. And no matter what anyone thought, his name would be John. As good as that was, Zechariah was moved to express praise to God for things reaching far beyond that moment. 

So now the question is two-fold. Will we speak well of God? And will we recognize any good moment as a blessing from God, but look beyond the moment to the greater blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ? That means that whether we are experiencing God’s immediate blessings, or yearning for them, looking to his ultimate blessing in Christ will move us to speak well of him. 

For your personal edification and reflection on this Lord’s Day…

Psalm 5:7

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⁴⁶ And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
⁴⁹ for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
⁵⁰ And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
⁵² he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” – Luke 1:46-55

During a particularly challenging time of ministry I read something that resonated deeply to me: More pastors die of a broken heart than an over-inflated ego. I’m not certain that is true, for we public people have to possess some degree of ego in order to stand up in front of a group and offer a sermon. Sometimes that can be a healthy ego. Sometimes, however, the ego takes over.

Sadly, I’ve seen too many pastors whose gifts send them beyond the success that their character can support. Such is the danger of celebrity leaders. Unless sustained by vast amounts of character, celebrity leaders pose the most grave danger to the church and even the faithful. The combination of high capacity leaders who have low character reserves is potentially the most dangerous dynamic in a church. Such leaders are all about self-promotion. 

Jesus is not only high in character. He is also completely unconcerned with self-promotion. Mary will bring glory to God and magnify his name and fame. She is, however, not a mere carnival barker. She is not interested in gathering a crowd. She is not trying to gin up support or hype God. She is simply extolling God’s glory, mercy, and majesty. She is focusing our attention on the One who can handle the fame – to say the least – and who we need to worship. 

Mary’s glorification of God is not for his benefit. It’s so we will be directed toward the source of true joy, hope, life, and salvation. We may get distracted by celebrities and led astray by those who lack character. She is focusing our attention and directing our faith toward the Mighty One who has done great things. She is reminding us that the True God casts down the mighty from their thrones, and fills the hungry with good things. He is truly worth being magnified – not for his ego’s sake, but for our faith and devotion. 

Christy Nockels and Todd Agnew offer this version of the Magnificat…

⁴⁶ And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
⁴⁹ for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
⁵⁰ And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
⁵² he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” – Luke 1:46-55

I remember like it was yesterday. Our youngest son had been born 7 weeks premature. And though he was given an “8” (out of 10) on the APGAR scale, there was a grave potential problem. He presented symptoms associated more than 99% of the time with cystic fibrosis. This is a grave disease with many implications. But the symptoms don’t determine the presence of the disease. A sweat chloride test does. On the day of the test, we went to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Diane was quite calm. I was deeply worried. Then the results came back: Negative. I was elated. Relieved. Thankful. I praised God. 

Other times come to mind: when our house sold after 6 months of a very dead real estate market. When Diane said, “Yes.” When our family was all together for our grandson’s baptism. All times of great gladness and praise to God.

There are other times I should have been thankful to God. These might not be as obvious occasions. They were times of challenge and cross-bearing. When I graduated from seminary and was given my first call – far from home and in a situation I knew little about. During some of the difficult years in a church I served that had a history of bad pastor/people relationships. When I first began serving a large church with little staff and more challenges than I realized at the time. These too, are times to praise God. For they force us to relinquish any illusion of control we might have. They force us to rely on God.

This is what Mary does here. She has been told she would bear the Savior of the world. She has visited her cousin Elizabeth. She has heard the exclamation of joy as Elizabeth’s baby leapt in her womb at the sound of Mary’s voice. But she knows that which is before her is beyond her strength, wisdom, power, or ability to navigate. She praises God because she believes that the Mighty One has done great things in her. And she believes he will continue to bless and keep her in his loving care. 

When we teach at PLI or in my work with congregations in the planning stage, I like to talk about moving a congregation from a cozy status (lots of invitation and little challenge) to a breakthrough/kingdom-seeking mode of ministry (lots of both invitation and challenge). When you make that move, you go through the “valley of the shadow of death.” That’s the difficult place of discouragement and battle. You want to give up. You see that the challenge is greater than the resources you have. 

And that’s actually a good place to be if you look to God in those times. We praise the One who sees us through those times, charts a course for our blessing. Provides for our needs, and give us joy in seeing his kingdom come among and through us. This is what Mary does here. She knows her limitations. But she knows and believes more deeply in God’s favor and power to bring her through. 

Maybe you’re in a difficult place these days. Challenges may be from your family, or within your own sinful flesh. The hills may be steeper and taller than you think you can climb. But if you know God has called you to climb those hills, you can rejoice as you lay aside any presence of your own abilities, powers, wisdom, and strength, and lean on God’s promises, faithfulness, power, grace, and goodness to see you through. 

Is it time to praise God? Certainly when all is well. But also when we are struggling through the dark valleys that come into our lives. Praise God with me today!

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⁴⁶ And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
⁴⁹ for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
⁵⁰ And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
⁵² he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.” – Luke 1:46-55

It was hymn #1 in the Broadman Hymnal, the hymnal that we used in the church of my youth. I loved the hymn and still do: Holy, Holy, Holy. It is a hymn of praise. Now, however, I have a number of other favorite hymns of praise. This is the Feast, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, The Lord My God be Praised, When Morning Fills the Skies to name just a few. Of course this song of praise, Mary’s song, is high on that list as well. And there are so many beautiful versions of it. 

But hymns of praise serve purposes beyond their beauty. They set things in their proper perspective. When we praise God, we acknowledge his majesty, power, goodness, mercy, love, faithfulness, and holiness. He is like no other. And as we sing his praise, we realize – hopefully! – that there is no other who deserves such glory. The best athlete, finest artist, greatest musician, or most famous actor hold no candle next to God. He alone is worthy of all praise. 

And because of that, we can also put our problems, troubles, pains, fears, and enemies in their proper place: under the reign and rule of God. The difference between us and our enemies, fears, and problems, however, is that we live under the reign and rule of God in a relationship of grace by faith. All those who do not acknowledge God’s grace and goodness, power and majesty, live under his reign and rule, but without hope.  We can look on all those things from the perspective of God’s grace, and place them under him. They do not rule our lives. They do not control us. We do not worship them. We do not serve them. We love, serve, and worship only God. He alone gets the praise.

By this we are reminded also of our own place. We are not God. Life is not ours to judge. We do not get to tell God what to do or call him to account for his actions. Job tried that and was called to account for doing so. He repented in dust and ashes when God did finally confront him. But take note: repentance is better than bitterness, resentment, anger, and arrogant unbending pride. 

When we fail to put ourselves in proper perspective before God, we had better hope God does come to us in ways that lead us to repent – even if it must be in dust and ashes. As we do we discover that the God we praise is not only all-powerful, mighty, holy and majestic. He is also merciful, gracious, loving, and good. And true praise acknowledges all those things. It brings us back to God and gives us the kind of joy Mary speaks of in this song. When we praise God, he is glorified, our predicament is put into perspective, and we are reminded of our true place: a place of repentant hope and joy because of who God is. Thanks be to God!

This VOICES8 version of the Magnificat is beautiful and well worth the listen…

Click here for an audio version of this blog post. 

Mary responded,

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
⁴⁷     How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
⁴⁸ For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
    and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
⁴⁹ For the Mighty One is holy,
    and he has done great things for me.
⁵⁰ He shows mercy from generation to generation
    to all who fear him.
⁵¹ His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
    He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
⁵² He has brought down princes from their thrones
    and exalted the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
    and sent the rich away with empty hands.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel
    and remembered to be merciful.
⁵⁵ For he made this promise to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and his children forever.” – Luke 1:46-55 [NLT]

Once in a while I must invoke the Rick Warren Rule. When I was studying at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California, we visited Rick – who was also enrolled in the D. Min. program there. He shared some of his insights at that early stage of his church’s development. He told us, “If my bullet fits your gun, shoot it.” I like that image – inappropriate as it may be in these days of gun control and gun rights sensitivity. But the message is a reflection of Ecclesiastes 1:9, “…there is nothing new under the sun.” It’s all been said before. The only truly original One is God himself.

So when I heard Alistair Begg’s message on Mary’s song, and his title, I decided to grab his bullet. Mary’s witness here is that God is mindful, mighty, and merciful. What a delightfully-powerful combination that is! He is not just aware of our needs. He is not merely powerful. His heart is not only open to us in our time of pain. His mindfulness is not impotent. His power is not ruthless. His mercy is not amorphous. Or put more positively: His mercy is connected to his awareness of our true needs. His mindfulness leverages an immense storehouse of power. And his power is directed thoughtfully. 

Diane and I are working on mindfulness. Being fully present with each other. Not being distracted with screens or other diversions. I’m reminded of Elijah’s taunt of the prophets of Baal: And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened” (1 Kings 18:27). Idols are mute. They serve only to distract us. They can offer no real benefit. They provide only what we invest in them. 

God is no idol. He is keenly aware of our needs. He knows our frame (Psalm 103). Not one sparrow falls to the earth apart from his knowledge (Matthew 10:29). God knows our needs even before we ask of him in prayer (Matthew 6:8). Even before we speak he knows our thoughts (Psalm 139:4). God takes notice of the humble (v. 48). God knows and cares about all his creatures. He is present with us. God is mindful.

“God is not a wimp.” Bruce said that to me years ago and I’ve never forgotten it. And sometimes we try to resolve an inexplicable mystery and paradox: God is all-powerful. God is loving and good. Yet evil exists and intrudes into our world and lives. How do these three go together? Such a question leads us away from God toward doubt. Better we should ask, “What does God do about evil?” (Check out Michael Ziegler’s excellent message about this on The Lutheran Hour podcast.) This is a profound mystery: God dealt with evil by laying aside his power, taking the form of a servant and becoming obedient to the point of death. And in that powerlessness evil was defeated! That is a paradox beyond comprehension.

God’s heart is also tender to us. He is not just present and powerful. He allows himself to feel our pain – and in no trite manner. His mercy is to those in need, for which we can all say thanks be to God. In fact, we can sing…

My soul proclaims your greatness, O God, and my spirit rejoices in you,
You have looked with love on your servant here, and blessed me all my life through.
Great and might are you, O Holy One, strong is your kindness evermore.
How you favor the weak and lowly one, humbling the proud of heart.

You have cast the mighty down from their thrones, and uplifted the humble of heart,
you have filled the hungry with wonderous things, and left the wealthy no part.
Great and mighty are you, O Faithful One, strong is your justice, strong your love,
As you promised to Sarah and Abraham, kindness forevermore.

My soul proclaims your greatness, O God, and my spirit rejoices in you,
You have looked with love on your servant here, and blessed me all my life through. – Holden Evening Prayer