The First Christmas Song

Our celebration of Christmas should be focused on God and others, not ourselves.   ~~~   Christmas time is here! Happiness and Cheer! How many of you have been playing Christmas music since before October? We know who you are! You love Christmas music! And why not!? Christmas songs are some of the best out there. But do you know there are some Christmas songs in our Bible, embedded within the Christmas story? Yep. People have been singing Christmas songs even before Jesus was born. The first song that is belted out comes from the lips of Elizabeth. She is the relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. And Elizabeth’s husband was visited by an angel and was told that he and his wife, who had never been able to get pregnant, would have a son. This son would be great before the Lord, in the spirit of Elijah, he would prepare God’s people for the promised one. Now all of this takes place after about 400 years of silence. God had spoken through the prophets in the OT, but then he stopped. Silence. And then God subtly steps on the scene again, fulfilling His promise in the way He said He would. So can you imagine the astonishment, the hysteria, the wonder that takes place in Elizabeth’s and Mary’s mind and heart? And what we are about to read is most likely a report from Mary’s lips. Luke visits Mary and says, “Mary, we haven’t heard from you. Can you walk me through that amazing time?” Mary says, “Pull up a seat, Luke.” Luke 1:39-45 “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there wold be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Our text tells us that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb and she was filled with the Spirit, then began exclaiming. And when we look at the lyrics of her expression, we are going to see that it centers on Jesus. Notice these things: “Blessed are you among women” because of the baby in your womb—Jesus “When the sound of your greeting came, the baby in my womb leaped for joy”—because the Christ-child, in utero had come into the room “Mother of my LORD…” not Mary my niece. Elizabeth’s role in the plan of redemption, bearing the last OT prophet, the forerunner of Christ, did not overshadow the most important part of the promise and plan. How often do we let our own little kingdoms and ministries become more important in our own minds than the kingdom of God itself? When our focus is on ourselves, our skills, our desires, our gifting then we don’t offer Spirit-filled rejoicings; we give self-filled whimperings. But when we focus on Jesus, on the gospel, then the Holy Spirit produces His characteristics within us, and it produces worship! This time of year provides a lot of opportunity to get distracted, to focus on yourself, or even to focus on others without focusing on Christ. I pray that this season you will be filled with the Spirit who will focus you on the Savior.