King of the Low :: 2 Samuel 7:1-17; Luke 1:26-38

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3.    David. Mary. They’re not exactly the highborn of this world.

God took David, the lowest of the sons of Samuel, from the filth of the field.  

God chose Mary, the lowly daughter of a nobody from a nowhere place called Nazareth, to be the mother of God. 

David was the little brother who caused all kinds of trouble. He’d grow up to become an adulterer and a murderer. 

Mary was a teenager. No skill. No money. No power. No reputation. 

Nothing they had done won them favor in God’s eyes. David and Mary had done nothing special. 

But God is not like us. He makes things out of nothing, out of the low, to be in grace. 


And so it is with David. 

You don’t make me king, David, the Lord told him. But I make you one. It’s not your heart, your faith, your works that have made me the Lord, the King of the universe. 

No, I am the King. It is from my heart and by my works that I made you a king. I have chosen you. I am always with you. I am the one who has cut off your enemies from before you. I make your name great. I give you rest. I am your shepherd. And I will proclaim greatness out of you. I will raise you up. I will establish you. 

I chose you, David, by grace. 


The same is true for Mary. 

How will this be, since I am a virgin? she asks sincerely. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy ... the Son of God (Lk 1:34-35). 

I chose you, Mary, not because you are more faithful or more pure ... you’re not! ... but because I am the King who makes things out of nothing, of the low, by grace. The Holy Spirit will be upon you. He will conceive in you the son of the Most High. 

I am the King who rules by giving, I am the King who rules by serving. I am the king of the low. I am the king of grace.

2.    It seems backward, doesn’t it? All topsy turvy.. 

Why are you serving us, Lord? We’re supposed to serve you. 

David looks at his magnificent house of cedar, and it bothers him that the Lord dwells in a tent. After the angel allayed her fear, I can’t even begin to tell you how Mary felt. 

I’m going to be the mother of God? Me? 


It all seems so wrong. 

Shouldn’t the Most High be given the most honor? 

Doesn’t he deserve better than this ... better than me? 

I’m not worthy. I am one of the low. Have you seen my heart? 


Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is not like us. 

He makes things out of nothing, out of the low, by grace. As we cause chaos, he brings order. As we turn things upside down, he sets them rightside up. It’s shocking, but this is the plan. This is the sum total of all his saving work in the Old Testament. As we wander away, the Lord calls us back. The Master of the Universe chooses to leave the power and riches of his heavenly throne and come to earth in human flesh, not for the high and mighty but for the weak and lowly. Not for the champions who have their act together, but for the least, the lowest. 

He comes and makes himself the obedient boy of his teenage pregnant mother. The Son of David becomes David’s eternal Lord. 

I’m going to be part of your family, David. Me. I’m going to join your family tree. I will be your son. I will call you father ... even while you call me Lord. 


We might not be comfortable with all that. It might bother us ... a lot ... but it doesn’t bother the Lord one bit. This is the plan. This is what he wants to do for you and for me. 

Because that’s where he’s headed, isn’t it? To you?

1.     Look at you. You’re not exactly the highborn of this world. 

You’re not exactly deserving of such a selfless, loving King. Yet this One, this Most High One, sees you down here, and he brings himself down to you, puts himself beneath you, takes up his post all around you ... that he might serve you and protect you, calm you and care for you. And gently rule over you with his love and mercy.

He’s not your son, but he’s made himself your brother. He has joined you in your situation, the one you are facing right now. Though you may feel like a nobody from nowhere, he has made you a king, an heir of heaven. He’s with you. He has cut off your enemies ... yes, your sin ... as well as death and the devil. He has joined his name to yours in the waters of Baptism ... He has made your name great.


These promises were true for David ... we see them fulfilled in the womb of Mary ... but they are spoken for you, too. For even as Christ was conceived in Mary by the word of the Most High, he has been conceived in your heart through the Word of one of the Low, God’s messengers, his preacher. You have found favor with God. 

You bear Jesus ... his name, his righteousness, his rule ... poured upon you in the water, sealed upon you by God’s powerful Word. There’s God’s name with you ever more + on your brow when you wake. On your brow + when you work. On your brow + at the close of the day. 

We might not feel worthy, but that doesn’t bother the Lord. This is the plan. God is not like us. He makes things out of nothing, out of the low, by grace.


Look at the cross. Jesus lowered himself so that we could lift him high. He then gave us his righteousness as we lowered ourselves in his saving grace. Even though we might find ourselves low in the grave some day, he will lift us high into the eternal heavens.

The high has become low so that the low will become high.

It means that when you face trouble tomorrow, or even later tonight, he will still be with you ... the low. When things don’t look as if they’re going very well, he is still your King, and his kingdom will have no end. You don’t have to work harder to reach up to God. He comes to you. In our humility, as we recognize him, under the mighty hand of God, he exalts you. And in this moment, you are now able to confess with Mary, that I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your Word (Luke 1:38).

Because it is. 

I am your servant, Lord. You have said so. Your word is on me. Over me. In me. For me. I am your servant. 

So now we can sing the song of Mary. 

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior ...

because he has regarded with favor the low estate of his servant, for behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed, because the Mighty One has done great things to me, and holy is his name, and his mercy for generations and generations is for those who fear him. 

He has done a mighty deed with his arm; he has scattered the arrogant in the way of thinking of their hearts; he has pulled down the mighty from their thrones, and he has exalted those of low position. 

The hungry he has filled with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 

He has come to the aid of Israel, his servant, to remember mercy, just as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his seed forever.


Brothers and sisters in Christ, Thanks be to God, He is not like us. 

THIS KING MAKES THINGS OUT OF NOTHING, OUT OF THE LOW, BY GRACE

In Jesus’ name.

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