THE MAGNIFICAT

Mary’s Song of Praise – Luke 1: 46-55   

‘Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;  for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.”’

Little did Mary know at that time how significant the words of her Magnificat would become, repeated down the centuries and set to some of the most beautiful music ever composed.  There in Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s home, she was simply expressing her discoveries of the ways in which she knew God had drawn close to her. 

Mary felt uplifted by God, it was a though he had invited her to a banquet whose table groaned under the weight of good things to be enjoyed.  It was the humble who were welcome at this feast, all those proud of heart would not find a place at the table. 

Mary’s joy also sprang from God’s faithfulness, not only to her personally, but also to his people Israel.  God had remembered his people and his own word to their ancestors.  His promises still stood from generations past. 

The enduring words of the Magnificat still resound in our churches around the globe today.  They have become a perpetual personal testimony of a great God performing a great work in an ordinary person.   That, I think is the key to this wonderful song.  It is not about the great and the famous, it is not concerned with the influential or the powerful, it is the story of a self-effacing teenager who allowed Almighty God to do something special in her life.

Many of us are far too shy to admit that anything God has done in our lives is worth mentioning.  In contrast to Mary’s lips, which spoke forth the goodness of God, our lips can often be strangely silent.  Perhaps this is because we feel we can only speak of God in an eloquent fashion like Mary did.  Let me say that nobody is forced to give a testimony quite like Mary did.  Quite often we struggle to convey our feelings about what God does for us, our human language is insufficient for such a task.

However we should increasingly learn to share as much as we are able, words which are truly our own, about what God is doing in our lives, it makes for the encouragement of others on their journey.  Believe it or not, we all have a Magnificat hidden within us – our own story of how an exceptional God is changing us – and when the time is right, that song will come forth too, another verse to that great song of God’s mercy which ‘extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation’.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, may we sing our own Magnificat this Christmas, as song of thankfulness which truly wells up as our heartfelt response to your greatness and faithfulness.  Help us to realise it is not eloquence you seek, but honesty, spoken in words which are truly our own and with a faith we wish everyone would share. Amen.

Penny Bonham