Magnify
Read Luke 1:39-56.
More often than not, I find myself grabbing for "cheaters" these days, glasses that help me see small print. (Have you noticed the conspiracy? They are printing things smaller and smaller these days!) Nevertheless, my current contact prescription allows me to see very well far away, but things up close (like blog pages and computer-related things) are often blurry. I just need a little magnification to be able to see them clearly. Hence, the cheaters.
I think of that when I read Mary's song, traditionally called the "Magnificat" because that's the first word of the song in the Latin translation. The word in our modern NIV is "glorify" but a better translation actually shows up in older versions: "magnify." Mary is spending time with her relative, Elizabeth, and she bursts into song to celebrate what is happening to her. Rather than bemoan her situation, her cultural shame, Mary instead chooses to focus on the God who is making it all happen. "My soul magnifies the Lord," she sings (1:46).
The ordinary meaning of "magnify" is to make something bigger. Is that what Mary means? Does her soul, somehow, make God bigger? Well, yes, in a way. Through Mary's obedience, through anyone's obedience, the world is better able to see God. The best way for people who are far from God to see him is to look at your life, to see what God is doing in and through you. When we obey, as Mary has done, we magnify God. We make his presence in the world "bigger." We help others see him better.
Mary even goes further to celebrate some particular ways God will be seen in the world through the work of her son, who is coming into the world because of her obedience. Even though these things are in the future, Mary sings of them as being in the present tense, as if they have already happened. What Jesus is coming to do is that certain. Here's how Mary puts it: "He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty" (1:51-53). These are all good things, good news—if you're one of the people on the "underside" of life. If you're humble or hungry, this sounds great. If you're rich, or a ruler, or proud, these do not sound so good. Mary sings that Jesus is coming to turn the world upside down, to bring in God's upside-down kingdom, and to get on his "side" will require a reorientation to the way life ought to work. If folks are going to be able to get "in" on this new kingdom, they're going to need to be able to see who God is...through you, through me...because of the way we magnify him.
So, what about it? Read Mary's song again, and consider how you magnify God in your daily life. And then ask yourself: am I in? Do my actions, my choices, my lifestyle—do they square with the kingdom that has come and is coming? Am I magnifying myself or God?
More often than not, I find myself grabbing for "cheaters" these days, glasses that help me see small print. (Have you noticed the conspiracy? They are printing things smaller and smaller these days!) Nevertheless, my current contact prescription allows me to see very well far away, but things up close (like blog pages and computer-related things) are often blurry. I just need a little magnification to be able to see them clearly. Hence, the cheaters.
I think of that when I read Mary's song, traditionally called the "Magnificat" because that's the first word of the song in the Latin translation. The word in our modern NIV is "glorify" but a better translation actually shows up in older versions: "magnify." Mary is spending time with her relative, Elizabeth, and she bursts into song to celebrate what is happening to her. Rather than bemoan her situation, her cultural shame, Mary instead chooses to focus on the God who is making it all happen. "My soul magnifies the Lord," she sings (1:46).
The ordinary meaning of "magnify" is to make something bigger. Is that what Mary means? Does her soul, somehow, make God bigger? Well, yes, in a way. Through Mary's obedience, through anyone's obedience, the world is better able to see God. The best way for people who are far from God to see him is to look at your life, to see what God is doing in and through you. When we obey, as Mary has done, we magnify God. We make his presence in the world "bigger." We help others see him better.
Mary even goes further to celebrate some particular ways God will be seen in the world through the work of her son, who is coming into the world because of her obedience. Even though these things are in the future, Mary sings of them as being in the present tense, as if they have already happened. What Jesus is coming to do is that certain. Here's how Mary puts it: "He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty" (1:51-53). These are all good things, good news—if you're one of the people on the "underside" of life. If you're humble or hungry, this sounds great. If you're rich, or a ruler, or proud, these do not sound so good. Mary sings that Jesus is coming to turn the world upside down, to bring in God's upside-down kingdom, and to get on his "side" will require a reorientation to the way life ought to work. If folks are going to be able to get "in" on this new kingdom, they're going to need to be able to see who God is...through you, through me...because of the way we magnify him.
So, what about it? Read Mary's song again, and consider how you magnify God in your daily life. And then ask yourself: am I in? Do my actions, my choices, my lifestyle—do they square with the kingdom that has come and is coming? Am I magnifying myself or God?
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