And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowly state 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; indeed, 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 imagination 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 come to the aid of his child Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” Luke 1:46-55
Mary’s Voice
The Magnificat is potentially the boldest song ever written, and because of that, I have heard a lot of people describe Mary as being “punk rock” in her attitude. As a songwriter myself, I resonate with Mary, and I choose to believe that this wasn’t the only song that she sung. This was the song that was preserved and handed down to us. I don’t believe that she opened her mouth, uttered these profound words, and then never spoke again.
Given that we aren’t told anything else about Mary in the Bible, her voice is our window into her life and character. This text reveals a gift that she had, a gift with words. As a mother, I can picture her singing over her son in the same way that I sing to my son. I can imagine Mary singing words of hope, power, and blessing over Jesus as a bump, a baby, a boy, and a man. I can imagine her singing to the disciples after they had traveled long and worked hard. Did she process her grief by singing at his grave, or process her joy by singing at his resurrection?
Mary, she sings honestly and prophetically. She declares what God is doing, and what God will do, claiming those promises even when they seem impossible. She says that God has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. The idea that God looked down and picked her, a poor girl in a poor town, probably felt impossible. I have to assume that there were plenty people who did not believe her. She boldly proclaims that all generations will call her blessed because of what the Lord has done. That seems like it would be impossible for all generations to remember this peasant girl, and yet here we are, remembering her today.
The Gospel According to Mary
In his ministry, Jesus flips the tables of the money changers and praises poor widows, but Mary did it first. She preached that the hungry will be filled and the rich sent away empty.
Jesus said that the first will be last and the last will be first, but Mary preached it first. She said “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly”. St. Augustine gives the example that the Pharisee and the Tax Collector who go to the temple to pray are the proud and humble from Mary’s Magnificat.
The ripples of the incarnation spread out in every direction, so that the ministry and the message of Jesus went ahead of him, through the calling of his mother. The preaching of Jesus begins in Mary’s mouth when she sings Jesus’ own message over him as a promise, and a claim, and a blessing before he is even born. I’ll bet you anything that she sang this song to him more than once. Her calling supported and formed Jesus as he grew in his calling. She sang the good news to the savior, nursing him not only with her body but with her faith.
In his ancient commentary, Ephrem the Syrian wrote that, “Mary sums up her place in salvation history as she proclaims the new kingdom”. The 2nd century theologian Origen says that the salvation story begins with women, as “Elizabeth prophesies before John, and before the birth of the Lord and Savior, Mary prophesies”.
The Story in Our Mouths
The ripples of the incarnation are still in motion. The Holy Spirit is still filling us, the good news of Kingdom of God is still being preached, and mothers are still singing it over their children. The powerful can be brought down and the lowly lifted up. The hungry can be filled and the rich sent away empty. A peasant girl can be blessed for all generations. How is the incarnation moving and rippling out in our lives?
Elizabeth said, “blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
We can keep our eyes open for these ripples, for these opportunities to be changed by the very real, very present power of God. Every time we love one another, every time we see Christ in the face of the poor, every time we welcome children in his name, we are co-creating ripples in the Kingdom of God. And all creation is in motion with the love and the presence of Almighty God if you have the eyes to see it and the ears to hear it, and perhaps like Mary, the boldness to proclaim it.
In her song, Mary isn’t just telling salvation history, she’s telling her story of what God has done for her. The story of Jesus went ahead of him in Mary’s mouth, and now it lives in our mouths, and our hands, and our feet.
You don’t have to be a salvation history expert to tell your story and what God has done for you. Your story is important, because we have all seen some things. Telling your story might be the way that someone else feels seen and lifted up. Telling your story might remind someone else that they aren’t forgotten by God, no matter how lowly they feel. That is the meaning of the incarnation – Emmanuel, or “God with us”.
Every single person, from the tall to the small, can be a ripple for Jesus in this world, as living representations of his love, and Mary is our example. She tells her own story as being one part, one ripple, of God’s greater story, and together we can be a wave of blessing that washes over our community and this world. We can be a wave that lifts up the lowly and fills the hungry with good things.
In this season of Christmas, may we keep our hearts open to seeing God with us, and may the story forever be in our mouths that the Lord has done great things for us.
To read about Creating Space for a Contemplative Christmas, click here.
To read more posts, visit my column here. Check out my published writing in “Soul Food: Nourishing Essays on Contemplative Living and Leadership”. If you are interested in contemplative leadership and are between the ages of 25-40, visit Shalem.org to learn about Crossing the Threshold.
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