At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 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. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. (Luke 1:39-56 NIV)
We’re looking ahead to Christmas, but for some people, the biggest day is already over. Last Sunday, over 1.5 million people visited one church on the same day. Know what I’m talking about? December 12th is the most important day of the year in Mexico—the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. It’s said that on December 12, 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to a shepherd named Juan Diego in Mexico. To prove it, she left her image on Juan Diego’s cloak. That image is called the “Virgin of Guadalupe.” Every year on December 12th, millions of people visit the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City to worship and pray to Mary. Can you imagine 1.5 million people at church? And we thought it was crazy at our Christmas for Kids!
I’ve been there. I’ve been to the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe five different times. People walk around on their knees to show their adoration. At the entrance to the church, there are books for people to write their prayers to Mary. “Thank you for saving me and my family.” “You are my everything.” “My whole life depends on you.” All around are shops selling statues and pictures of Mary. In fact, every Mexican home I’ve ever visited here in the U.S. has had the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe displayed prominently in the house. She’s a big deal! What do you think? Sometimes I’ve wondered to myself, “What would Mary herself think about all this?”
We don’t have to wonder. Mary tells us exactly what she thinks. Soon after she found out from the angel Gabriel that she was going to be Jesus’ mother, Mary hurried to the home of her relative Elizabeth. Remember her? She was the old woman who was pregnant with John the Baptist. Did you catch what happened when Elizabeth heard Mary’s voice? John the Baptist in her womb leaped for joy! What does that tell us? John the Baptist was a human being and a believer in Jesus even before he was born. And Jesus was the Savior of the world, even while he was still in Mary’s womb. What does that tell you about unborn babies? They are alive! They are real people! Their lives matter! If you have any doubts about the sin of abortion, just think about little John jumping at the thought of even littler Jesus being conceived. Our God is pro-life!
As she took it all in, Mary sang a song—the Song of Mary. Sometimes it’s called the Magnificat, because that’s the first word of the song in Latin. You don’t know Latin, but the word “magnificat” isn’t hard to figure out. “Magnificat” means “magnifies.” Like a magnifying glass. Mary wanted to “magnify” something. She wanted to make something look really big. Kind of like Mary is magnified on the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. I’m going to say the words of Mary’s song. As you listen, ask yourself: What does Mary want to magnify? Here’s her song:
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.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. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” That was Mary’s song.
So what—or whom—does Mary want to magnify? It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? “My soul glorifies the Lord.” “The Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.” Whom does Mary magnify? God! She doesn’t want to magnify herself at all. She wants to magnify God! “Look at how great God is!” “Look at what my God has done!” “He has done great things for me… His mercy extends to those who fear him… He has performed… He has scattered… He has brought down… He has lifted up… He has filled… He has helped…” He! Not me. He! Like a magnifying glass makes things look big, Mary wanted to magnify the Lord. “My soul glorifies the Lord.”
We hear two little words a lot at our house: “Look at…!” “Mom, look at…” “Dad, look at…” How often do little kids say that? All the time! Maybe we don’t say those words quite as often as we grow older, but I bet we think about them just as much. We want people to see what we see. We want people to recognize what we recognize. And what is it we usually want people to notice? Me! “Look at me! Look at what I can do! Look at what makes me special!” Every single one of us has a magnifying glass, just like Mary did. What or whom are you trying to magnify?
We get it all wrong when we take that magnifying glass and point it at ourselves or other people. The way some people talk about Mary is an example of a lie that we constantly believe. We think that our lives depend on the great things that we do. We think that we have to do something special in order to be special. So people try to make Mary into “super Mary” who does all these great things. People say that Mary was sinless. That she answers prayers. That she ascended into heaven without dying. People magnify Mary. Except those things aren’t true. Mary would be appalled at what people do to try to glorify her. Mary knew it’s not about her. It’s about Jesus!
Maybe we’re not tempted to glorify Mary. But whom do you magnify? If it’s not the Virgin of Guadalupe, who’s hanging on the wall at your house? Or—more importantly—whose picture is hanging on the wall of your heart? An athlete? “Look at all his stats. Isn’t he great!” An actress? “Look at how she looks. Isn’t she beautiful?” Some politician? “Look at what he’s done. Isn’t he great!” We magnify people. All the time. And that makes us wish someone would magnify us too. How often haven’t you wanted to be in their shoes? To have people look at you? Remember the lie? We have to do special things in order to be special. So how often don’t we think, “Why don’t they look at me? Why don’t they see how special I am? Look at me! Please look at me!”
It’s just that when we really magnify ourselves, what we see isn’t good. We can look fine from a distance, but if we really magnify every nook and cranny of our hearts and lives, what do we see? A lady recently told me that she’s like a broken ornament that was glued back together. “I look good from a distance, but when you get up close, you’ll see all the cracks and wholes and brokenness.” She’s right, isn’t she? That’s what really happens when you magnify yourself. All your sins come into the spotlight. Good from a distance. Cracked and broken up close. There’s nothing more depressing than magnifying your own heart. Is that why we feel so much despair?
So listen to Mary. She got this. You’re not special because of what you do. You’re special because of what God has done for you. In the middle of her sins, in her humble state, God in grace choose Mary out of the blue. There was nothing special about her, but there were a ton of things special about her God. The news of Jesus’ birth was sinking in for Mary: “I’m going to be the mother of God. I’m going to be the mother of my Savior. Why me?” Joy welled up in her like a volcano: “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Mary could sense that people would praise her. Instead, she wanted people to magnify God. “The Mighty One has done great things for me!”
But not just for her. This grace of God extends way beyond Mary. She wanted people to see that. She held up a magnifying glass so that people could see God’s grace everywhere. “His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 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.” Just look around. Just look at your life. God is great, isn’t he? He’s merciful. He’s powerful. He humbles the proud. He lifts up the humble…
And Mary saved the greatest thing for the end: “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” What made Mary most excited was God’s promise to Abraham. So what was the promise to Abraham? The promise of a Savior. God would save his people from their sins. Mary needed a Savior, and she knew who her Savior was—her baby, Jesus! That’s why her heart was overflowing with joy: “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” “Look at God my Savior!”
Those are profound words for a teenager. Even as a young woman, Mary was able to do to quote God’s promises from the Old Testament. In Mary’s song, every single sentence is a reference to the promises of God’s Word. How many teenage girls today walk around quoting God’s promises? We need more teenagers like that! That’s what made her blessed. The word “blessed” is passive. You can’t bless yourself. Someone else has to bless you. Mary was blessed because God blessed her. She didn’t have to say, “Look at me!”, because God was already looking at her. God filled her heart with faith in her Savior. God filled her mind with his Word in the Bible. God filled her womb with his own Son. Blessed. “The Mighty One has done great things for me!”
And God has done great things for you too. You don’t have to make yourself special by what you do. You’re special because of what God has done for you. Look at how Jesus came to save you from your sins. Look at how Jesus lived everyday with you on his mind. Look at how he died for you on the cross. Look at how he rose for you. You don’t have to say, “Look at me!”, because God himself is already looking at you with love. Of all the people in the world, God lets you believe in Jesus. Of all the people in the world, God lets you find peace and joy in Jesus. It’s overwhelming, isn’t it? Why you? You’re blessed! What can we say? “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.… The Mighty One has done great things for me!”
When you use a magnifying glass, you have to close your other eye. You have to forget about everything else. You have to look at that one thing so closely that everything else fades away. May that be you and me this Christmas: Magnify Jesus. Not presents… Not Santa… Not food… Not relatives… Close that other eye, and look at Jesus. Not what’s going wrong… Not what you wish were different… Not what you regret. Close that other eye, and look at Jesus. Like Mary did. “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior….For the Mighty One has done great things for me.” That’s what Mary thinks. “Look at God!” Let’s magnify the Lord.
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