Magnify This At Christmas

Today, let us revisit from last Sunday’s sermon, Mary’s Song of Praise, called the Magnificat, which serves as a testimony in worship…

“My soul magnifies 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 generations will call me blessed,              
for the Mighty One has done great things for me--  
holy is His Name.” (Luke 1:46-49).

I especially like that phrase: “The Mighty One has done great things for me.” What Mary said, also could be said by any of us who understand God’s grace to us. Mary said this because she was to give birth to the Savior. In our case, the Savior has given birth to us. Each of us could also say with validity, “The Mighty One has done great things for me.”

It is perfectly natural to have such expressions on the lips of God’s children when we consider all God has done for us. That is why the Scriptures say:

·    “Great is the Lord and worthy of praise” (Psalm 48:1).
·   “Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so…” (Psalm 107:2).
·   “The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled
with joy” (Psalm 126:3).
·   “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and
heard” (Spoken by Peter & John regarding the Gospel in
Acts 4:20).
 
It is eminently reasonable to have such expressions on the lips of God’s children when we consider all God has done for us. It makes sense that we would desire to express the greatness of our God if we would desire to express the greatness of anything at all. Think about it—we express the greatness of our favorite team, hobby, restaurant, movie, book, song, and vacation spot. Yet God’s goodness, greatness and graciousness rises like Mt Everest above all other superlatives in life.

I suppose it is only natural in human life to express to others that which means something to our lives. Strangely, we may tend to talk about everything under the sun except the great things God has done. Sadly, we shun God-talk but we sure talk about everything else. At least, I fear this is what we sometimes do. Yet the Bible says, “Declare the great things God has done…let the redeemed of the Lord say so” and Mary said here, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Would you agree with me? We need to do a better job in magnifying our Lord. That means boldly testifying through worship and witness about how awesome is our Lord! May we resolve to do so—beginning now in this Christmas Season!

Devotedly yours,
Pastor Ron