Mary responded,
“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel
and remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.” (Luke 1:46–55 NLT)
Magnificat anima mea Dominum – My soul magnifies the Lord. Mary begins by describing the response of her inner self, and she quickly moves on to the reason for her response: God has looked favorably on her in her humble state. The rest of her song describes the actions of God – he shows mercy to those who fear him; brings low the prideful, the rich, and those in positions of authority; and raises up those who are humble and hungry.
Her words in verse 48 are correct. All generations truly consider Mary blessed because she was chosen to bear our Savior. Yet in the time she spoke these words, she had many reasons to feel burdened rather than blessed. This economically poor girl, likely in her teens, has found herself with child. And her husband-to-be will certainly have some questions when she returns pregnant from a three-month-long visit with her cousin, Elizabeth. What will Joseph say? What will her parents and the rest of the community say? How will she care for this child? It is the fact that she is in such a humble state that the addition of a child is such a burden – yet her soul magnifies the Lord because he has met her in her weakness.
Oftentimes our impulse is to complain about our humble state. We can list all the reasons an unexpected visit, an unplanned event, or some extended family member is a burden precisely because of our humble state. “If God would just bless me,” we think. “If he could just bless me with some extra resources, then I could consider taking on this burden.” But what if the burden IS the blessing? God has looked favorably upon us in our humble state and considered us worthy of this blessing. He has exalted us and given us the opportunity to love in a self-sacrificial, Christlike manner. And if we shift our perspective, we might find God meets us in our weakness, too.
On this day in which we celebrate the advent of our Savior, may we look favorably on our own humble state and consider every burden a blessing from God. He is with us. And the only appropriate response we can give is to glorify him as Mary did a little over 2,000 years ago in the hill country of Judea.
Magnificat anima mea Dominum – My soul magnifies the Lord.
Jordan Brown is the lead pastor of Antelope Springs Church in Roseville, California.