My Soul Magnifies...

Mary's prophecy in Luke 1:46-55 is justifiably famous. One of the few formally-structured speeches in scripture by a woman, and in the form of a psalm (see for instance, Psalm 8), this is praise  to God in thanks for his work ("he who is mighty has done great things for me", v 49) and in recognition of God's goodness "to those who fear him", v. 50.

True to Luke's emphasis in his two books, the Holy Spirit is shown leading Elizabeth to bless Mary (v. 42-45). It seems in context to give credit to the Holy Spirit for Mary's song of praise also. We could imagine that Mary had been thinking of some of these words during her trip to see her cousin, and holding on to these words (see 2:51b), giving them to Luke years later, perhaps for more literary stylizing as well.

The first portion, 46-49, is a joyful song of praise to the Lord. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name." It seems a little forward to imagine "all generations" referring to her in the future, but again, this is formal speech, and as it turns out, she was right.

What can we learn from this? Several different lessons, I believe. First, the responsibility, or perhaps better, the opportunity or privilege, of thanking God for what he does for us; recognizing his generosity, as a child would thank a parent for an ice-cream cone. Second, that we can gain a humble perspective by reflecting on his power and authority, ("he who is mighty") which is so far above ours, yet he takes notice of us and wishes to bless us ("has done great things for me").

The second half of this song has a more difficult tone, and we'll look at that tomorrow.

"Anything but God"

CS Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, “Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” Isn’t that a very brief but very accurate description of human history? “The woman was convinced. She saw that

Jesus and "All"

When I was in middle school, I had a teacher who was from Oklahoma and had the accent to prove it. One time she mentioned her brother who worked on 'all wells,' and it took us awhile to figure out she meant 'oil wells'! The same kind of misunderstanding can happen when people read the 'all' scriptures in the Bible and assume it means something less than 'all.' And that reading

Fake News vs. The Best News!

Did you know that not all "news" is true? There’s been a lot of coverage lately about “fake news” — a rumor or accusation, sometimes sponsored by someone with a political agenda (wow, imagine that?) and then spread by people who assume without checking that it’s true, because it fits their

Welcoming the Stranger

This week for one of my classes I studied the tale of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8. I've often visualized a black man in royal robes, bouncing along in a chariot, while a young Jewish man runs up alongside and is able to

Advent #2: God Shows Us His Love

Last time I wrote that "God Is Love," that he is one God in three eternal Persons, and he desires to share his love with us. His plan, from the beginning, was to create a physical universe with physical, relational people who would be invited into his eternal embrace of love. But how would an immaterial God invite these physical, material people, into his love in real terms of intimacy, since he is so different from his creation? 'Houston, we have a problem!" But with God, there are no insurmountable problems -- just incredibly beautiful solutions. Here's this one:

The Son of God would become flesh:  truly one of us, with our weaknesses and our needs, suffering as a human from hunger, thirst, fatigue, and temptation; and even subject to death like we are. That's what religious scholars call "incarnation" -- becoming flesh. But because the Son is God, he didn't become non-God; he added humanity to his divinity, without weakening himself but also still fully and completely becoming human. This is a wonder, and one of the most breathtakingly daring and beautiful actions we could imagine.

The Son of God descended from heaven to become human, so that humans could ascend to heaven and live eternally with God. Eugene Peterson's The Message translation says "The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood" in John 1:14.  He came and was fully united with us; he ate our food, drank our water, had to make a living and pay bills, and everything else, just like us. He didn't keep himself back from us because he was King of the Universe; he showed us his love by becoming one of us.

Jesus showed us the love of the Father by his teaching, his kindness and mercy and gentleness, forgiving even those who were torturing him on the Cross (Luke 23:34). And in fact, his self-giving on the Cross, as a sacrifice for us, to take death away and join us instead to his resurrection, is the central example of the love of God.

Because of Jesus, there can be no doubt God loves us extravagantly. He laid down everything for us, including comfort and safety and peace and position, in order to join us and show us love. Jesus, our Savior, is indeed our supreme example of love; and his love in us is what makes it possible for us to love others as he loved.

Can you love someone extravagantly, this Christmas season?

Advent, #1 of 3: God Is Love

Christians celebrate this pre-Christmas season looking back to Jesus' first coming in Bethlehem, looking forward to his promised return in power and glory to bring peace on earth (Yes, really!) and soaking in his daily coming into our lives and thoughts by his Spirit. These three

"God Is" Equals "God Does"

Why did God send his Son into the world? John 3:17 answers that "God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him."  But why did God become

Mary's Vision, Joseph's Dream

I've been wondering again -- in the wonder of the whole Incarnation story that keeps leaving me with my mouth open in amazement -- about the stories of Mary, in Luke's gospel, and Joseph in Matthew's account.  The idea that God would become one of us is just beyond me. It was beyond Joseph and Mary too. That's why the angel appeared to them. But my question is,

Humility and Trust

To be frank, I don't know if I want to trust you. I've trusted people before, and some of them betrayed me, gossiped, and made fun of me. Some of them abandoned me, just hung me out to dry and walked away. So if I ask you to pray about something, or open up and tell you about my problems, what will you do? Or maybe this is you, asking me

The Gift of Presence

"Your presence is the only present we request" sometimes shows up on an invitation to a birthday or anniversary. The hosts are expressing that it's more important to be there, than to give something to the person being honored. Guess what? Jesus 'showed up' often during his life on earth, and his presence was often simply that, and that alone. Jesus came to

Living in the Kingdom: The Sermon on the Mount

"Blessed are the poor...You are the salt of the earth...Unless your righteousness is better than the Pharisees...You have heard it said..."  These are familiar words from Jesus. Many times they are said to be "a new Torah" or "the constitution of the Kingdom," and they can be a tad frightening if

In Jesus, We See God

It's an axiom of theology that God is what's called "transcendent." That is, he is above and outside of his creation, and he is not part of it. Because of that, we can't see or touch him, we can't know his mind and we can't understand his true nature and glory, even

Home for the Holidays

The Lovely Joanne and I are finally back in our house after four months to the day of renovations and six months to the day from the original damages. We've learned a lot this year from the experience! As we reflect on the story of Jesus' birth, I'm struck once again by the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, coming to live in a 'home' of human flesh. Giving up the perks of perfection and peace in heaven, he entered our chaotic and threatened

Feasting and Fasting

This time of year we plan our big family meals, make travel plans and look forward to celebrations and reunions with loved ones. It's a time of joy, fun, and food -- although food seems to be #1 on that list!  And we rarely think of deciding to go without food for a day, because we're looking forward to those great meals. But from time to time, fasting -- voluntarily going without something -- is important.  It reminds us how physical we really are and how much we depend on (or are a slave to) nourishment or some other physical thing.

Isaiah talked about fasting in 58:3-7.  The nation self-righteously claimed to obey God because they could say they fasted.  Yet, Isaiah says, their posturing didn't affect their behavior; "oppressing your workers," and "fighting and quarreling" were two of their sins that continued.  "Going through motions of penance" does no good, says Isaiah, if your heart is not changed.  Instead, says the prophet, creating justice and stopping oppression, and feeding and clothing and housing the poor, is the kind of fast God wants.  Why is that a fast?  Because it is giving up something that makes us more comfortable, whether it's leisure time, additional food in the pantry, an extra jacket in the closet, or something else we're not really using anyway, in order to help someone else.

Isaiah's words didn't seem to have much effect on his own people.  But how did his words come to life in Jesus?  The Son of God 'fasted' from his divine privileges in order to do what Isaiah said: "let oppressed people go free, and remove the chains that bind people."  Paul describes how the Son of God, whom we know as Jesus, sacrificed himself to serve humans, in Philippians 2:6-8:  "Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.  When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross."  He didn't have to give up all that, but he did.  He didn't deserve the criminal's death -- we did.   

The Son of God shared himself with the spiritually hungry as well as feeding them physically (see John 6:1-15 and 25-40).  He provides a home for the homeless:  "There is more than enough room in my Father’s home...When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (John 14:2-3).  He preached the good news to the poor (Luke 4:18-19, interpreting Isaiah's words directly).  And he fasted for 40 days before meeting Satan in the wilderness and defeating the evil one completely. 

Through Isaiah's words, God invites us to do what he has already done:  to become uncomfortable in order to provide comfort for someone else.  Jesus, the living Son of God, sacrificed all through his life, not just so we could 'follow an example' but so we would be completely included in him, and in the love of the Father:  "I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me." (John 17:23).  I know people who have experienced Jesus' love, and they share it with others.  They sacrifice their comfort so others can have more, they give up time and personal space and comfort, and money and food and clothing, so that someone else can have enough -- and so those people can also experience the love of God as they get included in that love. 

Jesus, the Son of God, fasted so we can feast.  How will you "go and do likewise" this year?   And if you don't know what this love of God for you really means, please give me a chance to explain it. 

Cats and God, part 2

If you don't know, the McCulleys recently adopted two kittens.  It's been a lot of fun to see them learn their way around the house and create toys out of all kinds of things I didn't expect.

When we got them, they both had colds so we had to take them to the vet. The vet assured us that humans and cats don't infect each other, because we are different kinds of beings.  That was helpful, because I was concerned we would catch what they had.

In somewhat the same way, God is a completely different being from us -- completely 'other' than we are. He is the Creator, but he is uncreated, and outside of his creation. We can never be 'god,' because we are created beings, utterly distinct from him.

But by the incarnation of the Son as Jesus, God entered the creation, and our state of being! The uniqueness of Jesus Christ is that, although the Son of God (uncreated and eternal) he also took on the same flesh that we have.  By doing that, his unique union of God and flesh enables us to become children of the Father. Jesus Christ is the Father's Son by nature as God; and because of his birth into human flesh, we are the children of the Father by adoption through Jesus.

We read this in Ephesians 1:3-5 "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.  Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure."  Because of what the Son did by becoming flesh, due to God's decision before time and creation began, we are His.  And although we will never be God as God is God, we are adopted into the circle of love that exists within the Trinity, and we will experience that love forever.

We can't cure our kitties' colds; we have to give them medicine and wait.  But because the Son entered our world, our humanity and our mortality is cured forever:  As Hebrews 2:14 says:  "Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death."  

Our death is swallowed up in Jesus' death, and his resurrection ensures our future life.  What a wonderful life we will have forever with God, because of his Son!