The first chapter of Luke describes the scene in which Gabriel, the angel of the Lord, speaks to a young woman named Mary, sharing God’s miraculous plan for how the Messiah will come into the world. God, like He so often does, chooses those who are lowly in the eyes of the world as the means of accomplishing His will. The narrative concludes with a passage that has become known as Mary’s Song or more formally, The Magnificat. She describes in a truly poignant way how God has deemed her worthy of such honor as being the mother of Jesus despite her humble status. Mary goes on to proclaim that this is par for the course for God: His mercy extends to those who fear Him, He scatters those who are proud, He brings down rulers yet lifts up the humble, He fills the hungry, and more. It is a theme that runs through scripture all the way from the Garden of Eden through to the pronouncements given to the seven churches in Revelation.
And Mary said:
~ Luke 1:46-48
“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.
In her song, Mary states that her soul “glorifies” the Lord. This word can also be translated “magnify” (which is where we get the word “magnificat” in the formal name). In doing so, she humbles herself and gives thanks for God’s mindfulness of her position. It is a posture that we are keen to emulate! We too should humble ourselves and “magnify” the Lord. It is an issue in every area of our Christian walk, and it is particularly important when it comes to our Worship.
When we watch a movie or stage play, it sometimes becomes obvious when the actor or actress is trying too hard. Maybe they are a bit too dramatic for that scene, or maybe in some other way their performance just goes over the top. Instead of conveying a believable sense of that character, the story gets warped when the actor or actress shows himself or herself off a little too much. Unfortunately, we can sometimes fall into the same trap when it comes to our worship of the Lord.
Yoshiya Noguchi, minister at the Ochanomizu Church of Christ in Tokyo, Japan, recently wrote that when Japanese people encounter such an actor’s performance, they characterize it as “stinky”. He explains that the Japanese kanji for “stinky” (臭) is actually a combination of two simpler kanji for the words “self” and “large”. Meanwhile, the kanji for “beautiful” (美) is a combination of the simpler kanji for “lamb” and “large”. Yoshiya writes that this suggests that when we make ourselves too large we end up becoming stinky before God and those around us. In contrast, it is something beautiful when we allow the Lamb to be large in our lives instead.
As we praise the Lord, whether in a corporate worship setting or in every other form of worship we employ with our daily lives, let us remember the posture of Mary and remain humble while we magnify the Lord.
~ Clay
Fowlers in Japan 