Magnify

Only 27 percent?  What about the “Round yon virgin,” or the Herald Angels’, “offspring of a virgin’s womb”? Or, modern fav-everyone from Mary J. Blige to Clay Aiken to Kenny Rogers have all glommed on to croon-Mary Did You Know?  Yup, only 27 percent.

Our carols are primarily 19th and 20th century Protestant inventions, not a time that’s known for its deep Roman Catholic/Protestant cooperation and mutual affection.  Mary can’t be excised from the Christmas story completely, but in the carols she’s mentioned as little as possible, for fear of turning her into an object of cultic devotion-something most Protestants have accused Roman Catholics of doing for a fairly long time.

The Protestant doth protest too much, methinks. Poor Mary. We threw her out with the holy water. To our loss.

Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum, anyone? 

How do we magnify God?

Simple answer (again). Psalm 69:30 says, Magnify Him with thanksgiving. 

Is there any of us who has not received some special favor from the Lord? What, after all, do we have that we have not received? When your own heart is lifted up, urges Spurgeon then lift up the name of the Lord. Exalt him when he exalts you. 

Sitting down quietly in our chamber, can we not each one say that the Lord has favored him or her with some special token of divine love? I think there is something about each believer’s case which renders it special…There are some bright lines about your case, brother, which will be seen nowhere else, and some peculiar manifestations about your happiness, my sister, of which no one else can tell. 

I might not be straining words if I were to say to many a sister in Christ here, “Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” And I might say the same to many a brother here: “Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among men. The Lord hath done great things for thee, and let thy spirit be glad.” 

All well and good, you say. But we can’t literally ourselves to Mary’s blessed state; chosen by God to carry and bear his Beloved Son sets her apart. Sure. Mary was a unique case. She was specially favored. Granted. The mystery of Word become flesh in Mary’s womb is great. Yes.

You and me, here and now, are part of an even greater mystery.

What is this mysterious, magnificent duty that God’s granted us? You will do greater things than these, Jesus told his disciples. In a sermon titled, “The Key Note of a Choice Sonnet,” C.H. Spurgeon describes the mystery:

…For, behold, the Holy Ghost dwells in each believer. He lives within us as within a temple, and reigns within us as in a palace. If we be partakers of the Holy Ghost, what more can we desire by way of favor from God, and what greater honor can be bestowed upon us?

It was by [Mary] that the Word became incarnate, but so also is it by us, for we can make God’s Word stand out visibly in our lives. It is ours to turn into actual, palpable existence among the sons of men the glorious Spirit of grace and truth which we find in the Word of God.   

It’s ours to make our great God look bigger. Not bigger than He is. That’s impossible-even the highest heavens cannot contain him. Instead, it for us to make our big God begin to look as big as he really is. Telescopes make big stars look even bigger, brighter. They magnify. 

Man’s chief end: To glorify God and enjoy him forever. To magnify is to glorify.

“Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is created for my glory, whom I formed and made…The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise. (Isaiah 43:6-7,20-21) 

John Piper condenses the Christian’s whole duty to this: “To feel, think, and act in a way that will make God look as great as he really is…To be a telescope for the world of the infinite starry wealth of the glory of God.”

We who are highly favored-it’s ours to make God’s goodness palpably visible to our world.  Magnify him with thanks. Bring him into focus with praise.

O’er all the Babel sounds, sing God’s praises louder.

Magnify like Mary.