Revolution
This week's slow-developing goodness is on Luke 1:46-55:
Mary's song here shows an intimate knowledge of God's character. There are things we think will last forever, things which we think cannot be any other way, but God can change them overnight. Mary was powerless, in a despicable position of being pregnant out of wedlock, a member of a persecuted minority in a broken nation occupied by the greatest military power the world had ever known, but God put her in a place where she is revered even millennia after her death. She knew firsthand how great God is, and how amazing his changes can be.
God's mercy extends to those who fear him. For evil people in power, fear emboldens them to commit atrocities. For God, it inspires mercy.
God has scattered the proud. Normally the proud try to be in the center, but here they are dispersed. God is in the center in Mary's mind.
God has brought down rulers and lifted up the humble. Normally leadership is taken by the selfish and proud, as anyone watching presidential campaigns can attest to, but God tears down leaders, even kings and dynasties, and puts the humble in their place.
God fills the hungry with good things but sends the rich away empty. Normally the rich are the ones whose wealth makes more opportunities for them and whose resources buy them more of what they need. With God, money means nothing. The hungry have nothing to offer for food, which is why they're hungry. God takes care of their needs because nobody else will.
In what I believe is a form of antichrist, secular governments try to mimic these traits of God in their own strength. They put maximum limits on punishments, to produce fake mercy. They pretend to be humble while making sure they're in the center of everything. They impose term limits so that it looks like different people are in power. They extort money from people they consider to be rich and give it to people they consider to be poor, so that they can claim to be charitable. There's power, but there's no love, and so it never works out quite right.
In all of God's changes, there is love at the center. He knows the person in fear of him has learned their lesson, so why inflict pain if it won't make the penitent any more penitent than they are? He scatters the proud so people won't mistake them for God and worship them in his place. People can never do as good of a job as God can, and even the greatest of men teaches others evil along with good. God brings down bad rulers, not good ones, and lifts up the humble because they know what it's like to be ruled over. They know they're not God and that they don't have all of the answers. They won't set themselves up in his place and lead people astray. God feeds the hungry out of love, not out of a sense of self-righteousness. He doesn't feed them from others' pockets but from his own, because it is his love that drives his generosity, not the need to demonstrate his power.
Why choose Mary, out of all of the women in the world? How did this unknown peasant girl get to welcome his son into the world? No committee picked her out. There was no glowing resumé detailing her qualifications. She didn't outbid the other applicants. She didn't even apply. Only God's loving grace could explain her transformation from unknown to famous, cursed to blessed. The wonderful thing about Mary is that her humility was such that she recognized God's love and grace in this. She didn't puff up her genealogical qualifications or curse her circumstances. She didn't lord it over the others once she knew what she was chosen for. She thanked God for his love, and for his revolutionary power. She told others.
Does your soul glorify the Lord? Does your spirit rejoice in God? Do you recognize how blessed we are as Christians? We have been chosen to introduce Christ into the world, to carry his works into the world with our bodies. We didn't earn it. We were fallen men and women, copies of copies of copies from the beginning of time. God chose each of us and turned us into ambassadors. He noticed us and loved us. He made us, who were rejected, to belong. Mary wasn't the only one to be blessed. We all are.
And Mary said:
“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.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Mary's song here shows an intimate knowledge of God's character. There are things we think will last forever, things which we think cannot be any other way, but God can change them overnight. Mary was powerless, in a despicable position of being pregnant out of wedlock, a member of a persecuted minority in a broken nation occupied by the greatest military power the world had ever known, but God put her in a place where she is revered even millennia after her death. She knew firsthand how great God is, and how amazing his changes can be.
God's mercy extends to those who fear him. For evil people in power, fear emboldens them to commit atrocities. For God, it inspires mercy.
God has scattered the proud. Normally the proud try to be in the center, but here they are dispersed. God is in the center in Mary's mind.
God has brought down rulers and lifted up the humble. Normally leadership is taken by the selfish and proud, as anyone watching presidential campaigns can attest to, but God tears down leaders, even kings and dynasties, and puts the humble in their place.
God fills the hungry with good things but sends the rich away empty. Normally the rich are the ones whose wealth makes more opportunities for them and whose resources buy them more of what they need. With God, money means nothing. The hungry have nothing to offer for food, which is why they're hungry. God takes care of their needs because nobody else will.
In what I believe is a form of antichrist, secular governments try to mimic these traits of God in their own strength. They put maximum limits on punishments, to produce fake mercy. They pretend to be humble while making sure they're in the center of everything. They impose term limits so that it looks like different people are in power. They extort money from people they consider to be rich and give it to people they consider to be poor, so that they can claim to be charitable. There's power, but there's no love, and so it never works out quite right.
In all of God's changes, there is love at the center. He knows the person in fear of him has learned their lesson, so why inflict pain if it won't make the penitent any more penitent than they are? He scatters the proud so people won't mistake them for God and worship them in his place. People can never do as good of a job as God can, and even the greatest of men teaches others evil along with good. God brings down bad rulers, not good ones, and lifts up the humble because they know what it's like to be ruled over. They know they're not God and that they don't have all of the answers. They won't set themselves up in his place and lead people astray. God feeds the hungry out of love, not out of a sense of self-righteousness. He doesn't feed them from others' pockets but from his own, because it is his love that drives his generosity, not the need to demonstrate his power.
Why choose Mary, out of all of the women in the world? How did this unknown peasant girl get to welcome his son into the world? No committee picked her out. There was no glowing resumé detailing her qualifications. She didn't outbid the other applicants. She didn't even apply. Only God's loving grace could explain her transformation from unknown to famous, cursed to blessed. The wonderful thing about Mary is that her humility was such that she recognized God's love and grace in this. She didn't puff up her genealogical qualifications or curse her circumstances. She didn't lord it over the others once she knew what she was chosen for. She thanked God for his love, and for his revolutionary power. She told others.
Does your soul glorify the Lord? Does your spirit rejoice in God? Do you recognize how blessed we are as Christians? We have been chosen to introduce Christ into the world, to carry his works into the world with our bodies. We didn't earn it. We were fallen men and women, copies of copies of copies from the beginning of time. God chose each of us and turned us into ambassadors. He noticed us and loved us. He made us, who were rejected, to belong. Mary wasn't the only one to be blessed. We all are.
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