A Song of Hope and Joy - The Magnificat

"And Mary said, 'My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God, my Savior.'" (Luke 1:46-47).

Have you ever felt overwhelmed and yet honored by something God has call you to do? Maybe humbled? Perhaps even scared and nervous?

Consider Mary - a humble young woman selected by God to carry and give birth to (and then to parent!) the Savior of the world!

She could have been consumed by fear and doubt. Instead her response to the angel was, "I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled."

The angel also told her that her cousin Elizabeth was miraculously pregnant, too, and Mary hurried to visit her.

When she greeted Elizabeth she told Mary, "As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears the baby in my womb leaped for joy!"

Mary's response was a beautiful declaration of God's faithfulness and redemptive plan.

History records this response as "The Magnificat" (Latin for 'My soul magnifies the Lord'). It became a canticle, hymn, of the early church and is still sung or chanted today in many churches throughout the world.

Mary's song is a model for us. She rejoiced in God's mercy and power to fulfill all His promises. We can, too. When we face uncertainty or doubt or just feel small and incapable in following God's purpose for us, we can choose to magnify Him and focus on His glory instead of our own limitations!

Take a few minutes and read her song -- recorded in Luke1:46-55. 

You'll be so blessed!

Reflect on how you can magnify God in your life today -- pray for a heart that rejoices in his faithfulness, letting your life become a song for others to hear!

The Man and the Birds - Paul Harvey's Christmas Story

Maybe you remember this........


This is a transcription of Paul Harvey's classic original verbal presentation of this commentary just as he spoke it on the radio.

                                                                             * * * * *

Unable to trace its proper parentage, I have designated this as My Christmas Story  - "The Man and the Birds."

You know, "The" Christmas story, "God born in a manger," and all that, escapes some moderns. Mostly, I think because they seek complex answers to their questions, and this one is so utterly simple. So for the cynics and skeptics and the unconvinced, I submit a modern parable.

Now the man to whom I'm going to introduce you was not a scrooge. He was kind, decent, mostly a good man. Generous to his family, upright in his dealings with other men, but he just didn't believe all that incarnation stuff which churches proclaim at Christmas time.

It just didn't make sense, and he was too honest to pretend otherwise. He just couldn't swallow the Jesus story about God coming to earth as a man.

"I'm truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, "But I'm not going with you to church this Christmas eve." He said he'd feel like a hypocrite, that he'd much rather just stay at home, but that he would wait up for them. So he stayed and they went to the midnight service.

Shortly after the family drove away in the car, snow began to fall.

He went to the windows to watch the flurries getting heavier and heavier and then went back to his fireside chair and began to read his newspaper.

Minutes later, he was startled by a thudding sound. Then another. And then another - sort of a thump or a thud.

At first he thought someone must be throwing snowballs against his living room window. But when he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in the storm and in a desperate search for shelter, had tried to fly through his large landscape window.


Well, he couldn't let the poor creatures lie there and freeze, so he remembered the barn where his children stabled their pony. That would provide a warm shelter if he could direct the birds to it. 

Quickly, he put on a coat and galoshes and tramped through the deepening snow to the barn.

He opened the doors wide and turned on a light. But the birds did not come in. He figured food would entice them in. So he hurried back to the house, fetched bread crumbs, sprinkled them on the snow, making a trail to the yellow-lighted, wide open door to the stable.

But to his dismay, the birds ignored the bread crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He tried catching them. He tried "shooing" them into the barn by walking among them waving his arms. Instead, they scattered in every direction - except the warm-lighted barn.

Then he realized that they were afraid of him. To them, he reasoned, "I am a strange and terrifying creature. If only I could let them know that they can trust me." But how? Because any move he made tended to frighten them...confuse them. They just would not follow. They would not be led, or "shooed" because they feared him.

"If only I could be a bird," he thought to himself, "and mingle with them and speak their language. Then I could tell them not to be afraid. Then I could show them the way to the safe, warm .....

....to the safe, warm barn......but I would have to be one of them so they could see and hear and understand."

Suddenly he realized exactly what he was thinking. And at that moment the church bells began to ring. He stood there listening to the bells ringing  "O Come All Ye Faithful." Listening to the bells pealing the glad tidings of Christmas....

And he sank to his knees in the snow.

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Christmas - Simeon and Anna Understand!

                           Simeon and Anna Understand!

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

     Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation for the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.
      -- Luke 2:25-32



Here's an old man holding baby Jesus and making some bold claims....Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples...a light for the Gentiles...and a glory for Your people Israel....

(But, Simeon, it's only a baby!)

Notice "all peoples" and "Gentiles" are mentioned before Israel. Simeon understood Jesus' rescue mission better than most.

Then a prophetess, Anna, appears on the scene.


Coming up on them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

               -- Luke 2:38



Luke does not give any more of her speech.

But it is interesting that Luke relates the story of a man and a woman here, dual threads of the story he is weaving for Theophilus.

This is typical of Luke's writing. In his gospel he makes it clear that Christ came for all -- Jew and Gentile - men and women.

There are at least twenty-seven "sets" of stories in his book that focus on both men and women.

In Luke 15 - the parable of the shepherd who lost his sheep and then the good woman who lost her coin.
In Luke 13 the farmer who plants a mustard seed in his garden and the woman who kneads some yeast into her bread dough.

In Luke 7 we see the story of the faithful centurion whose servant was sick, and then the raising of the widow's son at Nain.

Even the mother of John the Baptist is singled out: I tell you of those born of women there is no one greater than John....Luke 7:28

And here in the story of His miraculous birth we read that Gabriel visited two people: Zechariah and Mary. Two hymns of praise are written: Zechariah's and Mary's. Two witnesses in the temple: Simeon and Anna.

When Luke looked back over the ministry of Jesus,
he must have found Christ's attention to women and the particular needs of their world rather extraordinary. Certainly nothing like this exists in any other literature of the ancient world.

[The reactions of Zechariah and Mary to the message of Gabriel are quite different. Zechariah hesitated and chose to doubt - he was struck dumb until the child was born.

Mary, however, humbly received the gift of costly discipleship. "Let it be done to me according to thy word," she said. And so she was able to witness a second miracle, the news that her cousin would also have a miracle baby.

Zachariah's response of doubt brought him also a second miracle, but one of judgment (his temporary dumbness), not one of blessing.]


Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph marveled at Simeon's words to them about Jesus. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, His mother: 'This child is destined to cause the falling and the rising of many in Israel ..... And a sword will pierce your own soul also.'

Your own soul also....A prophecy for two. 

Faithful Jews realized from the "suffering servant" prophecies that the Messiah would be wounded.
Now Simeon included Mary in the suffering of God's Anointed One.

Thirty-three years later she chose to stand at the foot of the cross, witnessing the cruel punishment of her Son, and she felt the sword pierce her own soul also.

She was not under arrest. She could have left. She could not have saved Him. She could not have convinced the soldiers to take her Son down and give Him to her so should could take Him home and take care of Him.

She made the free choice to stand by and enter into His suffering and feel the sword pierce through her heart. A memory she would never forget.

It's the cost of discipleship.


[I remember reading about the assassination of President Garfield in 1881. When officials went to visit his mother and give the harsh news to her, she  responded in shock, "But who would kill my baby?"
That's the hard burden of love.]

Robert Cottrill - Who are the Merry Gentlemen?

One of the chapters in Robert Cottrill's book, Discovering the Songs of Christmas, is about the old carol, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."

[This is such a delightful book, and if the author had not responded to one of these blogs, I would never have known about the book --  and I would have missed a real treasure!]

Anyway, here's the story about that carol.

It was written about 500 years ago.

Our wonderful English language, with its vibrant words and phrases, is in constant change, and this carol is an example of how the meaning of many words changes through the years.

The text does not refer to  "merry gentlemen," as though they were some giddy revelers. Nor is the word "rest" used as it is today. Five centuries ago it meant "make" or "keep."  A modern paraphrase of the words might read, "May God keep you joyful, gentlemen. May He fill your hearts with gladness!"  -- Robert Cottrill

[Also, there should be a comma between "Merry" and "Gentlemen" and many publishers forget to put that important punctuation in place.]

The poem then reminds us of the words of the angel in Luke 2:10: Do not be afraid, for I bring you good tidings of great joy. And then in verse 11 we find the reason for that great joy: For there is born to you...a Savior....

So let's all sing it -- like Anna would have sung it -- sing it loudly and joyfully --  (Remember God loves to hear us sing -- He must, because He keeps reminding us to sing to Him and about Him!)

God rest ye merry, Gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay

Remember Christ our Savior

Was born upon this day

To save us all from Satan's power

When we were gone astray

O tidings of comfort and joy

O tidings of comfort and joy!

P.S. During the time of the Reformation (1500's) carols were very popular among the people. They were not sung in church, but were sort of folk songs -- expressing the joy of the common people during the Christmas season, and, in fact, they were sung throughout the year. (Maybe they understood the Gospel message better than most of the churchmen and religious leaders in those days.)

Then in the 1640's the Puritans took over the government of England and the Puritan Parliament outlawed the celebration of Christmas and all festivals -- saying they were all too pagan and worldly. Christmas carols could not be sung anytime. (My ancestors came to the New World from London in the 1640s -- I don't know exactly what prompted their voyage to this wilderness, but maybe they just wanted to keep singing Christmas carols!)

About 175 years later Queen Victoria came to the throne (1837) and she revived the practice of carol singing. She loved the carols herself and urged the clergy to begin teaching them to the congregations, and "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" was one of the first!

That's why much of our Christmas imagery today has a "Victorian touch" - a reminder that Queen Victoria restored Christmas! And what a celebration it became!

P.P.S. Remember the White Witch in Narnia? While she ruled, it was "always winter and never Christmas." What a sad state of affairs....always winter...but never Christmas....

For those of us who have received the Gospel message -- it is always Christmas!

Christmas - An unsentimental and realistic holiday? - from Timothy Keller

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned....For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.

                       -- Isaiah 9:2, 5-7

Christmas ... is the most unsentimental, realistic way of looking at life.

It does not say, "Cheer up! If we all pull together we can make the world a better place."

The Bible never counsels indifference to the forces of darkness, only resistance, but it supports no illusions that we can ever defeat them.

Christianity does not agree with the optimistic thinkers who say, "We can fix things if we try hard enough." Nor does Christianity agree with the pessimist who see only a dystopian future.

The message of Christianity is, instead, "Things really are this bad, and we can't heal or save ourselves; things really are this dark--nevertheless, there is hope."

The Christmas message is that "on those living in the land of the shadow a light has dawned."

Notice that it does not say, "from the world a light has sprung," but "upon the world a light has dawned."

It has come from outside. There is light outside of this world, and Jesus has come from it to save us.

   From Timothy Keller's amazing book, Hidden Christmas, Chapter 1. Read it this month - you'll be so glad you did.