Turning the World Upside-Down
Here are some thoughts for Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Advent. These were sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.
SCRIPTURE FOCUS
Gospel: Luke 1:46-55
46And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
REFLECTION
Every other time I’ve preached on this gospel text, I’ve concentrated on the first section, which is called the Visitation. However, for this coming Sunday, I am drawn to the song of Mary, the Magnificat.
The Magnificat is Mary’s response to what Elizabeth had to say about her in the Visitation portion of the gospel reading. True to form, we see God siding with the lowly, lifting them up and bringing down the so-called powerful. Now the interesting thing is that Mary is singing about all these things as if they had already come to pass. It’s all past tense.
If God could use a lowly young teenager to bear the Savior of the world, do you think that maybe God could use us too? God wants us to be bearers of Christ’s light into the darkness. God wants us to bear Christ’s power on behalf of the oppressed. God wants us to bear Christ’s peace to the troubled craving of addicts.
Because of what God did in Mary, all generations would call her blessed. This great work of turning the world upside down was not just for the Jewish people of the Hebrew Scriptures or of Jesus’ time or the early church in the first few centuries of its founding. This is the work that God did and continues to do as we become Christ-bearers.
Wherever there is need and hurt and devastation, there we should find God and God’s people. In the midst of the real problems of this life, we as little Christs are to respond with the love and power of
Christ in us through the Holy Spirit.
Are we ready for where that may take us? Can we respond as Mary did to Gabriel’s words, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). May the attitude and words of Mary be ours today and every day.
Pastor Ivy Gauvin
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