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Mary’s Magnificat: A Prophetic Love for the People of God

Mary’s Magnificat: A Prophetic Love for the People of God

Last updated on: December 24, 2024 at 10:26 am by Jeff McLain

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Mary’s Magnificat: A Prophetic Love for the People of God 2024-12-24T10:26:21-05:00 Jeff McLain

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Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash. Mary’s Magnificat: A Prophetic Love for the People of God.

Over the next few days, many of us will gather with friends and family. At some point, gifts will be exchanged. Many of us give gifts because, in this season, we remember the greatest gift we have received—Jesus. Christmas is defined as a season of giving. As I have been exploring Mary’s Magnificat, I am convinced it has something to say about our practices of gift giving.

Yet, there’s also the reality that gift-giving has gotten out of hand. The average family spends well over a thousand dollars on presents alone. A New York Post article shared this week, “The Holidays aren’t cheap: The average American will spend over $2,000 this season, according to a recent study.” Though it is a shocking number, it’s easy to do when our lists are filled with children, parents, grandparents, co-workers, teachers, and friends. There is travel, food, light shows, and decorations. But all of this can also seem to stand in stark contrast to the humble beginnings of Christmas. Perhaps it isn’t the amount that is concerning, but how we give not out of the relationship but out of a belief that gifts can demonstrate our love. Our culture has taught our children that gifts are love, it’s taught us that as well.

I am not against gifts. We have probably more gifts under our tree than we need. Perhaps we spent more than we should of too. I am not against decoration. I love making my house merry and bright in as many corners as I can. The light represents Jesus’ hope pushing back in the darkness. Fully celebrating the Christmas season has the power to unfold with a beauty that weaves together hope, peace, joy, and love—found in quiet moments of reflection, the warmth of cherished traditions, and the deep connections we share with others, all pointing to the wonder of Christ’s presence among us.

Mary’s song reflects the quiet confidence of a life rooted in God’s enduring promises—much like the call in 1 Thessalonians 4:11 that this Lead a Quiet Life blog on Patheos explores. A quiet life is the outcome a life that trusts in God’s faithfulness and loving mercy across generations.

The Christmas gifts we remember reflect and celebrate the importance of relationship.

If you are like me, I love looking back at photos from my childhood. I have some old ones that remind me of how the Christmases of my youth looked. Christmas always seems more nostalgic in hindsight. We forget the bickering and problems. I also enjoy seeing the toys and presents I receive during different seasons. Over the years, many gifts have faded from memory. At the same time, some gifts remain unforgettable. Actually, the truth is that there’s something deeply moving about gifts—especially certain ones.

The most memorable Christmas presents often stand out because of the relationship tied to them. These gifts celebrate the connection we have with someone, truly reflecting the heart of the Christmas season. The best gifts celebrate relationships. Alan Hirsch once said that Christmas brings the ultimate relational gift. As he put it: “The one who spoke galaxies into existence moved into our neighborhood in an act of humble love, the likes of which the world has never known.” Christmas reminds us that God’s gift was a relational gift. The best gifts we can give to others are gifts that celebrate relationships. These are the gifts that matter—those that mirror the love and humility of Christ’s arrival.

God’s love promises spiritual fulfillment

Read with me one last time (this year), to Luke 1:39-54. Throughout this blog series on Mary’s Magnificat, we have explored Mary’s song in Luke 1:39-54—not just as a song of worship, but as a prophetic declaration, a statement of faith, and a song of rejoicing. As we’ve seen over the past few weeks, Mary’s words draw deeply from the Old Testament—from Psalms to Isaiah to Hannah’s prayer—showing her understanding of what the coming of Jesus meant and celebrating God’s faithfulness both in the present and in the hope of what is to come. She magnifies the Lord for lifting the humble, filling the hungry, and fulfilling long-awaited promises.

This past week, I took a day for spiritual direction on Tuesday. After walking through a prayer garden and listening to a few podcasts, I sat down to read. One book I picked up, and try to read most years, Advent Conspiracy, noted, “Every day advertisements implore us to get more from life. Fulfillment is within our grasp—and we deserve it. Why wait when we can have everything now?”

Mary, however, speaks of a different kind of fulfillment in this passage. Fulfillment is found as our spirit rejoices in God. It is found in the awareness that God is mindful of our humble state, and in how God works through us, allowing others to see God’s blessing in our lives. True fulfillment comes as God extends mercy to each generation and to those who worship and revere Him. Mary sings of a fulfillment that is found when God flexes his muscles and power—bringing down the proud and lifting up the lowly. She sings of the hungry being filled with good things and of the joy that comes from experiencing God’s mercy and faithfulness.

Mary’s words remind us that fulfillment is indeed within our grasp, but it is not something we deserve, nor can we buy or achieve it on our own. Though the world promises instant gratification, the greatest fulfillment comes through God alone. Mary knows that the coming of Jesus brings the ultimate fulfillment we long for.

That fulfillment is God’s loving Mercy in Mary’s song. In the Greco-Roman world, mercy was not always regarded as a virtue of love; rather, it was often seen as a weakness. However, in Jewish and Christian thought, mercy is rooted in the understanding that God shows mercy because God is love, as John affirms. Mercy is a central attribute of God and a fundamental ethical requirement for Jesus followers, for God, because of love, God has shown mercy. The biblical concept of mercy is deeply tied to the loving covenant relationship between God and the people of God, where God’s mercy is a response to God’s love for all people, even in their sin and suffering.

There are times when we find ourselves among the humble, hungry, lonely, and overlooked. In those cases, Mary’s words can bring us hope. However, the truth is, more often than not, we find ourselves on the other side of the spectrum. As the Advent Conspiracy authors remark, “We are not the humble lifted by God of whom Mary sings. We are the powerful, the rich, the self-absorbed. Hundreds of millions of people throughout the world live without clean water, housing, food, and education. These are the humble and hungry to whom Mary promises deliverance. Through her son, the Messiah, tyrants will be defeated, and the oppressed will be liberated and ushered into a kingdom that will have no end.”

This reality, being among the powerful, too, reveals our search for fulfillment. While those in last place, the spiritually lost, and the least of these long for fulfillment, those in positions of power often pursue control out of the same desire for fulfillment. We attempt to create and secure our own satisfaction. Yet, there is something particularly dangerous about being the one in control—about holding power—in this quest for fulfillment. Mary’s song reminds us that we find true fulfillment through humility, where God is. There is a reason God chose the humble things of this world. Through Mary’s song, God calls us to be found among the humble, not among those in the pursuit of power or self-interest but in surrender to the God who lifts the lowly and fills the hungry with good things.

What gift do we owe a God of justice?

What do we owe to a God who stepped into our world to bring justice and fulfillment to God’s creation and children? Like Mary, may we respond with creativity and conviction—let poets write about God’s justice, musicians sing of God’s mercy, and prophets rise to reveal God’s vision of justice and right living in the world. Preachers preach, teachers teach, apostles carry the hope, and evangelists bring it to others. Prophets declare the whispers and promises of God. Mary tells us that the birth of God’s Son marks the dawn of justice and the undoing of all that is wrong.

Even now, one of the most faithful ways to celebrate Advent is by embracing those who never believed they’d belong. It means letting go of our positions of power and sharing the good news and goodness of God with others through hospitality and inclusitivty. Christmas is the gift of fulfillment, given out of God’s great love, which took flesh in Jesus. The best gifts at Christmas celebrate relationship, especially the relationship we can have with God and God’s ways. The most meaningful gifts are those that reflect this love and justice, given to others with whom we share relationship.

Mary declares that God’s fulfillment comes from an act of love. This is what she intends in her last theological points of the song. Look at that last line of her prophetic song again, “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” Mary sings of God’s love, God is remembering to be lovingly merciful to his promise to Abraham and his descendants.

Mary is theologizing other passages.

What Mary is singing about here once again references the Old Testament. She draws influence from passages like Deuteronomy 7:7-8, which reminds the people of God, “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.”

Mary’s song also echoes passages like Isaiah, chapters 42-49, where God promises the people of God that a servant is coming—and that he will make them a servant. In those chapters, God promises that in those days he will not remain silent but will cry out, like a woman in labor, bringing forth the justice and redemption of the people of God. That is coming true here.

If you read those chapters, you see that God promises this fulfillment to the people of God because they are God’s people that they are “precious and honored in my sight… because I love you.” In those chapters, God calls them to be lovers of God, who first loved them, rather than lovers of pleasure. A good reminder in this Christmas season. Mary is referencing passages that speak to God as one of love, who speaks of love, who demonstrates goodness because of love, and who longs to bring love to those forgotten and downtrodden.
Jesus says this same thing: God’s love, too, is the reason he came.

Jesus says that he was sent because “God so loved the world.” Out of that love, God did not come to “condemn the world, but to save the world.” God’s desire, through His Son and His love, is that all would “not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16-17). Jesus taught us that there is no greater love than to “lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” which is exactly what He came to do. In Matthew, Jesus reminds us that God desires mercy, not sacrifice, declaring, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). Though a thief is active in the world, seeking to steal life and joy from us, Jesus came as the Good Shepherd who loves His sheep, willing to “lay down His life” (John 10:10-11). Jesus reveals that the love of God is the reason He came “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

This love is what Mary is singing about. Jesus was God’s help. She is singing of God’s act of loving mercy. God was giving a gift celebrating relationship. God wanted relationship with the world. So, God gave the gift of Jesus so that Jesus can make way, and show us what relationship with God looks like.

Love is a costly gift.

One author writes in the Advent Conspiracy, “The simple truth is…giving is still a good way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.” He also points out, “It points to a way out of the chaos of consumerism that Christmas has become, taking us back to the joy that can still be found at the heart of this story.” When we learn to give out of love, reflecting God’s goodness and celebrating a relationship, “our giving can actually reflect, in some small way, the power and beauty of God coming into our world as one of us” (Advent Conspiracy). God’s love actually calls us to give more, not physical gifts alone, but costly gifts of ourselves to others, to those around us. Even when people don’t deserve it. We are called to mirror God’s loving mercy. Hospitality and inclusivity to the underserving is not weaknesses; it is the acts of God and the message for God’s people.

The gift of mercy God gives is an indescribable gift – he gives himself. The infinite God became tangible, accessible, approachable, and more understandable through the gift of Jesus. Through Jesus, we see what the eternal and great God of the universe looks like. This is a gift of loving relationship. God gave us His presence, and the challenge in this season is to “creatively express to a friend or family member how much you want to be with them” (Advent Conspiracy). Through Jesus, we receive a personal gift from God—relational giving. Relational giving means paying attention to the other person, considering who they are, what they care about, and how we can share God’s goodness and good news with them.

There are four things I think Mary teaches us in this last line of her Magnificat that can inform our practice of giving gifts.

Through love, God gave a costly gift. Mary sings that God gave himself to show a loving mercy tot hose undeserving. As the Advent Conspiracy book states, “His gift was costly… The gift God gave us cost Him everything. What does that mean for us as we now give to one another? In practical terms, it means we must accept that relational giving will cost us… Relational giving will also be risky at times… Didn’t Jesus give Himself knowing full well that some would reject or misunderstand Him?” Our gifts should be relationally costly. Sometimes, it’s risky to give relationally.
Through love, God bridged the gap. Mary confesses that while we were sinners, lost in darkness, and humbled – God moved into town. God gave a gift of himself that bridged the gap between heaven and earth. Our gifts should bridge gaps. To give a gift that echoes this kind of giving requires time, energy, and creativity.
Through love, Jesus taught us what it meant to give gifts to those who feel forgotten. Again, the Advent Conspiracy reflects, “Jesus gave up the glory of heaven to be born into a sin-scarred world…Jesus became poor for our sake. Jesus entered our poverty so we would no longer be poor.” Through the Christmas story, Jesus reveals that God stands with the weary and the broken, even when others do not. God’s love fulfills his promises to all people. Just as God honored the covenant with Israel, Theophilus (Luke’s audience)– and all Gentile believers – can trust that God’s promises extend to them. Christmas is a reminder that God’s love is for the whole world, offering inclusion and hospitality to everyone. Our gift giving must echo this.
Through love, God reminds us that he does the heavy lifting. Mary declares in her song what God has done. God is the one flexing the power and muscle. Reggie McNeal reminds us, “God is the One doing the heavy lifting!” Mary’s job is to just show up. Through her example, Christmas reminds us that when we show up and love in the name of God, God shows up. That’s part of the mystery of partnering with Jesus in the work that the Holy Spirit is still doing and we get to be part of. We give gifts but trust God to do something with them.

A few final thoughts.

This season calls us to receive God’s love; those who do are called children of God. However, it also calls us to bring God’s love to others. Mary knows that the mercy God was pouring out on His people was an act of love that calls us to carry and bring it to others. Jesus Himself called us to be defined by two things: loving God with all that we are and overflowing from that relationship of love to those around us. As we love our neighbors and one another, the kingdom of God grows, and the world takes notice.

In this season, the book, the Advent Conspiracy says, “If we can resist the trap of giving easy gifts and reject the assumption that giving expensive gifts or many gifts is the best way to express love, something else might begin to happen. “We might experience moments of relational giving that our friends and family will care about and remember. Our kids will learn what it means to give gifts that are personal and meaningful. Our neighbors, coworkers, and friends will watch us celebrate Christmas differently, and they’ll hear the good news loud and clear through the seasonal static.” We are then left with the question, How does the love of God, shown through the birth of Jesus, mobilize me to love others during the Advent season?

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About Jeff McLain

In the Lead a Quiet Life Blog on Patheos, Jeff McLain shares about the journey of downward mobility toward simplicity in a chaotic world. As the Practical Pastoral Theologian and Pastor at Water Street Mission and River Corner Church, and a Doctoral student at The Kairos University, Jeff combines his passion for faith, theology, and service. His unconventional path, from activism to hitchhiking, shapes his practical and pastoral approach. Jeff lives in Lancaster, PA with his wife and three daughters. He enjoys outdoor family moments, baseball, boardwalks, beaches, and books, embracing a vibrant, balanced life. You can also find Jeff on the Discovering God Podcast. You can read more about the author here.

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