Jesus’ birth magnifies God’s goodness, love
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of letters Paul Graves is writing to his grandchildren during Advent, exploring different aspects of the Christmas story.
Dear Katie, Claire, and Andy,
A few weeks ago, I wrote to you about God’s annunciation (announcement) of “radical hospitality” to Mary and Elizabeth. Gabriel told them they would both soon give birth to babies, even though Elizabeth was too old and Mary wasn’t yet married. Their little babies, John and Jesus, would grow up to be special messengers of God.
Today, I want to tell you another part of this incredible story. Do you remember I told you God’s radical hospitality was like a great magnifying glass? Look at Luke 1:39-56 with that special glass. This story reminds us how God can turn the world upside down through the ordinary birth of an extraordinary baby.
In the Annunciation, God’s hospitality was radical in how it revealed his radical, root-deep nature of love and goodness, and his root-deep belief in the goodness of persons. In today’s story, God’s hospitality is radical in how it is extreme – how it does the opposite of what people might ordinarily expect and want.
Katie, do you remember anything about how your life was different when Claire was born? You were no longer the only center of your parents’ attention. You had to share them with Claire – not always an easy thing to do.
Claire, you had the same kind of adjustment to make when Andy was born.
Both of you had your lives turned upside down when another baby came to live with you. A new baby always meant radical changes happened in your family.
Did you read how Mary went to stay with her cousin Elizabeth while both of them were pregnant? Elizabeth is so excited to see Mary because she knows Mary’s baby will become God’s gift to the world. Both women know their lives have been turned upside down because of the babies they carry in their bodies.
Mary responds to Elizabeth’s greeting and blessing by reciting an ancient Hebrew thanksgiving prayer first said by Hannah. Hannah was a woman of ancient Israel who also became pregnant when she was older. This kind of miraculous birth of a child who is a special favor from God actually appears several times in the Bible.
Hannah gave birth to Samuel and then dedicated her son into the service of God with a prayer of thanksgiving. The prayer is found in I Samuel 2:1-10. It thanks God for being a radical champion of the people, a God who will lift persons out of their distress and will bring equal justice to all persons.
Mary knew a baby turns its parents’ world upside down. She also knew through her faith that her own child, Jesus, would bring God’s equality and justice to his people as well. So Hannah’s prayer became Mary’s own.
“My soul magnifies the Lord…” is how Mary begins her prayer. Remember, kids, how a magnifying class makes words or objects bigger and clearer? She declares the greatness of God. She makes his acts of compassion and justice bigger and clearer than she ever knew before. Mary knew the hospitality of God in a radical new way.
Mary’s prayer is called “The Magnificat” because it magnifies the radical hospitality of God. “Magnificat” is the first word of this prayer in the Latin translation of the Bible that was written hundreds of years ago.
First of all, Mary thanks God for the wonderful goodness shown to her and to all people who believe in him. Then she speaks of how God turns the world upside down.
People who think too highly of themselves are humbled. Powerful people are made to realize they are no better than the least powerful persons. Poor people are given food and whatever else they need, while rich people’s greediness is taken away from them.
God’s radical hospitality creates people as equal to each other and will find ways to keep us equal. He expects that all people will be treated with equal respect.
Unfortunately, Katie, Claire and Andy, people don’t always treat each other with the kind of respect and compassion and honor that God expects. That is why God decided to become a person (Jesus). He created Jesus to be the model for how we are to treat each other.
Of course, we know the story of Jesus from the birth to his death and resurrection. We know a lot of people didn’t pay much attention to the way Jesus lived his life. Many people still don’t pay attention.
Mary’s prayer speaks of God as magnificent. God believes we were made to be magnificent, too. In God’s time, we will live as magnificently as we were created to be.
God’s ways are mysterious to us, kids. Maybe that’s why he came to us as a baby. Babies turn our world upside down in the most mysterious, miraculous ways.
– Grampa Graves