Magnifying

FOCUS READINGS

Luke 1:28-33 (The Message) & Luke 1:46-57 (NRSV)

Good morning! You're beautiful with God's beauty, Beautiful inside and out! God be with you.

She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus...

And Mary said,‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

DAILY BYTE

This week, we are asking the question, ‘Are we beautiful?’

We receive varied answers to this question from ourselves and from other people who have their own ideas of what beauty looks like. But the true answer to that question comes from God – our best mirror. The scriptures say we are made in the image of God. We are a reflection of God’s beauty. And so, it seems it is God’s voice that we should hear the loudest when God says to Mary and to us, ‘Good morning – you’re beautiful with God’s beauty – beautiful inside and out – God be with you.’

Mary’s response to this revelation is classic. She was ‘thoroughly shaken,’ wondering ‘what could be behind a greeting like that!’
She says, ummmm – who, me? Are you talking to me? With this face? This body with the hips that are slightly too wide and the pock mark by my nose and…’ Uh – what do you want from me?

It is hard to believe, isn’t it, that someone would think we’re beautiful just the way we are. So, I wonder, if Mary really wasn’t that pretty – what was it that God saw in her that was so beautiful? Why did God choose her to bring Jesus into the world?

Well, as I’ve read the scriptures, Mary has became more and more beautiful to me, too. The scripture that you see above is often called The Magnificat, or Mary’s Song, and it is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful and oldest songs in the scriptures. But it’s not just a beautiful song – it gives us a picture of beauty that we might be able to imitate with our own lives.

Magnificat means ‘magnifies.’ This does not mean that Mary has gotten one of those scary mirrors that magnifies the size of your face so that you can see every pore.

Mary is magnifying something beyond but including her outer beauty. She sings, my soul magnifies the Lord! We’ve lost sight of the meaning of soul. Our soul, in Greek, is our inner life – our deepest self. Remember that when Mary sings this, she is pregnant with God – which means that her soul - her inner life is alive with God. Her inner life magnifies, enlarges, literally shows the presence of God.

That must have been a beautiful sight to see. What might it look like for you to magnify God in your life?

(It is with heavy hearts that we, at Manning Road Methodist Church, announce that this week’s BDC will be our last. With both Anna and Roger moving on and Gareth’s work commitments unable to allow him to continue this service, the decision was taken to bring it to a close.

HOWEVER, all is not lost!

The daily messages of “Faith For Daily Living” are available on an internet site specifically designed for cellphones. If you are able to access the internet on your cellphone and would like to make use of this service, SMS "MOBI FFDL" to 33978 and a link will be sent directly to your phone that you can add to your bookmarks for daily use.

Alternatively, type http://faithfordailyliving.mobi into your phone’s internet browser and access the site directly.

There is no subscription fee for this service, although there is a once-off charge of R1.50 for the SMS and your cellphone provider will apply its usual rates for accessing the web.

For those who wish to receive it via email daily, go to http://faithfordailyliving.org/Apply.html and enter your email address in the relevant box.

Another excellent resource is the Upper Room Daily Devotional available for mobiles and email and can be sourced from http://devotional.upperroom.org/emaildevotional - follow the relevant instructions.

Thanking you all for sharing this journey with us…

Manning Road Methodist Church)