Luke 1:53

It’s Mary’s song – the Magnificat.  She’s recently been told by the angel that she’s going to conceive  through the Holy Spirit and become mother to the Son of God.  She dashes off to tell the good news to her older relative Elizabeth, herself pregnant through a work of God, and the baby leaps in Elizabeth’s womb as she is filled with the Spirit and blesses Mary.  Then Mary bursts into song.

Mary’s song is unique to her, but also similar to Hannah’s prayer in I Samuel 2, which she undoubtedly knew.  In particular, it presents clearly a God who values humility over power and faith over wealth.  Verse 53 says “He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.”

That’s a hugely important lesson in a world where being poor is often implicitly viewed as meaning you’re of less intrinsic worth than a well-off person.  We may despise the spoilt millionaires and the ‘greedy bankers’, but we’re happy to live in our own comfort and relative wealth without much thought for the disadvantaged.  Well, our God isn’t like that.  He wants to fill the hungry with good things, and those whose life is centred round accumulating wealth for themselves can expect nothing from Him.

Of course, none of us can solve the problem of poverty in our own country, far less in those where starvation and disease are tragic facts of everyday life for many millions.  But we can help in a small way – financially and practically – and we can treat those whom others look down on with the dignity and respect which Jesus always afforded to them.  Our God has a passion for social justice, and we should too.